Important Current Affairs 11th August

• NASA Selects 6 Firms to Develop Habitats
  • NASA has selected six US companies to help develop prototypes & concepts of deep space habitats for manned missions to Mars.
  • Habitation systems provide a safe place for humans to live beyond Earth on our journey to Mars.
  • The selected companies are Bigelow Aerospace, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space Systems &  NanoRacks
• Russia, Turkey Agree to Restore Ties
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to work toward restoring full relations with Turkey.
  • He said after meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Saint Petersburg.
  • Both the leaders pledged to restore close economic relations.
  • The two countries agreed to restore their yearly bilateral trade target of $100 billion & speed up the resumption of charter flights from Russia to Turkey.
• US Approves Sale of Arms to Saudi Arabia
  • The US State Dept has approved the potential sale of more than 130 battle tanks, 20 armored recovery vehicles & other equipment worth about $1.15 billion to Saudi Arabia.
  • This sale will increase the Royal Saudi Land Force’s (RSLF) interoperability with US forces.
  • Lawmakers have 30 days to block the sale.
  • The deal conveys U.S. commitment to Saudi Arabia’s security & armed forces modernization.
• Chef Aarthi Wins US-based Culinary Show
  • Indian chef Aarthi Sampath has won the American competition-based reality show “CHOPPED”.
  • She is the head chef of Vikas Khanna’s Junoon Restaurant in New York.
  • Chopped is a cooking completion where four chefs compete to create a three-meal course using random ingredients provided to them.
  • She has studied from Institute of Hotel Management, Jaipur.
• Women’s Safety App I Feel Safe Launched
  • Mobile Standards Alliance of India & the Nirbhaya Jyoti Trust launched a mobile app.
  • Launched at Delhi University“I Feel Safe”is a personal safety application.
  • It has a panic button and the user has to press it 5 min to raise an alarm.
  • It works even if the screen of the phone is locked & the SIM card has been removed.
  • It places an automatic call to the number 100.
• Javadekar Inaugurate IIT in Chhattisgarh
  • Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has inaugurated the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chattisgarh.
  • The minister inaugurated the IIT, Bhilai at its temporary campus at the Govt Engineering College at Sejbahar.
  • The IIT Bhilai is the first IIT in Chhattisgarh and 23rd in the country.
  • IIT students can undertake research projects right from their hostel room.
• CCTNS to be Operationalised by March 31
  • The Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks & System (CCTNS) project will be operationalised by 31st of March next year.
  • The project aims to connect all police stations in the country with the objective of tracking crime & criminals related data on real time.
  • CCTNS project will digitise data related to FIR registration, investigation & charge sheets in all police stations.
• Govt Notifies ECCE Policy
  • Government has notified the national ‘Early Childhood Care and Education’ (ECCE) policy.
  • The policy aims to achieve holistic development of children below six years of age.
  • The ECCE is one of the six free services provided through Anganwadi centres located across the country.
  • It is provided under the Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) scheme of Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• Kudankulam Unit Dedicated to Nation
  • PM Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin & Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa jointly dedicated the Unit 1 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) to the nation through video conferencing.
  • Built with Russian technology,this Unit has been functional since 2014 & is connected to the Southern grid.
  • The 1,000-MWe Kundankulum1 unit is the largest single unit of electrical power in India.
• Carlos Brathwaite Named WI T20 Captain
  • Carlos Brathwaite has been named the captain of the West Indies Twenty20 side for the upcoming two-match T20 series against India in Florida.
  • Brathwaite will replace Darren Sammy, who was sacked as the T20I captain last week.
  • He has played a crucial role in West Indies’ World T20 winning campaign in India earlier this year.
  • The change of guard brings an end to Sammy’s six-year tenure at the helm.
• Taiwan Weightlifter Suspended for Doping
  • Taiwan’s former weightlifting world record holder Lin Tzu-chi has been suspended from competing in the Rio Olympics after failing a dope test.
  • She has been temporarily suspended from competing.
  • She was one of the favorites for gold after raising the world record to 261kg in winning the 2014 Asian Games.
  • After Lin’s withdrawal, weightlifter Deng Wei took gold in the women’s 63kg category.
• Niti Aayog Signs Deal with US EIA
  • Niti Aayog has inked a pact with US energy information administration (EIA).
  • It is working to develop India’s energy data agency.
  • The web portal will host all the data related to energy sector including oil & gas, coal & solar etc.
  • Niti Aayog also inked a SOP with US agency for international development (USAID) & UK’s dept of energy & climate change (DECC) for collaboration in energy research.
• LS Clears Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill
  • The Lok Sabha has passed the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
  • The bill seeks to amend the Income Tax Act, 1961 & Customs Tariff Act,1975.
  • FM Arun Jaitley said the new bill will address various issues of demerger of companies.
  • The bill seeks to widen the scope of definition of demerger under the Income Tax law to include the splitting up of or the reconstruction of a public sector company.
• PFRDA Slashes Minimum Contribution
  • The PFRDA has decided to slash the minimum annual contribution for National Pension System (NPS) subscribers to ease flow of contributions.
  • The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) slashed the minimum annual contribution under Tier-I account from Rs 6,000 to Rs 1,000.
  • For Tier-II accounts, PFRDA has decided to waive the requirement of maintaining minimum balance of Rs 2,000.
• Govt to Review FDI Rules for E-commerce
  • The govt has decided to set up a committee to look into all issues including foreign direct investment norms pertaining to e-commerce industry in the country.
  • The committee will be headed by the NITI Aayog CEO.
  • The other members in the panel include officials from Comm & Industry Ministry & Dept of Electronics & IT.
  • The committee would suggest ways to further promote the growth of the sector.
• Tata Chemicals Sells Urea Business
  • Norway’s Yara International has entered into an agreement to acquire the Tata Chemicals Babrala urea plant in Uttar Pradesh for Rs 2,670 crore.
  • The plant has an annual production of 0.7 million tonnes ammonia & 1.2 million tonnes urea.
  • The plant was commissioned in 1994 & is one of the most energy efficient plants in India.
  • This is the first time that Yara is investing money in an asset in India.
• Cabinet Liberalises FDI norms for NBFCs
  • The Cabinet has approved changes in norms for foreign direct investment (FDI) for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
  • It will enable inflow of foreign investment via automatic route in “other financial services”.
  • Present regulations stipulate that FDI would be allowed on automatic route for only 18 specified NBFC activities.
  • Now as much as 100% foreign investment can come into these services
• Commerce Ministry Starts E-marketplace
  • Commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman has launched the government e-marketplace.
  • It has been launched online purchase of goods and services by various central govt ministries & departments.
  • The e-marketplace is expected to bring transparency and improve governance.
  • To begin with common use items in 26 categories like computers, office equipments have been placed on the portal.
• Syndicate Bank Launches Project Ananya
  • Syndicate Bank has launched “Project Ananya” aimed at large-scale transformation of its branches.
  • The first Ananya branch was opened by MD & CEO Arun Srivastava at Indiranagar, Bengaluru.
  • Project Ananya aims to upgrade the products,services of the Bank to cater to the fast changing customer needs
  • It will provide customers with best services while improving and modernising the whole bank.
• Dinesh Kumar Khara Appointed SBI’s MD
  • Dinesh Kumar Khara was appointed Managing Director of State Bank of India (SBI).
  • He is presently working as MD & Chief Executive Officer of SBI Funds Management Pvt Ltd.
  • The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has appointed Khara for a period of three years.
  • Ashok Kumar Garg & Raj Kamal Verma have been appointed as ED of Bank of Baroda & Union Bank of India respectively.