11th May 2017 - Current Affairs Today

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National Current Affairs

FSSAI panel clamps down on junk food, bats for tax, ad ban

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed a set of measures, including tax, strict labelling norms and ban on advertisements of such products.
This is in a bid to cut down consumption of unhealthy food products and reducing the rising burden of chronic diseases like cancer and diabetes
These measures have been recommended by FSSAI’s 11-member panel on ‘Consumption of Fat, Sugar and Salt (FSS) and its health effects on Indian population’.
The report of expert panel recommended balanced diet comprising around 60-70% of total calories from carbohydrate, 10-12% from protein and 20-30% from fat.

Integrated case management system of Supreme Court launched

This system will serve as a digital repository for case-related information, enabling litigants to access data and retrieve information online. All records of cases (pertaining to all stages) at district court or high court will be available in digital form.
It is a step in the direction of paperless Supreme Court, which contributes to saving environment as well as achieving the vision of ‘Digital India’.

High-level task force to compute timely data on employment

It will help in framing policies and it will also help in creating jobs.
The task force will recommend solutions which can be implemented in a time bound manner official think tank NITI Aayog.

NBT to host book fairs in panchayats

The main objective of hosting book fairs in Panchayat level is to encourage the growth of reading habit in villages.
The NBT will start to host book fairs bodies in the Maoist-hit areas of Chhattisgarh.
The organisation recently brought out eight books in local language used in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, in Devnagri script.

IRCTC starts cash-on-delivery service on train tickets

IRCTC has offered delivery of rail tickets allowing passengers to make payment through any payment mode, including cash.
IRCTC through its website and mobile app has now introduced pay-on-delivery as one of the payment options for its customers.
Passengers can book train tickets online and pay at the time of delivery.

International Current Affairs

India wins stay at International Court of Justice in Kulbhushan Jadhav case

The International Court of Justice stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of “spying”.
The order by the Hague-based International Court of Justice came a day after India approached it against the death sentence to Jadhav by Pakistan’s Field General Court Martial last month.
India asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy.
India has appealed to the International Court of Justice accusing Pakistan of outstandingly bad violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
The International Court of Justice said India urged it to restrain Pakistan from carrying out
the death sentence and to direct Islamabad to take steps to cancel the decision of the military court.

Business & Economy

RBI extends BBPS deadline by seven months

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended the deadline for companies undertaking billing business under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) by seven months to December 31, 2017.
The extension has been granted on account of difficulties expressed by various entities in meeting the deadline.
The extension is for those companies intending to become an agent of an authorized Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) or wants to exit the business of bill payments
As per the guidelines issued on November 28, 2014, for implementation of BBPS, banks and non-bank entities, currently engaged in the bill payment activities covered under ambit of BBPS can participate either as Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs) or as an agent of an authorized BBPOU.

SEBI allows subscription to MF schemes through e-wallets

According to Sebi’s guidelines, investors can invest up to Rs 50,000 per MF per financial year through e-wallets.
MFs/AMCs shall ensure that only amounts loaded into e-wallet through cash or debit card or net banking, can be used for subscription to MF schemes.
MFs/AMCs shall ensure that e-wallet issuers shall not offer any incentives such as cashback, voucher.
MFs/ AMCs can offer IAF only in liquid schemes of the MF.
The monetary limit under IAF shall be Rs 50,000 or 90 per cent of latest value of investment in the scheme, whichever is lower.
This limit shall be applicable per day per scheme per investor.

Techmagnate acquires BlogX, the largest blog conference in India

BlogX is the India’s largest blog conference where bloggers and content managers connect.
Techmagnate is a full-fledged Digital Marketing agency that specializes in SEO, PPC, Content Marketing, Social Media and Website Designing.
It is rated as one of the best digital agency offering digital marketing services in India.
BlogX is India’s leading blog conference where bloggers and content managers from all backgrounds connect to learn from each other while networking with industry leaders in the blogging community.

Railways to acquire EOTT system to run trains without guards

The Indian Railway will acquire EOTT systems to run trains without guards. Its total cost is Rs 100 crore for acquiring sophisticated equipment to run 1000 trains without guards.
The End of Train Telemetry(EoTT) equipment is used to establish communication between the locomotive driver and the last wagon of the train.
EoTT system comprises two units one unit called cab display unit (CDU) fitted on the locomotive and the other is sense and brake unit (SBU) fitted on the last coach or wagon of the train.
Both the units are fitted with radio transmitter which will communicate with each other.
It will ensure that the train is running with all coaches or wagons as a complete unit.
The equipment is designed to do the guards job by giving indication to the loco driver in case of parting of coaches or wagons from the rear side of the train.
In beginning Railway will acquire 1000 EoTT equipment.
The transmitter and the last vehicle receive exchange signals at regular intervals to ensure that the train is running intact.

Apple becomes first company to hit $800 bn valuation mark

Apple has moved slightly more than two years after it crossed the $700 billion threshold.
Apple Inc became the first U.S. Company to top the $800 billion mark in market capitalization.
Apple has bought Finnish sleep tracking firm Beddit.
The £130 Beddit sleep tracker consists of a 1.5mm thick strip of sensors that are placed on top of the mattress and connected to a wall outlet for power.
It also acts as an intelligent alarm clock that wakes you up in the lightest sleep phase.

People in News

Moon Jae-in elected South Korea President

Moon has replaced President Park Geun-hye.
He belongs to liberal Democratic Party. He leads with 41.1% of the vote.
He is the son of refugees from North Korea and was twice jailed for organizing pro-democracy demonstrations against South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee.

Twitter elevates Taranjeet Singh as Country Director for India

He was earlier leading the charge for sales and marketing support for Twitter’s advertisers in India.
Before joining Twitter, Singh was sales director, South Asia for BBC Advertising.
Twitter counts India among its top five audience markets globally.

Stanley Weston, ACTV Founder & GI Joe Inventor dies at 84

Stanley Weston, co-founder of interactive TV programming company ACTV died at 84 years old.
He is the man who conceived the idea of the G.I. Joe action figure.
Upon the release of Barbie dolls in 1960, Weston decided that there should be an action figure for boys and came up with the idea for a military action figure.
He sold the concept that became G.I. Joe to the company that became Hasbro in 1963.
He was inducted into the Licensing Industry Hall of fame in 1989 as part of the inaugural induction class.

Former Maharashtra Minister Arjun Tulshiram Pawar passed away

Arjun Tulshiram Pawar, a senior NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister, passed away after prolonged illness.
He represented Kalwan, a constituency reserved for Scheduled Tribes in Nashik district for many years.
In 1999, he was the Minister for Tribal Welfare in the Congress-NCP government led by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Awards

Konkona bags Best Director and Best Actress awards at New York Indian Film Festival

Konkona Sen Sharma has bagged the best director for her debut film ‘A Death in the Gunj’.
Konkona had also bagged the best actress for ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ at 2017’s New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF).
She received the top honour for her performance in Alankrita Shrivastava’s ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’. She won the award for directing the drama thriller

Science & Technology

Indian Navy Decommissions Minesweepers – INS Karwar and INS Kakinada

Two minesweepers of Indian Navy – INS Karwar and INS Kakinada, were decommissioned at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai
Both these ships were commissioned in year 1986. During their tenure, they have undertaken several mine sweeping missions using the older mechanical sweeps as well as the latest side-scan sonars.
INS Karwar (Identification – M67) was acquired from the erstwhile USSR.INS Kakinada (Identification – M70) was also acquired from erstwhile USSR and was commissioned at Riga on December 23, 1986.

Sports Current Affairs

NBA inaugurates academy in India

National Basketball Association (NBA) -the governing body of Basketball in US inaugurated its first ever academy in India in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
21 boys in the age group of 12 to 17 years who were selected through a 3-month nationwide basketball talent search comprise the first batch of academy.
The selected boys will receive scholarships and will be provided training at the academy. The objective is to train the boys for a successful career in basketball.
It is a residential program which takes care of boys’ accommodation as well as schooling.

Jhulan Goswami named Highest Wicket-Taker in Women’s One-Day Internationals

Indian fast bowler, Jhulan Goswami now holds the record as highest wicket-taker in women’s one-day international.
She is the former captain of Indian Women’s Cricket team and is regarded as one of the fastest bowlers in women’s cricket.
Awards & Recognitions: ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2007, Arjuna Award – 2010, Padma Shri Award – 2012.

Rugby-SA Rugby gets approval to bid for 2023 World Cup after ban lifted

South African government had lifted a ban on the country’s rugby union after it made progress improving racial diversity in the sport
It gets approval to bid for 2023 Rugby World Cup.