CURRENT AFFAIRS

Current Affairs One liners: 29 September 2016 The one liners of the day covers important current affairs of the day like Project SAKSHAM, 19th SAARC Summit boycotted, and ISRO-Telangana agreement among others. •    The Union Cabinet recently approved closure of - Hindustan Cables Limited •    The world’s first baby was born from a new procedure that combines the DNA of three people. The name of the procedure is - Mitochondrial Donation •    The country with which Russia recently signed an agreement on Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation is - Cuba •    Indian women’s Kabbadi team on 28 September 2016 bagged gold medal at - the 5th Asian Beach Games •    The Union Government on 28 September 2016 approved assistance of 1269 crore rupees for drought affected - Maharashtra •    The former Australian cricketer, nicknamed as Tangles, who passed away recently is - Max Walker •    The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 28 September 2016 approved ‘Project SAKSHAM’ that is - New Indirect Tax Network (Systems Integration) of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) •    Four SAARC member countries that decided to boycott the 19th SAARC Summit to be hosted by Pakistan from 9 to 10 November 2016 are - India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan •    Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Telangana government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide digital classes across the state through its state channel named - Mana TV •    World Maritime Day was observed across the world on 29 September 2016 with the years theme - Shipping: indispensable to the world •    The US and Vietnamese navies have begun the 7th annual Naval Engagement Activity (NEA), Vietnam 2016 at - Tien Sa Port in Da Nang •    The annual cap of coal for sale through State Nominated Agencies has been hiked from four thousand two hundred tonnes per annum to - Ten thousand tonnes per annum •    Outlet of the pharmacy was inaugurated by Union Health Minister JP Nadda at Gauhati medical college and hospital – AMRIT pharmacy •    The second Italian marine accused of killing two Indian fishermen who was allowed to remain in his country by Supreme Court is - Massimiliano Latorre •    The two-day national conference on Prison Reforms will be held in - New Delhi •    Air India will introduce three more flights on the Australia-India air route next year, increasing the frequency to - 10 flights per week •    Union Cabinet in September 2016 approved MoU between India and Singapore in the field of- Industrial Property Cooperation •    Region declared as Measles free recently by WHO- The Americas •    Person appointed as the Chief Secretary to the Karnataka Government recently- Subhash Chandra Khuntia •    Person elected as the President of Indian Statistical Institute recently- Vijay Kelkar •    The World Heart Day is celebrated every year on- 29 September

CURRENT AFFAIRS

Union Government decides to raise EPFO Investment in ETF from 5 to 10 per cent The Union Government on 30 September 2016 decided to raise the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) investment in Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) from existing 5 per cent to 10 per cent. The decision has been taken considering the good returns in ETF investment. An official release said, in the last one year, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has invested 6577 crore rupees. The investment has yielded a good return of 13.24 per cent. The past performance of the last six months from April, 2016 to August, 2016 also showed gradual appreciation in the returns from 0.37 per cent in March 2016 to 13.24 per cent in August 2016. Five per cent EPF has been invested in NIFTY 50 and SENSEX. The pattern of investment prescribed by the Ministry of Finance has given guidelines for investment in equity from 5 per cent to 15 per cent.

CURRENT AFFAIRS

Tirupati Airport awarded Best Tourist Friendly Airport Airports Authority of India’s Tirupati Airport on 27 September 2016 was awarded the Best Tourist Friendly Airport under the category for State Annual Excellence Awards for the year 2015-16 by Andhra Pradesh Tourism. The award was presented on the eve of World Tourism Day by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Nara Chandra Babu Naidu at Bhawani Islands, Vijayawada. About State Annual Tourism Excellence Awards • The State Annual Tourism Excellence Awards under various segments of Travel and Tourism Industry are awarded by Department of Tourism, Government of Andhra Pradesh. • They are awarded for maintaining excellent Customer friendly relations with tourists and passengers, coinciding with World Tourism Day Celebrations.About Tirupati Airport • Tirupati Airport was established in the year 1976. • It is a public airport located at Renigunta, a suburb of Tirupati in the state of Andhra Pradesh. • The airport is located 14 km away from Tirupati and 39 km from Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala.

CURRENT AFFAIRS

West Bengal government decides to install Monorail West Bengal government has decided to install monorail from Budge Budge in South 24-Parganas to Ruby Connector in Kolkata. This was informed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on 29 September 2016. The 14-kilometre-long monorail route will connect Budge Budge to Ruby via Taratala, New Alipore and Prince Anwar Shah Road and will come up at a cost of 4216 crore rupees. This new service will also connect commuters to the proposed metro rail network between New Garia to Kolkata airport. For execution of the monorail project, the state transport department will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Burn Standard Company Limited. Burn Standard Company Limited will be funding the project and the state government will provide land for the purpose. The Chief Minister said that there would not be any problem over land acquisition as minimum land would be required to construct pillars and elevated tracks would be laid connecting them. Other happenings in the state CNG run vehicles in Asansol-Durgapur area The West Bengal environment department has taken up an initiative to run CNG run vehicles in Asansol-Durgapur area. It was decided to introduce the environment friendly transport in the industrial and trading hubs. The change from the present system of running the public transport system will be implemented in phases. In the first phase 500 state run buses will be asked to convert into CNG. Apart from this fleet of South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) run buses, the state will ask at least 2000 auto rickshaw operators in the Durgapur-Asansol area to opt for CNG. The state environment department will give 5 crore rupees to the state transport department for the conversion. Hooghly declared as an open-defecation free The Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared Hooghly as an open-defecation free (ODF) district at the administrative meeting in Chinsurah. North 24 parganas was also declared as an ODF district. Nadia was declared as the country’s first ODF district, on 30th April 2015. The State Panchayat and Rural Development Department has taken steps to make all the districts in West Bengal open-defecation free by March 2019. 30 April is celebrated as “Nirmal Bangla Dibas” in the State every year.

CURRENT AFFAIRS

Railways Ministry launches various Railways Services Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on 29 September 2016 launched various Railways Services and dedicated them to the nation. These Railways services are: • Liberalised station to station special freight rates policy. • Policy providing sub quota of 33% to women within reserved categories for the allotment in catering units. • Policy giving preference to local domicile holders for commercial licenses at stations. • New system of allocating vacant berths after final charting to wayside stations. • Launch of the new tag Train at a Glance 2016 and new Time Table effective from 1 October 2016.  Liberalised station to station special freight rates policy • Existing as well as new traffic shall be eligible. • Concession shall be granted up to a maximum of 30 percent on the incremental traffic over and above the benchmark NTKM. • Concession shall be in the form of percentage discount over the Normal Tariff Rate (NTR). It should be ensured that the concessional freight should not be less than the NTR of Class 100. • Concession shall be admissible to Block rake, two/multi point rake, Mini Rake etc. • Concession may be granted for retention of traffic also up to maximum of 15 percent. • STS scheme will be applicable for all terminals namely goods sheds, sidings, ports, CRTs, PFTOs etc. • Commodities excluded from STS are - All commodities with classification below Class-100,  All commodities under Main Commodity Head Coal & Coke, Iron ore, Military traffic, POL and RMC. Policy providing sub quota of 33% to women for the allotment in catering units • A Sub Quota of 33 percent for women in allotment of the reserved catering units was introduced in order to extend economic empowerment for women. • This will ensure allotment of minimum 8 percent stalls to women at A1, A, B & C category station and minimum 17 percent allotment at D, E and F category station. • There are approximately 8000 Minor Catering Units over Indian Railways. • Under this provision, Railways shall ensure that women participation does not fall below a specific level. Policy giving preference to local domicile holders for commercial licenses at stations • In compliance of Budget Announcement 2016-17, a process of giving weightage to district Domicile Holders for commercial licenses at stations is being proliferated at all stations over Indian Railways. • It would help to build local ownership and rural empowerment along with socio-economic development. • The weightage to district domicile holders is being proliferated for allotment of Catering Units at all categories of stations. • It will ensure protection of livelihood of the small vendors. • The allotment of Minor Units over Indian Railways will ensure local ownership and will also promote regional / local cuisine, which is always a preferred choice. Transfer of vacant berths for optimal utilisation of berths • This facility of transfer of berths remaining vacant after second charting at the train originating station to the next and subsequent stations will clear the way for the waitlisted passengers at such stations. • The PRS system will automatically allot vacant berths available at the originating stations after preparation of second chart to the subsequent stations where waitlisted passengers are available. • The passenger will get SMS on his registered mobile indicating the coach and berth number allotted. • This will help passengers boarding at road side stations to get confirmed berths. • The TTEs will be able to allot vacant berths on board after departure of the train only upto the next station where quota is available for the train. • At present about 3 lakh berths per year go unutilised while there may be demand at intermediate stations.