Daily Current affairs - June 29th, 2017 for all competitive exams
The International Day of the
Tropics celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the tropics while
highlighting unique challenges and opportunities nations of the Tropics face.
- It
provides an opportunity to take stock of progress across the tropics, to
share tropical stories and expertise and to acknowledge the diversity and
potential of the region.
Govt. unveils new hydrocarbon
policy
Petroleum Minister
Dharmendra Pradhan introduced a new oil and gas block licensing policy that is
expected to open up 2.8 million square kilometres of sedimentary basins to
exploration and production activities.
- The
lack of seismic sedimentary basin data had been hampering the oil and gas
exploration and production sector, the minister said, adding that 52% of
India’s sedimentary basins had not been appraised as yet.
Niti Aayog moots new regulator
for coal, gas
Niti Aayog has suggested
creation of regulators for coal as well as oil and gas.
Coal and upstream petroleum
sectors have lacked independent, statutory regulators.
- Due
to several reasons, including strong presence of PSUs and limited number
of private operators, it was so far not found useful to place the latter
in position.
- Hence,
the regulators need to devote considerable attention to development of
supply.
Swasth Saarthi Abhiyaan (SSA)
Swasth Saarthi Abhiyaan (SSA) was recently inaugurated.
- The
SSA event is a unique initiative to address the major issues being faced
by public transport drivers, with almost all of them being users of CNG.
European film fete comes to Goa
In its 22nd edition this
year, the European Union Film Festival (EUFF) brings 22 award-winning European
films to Goa.
- This
year, the festival will screen movies from varied genres ranging from
comedy to gripping family drama.
- The
event will run till July 8. The Goa Entertainment Society (ESG) is hosting
the festival with the Delegation of the European Union to India.
China commissions biggest new
generation destroyer ship
China’s Navy launched its
biggest new generation destroyer weighing 10,000 tonnes as part of the
Communist giant’s ambitious plans to become a global naval power.
- The
new destroyer, domestically designed and built, was launched in Shanghai.
It is equipped with new air defence, anti-missile, anti-ship and
anti-submarine weapons
Sri Lanka, India to set up
solar unit soon
Sri Lanka will soon
kick-start the process of setting up a solar power plant in eastern port town
Trincomalee after discussions with India, which is partnering the Government in
the initiative.
- In
April this year, the governments of Sri Lanka and India signed a
Memorandum of Understanding, for cooperation in a host of development
projects including the setting up of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant
in suburban Colombo and a solar power plant in Sampur, Trincomalee.
NASA completes QueSST:
NASA has completed the preliminary design review of its Quiet Supersonic
Transport or QueSST aircraft design.
- QueSST
is the initial design stage of the agency’s planned Low Boom Flight
Demonstration (LBFD) experimental airplane, otherwise known as an X-plane.
Aadhaar-PAN linkage must from
July 1
The Income Tax Department
issued a notification making it mandatory for all those eligible for an Aadhaar
card to link it to their Permanent Account Number (PAN) from July 1, 2017.
- There
are currently about 25 crore PAN card holders in the country and 115 crore
Aadhaar holders. About 2.07 crore taxpayers have already linked their
Aadhaar with PAN, according to the government.
GSAT 17 launched from French Guiana
With French rocket Ariane-5 successfully launching
the 3,477-kg satellite from French Guiana, India has added GSAT-17 to its
existing fleet of 17 communication satellites. Besides GSAT-17, Ariance-5 also
put into space Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN, a “condosat” for Inmarsat and
Hellas Sat.
- The
satellite has been inducted into the Indian National Satellite
(INSAT)/GSAT system. It carried payloads in the normal C, extended C and S
bands, providing various communication services.
- It
was launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
- GSAT-17
also has equipment for meteorological data relay and satellite-based
search and rescue services being provided by earlier INSAT satellites.
CBDT entered into Five Unilateral Advance Pricing
Agreement
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into Five
Unilateral Advance Pricing Agreement with Indian taxpayers. A Bilateral Advance
Pricing Agreement involving United Kingdom has also been signed.
- The
APAs signed pertain to healthcare, information technology and
gaming/animation (media) sectors of the economy.
- The
APA Scheme endeavours to provide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transfer pricing by specifying the methods of pricing and
determining the arm’s length price of international
transactions in advance for the maximum of five future years.
Rajesh V. Shah appointed as NIFT Chairperson
The Union Government has appointed Shri Rajesh V. Shah as Chairperson on
the Board of Governors of the National Institute of Fashion Technology as per
the provisions of the National Institute of Fashion Technology Act, 2006.
- National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) is a fashion institute in India. It was set up in 1986 under the aegis of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.
