Current Affairs Today – March 12 2016

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INDIAN AFFAIRS

Lok Sabha passes Aadhaar bill 2016

The bill enabling Aadhaar card to be mandatory to avail the subsidies and schemes of the Government has been passed in the Lok Sabha.

• The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 aims to ensure targeted services to intended beneficiaries through Aadhaar card

Union government mobilizes 370 crore for Swachh Bharat Khosh

Narendra Modi’s government launched the Swachh Bharat campaign in October, 2014.Since then various initiatives have been taken by the government to improve the cleanliness of the nation. As a part of it, the fund for Swachh Bharat Khosh is mobilized with 370 crores by the government.

•  It is a fund created to support the various cleanliness programmes across the nation

IMF and India to establish SAARTAC

In a move to further strengthen the economic operations of the Nation, the Union government led by PM Modi has joined hands with IMF to establish a Regional cooperation centre in the Country’s capital.

• Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley agreed today to establish a capacity development center in New Delhi

India to supply Locomotives to Myanmar

RITES (Public Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Railways) signed a contract to supply 18 Meter Gauge 1350 HP Diesel Electric Locomotives to Myanmar Railways.

• India will supply 18 meter Gauge 1350 HP Diesel Electric Locomotives to Myanmar Railways according to the new MoU signed between India and Myanmar

Haryana to join UDAY scheme

Seven states have already joined the UDAY(Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) scheme which is an initiative to clear the debts of the state run power distribution companies.

• It is a scheme for restructuring debt of power distribution companies (discoms) in the state.

NITI Aayog launches Women Transforming India Campaign

The NITI Aayog as a part of International Women’s Day launched the Women Transforming India initiative in partnership with the UN in India and MyGov.

• NITI Aayog seeks for entries in the form of written essays/stories. These stories should reflect new ground broken by women in empowering themselves/others, or of challenging stereotypes.

Kakrapar nuclear plant shut down after coolant system develops leak

A power generation unit atnuclear powered Kakrapar atomic power Plant in Gujarat was shut down after leakage developed of heavy water.

• A break in the coolant system of one of the nuclear reactors at Kakrapar Gujarat,Plant authorities confirmed that there was no harmful, radioactive leakage and the backup safety mechanisms that were made back up.
• Unit 1 of the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station, which was operating at its rated power, had to be shut down, consequent to a small leak in the Primary Heat Transport (PHT) System.

Kakrapar nuclear plant

The Kakrapar atomic power plant Located in Gujaratconsists of two units of pressurized heavy water reactors of 220 MW each.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

EIU Ranked Mumbai and Bangalore among Cheapest cities to live

Mumbai and Bangalore are among the cheapest cities in the world, according to a top London forecast group (EIU).

• London was sixth and New York seventh
• Though Singapore was the most expensive, the cost of living there was 10 per cent cheaper when compared to New York than was the case in the EIU survey a year ago

Serbia declares state of emergency over floods

The Serbian government has proclaimed a state of emergency as heavy rains are causing extensive flooding and might force thousands to leave their homes

• More than 50 people died in the deluge and about 700 homes were flooded across the country with 170 people needing to be moved for their safety forcing thousands to leave their homes.
• The persistent rain was expected in the coming days forecasters predicted also Flood damaged the country as much as 2 billion euros.

Serbia:

• Capital: Belgrade
• Currency: Serbian Dinar

BANKING & FINANCE

Employees to get incentive for 1 year from EPFO

The Employee Provident Fund Organisation as a part of seeding the UAN number with KYC has announced an incentive for the employees who register between January and December 2016.

• Incentive: Employees can claim 5 to 10% of administrative charges for 1 year
• Duration: From January to December 2016

Yes Bank in pact with Indo-Brazil chamber for strategic co-op

Yes Bank, is India’s fifth largest private sector Bank has signed pact withthe India Brazil Chamber of Commerce for cooperation in knowledge sharing, consultancy, skill and technology.

• Sports, media and entertainment with special focus on IT, infrastructure, broadcast driven business opportunities are the core sectors covered under this MoU.
• On behalf this MoU Yes Bank and IBCC will jointly effort to explore exchange of best practices in sports goods manufacturing, CSR in sports, SM&E talent management.
• This MoU emphasizes strategic grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), represents the changing world economic

PSUs Spent Over Rs 2400 Crore in CSR in 2014-15

116 central public sector enterprises have spent an amount of Rs 2447.59 crore on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in 2014-15.

• To monitor the spending of these funds are held every six months meeting would be called by Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises the department  Minister Anant Geete informed in RajyaSabha.
• In the private sector, the government did not control these companies, but has issued guidelines. If there is a specific complaint, we can act on it.

Corporate Social Responsibility:

• Corporate Social Responsibility is the management tool that every company needs to achieve success in a sustainable society while fulfilling its business purpose.
• Under India’s Companies Act of 2013, companies that have a net worth of $80 million, a turnover of at least $160 million, or net profits of at least $800,000 must develop

BUSINESS

Uber opens Asia’s first engineering hub in India

The California-based Uber services has opened today its first Asian engineering centre in Bengaluru.

• The Tech Hub to have software engineers, product developers and others working initially on problems specific to users in India, but will eventually play a role in improving Uber’s customer-facing technologies worldwide.
• The company has started in India from about 30 cities when he joined three years ago, to 400 cities today local competitors in India such as ANI Technologies owned OLA the country’s leading taxi rider service provider will be forced to raise its fund on market by this move.

Uber Technologies:

• Founded: 2009
• Headquarters: California US
• CEO: Travis Kalanick

BSNL Jumps into Video-On-Demand Service

State Owned BSNL mulling to offer video-on-demand services to their 2 crore customers across India. We will implement this MoU to cover the entire nation within next six months. Under this MoUTata Sky will offer its VoD service free for the first month to download content worth up to Rs 500.

• They have announced partnership with DTH Major Tata Sky to kick-start their operations, Tata Sky, which has a user base of about 11 million, will approach potential subscribers across the country.
• BSNL with 2 crore broadband users in the countryif selects video-on-demand service, then the connectivity and bandwidth shall be provided by BSNL while content would be provided by Tata Sky, who have around 4000 titles available right now on their platform.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited:

• Founded: 2000
• CEO: AnupamShrivastava 
• Headquarters: New Delhi

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Tezpur and JNU won Visitors Award for 2016

Tezpur University won the annual Visitor’s Award for the Best University. Rakesh Bhatnagar and the Molecular Parasitology Group of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have also won theVisitor’s Awards for Research and Innovation respectively.

Visitor’s Award for Innovation:

Professor Rakesh Bhatnagar of Jawaharlal Nehru University for development of a genetically engineered vaccine and a therapeutic antibody against anthrax

India, US launch Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship

The United States-India Educational Foundation formally launched U.S.-India Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship on behalf of both the governments.

• The initiative will advance bilateral cooperation on climate change, which will enable Indian research scholars to work with American institutions in the field.

Kerala Tourism campaign wins Golden City Gate Award

God’s own Country official logoed Kerala Tourism’s campaign on tourism has bagged the‘Golden City Gate Award’ at the travel trade show ITB in Berlin.

• The award bagged campaign Titled ‘New Worlds’, the multimedia campaign containing three short films directed by reputed Malayalam filmmaker Anwar Rasheed won thesilver prize of this year’s Golden City Gate (Das Golden Stadttor), at the International Tourismus-Borse Berlin

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Ajit Singh & Satish Mittal sworn-in as Gauhati & Rajasthan HC CJ respectively

The President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Ajit Singh, Judge of the Rajasthan High Court,to be the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court

• Justice Satish Kumar Mittal was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court. The oath was administered by Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh.
• Justice Ajit Singh was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court. The oath of office to the Chief Justice was administered by Assam Governor P B Acharya.

Lt Gen N P S Hira appointed as Deputy chief of Army Staff

Chief of the Army’s Northern Command, Lt Gen N P S Hira has been appointed as Deputy Chief of Army Staff and would assume office on March 14.

• General N P S Hira has been the commander of Sikh Light Infantry and has wide experience in counter insurgency operations in J&K
• He has commanded Assam battalion during high violence period and the team bagged 32 gallantry awards under his guidance. He has experience in North eastern states too
• He commanded 10 Infantry Division in Jammu and Kashmir on the Line of Control with distinction for which he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Plastic Decaying Bacteria Discovered

The important cause of pollution especially land and water pollution is the non -bio degradable Plastics. The most important bio discovery of the century has come with the discovery of bacteria that can decompose Plastics

• The Japan researchers have discovered a new species of bacteria that is capable of breaking down Polyethylene terephthalate or PET in short

Railway launches online ‘clean my coach’ service     

Railways launched mobile app called Clean My Coach for all long-distance trains in which you can ask for your coach or toilet to be cleaned by putting a request on the app.

• Any passenger demanding cleaning staff by entering PNR in the form given above. Passengers may also send their requests as SMS to 58888 by typing CLEAN < Space >< 10-digit PNR number>they can also use the android app or Web page www.cleanmycoach.com for logging the request.
• Central Railway has developed a good mobile app ‘Clean My Coach’. All zonal railways should adopt and adapt it,a total of 18,709 requests have already been served since the service was launched.

Google’s next operating system is ‘Android N’

Search Giant’s Google is previewing the next version of its Android operating system in an effort to get the upgraded software on more mobile devices as the Upgraded version is ready before the schedule by two months

• The Upgraded OS “Android N” for now, offers a split-screen feature so users can toggle between apps more easily.
• The new OS N also enables users to reply directly to notifications, something already available on the software that Google makes for smart watches running on Android Wear.
• The new edition initially is being recommended only for mobile app makers and will only work on a few smartphones and tablets.

ANDROID:

In the mobile operating system share Android is the leader with staggering 52.57% in the world.

OBITUARY

Keyboardist Keith Emerson dies at 71

LegendaryMusician Keith Emerson, Lakeand Palmer keyboardist who turned the instrument into every bit the powerful and cool rock weapon as the guitar, has died in his residence in California US

• He was 71, when he died.Emerson’s first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s, before becoming a founding member of Emerson, Lake and Palmer  one of the early supergroups, in 1970.
• Born on November 1, 1944, in the England Emerson was classically trained on the piano as a child and started his career playing R&B. He has beenconsidered as one of the top keyboard players of the progressive rock era.