Current Affairs 18 July 2015

1- Mindtree acquires 2 Companies from UK and US. Bengaluru-based Mid-size IT services firm Mindtree Ltd has acquired UK based SAP HANA consultancy Bluefin Solutionsforabout £42.3 million ($66 million) and US

based analytics provider Relational Solutions (RSI) for $76 million (Rs 482 crore) in staggered transactions.

2- Govt approves bill to scrap 295 obsolete laws. Taking forward the exercise of repealing nearly 3,000 irrelevant laws clogging the statute books, the government on Thursday approved a Bill seeking to scrap a set of 295 obsolete Acts.The Repealing and Amending (Fourth) Bill, 2015, will be introduced in the Lok Sabha. Several of the laws were over 30 years old and declared as redundant by the Central Ministries concerned. While one dealt with amendments in marriage laws, another was aimed at checking hoarding and blackmarketing of cement.

3- RBI inks pact with Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has signed a currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Currency swap agreement will allow Central Bank of Sri Lanka to draw up to USD 1.1 billion. This special arrangement was signed in addition to the existing Framework on Currency Swap Arrangement for the SAARC member countries.

4- 46th Session of Indian Labour Conference on July 20-21, 2015 in New Delhi. The 46th Session of the Indian labour Conference is being held on July 20-21, 2015 in New Delhi. The Prime Minister will inaugurate the Conference, dedicate National Career Service (NCS) Portal and will launch ESIC 2.0:Reform Initiatives of ESIC.The shortlisted agenda for this labour Conference Implementation of the conclusions/ recommendations of the 43rd, 44th and 45th Indian Labour Conference, particularly on Contract Labour, Minimum Wages and Scheme Workers and Tripartite Mechanism.

5- Department of Telecom releases net neutrality report upholds key principles. Much-awaited report on net neutrality in India has been released by Department of Telecom. The panel has emphasised on the user’s right to Net Neutrality hence guarantees consumers equal and non-discriminatory access to all data, apps and services on internet, with no discrimination on the basis of tariffs or speed. There’s also good news for OTT (Over the top) messaging application users. The report says OTT messaging services “should be actively encouraged and any impediments in expansion and growth of OTT application services should be removed”.