Daily Current affairs - August 1st, 2017 for all competitive exams
The Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill, 2017, providing for setting up of
a National Commission for Backward Classes, was recently passed by the
Rajya Sabha. The Bill was passed after dropping Clause 3.
- Clause 3 pertains to the insertion of a new
article 338B about the constitution and powers of the National Commission
for Backward Classes.
- The bill is meant to upgrade the Backward
Classes Commission from a statutory body to a constitutional body, which will give it powers equal to a court to summon people
and inquire into incidents of violence and discrimination against backward
classes.
Bill proposes eviction in
three days
Union Minister Rao Inderjit
Singh introduced the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants)
Amendment Bill, 2017, as the existing provisions allow the unauthorised
occupants to stay for years in some cases by resorting to various methods.
- The Bill provides powers to estate officials to
start summary eviction of people from the residences, which is given to
them on licence basis, within three days of their overstay.
- It says the estate officer does not have to follow
the elaborate procedures prescribed under the existing law, before passing
the eviction order.
5 chemicals banned in firecrackers
Ahead of the festive seasons of Dussehra and Deepavali, the Supreme Court
has prohibited the use of five chemicals, labelled as toxic by the Central
Pollution Control Board (CPCB), in the manufacture of firecrackers.
- The banned chemicals include antimony, lithium,
mercury, arsenic and lead in any form whatsoever.
- The responsibility to ensure compliance particularly
in Sivakasi is given to the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation
(PESO).
- The order came after the court heard the submissions
from officials of the CPCB and Petroleum and Explosive Safety
Organisation’s (PESO) Firework Research and Development Centre at Sivakasi
in Tamil Nadu.
Govt will investigate restaurants serving foods with
liquid nitrogen
The government will soon start investigating the issue of restaurants
serving food and drinks with liquid nitrogen in it.
- The Haryana government had recently banned the use
of liquid nitrogen, after a man had ended up with a hole in his stomach
after consuming a drink. The Haryana food and drugs administration
department issued an order under section 34 of Food Safety and Standards
Act, 2006 (Central Act 34 of 2006).
- Liquid nitrogen, which has a boiling point of
-195.8 degree Celsius, is used by molecular gastronomy chefs
to instantly freeze food and drinks.
- As it evaporates, liquid nitrogen
freezes everything around it, including tissues that come in contact with
it.
- According to experts, food and drinks
that are prepared with liquid nitrogen should be consumed only after all
the gas has bubbled off.
Pakistan yet to transition fully to MFN status for India
Pakistan is yet to award the most favoured nation (MFN) status to India and
it maintains a negative list of 1,209 items which are not permitted to be
imported from India. The neighbouring country allows only 137 products to be
exported from India through Wagah/Attari border land route.
- As per a World Trade Organisation (WTO) rule, every
member of WTO requires to accord this status to other member countries.
- India has already granted this status to all WTO
members including Pakistan.
Projects worth Rs 425 crore approved by NMCG
The Executive Committee of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has
approved seven projects worth Rs 425 crore in the sector of sewage
infrastructure, Ghat development and research.
- All the six projects will be provided with Operation
and Maintenance cost for 15 years by Central government and 100% central
assistance.
- The approved projects will be undertaken in Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar.
- National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) acted as
implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA) which was
constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act
(EPA),1986.
Snapdeal wants no deal with
Flipkart
e-commerce firm Snapdeal on
Monday called off the “exhausting process” of merger talks with rival Flipkart,
opting to compete in the cut-throat e-tail space on its own.
- The company has now decided to pursue an independent
path and is terminating all strategic discussions as a result.
5 lakh businesses opt for composition scheme under GST
Five lakh businesses have opted for the GST composition scheme, which
allows them to pay taxes at a concessional rate and makes compliance easy.
- The composition scheme is an alternative method
of levy of tax designed for small taxpayers whose turnover is up to Rs 75
lakh — Rs 50 lakh in the case of eight north-eastern states and the hilly
state of Himachal Pradesh. The objective behind it
is to bring simplicity and reduce the compliance cost for
small taxpayers.
SBI cuts savings deposit rate
by 50 bps to 3.5%
State Bank of India has
decided to revise the rate downward by 50 basis points to 3.5%, for deposits of
less than Rs. 1 crore. Deposits of Rs. 1 crore and above will continue to earn
4%.
- The new rate has been made effective from July 31.
- About 90% of SBI’s savings account holders will be
impacted due to the move. SBI has a savings account base of Rs. 9 lakh
crore.
- It was the first time since savings account interest
rates were deregulated in 2011.
RBI slaps Rs. 3 cr. fine on
Union Bank
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has slapped a penalty of Rs. 3 crore on State-run lender Union Bank of
India for non-compliance of Know Your Customer (KYC) norms in two separate
cases.
- One of them was based on media reports related to a
fraud in the bank, for which a penalty of Rs. 2 crore was imposed. In the
other case, RBI said it received a complaint regarding huge cash
withdrawals in certain accounts maintained with Union Bank of India, for
which a penalty of Rs. 1 crore was imposed.
Actor and playwright Shepard
takes last bow
Sam Shepard, the Pulitzer
Prize-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated actor whose celebrated career
spanned nearly five decades, has died.
- Shepard, who wrote nearly 50 plays, won the Pulitzer
for drama in 1979 for his play Buried
Child and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1984 for best
actor in a supporting role for The
Right Stuff .
Jeanne Moreau, French film
legend, dies at 89
French actor Jeanne Moreau,
who lit up the screen in Jules et Jim and starred in some of the most
critically-acclaimed films of the 20th century, has died.
- The actor epitomised the freedoms of the 1960s and
brought daring, depth and danger to a string of cinematic masterpieces
from Louis Malle’s Lift to the
Scaffold to Jacques Demy’s Bay
of Angels.
Dhrupad maestro Ustad
Sayeeduddin Dagar dies
Ustad Hussain Sayeeduddin
Dagar, maestro and custodian of the venerable Dhrupad tradition of Hindustani
classical music and a member of the eminent Dagar family, passed away.
- He was 78.
