Current Affairs 6th jan 2016

• Sri Lanka, Pakistan agree to expand FTA

Sri Lanka and Pakistan have agreed to expand their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) by inclusion of services and investment. Statement in this regard was made by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his official visit to Sri Lanka. The expansion of FTA would help companies of the two nations to form joint ventures (JV) for exports to other nations. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s official trip  to Sri Lanka comes after eight months of President Sirisena’s visit to Pakistan in April 2015. Sri Lank-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) The FTA between Sri Lanka and Pakistan came into effect in June 2005. Since the Pakistan’s exports to Sri Lanka were to the tune of 150 million dollars. Sri Lanka’s exports to Pakistan were valued at about 52 million dollars, accounting for around 70 per cent of the country’s total exports to Pakistan. 8 MoUs signed Both countries also signed 8 agreements in the fields of science and technology, education, agriculture, healthcare, tourism, cultural exchanges, sporting contacts, people-to-people contacts and combating money laundering and terror financing. Defence Deal Pakistan also sealed a landmark defence deal to sell JF-17 Thunder fighter jets to Sri Lanka. Under this deal Pakistan will sell 8 JF-17 Thunder fighter jets which are already part of Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

• Reliance capital gets CCI nod to acquire Goldman Sach’s fund arm

Reliance Capital Asset Management (RCAM) has received nod from Competition Commission of India (CCI) to acquire Goldman Sachs’s mutual funds and exchange-traded funds business in India. This approval comes after the boards of both the companies had approved the acquisition transaction. Now RCAM needs to get final nod of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to complete the takeover. Under the acquisition deal, RCAM will acquire all 12 onshore mutual fund schemes of Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) India with total asset under management of 7132 crore rupees. US based Goldman Sachs had entered the Indian mutual fund industry in 2011 with acquisition of Benchmark Mutual Fund for 120 crore rupees. About Reliance Capital Asset Management (RCAM) RCAM’s is subsidiary of Reliance Capital which in turn is financial services arm of business conglomerate Reliance Group led by Anil Ambani. It is the country’s largest asset manager and is managing assets over 54,517 crore rupees ($39.15 billion) across various funds, schemes, and managed accounts. Presently, it is also present in insurance, brokerage and wealth management among other areas.

• Union Government abolishes export duty on iron ore pellets

The Union Government has abolished export duty on iron ore pellets in order to make the commodity more competitive amid weakening prices due to subdued demand.

In this regard Central Board of Excise and Custom (CBEC) has issued a notification mentioning that export duty on iron ore pellets has been reduced to zero from 5 per cent.

This decision will help improve capacity utilisation of pellet plants and give a necessary boost to the sector. Earlier in 2014, Union Government had levied a 5 per cent export duty on iron ore pellets.

Iron ore pellets are value-added products of leftover material or low-grade iron ore and are mainly used in steel-making industry.

Reasons for decline in global commodity prices

• Due to global economic slowdown and decrease in demand followed by increase in supply (production) has attributed to decrease in global commodity prices especially minerals and oil.
• Steel and its related raw material market is also facing a tough time on account of subdued demand and high production which in turn is adversely impacting the prices.
• Besides fall in demand in China, world’s largest metal consumer also has attributed to falling in commodity prices.

• Pranav Dhanawade hits world record by scoring 1009 runs at school level tournament

15-year-old cricketer Pranav Dhanawade created a world record by scoring 1009 runs (not out) in HT Bhandari Cup, an under-16 inter-school tournament held in Mumbai (Maharashtra).

With this, he also has broken a century-old cricketing record becoming the first batsman to score 1000-plus runs in an innings in any form of cricket.

Key facts

• Pranav Dhanawade achieved this feat in HT Bhandari Cup organised by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) mainly for suburban schools.
• He was representing KC Gandhi High School against Arya Gurukul and played for 395 minutes.
• Runs scored: 1009 (not out) in 323 balls with strike rate of 312.38 comprising of 129 fours and 59 sixes in the entire match.
• Records Broken: Pranav by scoring unbeaten 652 runs in first day of match has broken a 116-old cricketing record of unbeaten 628 made by AEJ Collins in 1899 for Clark House against North Town House in UK
• He also surpassed Prithvi Shaw’s marathon 546 runs scored made in Harris Shield Trophy in 2013 which was earlier the highest individual score in any form of cricket in India.
• His 1009 score also helped his school to score 1465/3 in the innings which broke the past record of 1107 runs of Victoria against New South Wales made in 1926.

• Former CJI SH Kapadia passes away

Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sarosh Homi Kapadia passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He was He was 68.

His funeral was held as per Parsi tradition at Tower of Silence at Kemps Corner, South Mumbai.

About SH Kapadia

• Kapadia was born on 29 September 1947. He had graduated from Government Law College, Mumbai.
• Legal career: In 1974, he was enrolled as an advocate at the Bombay High Court. Later he was elevated to the Bench as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court in 1991 and was appointed as a Permanent Judge of HC in 1993.
• He was transferred to the Uttarakhand High Court in 2003 and for a short stint he had served as Chief Justice.
• He was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court in December 2003. Later he was appointed as 38th Chief Justice of India (CJI) in May 2010 and retired in September 2012.
• He had served as the Chairman of the General Council of the Gujarat National Law University during his tenure as CJI. He was also the Visitor of the National Law School of India University.
• Famous Rulings: His notable among the judgments delivered were the quashing of appointment of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas in 2011.