Current affairs : September 16, 2016 for all competetive examinations
African Development Bank (AfDB) Group annual meeting
India will be hosting the next Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group in Ahmedabad in May 2017.
- In this regard, a MoU has been
signed between GoI and AfDB. The MoU outlines the roles of Govt of India
and AfDB.
- The mega international event will
be attended by more than 5000 delegates from 80 member countries of the
African Development Bank including the Governors, Alternate Governors,
Executive Directors, policy makers and businesses.
Direct Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme,
2016 extended
The government has extended the time period of the Direct Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2016. Now the scheme can be availed up to 31st December,
2016. This move is aimed at reducing the pending litigation.
- The Direct Tax Dispute Resolution
Scheme, 2016 has come into force from 1st June, 2016.
Delink drug prices from R&D costs:
UN
A landmark report by the United Nations High-Level Panel on Access to
Medicines has called for delinking drug prices from research and development
(R&D) costs.
- The report calls for human rights
to be placed over intellectual property laws and all countries must freely
be able to use flexibilities granted under TRIPS to access affordable
medicines.
- The report also recognises the
incoherence between the human rights and the intellectual property rules.
Exercise YUDH ABHYAS 2016:
It is a joint military training exercise of Indian and US Armies.
- It has commenced at Chaubattia, Uttarakhand.
Tiangong 2:
It is a space station launched by China recently. It is part of China’s
plan to establish a manned space station around 2022.
- It is placed at 380 kilometres above Earth. There are two astronauts on board. Tiangong 2 will be used to test space technology and conduct medical and space experiments.
Yatri Mitra Seva:
It is an initiative of railways to improve the railway travel experience of
elderly, differently-abled and ailing passengers.
- It aims to simplify access to
wheelchairs, battery operated cars and porter services.
- The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. has been entrusted with implementing services that can be availed at the time of booking tickets online, accessing an app to be developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems, calling or messaging ‘139’ IVRS, or by dialling a dedicated mobile phone number.
Vijaya Bank gets award
Vijaya Bank has bagged the
second prize under Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar (Region C) for the year
2015-16.
- The prize was accepted by
Kishore Sansi, Managing Director & CEO Vijaya Bank, from
President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
- Vijaya Bank is a fastest growing Public Sector Bank with its Corporate Office in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Indian-American physician to
receive National Humanities Medal
Indian-American
physician-author Abraham Verghese, whose work has emphasised empathy in
medicine, has been selected for the prestigious 2015 National Humanities Medal,
the White House has announced.
- US President Barack Obama would confer the honour upon Verghese, along with 11 others, and the recipients of 2015 National Medal of Arts at ceremony on September 21.
Priyanka Chopra among world’s highest paid TV
actresses
Priyanka Chopra has become the first
Indian star to enter the Forbes list of highest paid television actresses in
the world, after starring on American series “Quantico”.
- Priyanka ranks eighth in the coveted list, which has retained American actress Sofia Vergara at the first position fifth year in a row.
Hick named Australia’s batting coach
Former England batsman Graeme Hick was
promoted as Australia’s specialist batting coach beginning with the series
against South Africa.
- He had been Cricket Australia’s high performance coach since 2013.
