30 August 2017 - Current Affairs

30 August 2017 - Current Affairs

Indian Hotels Company Appoints Puneet Chhatwal as MD and CEO

• Tata group hospitality firm Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) has appointed Duetsche Hospitality chief executive Puneet Chhatwal as its Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
• He will take over from incumbent Rakesh Sarna, who is stepping down on 30 September. 
• Before he joined IHCL, Sarna was the group president - Americas of Hyatt Hotels Corporation.

GST collection for the first month at Rs 92,283 crore: FM Arun Jaitley

• According to the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the first set of data on tax collections, taxes worth Rs 92,283 crore were collected in July from just 64.42% of the total taxpayer base.
• The finance minister said even after the compensation cess is excluded, the target will still be surpassed when all taxpayers file returns.
• Tax collections for July (first month) when a unified Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented across the country are likely to further go up when all the tax payers file returns.
• The last date for payment of tax for the month of July was 25^th August and for those seeking transitional credit for taxes paid in the pre-GST era, the deadline was 28^th August.

Note:

• Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax which was introduced in India on 1 July 2017 and was applicable throughout India which replaced multiple cascading taxes levied by the central and state governments.
• The GST is governed by a GST Council and its Chairman is the Finance Minister of India.

Annual five-day Hajj pilgrimage begins today in Saudi Arabia

• Today, the annual five-day Hajj pilgrimage commences, as millions of Muslims from across the world will begin their journey from the holy city of Mecca to assemble in tent-city of Mina in Saudi Arabia.
• Around one lakh 70 thousand pilgrims from India are performing Hajj this year.
• The Hajj is the largest annual gathering of people in the world.

Note:

• The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims, and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey and can support their family during their absence.
• It is one of the five pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, and Sawm.

BRICS Innovative Competitiveness Report 2017

• According to the BRICS Innovative Competitiveness Report 2017 report, India’s innovation growth rate would see a significant rise and could surpass that of China in the next decade,
• China ranks first in terms of national comprehensive innovation competitiveness in 2016, followed by Russia, South Africa, Brazil, and India.
• It is predicted that the innovation competitiveness of India would see a significant rise with its growth rate probably surpassing China between 2025-2030.

BRICS

• BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
• Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC" (or "the BRICs"), before the induction of South Africa in 2010.
• 2017 BRICS summit will be held on 3-5 September in Xiamen city of China.

India gives 20 Sri Lankan students scholarships to study Hindi

• A group of 20 ‘Sri Lankan’ students have been sponsored by Government of India (GoI) to study Hindi at the Central Institute of Hindi in Agra.
• The government of India has sponsored their visit, academic fees, and local hospitality for one year in Agra.

Note:

• Hindi is the most popular foreign language in Sri Lanka and is being taught in almost 80 institutions all over the island.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath inaugurates Startup Yatra program in Lucknow

• Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has inaugurated the Startup Yatra programme in Lucknow.
• Now, UP govt. will provide financial assistance of 15 thousand rupees per month and maximum 10 lakh rupees in a year to those who will begin startups.
• The state govt. will sign a MoU with SIDBI regarding this within a fortnight.
• The state government will implement one district one product policy to create more employment opportunities.
• Under this policy, the government will appoint one person in each district of the state who with the use of technology will develop a brand product and connect it with the concerned district.
• Soon, the government will also launch a mobile application and also start a call centre for startups.

Govt. to extend Aadhaar deadline till 31st December

• The union govt. informed the Supreme court (SC) that it will extend the deadline to furnish Aaadhar to avail benefits of social welfare schemes till 31st December this year.
• A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court is likely to hear all Aadhaar related matters in the first week of November.

UP govt decides to end interview in government jobs

• The Uttar Pradesh Govt. cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has decided to end the process of holding interview for selection of candidates for the government jobs in all the non-gazetted posts of Group B, C, and D categories.
• The decision has been taken keeping in mind the system followed by the Government of India.
• The state government has decided to do away with the interview in the recruitment of non-gazetted officers from Class II to IV.
• However, for recruitment of gazetted officers in Class II category, Interview will be must.

Atal Pension Yojana surges ahead with 62 lakhs enrollments

• Atal Pension Yojana has surged ahead with 62 lakh enrolments till date after launch of the scheme.
• A total of 3.07 lakh APY accounts have been sourced under One Nation One Pension.
• State Bank of India sourcing a stupendous 51,000 APY accounts and other prominent banks like Canara Bank which has sourced over 32 thousand APY accounts.

Note:

• Atal Pension Yojana is a government-backed pension scheme in India targeted at the unorganized sector.
• It was formally launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9^th May in Kolkata.

Rajnath Singh Inaugurates "YUVA – A Skill Development Program"

• The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the ‘YUVA – a skill development program’, an initiative under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana by Delhi Police.
• This initiative will connect with youth by upgrading their skill as per their competencies.
• Now, the Delhi Police has tied up with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for providing mass job linked skill training for selected youth.

Sri Lankan head for cricket team selection resigns

• Sri Lankan head for cricket team selection ‘Sanath Jayasurya’ has resigned from his post along with other members following defeat against India in both test and ODI series.
• The team had to face a whitewash in test series against India and face the same prospect in ODIs with India leading by 3-0.

Bangladesh beat Australia by 20 runs in the test match

• First time Bangladesh has defeated Australia (by 20 runs) in the Cricket Test match at Dhaka and it is their 10th Test victory in their history.
• Shakib Al Hasan took 10 wickets in the match and made crucial 84 runs in the first innings.
• In the second innings, the home side made 221 giving a target of 265 for a win which the Australian side fell short by 20 runs.

Final Score:

• Bangladesh: 260, 221
• Australia: 217, 244-all out (70.5 Over)
• Player of the match: Shakib Al Hasan