Current Affairs June 21, 2017 –  Launch of L&T Yard 55000 (Floating Dock – FDN 2) in Chennai:

NATIONAL

Punjab presents budget of Rs 1.18 lakh crore:

Punjab Finance minister Manpreet Badal presented a budget of Rs 1.18 lakh crore for the financial year 2017-18.

Presenting his maiden budget as a part of the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh government, Badal said Punjab’s outstanding debt will be Rs 1.95 lakh crore by the end of the financial year.

Highlights

  • Rs. 1,500 crore for waiving crop loans of distressed farmers.
  • Pension of acid attack victims increased to Rs 8000 per month.
  • CCTV cameras to be installed outside high schools, senior secondary schools and colleges.
  • Free Internet connectivity in all 48 Government Colleges
  • Manpreet Badal proposes to increase grant to Panjab University from Rs 26 crore to Rs 33 crore.
  • Rs.34 crores to strengthen crime and criminal tracking networking system

Punjab to get mohalla clinics, health insurance for all citizens:

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has announced his government’s decision to establish wellness mohalla (ward) clinics across the state and also initiated the process of providing health insurance to all the citizens so that they can get quality healthcare facilities at affordable cost.

The government has given an incentive of 30% marks to PCMS (Punjab Civil Medical Services) doctors in the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) for post-graduation.

Rural Development Ministry gives away 144 awards:

The Rural Development Ministry gave away 144 awards under various categories to states and other organisations.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY):

  • Bihar was awarded for constructing the highest number of rural roads.
  • Madhya Pradesh got the award for use of non- conventional construction material in constructing roads.
  • Haryana, Gujarat and Karnataka received a special prize for completing more than 95 percent of their targets.

    Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) PMAY-G, Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee was awarded for providing technical vetting of housing typologies and the NIC team of the ministry for its technical support.

CBDT has notified 10CB of Section 92CE under IT Act, 1961:

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified Rule 10CB of Section 92CE under Income Tax Act, 1961, to provide for secondary adjustment by attributing income to the excess money lying in the hands of the associated enterprise, in order to make the actual allocation of funds consistent with that of the primary transfer pricing adjustment.

It prescribes the time limit for repatriation of excess money and the rate of interest to be applied for computing the income in case of failure to repatriate the excess money within the prescribed time limit.

The time limit of 90 days for repatriation of excess money shall begin only when the primary adjustments exceeding Rupees One Crore made in respect of Assessment Year 2017-18 or later, attains finality.

  • The Finance Act, 2017 inserted section 92CE in the Income-tax Act, 1961 with effect from 1st April, 2018.
  • CBDT Headquarters: New Delhi
  • CBDT Chairman: Sushil Chandra (Till June 31,2018)

Launch of L&T Yard 55000 (Floating Dock – FDN 2) in Chennai:


The first indigenously built Floating Dock (FDN-2) for the Indian Navy was launched by Smt Anjali Deshpande, wife of Vice Admiral DM Deshpande at Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) Shipyard at Kattupalli near Chennai.

President of India receives first copy of book ‘garuda purana’:

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received the first copy of book ‘Garuda Purana’ (Critical Edition) published by All India Kashiraj Trust (which was inaugurated by the first President, Dr Rajendra Prasad) at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

Meghalaya signs MoU with SBI for online payments:

    As part of the state government’s drive towards migrating government transactions to the digital mode, the state finance department signed two MoUs with the State Bank of India for SBIePay and SBI CMP facilities at the main secretariat building.
    The state government has already established a new treasury, called Cyber Treasury, which dedicatedly handles all online transactions of government receipts across the state.

Meghalaya

  • Capital: Shillong
  • Chief Minister: Mukul Sangma
  • Governor:  Banwarilal Purohit (Additional charge)

Metro launches card payment in token machines:

    Cashless system launched at Lal Quila station DMRC to install 400 POS machines by end of the year.

    With the aim of facilitating payments and moving towards a cashless system of travel by credit and debit cards, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation plans to install around 400 unattended Point of Sale (POS) terminals across stations this year.

Wi-Fi hotspots across Hyderabad launched:

    Hyderabad Mayor B. Rammohan launched the ‘Hyderabad City Wi-Fi Project’ or ‘Hy-Fi’ with over 1,000 hotspots where citizens can access Internet free for about half-an-hour.

Telangana

    • Capital: Hyderabad
    • Chief Minister: Chandrasekhar Rao
    • Governor:  E. S. L. Narasimhan (Additional charge)

GSFC keen to set up ammonia urea plant in Iran:

                                                                    The state-owned Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals (GSFC) it was exploring the possibility of setting up an ammonia-urea plant in Iran.

    To set up an ammonia-urea plant in Iran due to the availability of natural gas, which is a raw material for ammonia at cheaper rate there. This plant is expected to cost around Rs 5000-6000 crore.

Gujarat

  • Capital: Gandhinagar
  • Chief Minister: Vijay Rupani
  • Governor: Om Prakash Kohli

Penning a song for Gorkhaland:

    It was the first time a Gorkha had captured the national imagination and Bimal Gurung, then a leader with Subhas Ghising’s Gorkha National Liberation Front, whipped up hysteria in the Hills, holding rallies, collecting funds and exhorting people to cast their audience votes for “pahar ka gaurav (pride of the Hills)”.

    Eventually, Tamang won the contest and Gurung launched his statehood politics with his newly formed Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind is NDA’s nominee for President:

    The BJP based National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced that the low-profile Bihar Governor “Ram Nath Kovind”, a Dalit from Uttar Pradesh would be its nominee for the President of India. He will file his nomination on June 23.

Free education for girls in Punjab from Nursery to PhD:

    The Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh has announced that free education for girls in government schools and colleges from Nursery to PhD. Free textbooks will be provided to all students in government schools from the next academic session.

    Nursery and LKG classes will be reintroduced in government schools from next year and also free Wi-FI for 13,000 primary schools and all 48 government colleges.

Indore installs India’s 1st 14-foot robot to control traffic:

    Indore from Madhya Pradesh has just installed India first 14-foot-tall robot to control traffic in the state. It’s equipped with a public address system and can take photos of traffic violators to generate e-challans when connected to police control room.

It was developed by Shri Venkteshwar Institute of Technology, the robot reportedly took two years and Rs.20 lakh to complete.

  • Madhya Pradesh CM & Governor: Shivraj Singh Chouhan & Om Prakash Kohli

INTERNATIONAL

India and Portugal Sign a Historical agreement to promote Cooperation in the Field of Archives:

    A Protocol of Cooperation was signed between the National Archives of India and the Minister of Culture of the Portuguese Republic in the field of archives in Lisbon, Portugal.

    As a first step under this agreement, the Torre do Tombo (National Archives of Portugal) handed over to the National Archives of India digital copies of 62 volumes of the collection known as ‘Moncoes do Reino’ (Monsoon correspondence).

    These volumes were originally part of over 456 volumes that cover the period from 1568 to 1914 and form the largest of all record collections in the Goa State Archives.

Portugal

  • Currency: Euro
  • Capital: Lisbon
  • Prime Minister: António Costa
  • President: Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa

NASA Kepler telescope finds 10 Earth-like planets:

NASA’s Kepler space telescope team has released a mission catalog of planet candidates that introduces 219 new planet candidates, 10 of which are near-Earth size and orbiting in their star’s habitable zone which is the range of distance from a star where liquid water could pool on the surface of a rocky planet.

This is the eighth release of the Kepler candidate catalog, gathered by reprocessing the entire set of data from Kepler’s observations during the first four years of its primary mission.

Banking & Business

Hike partners with Yes Bank to launch UPI and Wallet service:

Hike Messenger launched the new version of the app with a completely new interface and the addition of a mobile wallet, in partnership with YES Bank.

With Unified Payments Interface support enabled in Hike 5.0, users can now do free and instant bank-to-bank transfers with their friends. The feature works even if your friends aren’t on Hike. For those who don’t actively use a bank account, Hike still allows them to send and receive money with your friends through the Wallet.

  • Yes Bank Headquarters & CEO: Mumbai & Rana Kapoor
  • Bank Tagline: Experience our Expertise

Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Sign $275 Million:

                       The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $275 million loan for improving urban services in 64 small towns in the State of Madhya Pradesh.

    The signatories to the loan agreement for the Madhya Pradesh Urban Service Improvement Project included Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Multilateral Institutions, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, who signed on behalf of the Government of India, and Mr. L. B. Sondjaja, Deputy Country Director of ADBs India Resident Mission, who signed for ADB.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Philippines

President: Takehiko Nakao

IDBI Federal Life partners with SunTec:

    IDBI Federal Life Insurance said it has partnered with SunTec, which will help facilitate in computing and invoicing of debit tax and credit tax that will be GST compliant.   

 

IDBI federal life insurance

Headquarters: Mumbai

Chairman: Vighnesh Shahane

India witnesses 30% rise in foreign exchange earnings in May:

    . According to the Reserve Bank of India’s credit data of Travel Head from Balance of Payments, foreign exchange earnings (FEEs).

    India has witnessed a whopping 30 per cent rise in the foreign exchange earnings from the tourism sector in the month of May, as compared to the same period in the last two years and a 19 per cent increase in tourist footfalls.

 
GDP growth to rise to 7.5% in FY19: Fitch

    India’s GDP growth will rise from 7.4% to 7.5% in 2018-19 and to 7.6% in 2019- 20 boosted by GST, increased public spending on infrastructure, and a supportive monetary policy over the last two years, according to Fitch Ratings.

Amazon acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion to become major grocer:

    Amazon and Whole Foods Market, Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire Whole Foods Market for $42 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $13.7 billion including Whole Foods Market’s net debt.

    John Mackey will remain as CEO of Whole Foods Market and Whole Foods Market’s headquarters would stay in Austin, Texas. The parties expect to close the transaction during the second half of 2017.

Reliance Defence inks pact with Serbia’s Yugoimport:

    Anil Ambani Group company Reliance Defence Ammunition has entered a strategic partnership with Serbia’s state-run defence major Yugoimport to manufacture ammunition in India and target business opportunities of Rs 20,000 crore over the next 10 years.

Appointments & Resigns

BJP’s presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind resigns as Bihar governor:

    The National Democratic Alliance’s presidential candidate, Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind resigned from his post.

    Keshari Nath Tripathi, the governor of West Bengal, will now be discharging the functions of the Governor of Bihar, in addition to his own duties.

Bihar

  • Capital: Patna
  • Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar
  • Governor: Keshari Nath Tripathi(additional charges)

 

In historic first, UNICEF appoints Syrian refugee Muzoon Almellehan as Goodwill Ambassador:

 

    UNICEF announced, on the eve of World Refugee Day, the appointment of Muzoon Almellehan, a 19-year-old education activist and Syrian refugee, as its newest and youngest Goodwill Ambassador. The appointment makes Muzoon the first person with official refugee status to become an Ambassador for UNICEF.

Pathankot attack: Head of air base JS Dhamoon takes early retires:

    Air Commodore JS Dhamoon, who was commanding the Pathankot air force base when it was attacked by heavily armed terrorists last year, has taken early retirement from service.

French Defence Minister Sylvie Goulard quits:

    French Defence Minister Sylvie Goulard quit her job, she did not want to stay on because of a probe overshadowing her MoDem party’s affairs in the European Parliament.

France

  • President :Emmanuel Macron
  • Currencies: Euro, CFP franc
  • Capital: Paris

 

Kusum Sardet of BJP is Shimla mayor:

    Kusum Sardet of the BJP was elected as the mayor of Shimla as the party created history by bagging the post for the first time.

Himachal Pradesh

  • Capital: Shimla
  • Chief Minister: Virbhadra Singh
  • Governor: Acharya Dev Vrat

 

Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha appointed as special secretary in AYUSH ministry:

    Ayurveda physician ‘Vaidya’ Rajesh Kotecha has been appointed as special secretary in AYUSH ministry.

    The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved Kotecha appointment for three years on a contract basis, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

Uber founder Travis Kalanick resigns as company CEO:

    Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber has stepped down as CEO of the ride-hailing service.

Mohammed bin Salman named Saudi Arabia’s crown prince:

    Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has been appointed as Mohammed bin Salman as new crown prince and Deputy prime minister of Saudi Arabia.

    The newly announced Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman heads an economic council tasked with overhauling the country’s economy.

    King Salman stripped Prince Mohammed bin Nayef from his title as crown prince and replaced Mohammed bin Salman.

  • Saudi Arabia Capital & Currency: Riyadh & Saudi riyal

AWARDS

Deepika Padukone nominated for Teen Choice Awards:

    Hindi cinema actor Deepika Padukone has been nominated in Teen Choice Awards for her breakthrough role in xXx: Return of Xander Cage in Choice Movie Actress category.

Ramamani lyengar Memorial to be awarded for contribution in Yoga:

    The Ramamani lyengar Memorial Yoga Institute has been selected as the first recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for outstanding contribution for promotion and development of Yoga.

    The selection was done among 85 nominations out of which 15 were recommended by the screening committee. The Ministry of AYUSH developed the guidelines for the awards after which two committees were constituted namely, the Screening Committee for preliminary evaluation and Evaluation Committee (Jury) to ensure a transparent process while finalising the awards.

SPORTS

Anil Kumble steps down as India coach:

India cricket coach Anil Kumble stepped down from his position after a widely-speculated feud with Captain Virat Kohli, marking a bitter end to a highly successful tenure.

Kumble one year contract expired at the end of the Champions Trophy hence he didn’t want to renewal his contract.

Historic Events of the Day

June 21: International Yoga Day

The International Day of Yoga aims to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practicing yoga.

Theme for the 2017: “Yoga for Health”.

  • United Nations General Assembly has declared 21st of June as an International Yoga Day on 11th of December in 2014.

June 21: World Music day

Fete de la Musique or World Music Day 2017 (not to be confused with International Music Day which is on 1/10/2017) is being celebrated every year on June 21, marking the beginning of summer solstice, i.e., the longest day of the year.

OBITUARY

Yesteryear actor Amrit Pal passed away:

    Veteran actor of Hindi Amrit Pal passed away at his residence here after a prolonged illness. He was 76.

 

 

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