World Today - 28th September 2015

1. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that government has set disbursement target for micro and marginal businesses under MUDRA scheme during the current fiscal at Rs. 1.22 lakh crore. MUDRA has been established as a subsidiary of SIDBI with an initial corpus of Rs. 5,000 crore to provide capital to all banks seeking refinancing of small business loans under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY). PMMY loans fall into three categories – Shishu (up to Rs. 50,000), Kishore (Rs. 50,000-Rs. 5 lakh) and Tarun (Rs. 5-10 lakh).
2. China successfully launched a new model of carrier rocket Long March-11 for sending four micro satellites into space from the country’s northwestern province. The rocket will mainly be used for launching micro-satellites. The successful launch of the rocket marked a major breakthrough for the nation in key technology for solid propellant rockets. The trip was the 211th mission for the Long March rocket family.
3. The Ministry of External Affairs appointed new Indian envoys to Pakistan, China, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United Nations (UN) in a major reshuffle. Navtej Sarna will be the new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He succeeded Ranjan Mathai. Gautam Bambawale (India’s Ambassador to Bhutan) will take over as High Commissioner to Pakistan. He succeeded T.C.A. Raghavan. Syed Akbaruddin will be the next Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, New York. He will replace Asoke Mukerji. Vijay Gokhale (India’s Ambassador to Germany) will be the Ambassador to China. He succeeded Ashok Kantha. Anil Wadhwa (Secretary (East)) will be the new Ambassador to Rome. Pankaj Saran will replace P.S. Raghavan as the Ambassador of Moscow. Harsh V. Shringla (Indian Ambassador to Bangkok) will serve as High Commissioner to Bangladesh. Sujan Chinoy (Indian Ambassador to Mexico) will now be the Ambassador to Japan and replace Deepa Wadhwa.
4. Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez has been named the first-ever global advocate for girls and women at the United Nations Foundation. The 46-year-old star will travel the globe in an attempt to highlight the plight of females struggling in war zones, refugee camps and even on the mean streets of her native New York.
5. The Finance Ministry announced Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) exemption to foreign companies with no permanent establishment (PE) in India with effect from assessment year 2001-02. This means companies not having a permanent establishment or place of business in India would not come under MAT with effect from April 2001. Apart from this, the MAT will also not apply on a foreign company belonging to a country having a Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).
6. Matthias Muller was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Volkswagen Group. He succeeded Martin Winterkorn who resigned following the revelation that the German carmaker manipulated US diesel car emissions tests.
7. Government has decided to appoint NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya as the Sherpa for G-20 talks, replacing Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. The next G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled on November 15-16 at Antalya in Turkey.
8. The 193 member states of the United Nations adopted new Sustainable Development Goals to replace the expiring Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York. 17 broad goals and 169 specific targets are there in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new goals primarily expect to reduce world poverty, improve health and education and quell climate change. SDGs are expected to be achieved by year 2030. They replaced the eight Millennium Development Goals adopted at a UN summit in 2000.
9. Sourav Ganguly has been appointed as the President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) succeeding Jagmohan Dalmiya as announced by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Jagmohan Dalmiya passed away recently. Sourav Ganguly is the former Indian cricket captain.
10. The 9th Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (RPBD) will be held at Los Angeles, California, USA from 14 November to 15 November 2015. The Theme of 9th RPBD will be – The Indian Diaspora: Defining a New Paradigm in India-US Relationship.
11. Senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui has been elected as President of Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) after an election held as per directions of the Supreme Court. Siddiqui defeated Vinod Kumar, a former president of BCA, by a margin of 30 votes.
12. Australia’s oldest cricketer Harold Stapleton, who represented Australian club New South Wales, died aged 100. An all-rounder, who played only one first-class match for NSW in 1941 before his career was cut short by the second World War.