Current affairs : December 22, 2016 for all competitive exams
Indian Enterprise Development Services
The Government has approved cadre review and formation of the Indian
Enterprise Development Service (IEDS) in the Office of the Development
Commissioner, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
- The creation of the new cadre and change in
structure is aimed at strengthening the organisation. It will also help
achieve the vision of Startup India, Stand-up India and Make in India.
Cabinet approves
ordinance to pay salaries via cheques
The Centre approved the
promulgation of an ordinance on December 21 to enable industries to pay wages
by cheque or by direct credit into bank accounts of workers earning up to Rs.
18,000 a month, without taking their explicit consent as required under the
present 1936 law.
- The current provisions of payment of wages through
cash will remain. Government only giving employers another option.
National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS):
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched National Apprenticeship
Promotion Scheme (NAPS) at Kanpur.
- The scheme has an outlay of Rs 10000 crore and it
involves incentivizing employers in sharing 25% of total cost of stipend
paid to the apprentices.
- It is for the first time Govt. of India has come
forward to incentivize the employers to participate pro-actively in
apprenticeship training.
Coal Mitra:
It is a Web portal for flexibility in Utilization of Domestic Coal. It was
recently launched by the government.
- It has been designed to bring about flexibility in
Utilization of Domestic Coal by transferring the reserves to more cost
efficient State/Centre owned or Private sector generating stations,
leading to lower generation costs and ultimately lesser cost of
electricity for the consumers.
Centre may
examine medicinal properties of cow urine
The Science and Technology
Ministry may now have to critically evaluate the role of cow urine and dung in
curing diseases.
- On December 18 and 19, A Workshop Titled ‘Scientific
Validation and Research on Panchgavya’, it was held at the Indian
Institute of Technology, Delhi.
- ‘Panchgavya’, or the mixture of five products from
the cow, is a concoction of dung, urine and milk along with curd and
butter.
SC criticizes poor implementation of SC/ST Act
Criticising the government for its “indifferent attitude” towards the
implementation of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, the Supreme Court has directed the National Legal Services
Authority to frame schemes for spreading legal awareness and free consultations
to members of the SC/ST communities nationwide.
- The court has asked the authorities to discharge
their duties to protect the SCs/STs to attain the constitutional goal of
equality for all citizens.
Uttar Pradesh sends first proposal for construction of
houses for urban poor under PMAY (Urban)
Uttar Pradesh has become the 29th State to send proposals for construction
of affordable houses for urban poor to the Ministry of Housing & Urban
Poverty Alleviation.
- The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Programme
launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
(MoHUPA), in Mission mode envisions provision of Housing for All by 2022,
when the Nation completes 75 years of its Independence.
Gujarat govt announces
Aerospace and Defence Policy-2016
Gujarat government has
announced Aerospace and Defence Policy-2016 to attract investment into fields
of aerospace and defence design, development and manufacturing in the
state.
- Under the policy, investors will be entitled to get 100 % reimbursement on stamp duty and registration charges paid for purchase, lease or mortgage of land meant for setting up the facility in the areas of Aerospace and Defence.
Pardon, the gender wage gap is
showing
Global Wage Report 2016-17 was recently released by the International
Labour Organisation (ILO).
- India has among the worst levels of gender wage
disparity — men earning more than women in similar jobs — with the gap
exceeding 30%.
- In India, women formed 60% of the lowest paid wage
labour, but only 15% of the highest wage-earners.
Singapore has the lowest wage disparity, at 3%. Among
major economies, only South Korea fared worse than India, with a gap of 37%.
Too hot to handle — alarming rise in forest fires this
year
Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Science and Technology headed by Renuka Choudary has submitted its
report on forest fires. The report
- The frequency of forest fires in India has risen by
a drastic 55% in the past year. The number has touched 24,817 in 2016 from
around 15,937 fires in 2015.
- The three central States of Odisha, Chhattisgarh,
and Madhya Pradesh contribute a third of the forest fires. Madhya Pradesh
has seen a nearly ten-fold increase, from just 294 in 2015 to more than
2,600 in 2016.
Sahitya Akademi Award:
2016
Mumbai-based writer Jerry
Pinto, Tamil author Vannadhasan, Hindi writer Nasira Sharma are among 24 others
declared the winners of the Sahitya Akademi awards 2016.
- Sharma’s Hindi novel Paarijat,
Pinto’s Em and the Big Hoom and Vannadhasan’s Oru Sru Isai won them the
literary honour.
- Among the winners are eight book of
poetry, seven books of short stories, five novels, two on criticism, one
of essays and one play.
- The books were chosen on the basis
of recommendations made by a jury of three in the languages concerned and
approved by its executive board.
Nirbhay missile
test “an utter failure”
A fourth flight-test of
subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at
Balasore in Odisha was “an utter failure”.
- Out of four Nirbhay missions so far, three have
ended in failure.
- The missile, conceived, designed and developed by the
DRDO, can take out targets 1,000 km away. It can carry a 300 kg warhead.
Hong Kong
revokes visa-free entry to Indians
Overstaying Indian nationals
violating visa norms prompted Hong Kong, a China-administered territory, to
alter its visa agreement with India.
- Hong Kong, which used to be part of a block of
countries that gave Indians unconditional visa-free entry, has introduced
“pre-registration” for Indian nationals to prevent illegal immigration.
- Under the previous visa agreement, Indian visitors
could visit the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for 14 days.
Nepal to hold
military exercise with China
Beginning a new level of
bilateral military engagement, Nepal will hold its first ever joint military
exercise with China on February 10.
- The focus of the military exercise, named Pratikar-1, will be on training Nepali forces in dealing with hostage scenarios involving international terror groups.
Japan successfully launches
solid fuel rocket
Japan's space agency has
announced successfully launched a 26-metre-long rocket named Epsilon-2, which
put a satellite that helps study radiation belts in orbit.
- Epsilon-2 is part of a new generation of solid
propellant rockets which can reduce launch costs up to one-third.
- Reduction in cost can allow countries to put more communication and weather satellites in space.
yanka 1st Indian to be made
Pantene's global ambassador
Actress Priyanka Chopra has
become the first Indian to be appointed as the global ambassador of the hair
care brand 'Pantene calling the brand a "favourite around the world.
SASTRA Ramanujan
prize for Radziwill, Matomaki
The 2016 SASTRA-Ramanujan
award for mathematics has been jointly given to Kaisa Matomaki and Maksym
Radziwill for their ‘revolutionary’ collaborative work on short intervals in
number theory.
- The award citation and the shared prize money of
$5,000.
Hrithik launches book series
for visually impaired children
Actor Hrithik Roashan has
launched a children's book series 'Tactabet', written in Braille format, which
is being published for visually impaired people.
- This book available in both Hindi and English, the book series is on the alphabets.
Mary Kom and
Vikas honoured at AIBA gala
M.C. Mary Kom and former
Asian Games gold medallist Vikas Krishan shone bright at the International
Boxing Association’s 70th anniversary gala in Montreux, Switzerland, picking up
different awards for their performances.
- Five-time world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Mary Kom was presented the AIBA Legends award for her trailblazing boxing career, Vikas was handed the APB (AIBA Pro Boxing) Best Boxer trophy.
ICC 2016 Awards:
