Current affairs : November 4, 2016 for all competitive exams
Minister of Railways inaugurates International Conference on Decarbonisation of Indian Railways in New Delhi
Minister of Railways Shri
Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has inaugurated the International Conference on
Decarbonisation of Indian Railways – Mission Electrification in New Delhi on
November 3, 2016.
- It was organised by Institution of Railways Electrical Engineer (IREE) in partnership with ASSOCHAM India.
Council fixes 4-level GST rate structure
In a step towards realising the Goods and Services Tax, the GST council has
finalised a 4-tier tax structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28%, with lower rates for
essential items and the highest for luxury and de-merits goods.
- The multiple rates have been fixed on lines of some European countries. The IMF has lauded India for adopting GST saying it would boost economic growth.
FSSAI Strengthens the Food Testing Infrastructure in the
Country
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has rolled out a
major scheme for strengthening of Food Testing Infrastructure in the country at
an estimated cost of Rs. 482-crore, in the light of the recent observations by
Mumbai High Court regarding the urgent need to upgrade Food Testing
Laboratories in India.
- Under this scheme, 45 State/UT Food Testing labs (at least one in each State/UT with a provision of two labs in larger states) and 14 Referral Food Testing labs will be upgraded to enable them to obtain NABL accreditation.
Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction
The three-day Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction was
inaugurated by PM Modi on November 2, 2016.
- The conference will adopt the New Delhi Declaration on the closing day which will be a political commitment by 61 participating governments towards preventing and reducing disaster risk reduction.
Sampriti-7:
It is a 14-day joint military exercise by Bangladesh and India
It is to practise counter-terrorism and disaster-management operations.
- The exercise will be held at Shaheed Salauddin
Cantonment in Bangladesh’s Ghatail, Tangail.
- The joint exercise will simulate a scenario where both nations are working together in a counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism environment under the U.N. Charter.
James web space telescope:
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the largest space telescope ever
built.
- It is an international collaboration between of about 17 countries including NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
Yes Bank launches new mobile
banking app
India's Private sector
lender Yes Bank has launched “Yes Mobile 2.0” its new mobile banking app with
multiple new features and extensive support for banking transactions on Apple
and Android-based SmartWatches.
- The new application is filled with features like
comprehensive bill payments, speech to text capabilities for registering
complaints and queries and even bill payments from wearables.
- The app will allow customers to undertake most transactions on the app including NetBanking registration, thereby eliminating the need to visit the website or a banking branch.
Young Indian Lawyer Gets
Elected Into UN's Top Body Of Legal Experts
An Indian lawyer won an
election in the United Nations General Assembly for membership to the world
body's top body of legal experts.
- 33-year-old Aniruddha Rajput is among the 34 individuals elected by the General Assembly as members of the International Law Commission.
Google ties up with ASI for
virtual tour of monuments
American multinational
technology company, Google has tied up with Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI) for 360-degree virtual tour of 280-odd monuments across the country.
- ASI had given the permission to Google for creating
the virtual tour, which would be available in the maps.
- Google has launched an arrangement of products in India like offline view of maps, live traffic alerts and the inclusion of unknown places on the maps by local guides.
Sri Lankan music legend Pandit
Amaradeva passes away
Legendary Sri Lankan singer
and composer Pandit Amaradeva, recipient of many international honours,
including Padma Shri, for his contribution to music, died on 03 November
2016 after a heart attack.
Former J&K Deputy Chief
Minister passes away
Former Jammu and Kashmir
Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma died on 03 November 2016, after a
prolonged illness.
