Daily Current affairs - September 13th, 2017 for all competitive exams
The Cabinet also approved a
proposed law amendment to double the maximum gratuity payout to private sector
workers from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh.
- The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017, will
be introduced in Parliament soon to bring parity between public and
private sector workers.
- The government is of the view that the entitlement
of gratuity should be revised for employees who are covered under the
Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.
1% DA hike for Central
government staff
The Union Cabinet approved
the release of an additional 1% of dearness allowance (DA) to Central
government employees and dearness relief (DR) to pensioners. This will be applicable
retrospectively from July 1, 2017.
- The release of the additional installment of DA
represents an increase of 1% over the existing rate of 4% of the basic
pay/pension, to compensate for price rise.
- According to the government, the combined impact on the
exchequer on account of both DA and DR increases will be Rs. 3,068.26
crore per annum and Rs. 2045.50 crore in the financial year 2017-18 (for
the eight months from July 2017 to February 2018).
- This will benefit about 49.26 lakh Central
government employees and 61.17 lakh pensioners.
‘Cooling off’ period in
Hindu divorce can go: SC
The Supreme Court has
said, Hindu couples who have mutually agreed to separate need not wait anymore
for the mandatory “cooling off” period of six months before divorce.
- As per existence act, Once a couple moves a court of
law for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, they have to wait for a
minimum period of six months.
- Divorce by mutual consent was introduced as an
amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act in 1976. The
waiting period under Section 13B was mandated to prevent couples from
taking any hasty decision to end their marriage. Marriage is a sacrament
in Hinduism.
Cabinet approves MoU between
India and Morocco on cooperation in the field of health
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) between India and Morocco on cooperation in the field of
health.
- A Working Group will be set up to further elaborate
the details of cooperation and to oversee the implementation of this MoU.
Cabinet approves MoU between
India and Armenia on Cooperation in the field of Disaster Management
The Union Cabinet chaired has given its approval for signing of a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Armenia on Cooperation in
the field of Disaster Management
- The MoU would enhance cooperation in the field of
Disaster Management and contribute to the well-being and safety of the
people of both the countries in the event of disaster.
- It will also result in exchange of information in
the relevant fields of disaster management which is of mutual
interest.
Cabinet approves survey of
Un-appraised Areas of Sedimentary Basins of India
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for a
significant project to acquire 48,243 Line Kilometer (LKM) 2D seismic data for
appraisal of Indian sedimentary basins where limited data is available.
The project will help in increasing the investments in domestic production of oil and gas.
The project will help in increasing the investments in domestic production of oil and gas.
- The project will be implemented by NOCs, i.e. Oil
India Limited (OIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). OIL will
conduct survey in North - Eastern States while remaining area will be
covered by ONGC. Survey work will be carried out in 24 States.
Chakmas to be made citizens
Union government is all set
to give citizenship to over one lakh Chakma-Hajongs, Buddhists and Hindus who
fled to India in the 1960s to escape religious persecution in the Chittagong
Hill area of Bangladesh (undivided Pakistan then).
Home Minister Rajnath Singh
will chair a meeting, where a final decision to grant citizenship to the
Chakma-Hajongs will be taken.
- Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu will be
present at the meeting.
AYUSH Minister inaugurates
India’s first advanced Homoeopathy Virology lab in Kolkata
The Union Minister
of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge) Shri Shripad Yesso Naik inaugurated
India’s first State of art virology laboratory at Dr. Anjali Chatterjee
Regional Research Institute for Homoeopathy in Kolkata.
- This laboratory has been established to develop new
drugs and technologies in Homoeopathy to combat emerging challenges of
viral diseases.
Government Launches Hackathon
to Promote App Ideas
The Ministry of Electronics
and Information Technology (MeitY) launched a nationwide
Hackathon ‘OpenGovDataHack’ to support and showcase potential
ideas/talent from inner India.
- As part of the start-up eco-system development program, the National Informatics Centre (NIC)
and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) have collaborated
to conduct the Hackathon at Jaipur, Chennai, Noida, Bhubaneswar,
Patna, Hyderabad, and Surat.
Japan PM Shinzo Abe in
Ahmedabad for India-Japan Annual Summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
received his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe at Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
Mr. Abe is in India on a two-day visit to attend the India-Japan annual
summit meeting.
- The 12th edition of the summit will be held in
Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
- They will also attend a function to mark the
commencement of work of India’s first high-speed rail project between
Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
Varsities can now seek
‘eminence’ status
The University Grants
Commission announced the beginning of a 90-day application process for
universities — public and private — to seek the status of institutions of
eminence, which will provide them freedom from the regular regulatory
mechanisms.
- Twenty institutions — 10 public and 10 private —
will be given this status with the aim to give them freedom to become
world-class institutions.
- The 10 state-run institutions will have an
additional benefit — provision of Rs. 10,000 crore over a period of 10
years, over and above the regular grants. The aim of the scheme is to help
institutions break into the top 500 global rankings in 10 years, and then
break into the top 100 over time.
Mindtree opens first global
innovation hub in U.S.
Bengaluru-based technology
services and digital transformation company Mindtree, inaugurated its first international
Digital Pumpkin innovation hub located at its Warren, New Jersey office.
- The facility addresses the demand from Mindtree
clients in the U.S. for an interactive space where multidisciplinary teams
can ideate, design and craft meaningful digital experiences
Paytm Partners with NPCI
Paytm Payments Bank
(PPB) has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India
(NPCI) to launch a RuPay-powered digital debit card. With the
PPB Digital debit card, customers will now be able to transact at all merchants
who accept credit and debit cards.
- Existing Paytm users need to
complete a KYC process to become an account holder with PPB. Following
this, they will be issued a free digital RuPay card.
Bandhan appoints lead managers
Bandhan Bank has appointed
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JP Morgan Chase & Co., Axis Bank, JM Financial
and Kotak Mahindra Bank as lead managers to manage its proposed initial public
offering (IPO).
- The appointment had been cleared by the bank’s
board, although the size of the share sale, its timing and all other
related aspects had not yet been finalised.
- The final decision on the IPO would be subject to
obtaining all regulatory approvals. The bank had posted Rs. 1,111.95 crore
net profit for 2017-18.
CPI inflation quickens to
3.36%, IIP rises 1.2%
Retail inflation accelerated
to a five-month high of 3.36% in August, spurred by sharper increases in the
prices of food items particularly vegetables and fruits.
- Price gains measured by the Consumer Price Index
quickened from July’s 2.36%, as the food and beverages segment posted a
growth of 1.96% in August, compared with the 0.43% uptick in July.
- Manufacturing, grew only 0.1%. Still, this was an
improvement from June’s 0.4% contraction.
Apple unveils iPhone X
Apple on the 10th
anniversary of the iPhone at Cupertino in California unveiled its version of
the device, the iPhone X.
- “X” is pronounced 10, not the letter X. It loses the home button, which
revolutionised smartphones when it launched, offers an edge-to-edge screen
and will use facial recognition to unlock the phone.
Rs. 5, Rs. 100 coins to mark
MGR centenary
The Finance Ministry has
notified the minting of commemorative Rs. 100 and Rs. 5 coins to mark the birth
centenary of popular politician and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.G.
Ramachandran.
- This face of the coin shall bear the Lion Capital of
Ashoka Pillar in the centre with the legend Satyamev Jayate[in Hindi] inscribed below, flanked on the left
periphery with the word ‘Bharat’ in Devanagari script and on the right
periphery with the word ‘INDIA’ in English. It shall also bear the rupee
symbol ‘Rs.’ and the denominational value ‘100’ in International Numerals
below the Lion Capital.”
- The other side of the coin will bear the portrait of
Ramachandran, along with his name, and an inscription naming his birth
centenary on the lower periphery of the coin.
- The numerals ‘1917-2017’ will appear below the
portrait of Ramachandran. The design of the Rs. 5 coin will be similar to
that of the Rs. 100 coin.
- The Rs. 100 coin will weigh 35 grams and have 50%
silver in its composition.
- The Rs. 5 coin will be composed of copper, zinc and
nickel.
JNPCT wins “Container Terminal
of the Year” Award, 2017
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal (JNPCT) was awarded “Container
Terminal of the Year” Award for the above 0.6 million TEUs category at The
Gateway Awards 2017 held at Mumbai.
- The Jawaharlal Nehru Port owned JNPCT won the award
for its proactive strategies to ease congestion, smooth delivery of
containers and revamping of infrastructure to support trade amidst adverse
conditions.
Sri Lankan President Sacks
Deputy Tourism Minister
Sri Lankan President
Maithripala Sirisena has sacked his deputy Tourism
Minister Arundika Fernando for allegedly defying the party leadership.
- He is the second top Minister removed from the government in less than a month. The President’s Office stated Arundika Fernando has been dismissed from his portfolio with immediate effect.
