Daily Current affairs - June 16th, 2017 for all competitive exams
Entities from countries where Indian suppliers are not
allowed to participate or compete in bids for government procurement, may be
restricted or excluded from public procurement tenders in India.
- Such a
provision, relating to “reciprocity,” has been included in the Indian
government’s new policy to encourage ‘Make in India’ by granting
preference to local suppliers in public procurement.
- A five-member
committee chaired by the Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy
and Promotion has been set up to oversee the implementation of the policy.
The committee “may assess issues, if any, where it is felt that the manner
of implementation of the order results in any restrictive practices,
cartelisation or increase in public expenditure and suggest remedial
measures.”
- The policy —
approved by the Cabinet last month — is aimed at boosting domestic
manufacturing and services, thereby creating employment and enhancing
income, as well as to stimulate the flow of capital and technology into
domestic manufacturing and services.
India climbs to 60 in
innovation ranking
India moved six places to rank 60 among 130 countries and
is the top-ranked economy in Central and Southern Asia on the Global Innovation
Index (GII) 2017. It was ranked 66 last year.
- Switzerland,
Sweden, the Netherlands, the U.S. and the U.K. retain the top spots as the
world’s most-innovative countries.
- The Global
Innovation Index 2017 (GII), in its 10th edition this year, will be
released June 15, and continues to be co-published by Cornell University,
INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, an agency
of the United Nations).
- The Global
Innovation Index (GII) aims to capture the multi-dimensional facets of
innovation and provide the tools that can assist in tailoring policies to
promote long-term output growth, improved productivity, and job
growth.
Israeli author David Grossman
wins Man Booker International Prize 2017
Israeli author David Grossman has won
the Man Booker International Prize 2017 for his novel `A Horse Walks Into a Bar'.
- Grossman beat
out five other finalists, including fellow Israeli author Amos Oz for the
counterpart to Britain's prestigious Booker Prize.
- Grossman's
novel is about a failing standup comic and his final performance. The
Award has a prize of 50,000 pounds ($64,000) that is split evenly between
Grossman and translator Jessica Cohen.
Karnataka man named global
terrorist
The fugitive chief recruiter for the Islamic State (IS)
in the Indian subcontinent, Mohammed Shafi Armar, was named a ‘Specially
Designated Global Terrorist’ by the U.S.
- He becomes
the first Indian leader of the dreaded terror outfit against whom America
has slammed sanctions.
Senate passes sanctions bill
targeting Iran, Russia
U.S. Senate approve a sweeping sanctions bill that
punishes long-time adversaries Iran and Russia with an array of financial
penalties.
- The
bipartisan legislation passed overwhelmingly, 98-2, more than five months
after U.S. intelligence agencies determined Moscow had deliberately
interfered in the 2016 presidential campaign.
- The bill
would require a congressional review if President Donald Trump attempts to
ease or end penalties against Moscow.
CAD widens to $3.4 billion in
Q4
The current account deficit widened in the fourth quarter
of 2016-17 to $3.4 billion or 0.6% of the GDP from $ 0.3 billion or 0.1% of the
GDP during the same period of the previous financial year.
- The gap
narrowed when compared to the third quarter of 2016-17 when it was $8
billion or 1.4% of the GDP, according to latest data released by the
RBI.
- The widening
of the CAD on a year-on-year basis was primarily on account of a higher
trade deficit ($29.7 billion) brought about by a larger increase in
merchandise imports relative to exports
RIL-BP to invest $6 billion in
Krishna Godavari basin
Reliance Industries, along with partner BP Plc., has
decided to invest $6 billion in the controversial KG-D6 gas block to bring new
gas to production even as earlier $9 billion of investments in the block saw
production falling to over one-tenth of an anticipated 80 mmscmd (million
metric standard cubic metres per day).
- The investments are aimed at developing about three trillion cubic feet of resources that will result in production of an additional 30-35 million cubic meters of gas every day over three to five years.
Former CJI P N Bhagwati passes
away
Former Chief Justice of India P.N. Bhagwati, considered a
pioneer of judicial activism in the country for introducing the concept of
pils, died.
- The 17th
Chief Justice of India, Bhagwati remained on the highest judicial post
between July 1985 and December 1986. He was a former Chief Justice of the
Gujarat High Court and was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court in July
1973.
- As a Supreme Court judge, Bhagwati introduced the concepts of public interest litigation (PIL) and absolute liability to the Indian judicial system.
