Daily Current affairs - September 16th, 2017 for all competitive exams
September 16 was designated
by the United Nations General Assembly as the International
Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. This designation had been
made on December 19, 1995, in commemoration of the date, in 1987, on which
nations signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone
Layer.
- This year marks the 30th anniversary of the
Montreal Protocol.
- Theme: Caring for all
life under the sun
Aadhaar to be linked to
driving licence
Union Minister for
Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad announced that after
linking Aadhaar to PAN cards, the Union government would now link it with
driving licences as well.
- The measure would help check the menace of multiple
licences.
- Aadhaar represented digital identity, not physical
identity, and that digital identity confirmed physical identity
Ministry clarifies on FCRA
licence
The HRD Ministry clarified
that the institutions created through an Act of Parliament do not need an FCRA
licence to receive foreign funds.
- The Home Ministry has cancelled the FCRA licences of
several hundred organisations, including the Delhi University, Jawaharlal
Nehru University and IIT Delhi, for failing to file annual returns for
five consecutive years.
- Citing Section 50 of FCRA 2010, the statutory bodies
created though Central or state Acts are exempt.
Assam Assembly adopts resolution for Population Policy
Seeking to curb population explosion in the state, especially among
religious minority, through women empowerment in order to check increasing
demographic changes and pressure over limited resources, the Assam legislative
assembly has passed a government resolution for adopting a ‘Population and Women
Empowerment Policy of Assam’.
- The policy has a strict two-child policy for
government servants and elected/nominated representatives of panchayat,
municipal and statutory bodies, with stress on women
empowerment and awareness.
- The Policy seeks to empower women for making
learned choice regarding motherhood as it would lead to
better living conditions for the communities.
- The policy has provisions to bar people with
more than two children from contesting election for panchayat,
municipal and other statutory bodies and committees at the state level.
Bill to enhance salary of MLAs
tabled in Odisha
Four Bills were introduced
in the Odisha Assembly seeking enhancement of salaries, allowances and pensions
of Ministers, Speaker, Deputy Speaker and MLAs.
- Once the Bills are passed, a legislator would get
about Rs. 1 lakh per month as salary and allowances, while a minister will
get Rs. 97,000 and the Chief Minister would avail of Rs. 98,000.
- The monthly salary and allowances of the Speaker and
Deputy Speaker would be Rs. 97,500 and Rs. 95,000 per month respectively.
- The Government Chief Whip would draw a monthly
salary of Rs. 97,000 per month, while the Deputy Government Chief whip
would get Rs. 93,000.
Japan teams up with India for Northeast
A memorandum of understanding to set up India Japan Act East Forum with an aim to
marry India’s Act East Policy with Japan’s Free and Open Asia-Pacific strategy in the backdrop of China’s One Belt One Road initiative is
among the major agreements signed during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s
visit to India for the 12th Indo-Japan annual summit.
- The forum will enhance connectivity and promote
developmental projects in India’s Northeast region in an efficient and
effective manner.
India Signs Deal with JICA to Upgrade Alang-Sosiya
Shipyards
The Government of India has signed a loan deal worth $76 million with Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA), for a project to upgrade the
environment management plan at Alang-Sosiya ship recycling yards.
- The total cost of the project will be $ 111 million,
out of which $76 million will be provided as soft loan from JICA.
- Out of the remaining amount, $25 million as taxes
and fees will be borne by Government of Gujarat and the balance $10 million
will be shared by Ministry of Shipping & Government of Gujarat.
- The project will be executed by Gujarat Maritime
Board (GMB) and is likely to be completed by 2022.
N. Korea fires missile over
Japan
North Korea fired a
ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific, responding to new UN
sanctions with its furthest-ever missile flight in what analysts called a
demonstration of its ability to target Guam.
- The launch, from near Pyongyang, came after the
United Nations Security Council imposed an eighth set of measures on the
isolated country following its sixth nuclear test earlier this month.
- The blast was by far its largest to date and
Pyongyang said it was a hydrogen bomb small enough to fit onto a missile.
Oldest tree species on earth
in peril
The bristlecone pine tree,
famous for its wind-beaten, gnarly limbs and having the longest lifespan on
Earth, is losing a race to the top of mountains throughout the Western United
States, putting future generations in peril.
- Driven by climate change, a cousin of the tree, the
limber pine, is leapfrogging up mountainsides, taking root in warmer, more
favorable temperatures and leaving little room for the late-coming
bristlecone, a study finds.
- The bristlecone pine can live 5,000 years, making it
the oldest individually growing organism on the planet.
Snow leopard no longer ‘endangered’
The conservation status of snow leopard has been improved from “endangered” to
“vulnerable”. The decision was announced by the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – the global standard for
assessing extinction risk. The status change followed a three-year assessment
process by five international experts.
- However, experts have warned that the species still
faces serious threats from poaching and habitat destruction.
- The elegant yet elusive creatures, which live in the
mountains of central Asia, were first listed as endangered by the IUCN in
1972.
Successful Development Trials of Astra Missile
The final Development Flight Trials of Astra – Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile (BVRAAM) was conducted recently over the Bay of Bengal, Off
the Coast of Chandipur, Odisha. The trials were successful.
- The missions included engagement of target at very
long range, engagement of high manoeuvring target at medium range and
multiple launches of missiles in salvo to engage multiple targets.
- All the sub-systems including the indigenous RF
Seeker performed accurately, meeting all the mission parameters and
objectives.
- Astra is a Beyond-Visual Range, air-to-air
indigenously developed.
- The all-weather, radar homing missile has high
manoeuvrability and capability to engage and destroy aerial targets at
supersonic speeds.
- The 60-km plus range missile possesses Shot Kill
Probability (SSKP) making it one of the most reliable in its class of
weapon systems.
Rupee, gold widen current
account gap
A stronger rupee, in
addition to gold imports before the Goods and Services Tax regime kicked in,
has led to a sharp widening of the current account deficit (CAD) to $14.3
billion in the April-June period, which was 2.4% of the GDP. In the year
earlier period, the CAD was $0.4 billion, which was 0.1% of GDP.
- The current account deficit was $3.4 billion or 0.6%
of GDP, in the January-March period.
- According to latest data released by the Reserve
Bank of India, the widening of the CAD on a year-on-year basis was
primarily on account of a higher trade deficit ($41.2 billion) brought
about by a larger increase in merchandise imports relative to exports.
Forex reserves hit $400
billion
The country’s foreign
exchange reserves have touched $400 billion for the first time. Four years
after the rupee hit a historic low, the RBI’s forex kitty has swelled by more
than $125 billion.
- Data showed foreign exchange reserves rose by $2.6
billion from the previous week to $400.7 billion in the week ended
September 8. Foreign currency assets mainly contributed to the increase in
the period.
ICICI Bank offers 20% cashback
on home loans Offer on the bank’s credit, debit card customers
ICICI Bank will be offering
up to 20% cashback on home loans to its credit- and debit-card holders.
- The offer is open to customers with minimum spends
of Rs. 30,000 during the offer period — valid till November 30, on ICICI
Bank debit and credit cards.
- New customers or those transferring their loans to
ICICI Bank are eligible.
Four IIMs to get new chairmen
The Ministry of Human
Resource Development is set to appoint new chairmen for the Indian Institutes
of Management at Jammu, Ranchi, Tiruchirappalli and Shillong, and has zeroed in
on names for the positions.
- Camlin vice-chairman and executive director Shriram
S. Dandekar is set to be appointed chairman of IIM-Jammu. Chairman of Diamond
India Ltd Pravin Shankar Pandya is set to be the IIM-Ranchi chairman.
- IIM-Tiruchirapalli will also get a new chairman in
Jalaj Dani, who quit Asian Paints months ago. The head of S.K. Bajoria
Group, Shishir Bajoria, is set to be chairman of IIM-Shillong.
- The chairman of an IIM is an honorary, non-executive position.
