Daily Current Affairs Updates: 23 June 2014

Daily Current Affairs Updates: 23 June 2014

1) Modi Govt’s first general Budget on July 10: The Modi-led Government will present its first general Budget on July 10. This full-fledged Budget — to be presented by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley — will come at a time when expectations are high that the new dispensation will give a booster dose to the sagging Indian economy. While the Rail Budget will be presented on July 8, theEconomic Survey will be tabled in the Lower House on July 9. The Budget session of Parliament will begin on July 7 and end on August 14. In all, the Budgetsession will have a total of 28 sittings over a month-long period.

2) Himachal park is now a World Heritage Site: The Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh was accorded the Unesco World HeritageSite status on Monday. The Unesco World Heritage Site Committee at Doha in Qatar granted the status to the park under the criteria of “exceptional natural beauty and conservation of biological diversity.”The GHNP has now come in the league of Indian World Heritage Sites (WHS) such as the Taj Mahal, Ellora, Kaziranga National Park, Keoladeo National Park, Manas National Park, Nandadevi Biosphere Reserve and the Sunderbans.

3) RBI fixed timelines for regulatory approvals: Moving to a time-defined process, the Reserve Bank of India, on Monday, fixed schedules for various regulatory approvals, including grant of private bank licence, and also released a citizens’ charter for its various services such as clearing of transactions. The release of ‘Timelines for Regulatory Approvals’ and ’Citizens’ Charter’ for delivery of services on the RBI’s website is a part of implementation of non-legislative recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC), the central bank said in a notification. With regards to timeline for regulatory approvals, the RBI said, an applicant for private bank licence should be given in-principle approval within 90 days after receipt of report from the independent external advisory committee.

4) India's Mobile Seva Initiative Wins UN Public Service Award: An initiative conceptualised by the Indian government's Department of Electronics and Information Technology (Deity) to enable delivery of public services electronically through the mobile platform has been awarded a United Nations public service award. 'Mobile Seva', a nationwide initiative conceptualized, funded and implemented by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, is among the second place winners of the 2014 UN Public Service Awards, along with Bahrain, Brazil, Cameroon, Republic of Korea and Spain. The vision of Mobile Seva is to mainstream mobile governance in India as a new paradigm for e-delivery of public services through mobile devices.

5) President released first Encyclopedia on Hinduism: The basic tenet of Hinduism is happiness, health and enlightenment for everyone, and suffering, pain and agony for none, President Pranab Mukherjee said as he received the first copy of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism on 23 June 2014. Speaking at a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President complimented Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji of the Parmarth Niketan Rishikesh, the founder-chairman of India Heritage Research Foundation (IHRF) for undertaking the effort to bring out the encyclopedia.

6) Aamir Khan meets Narendra Modi, discusses social issues: Bollywood star Aamir Khan, who has been championining the cause of social issues, on 23 June 2014 met Prime Minister Narendra Modi herein New Delhi to discuss the problems which he highlights in his TV programme ‘Satyamev Jayate’. The 49-year-old actor and director later said the Prime Minister assured him that he would look into the issues raised by him.

7) Sachin Tendulkar honoured with exclusive gold coin issued by East India Company: Britain’s premium luxury goods brand East India Company has issued an exclusive legal tender gold coin worth 12,000 pound sterling in honour of Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. The rare coin has been issued in honour of Tendulkar’s remarkable career spanning 24 years. “Only 210 gold coins, each weighing precisely 200g, are being issued to pay tribute to Tendulkar at a global level. Only very few will ever see this coin in the flesh, making them exceptionally rare and precious amongst thousands of fans who yearn to own a piece of the superstar’s legacy,” the London-based firm said in a statement