Current affairs : August 31, 2016
Telangana,Haryana Assembly ratifies GST Bill:
The Telangana and Haryana Assembly have unanimously ratified the Constitution Amendment Bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST).
- 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.
First meeting of
newly constituted National Council of Senior Citizens held
The first meeting of the newly constituted
National Council of Senior Citizens was recently held under the chairmanship of
the Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot.
- The council is chaired by the Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment.
- The Council is mandated to meet atleast twice a year.
- The council was originally known as National Council for Older Persons (NPOP). It was renamed in 2012.
Gujarat becomes the
first state to distribute 2 crore LED Bulbs under UJALA
Under the Government of India’s Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs forall (UJALA) scheme, Gujarat has become the first
state to distribute 2 crore LED bulbs.
- Gujarat has reached this milestone in just 96 days and over 42 lakh households have already benefitted from the scheme.
Annual Report of
‘Crime in India – 2015’
63rd edition of ‘Crime in India – 2015’ report was recently released.
Some of the highlights of the reports
include:
- A decrease of 4.7% under crimes against Scheduled Tribes.
- A decrease of 4.4% under crimes against Scheduled castes.
- A decrease of 3.1% under crimes against women.
CBDT signs 20
Unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements with Indian taxpayers
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has
entered into 20 Unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) with Indian taxpayers. Many of these agreements also have a
“Rollback” provision in them.
- The 20 APAs signed pertain to various sectors of the economy like Information Technology, Banking & Finance, Insurance, Human Resources, Pharmaceutical, Solar Energy, Oil & Gas, Foods & Beverages, Telecommunications and NGO.
First Phase of
Saurashtra Narmada Avataran For Irrigation Project
The first phase of SAUNI (Saurastra Narmada Avataran Irrigation) Yojana was recently launched by PM
Modi at Sanodara of Jamnagar district of Gujarat.
- The first phase of the SAUNI project will cover 105 villages, including 47,943 hectares of land.
Madhukar Gupta
Committee on India-Pakistan border submits report
A high powered committee of the National Security Council, headed by former home secretary Madhukar Gupta, recently
presented its report on India-Pakistan border to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
327% rise in agrarian
riots in 2015, NCRB report shows
Recently released “Crime in India” report has
made the following observations on riots in India:
- Incidents of rioting remained almost the same in 2015 as compared to 2014, but as communal riots decreased, big increases were seen in other categories — agrarian, sectarian and student riots and caste conflicts.
Operation Muskaan-II:
It is the second phase of ‘Operation
Muskaan,’ a campaign to trace and rescue missing children.
- It was launched by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Thousands of children have been rescued under the campaign so far.
Asli Tarakki:
It is a new campaign for Swachh
Bharat Mission launched by the Ministry of Urban Development
recently.
- It is aimed at sanitising six cities of the National Capital Region (NCR). Further, it will be replicated in other States if it succeeds.
- About 450 young men and women with “communication skills and leadership qualities” have been selected as “lead motivators” to spread awareness on Swachh Bharat Mission.
PV Sindhu to be Commandant in CRPF
Central Reserve Police Force India (CRPF) has decided to
appoint Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu as it’s brand ambassador and
bestow the honorary rank of Commandant on the ace badminton player.
- A Commandant rank in the CRPF is equivalent to the position of a Superintendent of Police (SP) and such an officer commands a battalion of about 1,000 personnel, when posted in field operations.
Yogeshwar Dutt’s bronze medal turns to silver
Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt's London 2012 bronze might be
upgraded to silver.
- The upgrade has been triggered by a positive dope test of late Russian wrestler Besik Kudukhov, the original silver winner in the 60-kg freestyle event.
- Following the upgrade, India now has eight Olympic silver medals.
Minimum wage hike for unskilled labourers:
To appease
trade unions, the government announced a
42 per cent increase in the minimum wages for unskilled non-agricultural
workers to Rs 350 per day from the current Rs 246.
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the "historic hike" in minimum wages to Rs 350/day is a step forward in transforming India and labour reforms.
First private
bank in a decade make its Stock market debut:
RBL
Bank— which recently closed its initial public offer, the first by a private
bank in a decade — would make its Stock market debut on Wednesday.
- Yes Bank was the last private lender to hit the capital markets in 2005. Taking into account state-run banks as well,Punjab and Sind Bank last went public six years ago in 2010.
