Current affairs : December 8, 2016 for all competitive exams
Important Union Cabinet
Approvals: 07 December 2016
1. Cabinet approves MoU with Afghanistan on cooperation in
peaceful uses of outer space
2. Cabinet approves MoU with United Kingdom UK to
support ease of doing business in India
3. India and United Kingdom (UK) MoU for
cooperation in field of Intellectual Property approved.
4. Cabinet approves Indo-Thai agreement on narcotics control.
MoU between India and
Afghanistan
The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval to the MoU between
India and Afghanistan on cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.
- The MoU envisages cooperation between the two
countries for application of space technologies in education, agriculture,
weather forecasting, telecommunications, rural health, sanitation and
urban development among others.
Expansion of the mandate of Delhi Mumbai Industrial
Corridor Project Implementation Trust Fund
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the expansion of the mandate
of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project Implementation Trust Fund
(DMIC-PITF Trust) and its re-designation as National Industrial Corridor
Development & Implementation Trust (NICDIT) for integrated development of
Industrial Corridors.
- NICDIT has also been permitted to utilize financial
assistance already sanctioned within extended period up to 31st March, 2022.
Centre to review fertilizer subsidy rates after 6 months
The government has approved the proposal of half-yearly review of
nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) rates for phosphatic and potassic (P&K)
fertilizers for 2016-17 against the present practice of annual review.
- The government has also decided to ensure that any
fall in international prices will be reflected by the fertilizer companies
with subsequent reduction in maximum retail prices.
- These moves are expected to result in increase in
consumption of P&K fertilizers which will result in balanced
fertilization.
India International Science Festival (IISF-2016)
inaugurated in New Delhi:
India International Science Festival (IISF-2016) was recently inaugurated.
It is the largest festival of science in this country with its focus on
“Science for the Masses”.
- India International Science Festival (IISF) as a
major science event was conceptualized last year. It was a great success
and also won the distinction of Guinness Book of World Record for
successful conduct of Largest Practical Science Lesson by 2000 school
students.
Five airports to
go ‘tag-free’ for hand baggage
The hand baggage tags will
not be necessary as the Civil Aviation Ministry has ordered that they could be
done away with, on a pilot basis, at Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and
Bangalore airports.
- The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which
looks after security at airports.
- In India, all cabin baggage must carry a tag which is rubber-stamped by security personnel once the baggage goes through the security scanner. This practice is not followed in the United States and European countries.
Centre mulls
licensing for ‘other tobacco items’
the proposal to bring the
manufacture of ‘other tobacco products’ such as khaini, tobacco blended pan
masala, hookah or gooduku tobacco, zarda, bidis and other chewable/eatable
tobacco related items under the ambit of compulsory licensing is under
consideration to address public health issues.
- In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said initial stakeholder consultations in this regard were held with the Central Board of Excise and Customs, Planning Commission, Department of Commerce, Tobacco Board, Ministry of Labour & Employment and others.
ED issues
summons to AirAsia India for FEMA violations
The Enforcement Directorate
has registered a case against AirAsia India for alleged violations of the
Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) regulations and issued summons to
officials of the airline.
- The agency started a preliminary investigation after taking cognisance of the allegations made in a Deloitte report, corporate governance issues raised by Cyrus Mistry and an article written by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, alleging terror links of an individual close to Air Asia.
PSLV-C36 Successfully Launches RESOURCESAT-2A Remote
Sensing Satellite
In its thirty eighth flight (PSLV-C36), ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle has successfully launched the 1,235 kg RESOURCESAT-2A Satellite from
the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.
- This is the thirty seventh consecutively successful mission of PSLV.
- RESOURCESAT-2A is a Remote Sensing satellite
intended for resource monitoring. It is a follow on mission to
RESOURCESAT-1 and RESOURCESAT-2, launched in 2003 and 2011 respectively.
SC seeks Parliamentary panel report on Lokpal amendments
The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to place before it a copy of the
report of a Parliamentary standing committee suggesting amendments to the
Lokpal law.
- The court is hearing a petition filed by NGO Common
Cause which has sought a direction to the Centre to make the appointment
of chairperson and members of Lokpal as per the amended rules framed under
Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.
Veterans Outreach Android App:
In an attempt to reach out to Army veterans, and create an interactive
mechanism, the government has launched a mobile app called “Veterans Outreach
App”. This will provide certain specific facilities to Army Veterans & Veer
Naris on their android based mobiles.
- The app was prepared under the Directorate of Indian Army Veterans (DIAV), which functions under the Adjutant General Branch and runs a web portal specifically meant for veterans and Veer Naris called ‘Indian Army Veterans Portal” (www. indianarmyveterans.gov.in ).
Hindi language in the top 10
most powerful languages
The World Economic Forum
(WEF) has named Hindi language ranked 10th in the top 10 most powerful
languages on the planet.
- The list features English as the most powerful
language followed by Mandarin.
- The index applied for the consensus took into
account various factors including geography, economy and diplomacy.
- The WEF further forecasted the list for 2050, with Hindi climbing one spot to ninth.
IOC, BPCL, HPCL join hands to
set up India's biggest oil refinery
Indian Oil Corporation,
Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corp have signed a pact to
build India's biggest oil refinery at a cost of $30 billion on the west
coast.
- The three firms signed the pact for the 60-million tonne a year refinery in Maharashtra with IOCBSE 2.78 % as leader of the consortium. The IOC will hold a 50 % stake in the project while BPCL and HPCL will have 25 % each.
Mahila E-haat ties up with
India Post, SBI
The Women and Child Development
Ministry has tied up with India Post and SBI.
- This will offer more payment options to buyers and
simplify shipping of products bought from "Mahila E-haat", an
online marketing platform for women entrepreneurs.
Donald Trump named TIME Person
of the Year 2016
The TIME magazine has named
US President-elect Donald Trump as Person of the Year 2016 and called him the
President of the 'Divided States of America'.
- The magazine cited his role for the stunning victory
in the US Presidential election.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the 11
candidates shortlisted by Time for its annual honour.
- Meanwhile, Modi won the online readers' poll conducted by Time magazine for Person of the Year 2016, the second time he emerged winner of the reader's choice poll.
Cho Ramaswamy,
editor of 'Thuglak', dies at 82
Cho S. Ramaswamy, political
commentator, theatre personality and editor of Thuglak, a Tamil magazine known
for its withering satire and fearless criticism of political figures, died.
- He was a lawyer by training and later branched into
theatre, films and finally to journalism.
- Winner of the B.D. Goenka award for excellence in journalism, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the BJP government and served as an MP from 1999 to 2005.
