08 December 2017 - Daily Current Affairs

08 December 2017 - Daily Current Affairs

08 December 2017 - Daily Current Affairs

President Kovind  presents Presidential Colours to Submarine Arm of Navy

  • Today, The President Ram Nath Kovind awarded the Presidential Colour to the Submarine Arm of the Indian Navy at the Command headquarters in Vishakhapatnam.
  • The day will remain etched in the history of the Submarine arm in golden letters as the award of Presidents Colour is the highest honour which can be bestowed upon any military unit.
  • Earlier, President has inaugurated the Naval Maritime Aircraft Museum in Vishakhapatnam, featuring the maritime patrol aircraft Tupolev-142M.
Note:
  • 2017 is being commemorated as the Golden Jubilee of the Indian Navy's Submarine Arm.
  • It was on this day in 1967 that the Naval Ensign and the National Flag were hoisted on the first Indian Naval Submarine, Kalvari.

NGT holds Sri Sri's AOL Foundation responsible for damage to Yamuna floodplains

  • The National Green Tribunal (NGT) headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar has held the Art of Living Foundation of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar responsible for the damage caused to the Yamuna floodplains due to the holding of the World Cultural Festival organized by it in March 2016.
  • According to the NGT, AoL is responsible for the damage caused to the Yamuna floodplains in terms of the report submitted by the expert committee.
  • The amount of five crore rupees which was submitted by it earlier will be used for the restoration of the floodplains.

Maharashtra BJP MP Nana Patole resigns from Lok Sabha

  • Maharashtra BJP MP from Maharashtra Nana Patole has resigned from the party and the 16th Lok Sabha.
  • In the 2014 general election, Mr. Patole wrested the Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha seat from senior NCP leader Praful Patel.

Wassenaar Arrangement decides to admit India as its new member

  • The elite export control regime Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) has decided to admit India as its new member at the two-day plenary meeting of the grouping in Vienna.
  • It would enhance its credentials in the field of non-proliferation despite not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
  • The Wassenaar Arrangement plays a significant role in promoting transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies.
Note:
  • India will become the Arrangement's 42nd participating state as soon as the necessary procedural arrangements for joining the WA are completed.
  • The Wassenaar Arrangement participating states reviewed the progress of the number of current membership applications and agreed at the plenary meeting to admit India.

EPFO opens new facility for over 4.5 crore members

  • The Retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has opened a new facility to allow consolidation or merger of their multiple PF accounts (4.5 crore members) with the current Universal Account Number(UAN).
  • Now, the subscribers of the EPFO can merge as many as 10 previous accounts with their UAN at one go.
  • The EPFO has made it easy with this facility with an objective of having one employee, one EPF account.
  • Earlier, The EPFO has already issued a direction to its over 120 offices earlier this week to use this service and ensure multiple accounts are consolidated as early as possible.
Note:
  • 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 & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and 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.

Govt ropes in ICICI Bank to enable cashless payments on e-NAM

  • The union govt. has engaged ICICI Bank to enable online payments at 470 mandis integrated with the national portal of electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM).
  • Currently, e-NAM participants are doing payments through traditional ways like bank branches, debit cards, and net banking.
  • Online payments should be smooth and without any delay which is why ICICI Bank has been roped in as a banker for e-NAM.
  • ICICI Bank will enable BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on the e-NAM portal for making cashless payments.

RBI rationalizes charges on debit card transactions

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come out with differentiated merchant discount rates (MDR) for debit card transactions, prescribing separate caps for small and large traders to promote digital payments.
  • MDR charges for small merchants with an annual turnover of up to 20 lakh rupees has been fixed at 0.4% with a cap of 200 rupees per transaction by debit cards through Point of Sale (PoS) machines or online transactions.
  • MDR charges would be 0.9% with a cap of 1,000 rupees per transaction with an annual turnover of a merchant is over 20 lakh rupees,
  • For accepting payments via QR (quick response) code based transactions, the charge will be 0.3% subject to a cap of 200 rupees per transaction.
  • The directions will come into effect from 1st January.
Note:
  • Merchant Discount Rate(MDR) is the rate charged to a merchant by a bank for providing debit and credit card services.
  • The rate is determined based on factors such as volume, average ticket price, risk, and industry.

CBDT extends date for linking of Aadhaar with PAN till 31st of March next year

  • The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the date for linking of Aadhaar with PAN till 31st of March 2018.
  • Some of the taxpayers have not yet completed the linking of PAN with Aadhaar, it has been decided to further extend the time for linking of Aadhaar with PAN.
  • All taxpayers having Aadhaar Number or Enrolment Number are required to link the same with Permanent Account Number.

Health Minister J.P. Nadda directs CM's to implement Clinical Establishments Act

  • The Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda has directed all the Chief Ministers to adopt and implement the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 so that malpractice in private hospitals can be curbed.
  • The effective implementation of the Act would deter clinical establishments from indulging in unethical practices and ensuring that they discharge their duties responsibly towards the patients.
  • The Act has been enacted by the Central government to provide for registration and regulation of all clinical establishments in the country with a view to prescribing the minimum standards of facilities and services provided by them.

Cristiano Ronaldo wins fifth Ballon d'Or award

  • The Real Madrid forward ‘Cristiano Ronaldo’ (32-year) has won the Ballon d'Or for a fifth time to move level with rival Lionel Messi at a ceremony in Paris.
  • The award caps a year in which Ronaldo has won LaLiga, the Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup with Real Madrid, as well as helping Portugal qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
  • Ronaldo previously won the award in 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2016.

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