Daily Gk 6th July 2017

Current affairs for IBPS RRB,RBI,DENA BANK,SSC CGL,UPSC,AFCAT

National

5th Meeting of BRICS Education Ministers held in Beijing, China

• Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Education was held on 
• 5th July, 2017 at Beijing, China. The Indian delegation was led by Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Human Resource Development. Delegation of all the five BRICS countries participated in the two-day deliberations.
• Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash Javadekar appreciated the creation of institutional mechanism in the form of BRICS Network University and BRICS Think Tank Council.
• Minister Javadekar highlighted some of the initiatives of the Govt. of India in education. He specifically spoke about the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), India’s indigenous MOOCs platform, SWAYAM, GIAN (Global Initiative for Academics Network) , India’s research initiative, IMPRINT, which identifies priority areas for research for India and National Digital Library, which provides over 7.2 million online resources free of cost and is ever expanding National Academic Depository (NAD), Smart India Hackathon, which involved over 40000 students in solving over 300 problems received from various sources.

'MERIT app and e-Bidding portal for utilization of domestic coal in IPP Power Stations for reducing the cost of power generation launched

• Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal launched the 'MERIT app (Merit Order Despatch of Electricity for Rejuvenation of Income and Transparency)' and the e-bidding portal for providing e-Bidding solution to States to select Independent Power Producers (IPPs) for procurement of power by transferring their domestic coal under the scheme of flexibility in utilization of domestic coal.

·         The advantages of MERIT app are as follows:

·         Empowerment of the Consumer and participative governance, Transparent information dissemination pertaining to marginal variable cost and source wise purchase of electricity ,Promotes economy and efficiency in operations, Helps understand the utility portfolio and its complexity, Optimization of the power procurement costs, Facilitates renewable integration and handling of the variability and uncertainty of renewable, Indication of supply side reliability, adequacy, and co, The flexibility in utilization of domestic coal scheme envisages transferring coal to more efficient IPPs generating stations, leading to lower generation costs and ultimately lesser cost of electricity for the consumers.

Presidential assent for Kambala Bill

·         All the hurdles for resuming Kambala — the traditional slush-track buffalo race of the coastal districts of Karnataka — are cleared with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2017, finally getting Presidential assent.

·         The Legislative Assembly passed the Bill in February 2017 to put the traditional sport out of the ambit of PCA Act. Governor Vajubhai R. Vala then referred the Bill to the President for his assent.

Formalise Election Commissioners’ appointment through law: Supreme Court tells Centre

·         Noting that appointments of election commissioners in the country has so far been “very, very fair and politically neutral”, the Supreme Court observed on July 5, 2017 that there is however a legitimate expectation in the Constitution of India that Election Commissioners, who are charged with the free and fair conduct of polls in a democracy, should be appointed through a “most transparent and just process” formalised by a law enacted by the Parliament.

·         The Bench of Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar and D.Y. Chandrachud pointed out that there is a “gap” due to the lack of a parliamentary law which transparently spells out the eligibility, criteria required for a person to be an election commissioner.

·         “Who should be short-listed? Who short-lists these names? What is the eligibility? There is nothing to show the procedure followed in selecting them,” Justice Khehar observed.

·         The Chief Justice said that even the selection procedure of the CBI Director is formalised by a written law, but not that of Election Commissioners.

·         “Though it is very complimentary that outstanding people have been appointed so far, there is still a legitimate expectation in the Constitution that a law should be made on the selection process,” Justice Khehar observed.

Linking Aadhaar and PAN is not mandatory for all. Read who all are exempt

• It has now become mandatory for you to link your PAN with Aadhaar with effect from July 1, 2017, as per the income tax laws. However, the government has exempted certain class of individuals from linking these two documents subject to certain conditions.
• Even before the Supreme Court Judgement was announced upholding the legality of section 139AA, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had, in its notification dated May 11, 2017 clarified the categories of individuals who are exempted from compulsorily linking their PAN with Aadhaar by exempting them from the purview of Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act.
• CBDT has notified that Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act is not applicable to the following individuals: 
  (i) Those categorised as Non-resident Indians as per the Income Tax Laws 
  (ii) Not a citizen of India 
  (iii) Is of age 80 years or more at any time during the tax year 
  (iv) Residents of the states of Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir
• The above mentioned categories of Individuals are exempted from the purview of section 139AA i.e. exempted from compulsory linking of PAN and Aadhaar, only if they do not possess Aadhaar or Aadhaar Enrolment ID.

Flood situation in Assam remains grim, over 3.5 lakh people hit; two dead

• With over 3.5 lakh people affected in 13 districts of Assam, the flood situation in the state continues to be grim. Incessant rains has triggered the floods and lanslides in the Northeast. 
• A six-year-old girl was drowned  when a landslide buried her house in Guwahati while another girl was killed in Assam as floods and landslides continued to disrupt life in the state.

International

India, Israel to set up $40 mn research fund

• India and Israel announced a strategic partnership between the two countries after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, and signed seven agreements in the fields of water, agriculture, space, including a $40 million joint fund for research and development in innovation.
• The fund of research and development, called the “I4F” or India Israel Industrial Innovation Fund, will see both governments contribute $20 million to help research scholars manufacture their inventions easily.
• At a meeting earlier with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Mr. Modi also coined the term “I4I” or “India for Israel”, as a response to Mr. Netanyahu’s formula of “Indian talent and Israeli technology equals India-Israel ties for tomorrow.”
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the setting up of an Indian Cultural Centre in Israel as part of efforts to enhance people-to-people contacts between the two countries.

Pakistan launches surface-to-surface ballistic missile ‘Nasr’

•  Pakistan has successfully test fired short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile 'Nasr', which army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa said has put "cold water" on Indian military's "Cold Start" doctrine.
•  'Nasr' is a high-precision weapon system with the ability to be deployed quickly, the army said.
• "Nasr has put cold water on (the) Cold Start (doctrine)," Gen Bajwa said taking a jibe at Indian Army after the training launch of the short-range missile Nasr at an undisclosed location. Cold Start is a military doctrine developed by the Indian Armed Forces for use in a likely war with Pakistan.

Arab states angry over Qatar’s dismissal of their demands

·         Four Arab nations seeking to isolate Qatar over its alleged support for extremist groups were angered by what they said was a “negative” response by the tiny Gulf nation to their demands for ending the crisis roiling the region.

·         Doha’s response, they said, was “not serious” and betrayed Qatar’s “failure” to realise the gravity of the situation.

·         The announcement followed a meeting by Foreign Ministers from the four nations, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in Cairo, shortly after they said they had received Doha’s reply.

·         The four accuse Qatar of supporting terror groups and also of maintaining close relations with Shia power Iran — Saudi Arabia’s nemesis. They also say Qatar must stop meddling in their affairs.

Economy

NSE to auction investment limits for over Rs. 20 crore govt bonds

·         National Stock Exchange (NSE) will auction investment limits for overseas investors to purchase government debt securities worth over Rs 20,000 crore.

·         The debt auction quota gives overseas investors the right to invest in the debt up to the limit purchased.

·         The total investment in government debt has reached Rs 1,68,143 crore till July 3, 90.94 % of the total permitted limit of Rs 1,84,901 crore, according to the latest data available with depositories.

·         Consequently, the exchange has decided to conduct an auction for the allocation of unutilised debt limit to the tune of Rs 20,397 crore.

The Ministry of Finance clarifies definition of ‘branded’ items for GST

·         The Ministry of Finance clarified that for the purposes of Goods and Services Tax (GST) applicability, an item will be deemed to be ‘branded’ if it carries a brand name or trade name that is registered under the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

·         The Ministry was trying to allay the confusion around the definition of a branded product, since several unbranded food items are exempt from GST while their branded variants fall in the 5% tax bracket.

·         “Doubts are being raised as to the meaning of registered brand name,” an official statement said. “In this context, the notification… clearly defines ‘registered brand name’ as brand name or trade name, which is registered under the Trade Marks Act, 1999. In this regard, Section 2 (w) read with section 2 (t) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 provide that a registered trade mark means a trade mark which is actually on the Register of Trade Marks and remaining in force.”

·         “Thus, unless the brand name or trade name is actually on the Register of Trade Marks and is in force under the Trade Marks Act, 1999, CGST rate of 5% will not be applicable on the supply of such goods,” the statement added.

All Volvo cars will be electric or hybrid from 2019

·         All Volvo car models launched after 2019 will be electric or hybrids, the Chinese-owned company Geely said and making it the first major traditional automaker to set a date for phasing out vehicles powered solely by the internal combustion engine.

·         The Sweden-based company will continue to produce pure combustion-engine Volvos from models launched before that date, but its move signals the eventual end of nearly a century of Volvos powered solely that way.

India to be base to economic pole of global growth: Study

• India will be the base to the economic pole of global growth over the coming decade, remaining ahead of China, according to a Harvard University research.
• The study also warns of a continued slowdown in global growth over the coming decade. India and Uganda top the list of the fastest growing economies to 2025, at 7.7 per cent annually.
• "The economic pole of global growth has moved over the past few years from China to neighbouring India, where it is likely to stay over the coming decade," new growth projections presented by researchers at Center for International Development at Harvard University (CID) said.

Sports

India clinches Asian championship

·         Pankaj Advani teamed up with Laxman Rawat to demolish Pakistan in the final of the Asian Team Snooker Championship.

·         Advani drew first blood by putting on a sterling performance against Mohammad Bilal.

Women's World Cup: India beats Sri Lanka by 16 runs

·         India took a giant stride towards clinching a semi-final spot with another convincing 16-run victory over Sri Lanka in a one-sided ICC Women’s World Cup encounter.

·         Mithali Raj and team recorded their fourth win on the trot as they defended a respectable 232/8 by restricting the island nation to 216/7.

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