Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 10 July 2015

:: India & world ::

Luxury cruise liners will commence operations from Sri Lanka to Kerala on October 2, Gandhi Jayanthi Day, giving a fillip to the burgeoning tourism industry.
The launch of cruise ships between the island nation and Kerala follows the efforts of Kerala Tourism and Minister for Tourism A.P. Anil Kumar to increase the footfalls to the State during the Visit Kerala Year.
The services are being launched by the Colombo-based Herbilan Cruises Lanka Pvt Ltd (HCLPL) and will go on till March 2017.
The seven day-six night services using a cruise ship bearing Panama flag will be on the Colombo-Kochi-Maldives-Colombo sector.

In a step towards curbing overseas tax evasion and black money, India and the U.S. signed an inter-governmental agreement to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) here on Thursday.
The agreement, signed by Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das and U.S. Ambassador to India Richard Verma, makes it obligatory on the part of the two nations to exchange information on offshore accounts of each other’s citizens in their respective territories.

Pitching for closer cooperation and coordination among BRICS nations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday proposed a 10-point initiative that includes India hosting the first trade fair for the grouping and establishing research centres for railways and agriculture.

At the plenary session, the Prime Minister said that “the challenges that the world is faced with are for every country. It’s important to have consensus, collaboration and cooperation between all major nations.”
The proposed initiatives for the BRICS include a trade fair, a Railway Research Centre, cooperation among supreme audit institutions, a Digital Initiative and an Agricultural Research Centre.

Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) signed by India and the U.S. here on Thursday, foreign financial institutions in the U.S. will have to provide information about Indian account holders to the U.S. government’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which will forward the information to the Indian government.
The Indian government will provide similar information to the IRS. This automatic exchange of information is scheduled to begin on September 30.
For example, the State Bank of India will have to provide information regarding the investments by any U.S. citizen, even NRIs, to the Indian revenue authorities in a prescribed format regularly. The Indian government will then forward that information to the IRS.
The government in December got the go-ahead of the Special Investigation Team on black money to sign international treaties that included confidentiality clauses, an issue that had until then prevented India from agreeing to FATCA.
Last month, India joined 59 countries in the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information.
This agreement obliges signatories to exchange a wide range of financial information among themselves periodically and automatically.

The U.S. government enacted FATCA in 2010 to obtain information on accounts held by US taxpayers in other countries.
As of now, the U.S. has such agreements with more than 110 jurisdictions and is engaged in related discussions with many other jurisdictions.
Financial institutions such as banks, brokerages or mutual funds that do not comply with this agreement will face a 30 per cent withholding tax on all payments from the U.S.

Saddled with history and a ball-toss that rebelled, Maria Sharapova suffered for an hour and 19 minutes in the glare and heat of Centre Court before watching Serena Williams ease past her for the 17th time in a row and into the final of the 2015 Wimbledon. And then she suffered some more.
As feisty afterwards as she had been in enduring another public hammering against a rival with whom she shares mutual respect but little warmth, she rejected suggestions – daft ones during an uncomfortable press conference – that she either change her baseline strategy or even look for a new coach.
She seethed when asked to respond to David Cameron’s remarks that women players should wear earplugs to block out the screeching that plagues the women’s game, with Sharapova among the chief culprits. “Next question, please,” she said through pursed lips. She would probably give Cameron a run for his money at prime minister’s questions.
But it is harder than she makes it sound, and she does not lack for motivation – especially against Sharapova, who beat her to win the title when a teenager in 2004 and has won only five sets in 18 matches against her since. Williams gives the impression she would happily play her morning, noon and night.