31 MAY 2015 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Narendra Modi to be First Indian PM to Visit Israel

• Narendra Modi will be travelling to Israel, the first by an Indian Prime Minister to the Jewish country with which bilateral defence cooperation is on an upswing.

• Dates were not finalised for PM Modi's visit which will take place and No Indian Prime Minister or President has ever visited that country.

• LK Advani had visited Israel when he was Home Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Jaswant Singh and SM Krishna had visited the Jewish nation as External Affairs Ministers. Recently Home Minister Rajnath Singh had also visited Israel.

Former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo to be new chancellor of Nalanda university

• Former Foreign Minister of Singapore George Yeo will be the new Chancellor of the Nalanda University, the External Affairs Ministry announced

• Yeo, who was conferred Padma Bhushan in 2012, is currently serving as a member of the governing board of the prestigious university at Rajgir area of Bihar

• The announcement came over two months after Nobel laureate Amartya Sen withdrew his candidature to the post for a second term

Uber Appoints New Country Head in India

• Online taxi hailing service Uber Technologies Inc named a new country head for India on Sunday to lead the San Francisco-based company's expansion there.

• Uber said it has appointed Amit Jain as President, Uber India, in a newly created position. 

GoAir Appoints Wolfgang Prock-Shauer as its New CEO

• GoAir has brought in former Jet Airways chief executive Wolfgang Prock-Shauer, an Austrian national to head the airline.

• Prock-Shauer's appointment as GoAir's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will be effective from June 15 and he succeeds Giorgio De Roni

New Income Tax Return (ITR) Forms Finance Ministry Brings

• The Finance Ministry with new three-page income tax return (ITR) forms, dropping the controversial provision for mandatory disclosure of foreign trips and dormant bank accounts, while it also extended the last date of filing to August 31 

• The new forms -- ITR 2 and ITR 2A -- will have only three pages and other details will have to be filled in schedules

• A new form ITR 2A has been brought out by the ministry which can be filed by an individual or HUF who does not have capital gains, income from business/ profession or foreign asset/foreign income.