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8th February 2017 – Current Affairs Today

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NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Presents Rs 2,350 crore Deficit Budget 2017-18

  • The Assam Finance Minister presented the state Budget for the session 2017-18 in the state assembly.
  • The budget was based on the theme“Resurgent Assam”.
  • The Government has redefined the role of Planning & Development Department. The department has been rechristened to the Department for Development and Transformation of Assam (DDTA).
  • As per the Minister the state Budget 2017-18 was  2,349.79 crore deficit Budget.
  • The budget presented merged Plan and Non-Plan expenditures.

India’s first social innovation centre Launched in Nizamabad by Telanagana Government

  • The Telangana government launched India’s first social innovation centre the ‘Kakatiya Hub For Social Innovation’ in Nizamabad.
  • The launch was announced at the one-day Development Dialogue, an international social entrepreneurship ecosystem conference hosted by Kakatiya Sandbox.
  • The Kakatiya Hub would function like a rural incubator to encourage entrepreneurship at the grassroots level to promote the people in rural areas to become problem solvers by providing them structured guidance and necessary ecosystem.

India & Austria Signs Protocol to Amend Bilateral Taxation Treaty

  • India and Austria signed a protocol to amend the existing bilateral taxation treaty for Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion.
  • The protocol was signed between Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra on behalf of India and Embassy of Austria Charge d’ Affaires Georg Zehetner on behalf of Austria.
  • The protocol will broaden the scope of the existing framework of exchange of tax related information.
  • This will help to curb tax evasion and tax avoidance between the two nations as well as enable mutual assistance in relation to collecting taxes.

International Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial & Satellite Broadcasting held in New Delhi

  • The 23rd session of the International Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial & Satellite Broadcasting was held at the Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, New Delhi.
  • The theme of the event was Hybrid Technologies in Broadcasting – New Opportunities.
  • Over 300 companies from 25 countries participate to display their products in BES EXPO 2017.
  • The trade show displayed products of the Telecom & Equipment industry to promote advancement of knowledge and practices of broadcasting in the field of Radio, Television and other media.

Arunachal first NE state to implement e-Cabinet solution

  • Arunachal Pradesh became the first state in the northeast to implement e-Cabinet solution for the state cabinet members.
  • Using this system, the cabinet members can access the cabinet notes before the meeting. The entire business of the Cabinet can be conducted using the e-Cabinet solution.
  • e-Cabinet is a powerful tool that the Arunachal Pradesh government plans to use to streamline its decision-making process.

INTERNATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

17th session of BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting Held in Kathmandu

  • The 17th session of the senior officials’ meeting of the BIMSTEC was held in Kathmandu.
  • The delegates of the seven member nations attended the meeting to review the progress made by the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
  • The member countries recommended the future course of action to strengthen regional cooperation among the group.
  • India was led by Secretary (East) Ms.Preeti Saran.
  • As per the statement by the PM’s Secretariat, the agenda for the summit would include connectivity, energy and economic development.

Israel Passes Law Legalising 4000 Settlements in Occupied West Bank

  • Israel passed a controversial law retroactively to legalize about 4,000 settler homes built on privately owned Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
  • It had raised international concern and Palestinian anger.
  • The law states that the original Palestinian landowners will be compensated with money or alternative land.
  • The Palestinian officials have denounced the law saying it legalised land theft. Besides, Israel’s attorney-general has also said it is unconstitutional.

China becomes world’s largest producer of solar power

  • China has surpassed Germany to become the world’s largest producer of solar energy after nearly doubling its installed photovoltaic capacity in 2016.
  • With the increased capacity, China generated 66.2 billion kilowatt-hours of energy last year, which however accounted for only 1% of its electrical output.
  • The country further plans to double its current solar energy capacity by 2020.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

PNB Housing Finance limited & CREDAI-West Bengal Signs MoU to train construction workers in West Bengal

  • The PNB Housing Finance Limited (PNBHFL) and CREDAI West Bengal, has signed an MoU wherein CREDAI-Bengal would train 1000 construction workers in Kolkata and nearby villages.
  • The MoU aims to address the need tospeed up the construction pace for quicker delivery and hand-overs.
  • For providing the training CREDAI-Bengal would set up permanent skill development centres in Medinipur and Murshidabad.
  • CREDAI would provide training that would include both‘Classroom’ and On the job training’.
  • The training will benefit the unskilled labour in various technical aspects of construction to address their skill deficit in construction to help them in securing a better future and also pace up projects with appropriate skill inputs.

IDFC Bank, IndiaLends tie-up for loan services to 1st timers

  • IDFC Bank has collaborated with fintech startup IndiaLends to enable first time borrowers who do not have a credit history to take loans.
  • Loan requests by salaried applicants without credit history will now be processed on a real time basis.
  • The unique solution is being offered through a tie-up with IndiaLends, a financial technology startup.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) signs 4 more Unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs)

  • CBDT under the Department of Revenue entered into four more unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) with the tax payers so as to provide them a certainty regarding transfer pricing.
  • The APAs would provide certainty to taxpayers about transfer pricing by specifying the methods of pricing and determining the prices of international transactions in advance.
  • The four APAs signed belong to the Manufacturing, Financial and Information Technology sectors of the economy.
  • Besides, the international transactions covered in these agreements include Contract Manufacturing, IT Enabled Services and Software Development Services.

AWARDS

Arunachal Pradesh Launches ‘Arunachal Civil Service Awards’

  • The state government of Arunachal Pradesh launched the Arunachal Civil Service Awards in a bid to encourage good governance in the state.
  • Through the award, the government aims to improve the work culture and boost the morale of government employees by recognising their hard work and innovation.
  • Some of the areas for which the award will be given are:
  • Civil servants and government employees who make public service delivery systems efficient and corruption free.
  • Mission mode implementation of schemes prioritized by the state and central government
  • Extraordinary performance in situations like floods, earthquakes
  • Setting high standards of leadership quality, improving employees’ motivation and setting high standards of services with continued improvement.

SPORTS

IAAF Bans Russia From 2017 London World Athletics Championships

  • The International Association of Athletics Federations  the World Governing Body for Track and Field events informed that Russia has been barred from the 2017 summer World Athletics Championships in London.
  • Russia has been barred from international competition since November 2015 following a damaging report alleging that state-sponsored doping was prevailing in the country.
  • The country again has been banned until November 2017, after recommendations made by the IAAF task force investigating Russia’s efforts at reform following a series of doping scandals.

Results of 81st Senior National Badminton Championship

  • Sourabh Verma defeated Lakshya Sen to clinch the Men’s Singles title in the 81st Senior National Badminton Championships held in Patna.
  • In the women’s singles category, second seed Rituparna Das beat Reshma Karthik.
  • The duo of Aparna Balan and Prajakta Sawant defeated Shikha Gautam and Sanyogita Ghorpade to clinch the women’s doubles title.
  • In the men’s doubles final, Satwik Sai Raj and Chirag Shetty surpassed Nanda Gopal K and Sanyam Shukla to win the title.
  • In the mixed doubles, the pair of Satwik Sai Raj and Maneesha K defeated Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan to claim the title.
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