NIACL AO Mains General Awareness | 25th February 2019

France has been pushing hard for a new so-called “GAFA tax” — named after Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon — to ensure the global giants pay a fair share of taxes on their massive business operations in Europe.

Reserve Bank allowed a one-time restructuring of existing debt up to Rs 25 crore for the companies which have defaulted on payment but the loans given to them have continued to be classified as standard assets.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed Paytm Payments Bank to restart opening new accounts for its consumers after almost six months of the ban. Paytm Payments Bank stopped enrolling new customers in June 2018, following an audit by the RBI, which made certain observations about the process the company follows in acquiring new customers and its adherence to know-your-customer (KYC) norms.

The United States and Israel officially quit the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) with the close of 2018. The countries had announced their decisions in 2017 of withdrawing from the agency, accusing it of bias against Israel.

State Bank of India (SBI), in the sixth phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 authorised branches. SBI is the only authorised bank to issue such bonds.

The Section 7 of the RBI Act empowers the Central Government to consult and give instructions to the Governor of the RBI to act on certain issues, that the government considers serious and in public interest.

HDFC Bank had announced that the RBI had approved the re-appointment of Aditya Puri as MD and CEO of the bank for another two years. Aditya Puri will now serve the office from November 1, 2018 to October 26, 2020.

The MSME ministry has established an export promotion cell to create a sustainable ecosystem for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The ministry has also proposed to formulate a governing council that will be chaired by the secretary of the MSME ministry.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan launched ‘Ujjwala Sanitary Napkins’ initiative saying it will go a long way in making Odisha’s 2.25 crore women empowered and self-reliant. Under the novel initiative, which will cover 93 blocks in 30 districts of Odisha, oil marketing companies (OMC) will set up 100 manufacturing units at the Common Service Centres (CSC) at an estimated cost of Rs 2.94 crore.

In its ‘Growth Outlook for 2019’, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) stated that the GDP growth will be in the range of 7.5% in 2019.

Allahabad Bank and SBI Life Insurance came together and signed a bancassurance pact, to offer a holistic financial planning solution to consumers.

Gautam Gambhir is an Indian former cricketer, who played all formats of the game. He is a left-handed opening batsman who played domestic cricket for Delhi, and captained Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.

The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe.

Nitin Jairam Gadkari; is an Indian politician and the current Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation in the Government of India.

The 25-year-old fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah became the highest international wicket-taker across formats in 2018. He took a total of 78 wickets in the calendar year. Bumrah surpassed South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada’s tally of 77 wickets to reach the milestone.