Daily Current affairs - May 13th, 2017 for all competitive exams
The government
has released the new series of WPI and IIP with new base year of 2011-12, a
long pending demand of the economists and experts.
Revisions in
the IIP are necessitated to maintain representativeness of the items and
producing entities and also address issues relating to continuous flow of
production data. In the past, such changes were effected at the time of a
revision in the base year.
- In the revised series,
WPI will continue to constitute three major groups namely primary
articles, fuel & power and manufactured products. There is increase in
number of items from 676 to 697. In all 199 new items have been added and
146 old items have been dropped.
- The new IIP series has
a total of 809 items occurring in the manufacturing sector in the item
basket (405 item groups), where 149 new items have been added and 124
items have been deleted from the 2004-05 series. The earlier series had
620 items (397 item groups) in the manufacturing sector.
28th meeting of Northern Zonal
Council meeting held at Chandigarh
The 28th
meeting of the Northern Zonal Council consisting of the States of Haryana,
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, National Capital
Territory of Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh was recently held at
Chandigarh under the Chairmanship of Shri Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister.
- The Zonal Council
discussed and deliberated upon 18 items of common interest among the
member states.
- The major items
discussed were ‘Need for fiscal and infrastructural harmony in Northern
States; Joint efforts for export of fruits, flowers and vegetables from
the States; Sharing of Water of various rivers of the region and also
hydropower among States.
- Zonal councils have
been established by the Parliament to promote interstate cooperation and
coordination. They are statutory bodies established under the States
Reorganisation Act 1956 and not constitutional bodies. They are only
deliberative and advisory bodies.
Aadhaar not mandatory for PAN, ITR in J&K,
Assam & Meghalaya: Govt
The government has exempted the residents
of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Meghalaya and citizens above 80 years
from mandatory quoting of Aadhaar to obtain PAN cards and file tax
returns.
- As per the official
notification of the Finance Ministry, the exemption has been
given to an individual who does not possess the Aadhaar number or the
enrolment ID.
- The exemption will
also apply on non-residents and non-citizens.
Measures
announced by the Government to curb the menace of online Child Sexual Abuse
Material
Based on the
consultations of the Inter-Ministerial Committee, the Ministry of Electronics
and Information Technology(MEITY) in collaboration with Ministry of Women and
Child Development has issued immediate interim measures to curb the menace of
Online Child Sexual Abuse Material.
- MEITY has issued this
Order under Section 79(2) (c) of the Information Technology Act 2000 to
curb online child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
- Under this order, the
Internet Service Providers(ISPs) shall be required to adopt and implement
the Internet Watch Foundation(IWF) Resources by 31st July 2017. This
foundation maintains a dynamic global list of websites and URLs which
contain CSAM. Implementation of IWF Resources will result in the relevant
content being blocked/removed on an ongoing basis.
- The Order of MEITY
also reiterates that the ISPs will continue to observe due diligence
requirements described under the IT Act for removing and disabling any
content which is in violation of the extant rules and regulations.
Derby
Air-to-Air Beyond Visual Range Missile:
Tejas, the
Light Combat Aircraft successfully demonstrated an Air-to-Air Beyond Visual
Range (BVR) missile firing capability by releasing Derby Air-to-Air BVR missile
in RADAR guided mode.
- The missile launch was
performed in Lock ON after Launch mode for a BVR target in the look down
mode and the target was destroyed.
- Debry is developed by
Israeli defence company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to meet the combat
needs of the armed forces.
- The Derby AAM can be
integrated onto a variety of fighter aircraft and Mirage and is capable of
engaging aerial threats from short ranges and near-beyond visual range.
Derby can also be configured as a surface-to-air missile (SAM).
Election Commission of India Launches National
Contact Centre
The Election Commission of India has
added feather to its cap with the launch of National Contact Centre
with a toll-free No. 1800111950.
- Now any citizen from
any part of the country can call 24*7 on the toll-free in English or Hindi
with any query or complaint at any time of the day.
- The National Contact Centre is operated on a National Grievance Redressal System Software.
Telangana first state with logo for hearing
impaired drivers
Telangana has introduced a logo for
identifying vehicles driven by persons with hearing impairment and has become
the first state in the country to do so.
- The state’s transport
department has finalized the logo designed by Hyderabad-based graphic
designer Manikanta Annapragada, who incidentally is the first person
to obtain a driving license in the ‘hearing impaired’ category.
Ahmedabad to host biggest ever International Yoga
Day event on June 21
Ahmedabad in Gujarat will host biggest
ever International Yoga Day event on the 21st of June announced by Yoga
Guru Baba Ramdev.
- Chief Minister of
Gujarat Mr. Vijay Rupani will inaugurate the event.
- The program will
be conducted in partnership with Gujarat government which will also
involve various social organizations.
Rajnath Singh launches mobile app for paramilitary
forces to lodge grievances
Union home minister Rajnath Singh launched a
mobile phone app 'MHA Mobile Application' to remain ‘just a click
away’ from troopers of all central forces to address their grievances.
- Rajnath Singh also
launched a dedicated app for BSF personnel named 'BSFMyApp'.
- The app provides the
mechanism to address issues related to pay, provident fund, leave or
deputation of the personnel. The app will also help troopers with
financial literacy.
India
to learn from London transport
India is set
to draw on the lessons from the strong public transport system in place in
London under an MoU signed recently between Transport for London (TfL) and
India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
- The agreement will
involve sharing expertise on the mobility and efficiency of India’s
transportation systems, as well as around logistical issues such as
planning and delivery.
- It will also cover
TfL’s experience in ticketing, providing information, financing and
infrastructure maintenance work, as well as promotion of the use of public
transport.
Officials
from Arctic nations to meet amid drilling concerns
High-level
officials from the world’s eight Arctic nations are meeting in Alaska amid
concerns about the future of the sensitive region after United States President
Donald Trump called for more oil drilling and development.
- No formal discussions
were set in Alaska on key issues such as climate change, development and
drilling. But those issues will provide a backdrop as the chairmanship of
the council passes from the US to Finland.
- The Arctic Council is
an advisory body that promotes cooperation among member nations and
indigenous groups. Its focus is on sustainable development and
environmental protection of the Arctic.
Bahamas elects Hubert Minnis as new prime minister
The Bahamas has elected Free National Movement's
Hubert Minnis as its new Prime Minister, defeating incumbent Progressive
Liberal Party's leader Perry Christie in a 34-5 parliamentary split.
Vinay Mohan Kwatra named India’s new ambassador to
France
Vinay Mohan Kwatra currently a joint
secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office has been appointed as the next
ambassador to France.
- Mr.
Vinay Mohan Kwatra has succeeded Mohan Kumar
Amitabh Bachchan appointed WHO Goodwill Ambassador
for Hepatitis
Bollywood superstar Amitabh
Bachchan has been appointed by the World Health Organisation as
its Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region to spread
awareness about the disease.
- This
is the first formal association between WHO and Amitabh Bachchan, who
served as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Polio in India.
Florence
Nightingale Awards:
The President
recently conferred Florence Nightingale Awards to 35 Nurses.
- The
Florence Nightingale awards are given to the outstanding nursing personnel
employed in Central, State/UTs.
- The
Florence Nightingale Awards carries Rs.50,000/- cash, a certificate, a
citation certificate and a Medal.
Forbes Middle East lists top 100 Indian business
leaders
Retail Mogul Yusuff Ali and Pepsico executive
Sanjeev Chadha are among the top 100 Indian business leaders in the Arab World
2017, according to a Forbes ranking for the Middle East.
- Ali, managing director of Lulu Group International topped the Indian business owners’ category and Chadha CEO of Asia, Middle East and Africa at PepsiCo International led the Indian executive’s category.
VVS Laxman awarded honorary life membership by MCC
VVS Laxman awarded with an honorary life
membership by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
- The elegant Hyderabad batsman becomes the fifth Indian to receive the honour after fellow stalwarts, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Zaheer Khan.
