Daily Current affairs - July 27th, 2017 for all competitive exams
The Union Cabinet has approved the new wage code bill which will ensure a minimum wage across
all sectors by integrating four labour related laws. The proposed legislation
is expected to benefit over 4 crore employees across the country. Labour
is on the concurrent list.
- The Labour Code on Wages Bill will consolidate the
Minimum Wages Act, 1948; the Payment of Wages Act, 1936; the Payment of
Bonus Act, 1965; and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
- The bill seeks to empower the Centre to set a
minimum wage across all sectors in the country and states will have to
maintain that. However, states will be able to provide for higher minimum
wage in their jurisdiction than fixed by the central government.
- The new minimum wage norms would be applicable for
all workers irrespective of their pay. At present, the minimum wages fixed
by the Centre and states are applicable to workers getting up to Rs 18,000
pay monthly.
PM Modi inaugurates APJ Abdul
Kalam’s memorial in Rameswaram
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
inaugurated the former President, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam’s memorial at
Pei Karumbu in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu on the second death
anniversary of the former President. Mr. Modi unveils a statue of Dr.
Kalam and hoisted the National flag at the memorial.
- Mr. Modi will flag off Kalam Sandesh Vahini, an
exhibition bus which will travel across the country and reach Rashtrapati
Bhavan on 15th of October, which marks the birth anniversary of the former
President.
States can’t enact law on parliamentary secretaries: SC
The Supreme Court has ruled that state assemblies hold no power to enact a law that enables them to
appoint parliamentary secretaries.
- The ruling came on a plea challenging the
appointment of 13 MLAs as parliamentary secretaries by the Assam government
in 2015.
- The verdict would also have an impact on the Aam
Aadmi Party government’s decision to appoint 21 MLAs as parliamentary
secretaries. The Delhi High Court too had quashed their appointments,
saying ‘it lacked the approval of the lieutenant governor’.
- The question posed before the court was
whether Article 194(3) and Entry 39 of List II of the 7th Schedule authorised the state legislature to make the impugned
Act. Entry 39 indicates the field of legislation regarding the
powers, privileges, and immunities of the house of legislatures.
Madras High Court makes Vande
Mataram mandatory in Schools, Govt. and Private Offices
The Madras High Court ruled
that Vande Mataram should be sung in all schools and colleges across the
state “at least once a week”, and in government and private
offices “at least once a month”.
- Issuing the order, Justice M V Muralidharan stated,
Considering the larger public interest and to instil a sense of patriotism
in each and every citizen of the state, the national song ‘Vande Mataram’
shall be played and sung in all schools/ colleges/ universities and other
educational institutions at least once a week (preferably on Monday or
Friday).
Policy boosts care for blood disorders
The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry’s recently released a policy on the Prevention
and Control of haemoglobinopathies in India. With this, people living with
thalassaemia, sickle cell anaemia and other haemoglobin disorders can now look
forward to better screening and treatment.
- The policy aims at creating treatment protocol
benchmarks, to improve the quality of life of patients.
- It is also a guide on prevention and control, which
includes antenatal and prenatal testing to reduce the incidence of live
haemoglobin disorder births.
- Using public health awareness programmes and
education, it highlights various haemoglobinopathies.
Niti Aayog clears six proposals for high-tech public
transport
Niti Aayog has cleared proposals of the transport ministry exploring
options to improve public transport. These proposals include mass rapid
transportation technologies such as hyperloop, metrino and pod taxis.
- Following the go-ahead, the transport ministry has
formed a six member committee, headed by a former top official of
Railways, to study safety parameters associated with these technologies
and global practices.
- These new technologies are path breaking and can
alter the way of intercity travel in the country.
Scientists to chase solar eclipse using NASA jets
In a first, scientists are planning to chase the shadow of the Moon using
NASA’s research jets during the upcoming total solar eclipse in the US, in
order to capture the clearest ever images of the Sun’s outer atmosphere.
- The jets will capture the clearest images of the
Sun’s corona to date and the first-ever thermal images of Mercury,
revealing how temperature varies across the planet’s surface.
Petrol, diesel cars face ban
in U.K.
Britain will join other
European nations in plans to ban diesel and petrol-fuelled cars in the coming
decades, in a move designed to force a shake up within the auto industry as
governments seek to deal with high levels of air pollution and climate change.
- New diesel and petrol cars will be banned by 2040,
as part of a package of measures designed to improve air quality in
Britain, and meet tough EU rules on emissions, particularly around
nitrogen dioxide emissions.
Microsoft launches ‘Made for
India’ Kaizala app
Technology
giant Microsoft has officially launched ‘Kaizala’, a productivity app
that has been designed to enhance the collaboration and communication
experience for Indian enterprises.
- The ‘Made for India’ app is designed for
large group communications and work management and works even on 2G
networks.
- The product will make it possible for organizations
to interact with people within the organization as well as outside like
partners and vendors in a seamless manner.
In a first ever, Nifty closes
above 10,000
The 50-share benchmark Nifty
closed above the psychological mark of 10,000 for the first time ever, with
overall positive trends in global markets and gains in select index
heavyweights pushing equity indices to a new high.
- The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE)
gained 56.1 points to close at 10,020.65. Intraday, the index touched a
high of 10,025.95.
India’s Alternate Governor on the Board of Governors of
the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA),
Ministry of Finance, Government of India has been appointed as India’s
Alternate Governor on the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank
(ADB), Manila, Philippines.
- ADB is a regional development bank established on 22
August 1966 and is headquartered in Philippines.
- It aims to facilitate economic development of
countries in Asia. It also aims for an Asia and Pacific free from poverty.
Aboriginal music icon dead
World-renowned indigenous
singer Gurrumul Yunupingu has died after a “long battle with illness” aged 46.
- Born blind, the reluctant star never gave any
interviews and was painfully shy, but his music drew worldwide acclaim,
despite the fact that he performed in his Gumatj dialect which is
understood by only around 3,000 people.
Dharam Singh, former Karnataka
CM passes away
N. Dharam Singh, former
Chief Minister of Karnataka, passed away following a heart attack. He was
80. He was the 17th Chief Minister of the state. He headed the
Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government from May 2004 to February
2006.
- Dharam Singh represented the Karnataka Legislative Assembly seven times without a defeat and was a member of the Lok Sabha from Bidar constituency once (2009).
