20 September 2019 - Daily Current Affairs
1. Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria appointed as new Air Chief
- The Union government has appointed Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria as the new chief of Indian Air Force for two years.
- Currently, Air Marshal Bhadauria is the vice chief of air staff.
- He will replace Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, who is going to retire 30th of this month.
- Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria has clocked over 4250 hours of flying and has experience of 26 different types of fighters.
- He was the first Indian Air Force officer to fly Rafale fighter jet.
- RKS Bhadauria (alumnus of National Defence Academy, Pune) has been awarded several medals: the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, the Vayu Sena Medal and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal.
- Chief of the Air Staff is the professional head and the commander of the Indian Air Force.
2. SC gets four new judges taking total strength to highest-ever of 34
- The Union government had increased the strength of its judges from 31 to 34, including the Chief Justice of India(CJI).
- Four separate notifications have been issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice on the appointments of four judges in Supreme Court.
- Justices Krishna Murari (Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice), Justices SR Bhat (Rajasthan High Court Chief), Justices V Ramasubramanian (Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice) and Justices Hrishikesh Roy (Kerala High Court Chief Justice) were appointed as judges of the Supreme Court of India.
- There is a collegium of five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice of India, which selects a person who is to be appointed as a judge in the Supreme Court.
Obituaries
3. Tunisia’s former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali passes away
- Tunisia’s former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali (83-years) passed away.
- Mr. Ben Ali led Tunisia for 23 years and was credited with delivering stability and some economic prosperity.
- He came to power in 1987, ousting Habib Bourguiba to become Tunisia’s second-ever president.
- In 2011, he was forced from office following mass street protests.
Banking & Finance
4. Govt notifies 8.65% interest rate for EPFO members
- Ministry of Labour and Employment has notified 8.65% rate of interest on Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for 2018-19 deposits for its over six crore subscribers.
- The EPFO has been settling EPF withdrawal claims at 8.55% interest rate, approved for 2017-18.
- The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), is an organization tasked to assist the Central Board of Trustees, a statutory body formed by the Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
- It is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.
- EPFO assists the Central Board in administering a compulsory contributory Provident Fund Scheme, a Pension Scheme and an Insurance Scheme for the workforce engaged in the organized sector in India.
5. Government slashes taxes for corporate, new manufacturing firms
- The Union Finance Ministry has proposed to slash the corporate tax rate for domestic companies and new domestic manufacturing companies.
- There are six amendments in the Income Tax Act and Finance Bill 2019 which will cost Rs 1.45 lakh crore.
- The tax exemptions will be effective from the current financial year which began on 1st April 2019.
- The ordinance for slashing the tax rate has already been passed.
- The corporate tax rate after surcharge will now be 25.17% inclusive of all cess and surcharges for domestic companies. The corporate tax rate has been brought down from 30% to 22%.
- The new domestic company incorporated on or after October 1, 2019, to pay income tax at 15%.
- Domestic company to pay income tax at 22%.
- Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) reduced from 18.5% to 15%.
- The listed companies that announced buyback before July 5, 2019, will not be charged tax on buyback of shares.
- The enhanced surcharge shall not apply on capital gains arising on sale of any security including derivatives in the hands of foreign portfolio investors.
National Affairs
6. IAF inaugurates Advance Landing Ground in Arunachal Pradesh
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) has made eight advanced landing grounds in the country till date with a cost of 720 crores.
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) has been inaugurated a resurfaced Advance Landing Ground (ALG) at Vijaynagar, Arunachal Pradesh.
- It will enable operations by military transport aircraft at the base near the China border.
- The Indian Air Force has made eight advanced landing grounds (Vijaynagar, Ziro, Aalo, Pasighat, Tawang, Mechuka, Walong and Tuting) in the country till date with a cost of 720 crores.
7. At 17.5 million, Indian diaspora largest in the world: UN report
- India is the leading country of origin of international migrants in 2019 with a 17.5 million-strong diaspora.
- The International Migrant Stock 2019, a dataset released by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs provides the latest estimates of the number of international migrants by age, sex and origin for all countries and areas of the world.
- The report says that India hosted 5.1 million international migrants in 2019, less than 5.2 million in 2015.
- After India, Migrants from Mexico makes the second-largest diaspora (11.8 million), followed by China (10.7 million), Russia (10.5 million), Syria (8.2 million), Bangladesh (7.8 million), Pakistan (6.3 million).
8. PM Modi, Mongolian Prez jointly unveiled Lord Buddha's statue
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Khaltmaagiin Battulga (Mongolian President) jointly unveiled the Lord Buddha's statue at Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar through video conferencing.
- Gandan Monastery is a Tibetan-style Buddhist Monastery.
- The statue is a symbol of India-Mongolia spiritual partnership and shared Buddhist heritage.
- President Battulga is on a five-day visit to India with an aim to boost bilateral ties.
- During the meetings between Mongolian President and Indian leadership, the two sides will hold in-depth discussions on a range of bilateral, regional and global issues.
9. Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank launches WAWE Summit 2019
- Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has launched Waste Management Accelerator for Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs (WAWE-2019) summit.
- The schemes will work towards providing students with the best education to keep pace with the rapidly changing world.
- It will be jointly organized by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Institute of Waste Management (IIWM) at Jaipur.
- This initiative stating that it will empower women and encourage entrepreneurship among youngsters.
- WAWE Summit 2019 is a great initiative for women who have skills in their hands and it will further empower and motivate them.
10. Union Government issues an ordinance to ban e-cigarettes
- President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent for the promulgation of the ordinance to ban e-cigarettes.
- The ordinance was approved by the Union Cabinet, which bans production, import, distribution and sale of electronic cigarettes.
- The Union Cabinet decided to ban e-cigarettes and similar products as they pose a health risk to people, especially the youth.
- A bill replacing the ordinance will be brought in the next session of Parliament.
- Production, import, export, transport, sell or advertisements of e-cigarettes will now be a cognizable offence.
- First-time violators will face a jail term of up to one year and a fine of one lakh rupees. For subsequent offences, there will be a jail term of up to three years or a fine of five lakh rupees or both.
- The storage of e-cigarettes shall now be punishable with imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of up to 50 thousand rupees or both.
- Electronic cigarettes are battery-operated devices that produce an aerosol by heating a solution containing nicotine, which is the addictive substance in combustible cigarettes.
- These include all forms of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), Heat Not Burn Products, e-hookah and similar devices.
11. Telangana government declares 2020 as Artificial Intelligence year
- Telangana Government has decided to declare 2020 as Year of Artificial Intelligence(AI).
- The State Government will be organising various activities related to emerging technology throughout the year.
- This comes in the backdrop of emerging talent pool as well as renewed focus by industry and other ecosystem players on AI space in last 4-5 years.
- IIT- Kharagpur is also coming up with its regional centre in Hyderabad to train students in AI in partnership with State government.
- Throughout the year 2020, the state government will be running multiple programs, meetings and activities such as hackathons, masterclasses and other activities.
- Telangana was 1st State to sign up with NITI Aayog when they prepared ‘AI for All’ document.
International Affairs
12. Bangladesh: 55th ITEC Day celebrated in Dhaka
- The 55th Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day was celebrated at the High Commission of India in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
- Around 300 ITEC alumni from all walks of life, attended the programme.
- Over 4,000 young Bangladeshi professionals have undergone specialized short and medium-term courses in India under the ITEC programme since 2007.
- ITEC offers opportunities to participants to avail of short- and medium-term courses in premier institutions like IITs and IISCs in India.
- It was instituted in 1964 as part of India’s Development Assistance offering for developing countries.
- Every year more than 10,000 training slots are offered to 161 partner countries for training courses in various areas like Accounts, Audit, Management, SME, Rural Development and Parliamentary Affairs.
Sports
13. Bajrang and Ravi qualify for Tokyo Olympics
- Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya have qualified for Tokyo Olympics by strolling into the semi-finals of World Wrestling Championships at Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan.
- Bajrang comfortably defeated North Korea's Jong Chol Son 8-2 in the 65-kilogram quarterfinal.
- Now, He will play for the gold medal against Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan.
- Ravi beat Yuki Takahashi 6-1 in the 57-kilogram category.
- In the semi-final, Ravi will face reigning world champion Zavur Uguev of Russia.
- Sushil Kumar (Double Olympic medalist) is the only Indian wrestler to have won a World Championship gold in 2010 in Moscow.
- Tokyo 2020 (or, 2020 Summer Olympics) is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is scheduled to take place from 24th July to 9th August 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
14. Akila Dananjaya handed 1-year ban for illegal bowling action
- The International Cricket Council (ICC) banned Akila Dananjaya (25-years) from bowling in international matches for 12 months, after his bowling action was deemed to be illegal.
- He will be entitled to approach the ICC for a re-assessment of his bowling action after the expiry of this one-year period.
- Akila Dananjaya's bowling action came under the scanner during a Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Galle in August 2019.
