Current affairs : January 28, 2017 for all competitive exams
Cyber
security is a growing concern. Data Privacy Day is observed every January 28 as
a reminder to protect and safeguard private data.
- Data Privacy Day was first
initiated by the Council in Europe in 2007.
- The purpose of Data Privacy Day is
to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best
practices.
- It is currently observed in the United
States, Canada, India and 47 European countries.
CWC Signs MoU with IIT Madras and IIS Bengaluru
Central Water Commission (CWC) under the Ministry of Water Resources River
Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has signed two separate MoUs with IIT Madras
and IIS Bengaluru.
- This will help them for the procurement of specified equipment and software for enhancing their capability to support dam rehabilitation efforts of CWC.
150-year-old
British era forest track in Seshachalam reopened
The
50-km forest road laid by the British across valleys, slopes and peaks of
Seshachalam hills spread over Chittoor and Kadapa districts has been reopened.
- The 150-year-old road between
Railway Kodur and Tirumala hills saw its glory during 1870-1940. The road
used to command an area of over 75,000 hectares, besides connecting almost
all vital forest routes in the Seshachalam hills, covering Pulibonu,
Talakona, Chamla valley in Chittoor district, and Rajampeta and Kadapa
divisions.
99% of Indians over 18 now have Aadhaar cards
Over 99% of Indians aged 18 and above now have Aadhaar cards as more than
111 crore residents have enrolled themselves for the unique identification
number.
- The increase in enrolments will
come as a boost to the government’s drive to make India a less-cash
society as it is encouraging the use of AadhaarPay, a merchant version of
Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AEPS).
Soldiers
can now WhatsApp Army Chief
With
several soldiers publicly airing their grievances on social media, the Chief of
the Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat, has announced a WhatsApp number through
which soldiers can complain to him directly.
- The number, 9643 300008, has been
put out in the public domain.
Nalanda
University gets new Chancellor
Dr.
Vijay Bhatkar, the man behind India’s first supercomputer, the Param series, is
to be the new Chancellor of Nalanda University. He will replace George Yeo,
former Foreign Minister of Singapore, who quit after the Board of the
University was reconstituted, saying he had not been consulted before it took
place.
- Dr. Bhatkar studied at the Indian
Institute of Technology (Delhi) and the Maharaja Sayaji Rao
University.
- He was the driving force behind
the the Indian supercomputer, the Param series, and made it available to
the Garuda grid on the National Knowledge Network.
- He received the Padma Bhushan in
2015 in the field of science and technology.
Trade war
looms as Trump mulls tariffs to fund wall
U.S.
government has announced 20 per cent tariff on imports from southern neighbour
Mexico is among the ideas under consideration to fund a border wall between the
two countries.
- The order was issued without any
calculation of costs or timeline. The U.S.-Mexico border is 3,200 km long
and nearly one third of it has barriers of some sort.
- Imports to the U.S. from Mexico in 2015 were valued at $316.4 billion.
Trump, May
renew ‘special’ U.S.-Britain bond
President
Donald Trump and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May met to renew what the new
U.S. leader described as the “most special relationship” between their nations.
- A new trade treaty with the United
Kingdom would on the agenda in Mr. Trump’s meeting with Prime Minister
Theresa May, his first meeting with a foreign leader. Both leaders are
supporters of bilateral trade treaties as opposed to multilateral ones.
Seven new countries join BEPS agreement
Seven jurisdictions – Lithuania, Gabon, Hungary, Indonesia, Malta,
Mauritius and the Russian Federation – have signed a tax co-operation
agreement, the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for
Country-by-Country Reporting (CbC MCAA), to enable automatic sharing of
country-by-country information. Now, the total number of signatories has
increased to 57.
- The CbC MCAA, which aims to boost
transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), allows signatories to
bilaterally and automatically exchange country-by-country reports, as part
of Action 13 of the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) Action Plan.
Competition
panel okays Reliance-Dassault JV
The
Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the proposed joint venture
between Anil Ambani-led Group firm Reliance Aerostructure and Rafale-maker
Dassault Aviation, one of the major deals in India’s private defence
industry.
- The combination relates to the setting up of a joint
venture between Reliance Aero and Dassault - Dassault Reliance Aerospace
Ltd, in which Reliance Aero would hold 51% shares, with the remaining 49%
to be held by Dassault.
Centre says GAAR effective April 1, industry demurs
The Centre has reiterated that the General Anti Avoidance Rules – aimed at
curbing tax avoidance – will come into force on April 1, ignoring industry’s
suggestion to defer the rules on account of uncertainty over their
applicability and to provide adequate time to prepare for the new regime.
- The General Anti-Avoidance Rule
was introduced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his Budget with the
objective to “counter aggressive tax avoidance schemes.”
- It empowers officials to deny the
tax benefits on transactions or arrangements which do not have any
commercial substance or consideration other than achieving tax benefit.
Loss making Indian Railways to rent out hill trains to
private players
The Indian Railways is planning to start leasing out its standalone
passenger corridors and branch lines to private companies for operations and
maintenance, marking the beginning of corporate participation in the running of
the world’s fourth largest railroad network.
- Largely unprofitable routes
linking Kalka and Shimla, Siliguri and Darjeeling, the NilgiriBSE 0.00 %
mountains with the plains, Neral and Matheran, and the Kangra Valley
railways would be among the first the government will likely choose to bid
out to private operators.
6 balls, 6
wickets and 2 hat-tricks--an Aussie bowler's perfect over
An Australian cricketer
has done the unthinkable--taken six wickets in six deliveries!
- 29-year-old Australian
bowler Aled Carey playing for Golden Point against East
Ballarat, in a Ballarat Cricket Association fourth-team fixture
bowled the incredible over.
- On the very first delivery, he
dismissed the batsman for a catch to the first slip while the second
delivery also dismissed the batsman when he was caught behind by the
wicket-keeper. The third batsman was dismissed leg-before-wicket as Carey
celebrated his hat-trick.
