13 June 2016 Current Affairs
Norway Becomes The First Country To Ban Deforestation
Norway has become the first country in the world to prohibit deforestation. On 26 May 2016, the Norwegian Parliament had pledged to make government’s public procurement policy deforestation-free. The step was taken by Norwegian Government based on official recommendations of Norwegian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Energy and Environment as part of the Action Plan on Nature Diversity.
India – Ghana Signed Three Agreements
India and Ghana have signed three bilateral agreements to strengthen co-operation in varied fields. These agreements were signed on 13 June after delegation level talks between President Pranab Mukherjee and his Ghanaian counterpart John Dramani Mahama in Accra. The signed agreements include one for visa waivers for holders of diplomatic and official passports and one for setting up a Joint Commission.
RBI introduces Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 13 June issued the guidelines on the Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets(S4A). The main aim of these guidelines is to (i) Strengthen the lenders’ ability to deal with stressed assets and (ii) Put real assets back on track of entities facing genuine difficulties by providing an avenue for reworking financial structure. The RBI has formulated the S4A as an optional framework for the resolution of large stressed accounts. The S4A envisages determination of sustainable debt level of a stressed borrower and bifurcate outstanding debt into sustainable debt and equity/quasi-equity instruments.
Microsoft Buys LinkedIn For $26.2 billion
“Technology giant Microsoft on 13 June announced a $26.2 billion deal to acquire professional social platform LinkedIn for $196 per share. Shares of LinkedIn surged 47 percent after the announcement to near $193, while Microsoft’s stock was down 3.2 percent. Trading in Microsoft had been halted briefly for news pending before the announcement of the all-cash deal.Jeff Weiner will stay on as CEO of LinkedIn and will report to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The deal was unanimously approved by both companies’ boards, and is expected to close by the end of the year. The acquisition is still subject to approval by LinkedIn shareholders and regulators.”
