Current affairs : August 30, 2016
GST bill unanimously passed in Maharashtra Assembly
The Maharashtra Assembly's has unanimously passed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitutional Amendment Bill.
- GST is a tax levied when a consumer buys a good or service. It is meant to be a single, comprehensive tax that will subsume all the other smaller indirect taxes on consumption like service tax, excise duty etc.
India to grow at 7.6% in FY'17: RBI
The RBI, in its Annual Report, has projected India's growth rate at 7.6% in 2016-17, up from 7.2% last year.
- The Reserve Bank of India is India's central banking institution, which controls the monetary policy of the Indian rupee.
PM Narendra Modi inaugurates 1st phase of SAUNI yojana in Jamnagar
PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated the first of the 4 phases of the ambitious irrigation (worth Rs 12000 Cr.) scheme, Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation Yojana (SAUNI), at the Aji-3 dam near Rajkot.
- Phase-1 of the project has been developed at a cost of Rs. 1,562 crore with 58 km of pipeline.
A seven-member expert committee headed by
T.V.S.N Prasad, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that was
constituted to look into the alternatives to pellet guns has been submitted to
the Home Secretary.
Suggestions made by the committee:
- No blanket ban on the use of pellet guns. At the most, it will be used in rarest of rare cases.
- Chilli grenade shells can be used as alternatives.
NABARD sanctions loan for 10 MW solar plant in Haryana
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned a loan of Rs 204.67 crore under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for rural infrastructure in Haryana.
- This aid was provided under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund for projects including a 10 MW solar plant at Panipat thermal power station.
India, Myanmar sign four
agreements
India and Myanmar have signed four agreements
following bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting
Myanmar President Htin Kyaw. This is the first presidential visit from Myanmar
to India after Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy
(NLD) came to power in March this year.
Agreements:
- To construction of 69 bridges on the Tamu-Kalewa section of the trilateral highway connecting India, Myanmar and Thailand.
- upgrading the Kalewa-Yargi section of the trilateral highway.
- Cooperation in the field of renewable energy.
- Cooperation in the field of traditional medicines.
Now, direct election of
local body chiefs to be scrapped
A Bill has been introduced in the TN Assembly to empower councillors to elect the chairpersons in all local
bodies in the State.
- In order to have uniform election procedures in all the urban local bodies in the State, the government has proposed to elect the Chairman of the Municipalities and Town Panchayats indirectly by the councillors or members from among themselves, as the case may be.
PM’s annual award for extraordinary and
innovative work instituted
The Department of Administrative Reforms has
announced the institution of the Prime Minister’s Annual Award for Excellence in Public Administration to honour “extraordinary
and innovative work” done by districts and the organisations of
the Central and State governments in implementing the priority programmes of
the Government of India.
Ananth Kumar launches ‘Pharma Sahi Daam’ mobile App
The Union minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar launched a mobile App. developed by NPPA, which shows the MRP fixed by NPPA for various scheduled drugs on the real time basis.
- In the Sidelines the Minister also urged a ‘3A (Availability, Affordability and Accessibility) approach to achieve health security for every citizen of India.
Centre moves on vote
totaliser machines
The Union government is working on the issue
of introducing “totaliser machines” for mixing of votes from various booth for
counting, as recommended by the Election Commission. The Supreme Court, while
hearing a writ petition recently, had given the government eight weeks’ time to
take a final decision.
- To look into the issue, a team of Union Ministers has been constituted. The team will deliberate on the Election Commission’s proposal in November 2008. The Law Commission had also recommended the use these machines.
Pharma
Sahi Daam:
It is a mobile App developed by NPPA which shows the MRP fixed by
NPPA for various scheduled drugs on real time basis.
- It was recently launched by the government.
Mera Aspataal / My Hospital initiative:
It is an initiative launched by
the government of India at the recently concluded third National
Summit on Good and Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Health
Facilities at Tirupati.
- It will be implemented in public and empanelled private hospitals. It is envisaged to empower the patient by seeking his / her views on quality of experience in a public healthcare facility.
- A multi-channel approach will be used to collect patients’ feedback i.e. web portal, mobile application, Short Message Service (SMS), Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS).
SAARCSTAT:
Eighth Meeting of Heads of SAARC Statistical Organizations
(SAARCSTAT) was recently inaugurated in Delhi.
- India is hosting the three-day meeting on “Trade Statistics – Merchandise & Services”.
- It is being attended by delegates from SAARC Member States and other international organizations including FAO, PARIS 21 and ADB.
West Bengal to Bengal and Bangla:
The West Bengal Legislative
Assembly has passed a resolution changing the name of the State to Bengal
in English and Bangla in Bengali.
- Consent of the Parliament is necessary to effect the name change.
- The resolution, under Rule 169 of the rules of procedures of the House, was passed by a voice vote.
Dogri
writer Padma Sachdev gets Saraswati Samman
Padma Sachdev was
awarded the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2015 for her
autobiography 'Chitt-Chete' in Dogri language. She was felicitated by
Delhi's Lt Governor Najeeb Jung in New Delhi on 29 August 2016.
- The 76-year-old poet and novelist's autobiography, published in 2007, was shortlisted from 22 works written in as many languages published between 2005 and 2014.
Obituary:
1. Noted
painter, art historian Dinanath Pathy passes away
Eminent painter, writer
and art historian Dinanath Pathy passed away following a cardiac arrest at a
hospital in Bhubaneshar.
- He is known for his versatility; Pathy was a former secretary of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi and Bhubaneswar and is regarded as the pioneer of the art movement in Odisha.
2. Former
MP Governor Mohammad Shafi Qureshi no more
Veteran Congress leader
and former Governor of Madhya Pradesh Mohammad Shafi Qureshi has passed away in
Delhi. He was 87 years old.
- He also served as the Deputy Union Minister of Railways and got elected for Lok Sabha twice from Islamabad Parliamentary Constituency.
