DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 8TH FEB 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 8TH FEB 2017
(Daily News India)
Shared By: WWW.DailyGk.IN

1. ASSAM FINANCE MINISTER HIMANTA BISWA SARMA PRESENTS RS 2,350 CRORE DEFICIT BUDGET 2017-18
i. The Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma presented the state Budget for the session 2017-18 in the state assembly. The budget was based on the theme “Resurgent Assam”.
ii. As per the Minister the state Budget 2017-18 was Rs. 2,349.79 cr. deficit Budget. The budget presented merged Non-Plan and Plan expenditures.
iii. The Government has redefined the role of Planning & Development Department. The department has been rechristened to the Department for Development and Transformation of Assam.
iv. The Budget Estimates of 2017-18, proposes to have a receipt of Rs 84,732.16 cr under consolidated fund of the state. Out of this, Rs 70,719.61 cr is on Revenue account and Rs 14,012.55 cr is under Capital account.

2. INDIA’S FIRST SOCIAL INNOVATION CENTRE LAUNCHED IN NIZAMABAD BY TELANAGANA GOVERNMENT
i. The Telangana government launched India’s 1st social innovation centre the ‘Kakatiya Hub for Social Innovation’ in Nizamabad.
ii. The social hub has been funded by the Telangana government and will be implemented through Kakatiya Sandbox ,which encourages entrepreneurship and innovation modelled after Deshpande Foundation’s Hubli Sandbox.
iii. The Kakatiya Hub will function like a rural incubator to encourage entrepreneurship at the grassroots level to promote the people in rural areas to become problem solvers by providing them necessary ecosystem  and structured guidance.


3. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION ON TERRESTRIAL & SATELLITE BROADCASTING HELD IN NEW DELHI
i .The 23rd session of the International Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial & Satellite Broadcasting was held at the Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, New Delhi.
ii .The event was organized by the Broadcast Engineering Society (India).
iii. The theme was Hybrid Technologies in Broadcasting – New Opportunities.
iv. 300 companies from 25 countries participated to display their products in BES EXPO 2017.
v. The trade show displayed products of the Telecom & Equipment industry to promote advancement of knowledge and practices of broadcasting in the field of Television, Radio and other media.

4. 4TH BIMSTEC SUMMIT TO BE HELD IN NEPAL IN 2017
i. The PM of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal informed during the 17th BIMSTEC-SOM meeting in Kathmandu that the 4th BIMSTEC Summit would be hosted by Nepal in 2017.
ii. As per the statement by the PM’s Secretariat, the agenda for the summit would include energy, connectivity, and economic development.

5. CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES SIGNS 4 MORE UNILATERAL ADVANCE PRICING AGREEMENTS
i. The Central Board of Direct Taxes under the Department of Revenue entered into 4 more unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements with the tax payers so as to provide them a certainty regarding transfer pricing.
ii. The APAs would provide certainty to taxpayers about transfer pricing by specifying the methods of pricing and determining the prices of international transactions in advance.
iii. The 4 APAs signed belong to the Manufacturing, Information Technology and Financial sectors of the economy.
iv. The international transactions covered in these agreements include Contract Manufacturing, Software Development Services and IT Enabled Services.
iv. Now the total number of APAs entered into by the CBDT has reached 130 including 8 bilateral APAs and 122 Unilateral APAs.

6. ARUNACHAL PRADESH LAUNCHES ‘ARUNACHAL CIVIL SERVICE AWARDS’
i. The state government of Arunachal Pradesh launched the Arunachal Civil Service Awards in a bid to encourage good governance in the state.
ii. Through this award, the government aims to improve the work culture and boost the morale of government employees by recognising their hard work and innovation.
iii. The award consists of a medal, a scroll and cash awards of Rs 5 lakh for an organization or a group and Rs 1 lakh for an individual.

7. IAAF BANS RUSSIA FROM 2017 LONDON WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
i. The International Association of Athletics Federations, the World Governing Body for Track and Field events, informed that Russia has been banned from the 2017 summer World Athletics Championships in London.
ii. Russia has been banned from international competition since November 2015 following a damaging report alleging that state-sponsored doping was prevailing in the country.
iii. The ban was extended in March 2016 and again in June 2016, preventing Russia’s athletes from competing at the Rio Olympics.
iv. The country again has been banned until November 2017, after recommendations made by the IAAF task force investigating Russia’s efforts at reform following a series of doping scandals recommended.

8. CHINA BECOMES WORLD’S LARGEST PRODUCER OF SOLAR POWER
i. China became the world’s largest producer of solar energy after nearly doubling its installed photovoltaic capacity in 2016.China has surpassed Germany.
ii. With the increased capacity, China generated 66.2 billion kw-hours of energy last year, which however accounted for only 1% of its electrical output. The country further plans to double its current solar energy capacity by 2020.


OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. “CIVIL SERVICE AWARDS” FOR EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN RECENTLY LAUNCHED BY WHICH STATE GOVERNMENT?
a)  Assam
b)  Arunachal Pradesh
c)  Manipur
d)  Odisha
Q2. THE 23RD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION ON TERRESTRIAL & SATELLITE BROADCASTING WAS HELD IN WHICH INDIAN CITY?
a)  New Delhi
b)  Chennai
c)  Kolkata
d)  Pune
Q3. THE INDIA’S 1ST SOCIAL INNOVATION CENTRE THE ‘KAKATIYA HUB FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION’ HAS BEEN LAUNCHED IN WHICH STATE?
a)  Kerala
b)  Himachal Pradesh
c)  Uttarakhand
d)  Telangana
Q4. WHICH COUNTRY WILL HOST THE 4TH BIMSTEC SUMMIT IN 2017?
a)  Sri Lanka
b)  India
c)  Nepal
d)  Bangladesh
Q5. CHINA HAS SURPASSED WHICH COUNTRY TO BECOME THE WORLD’S LARGEST PRODUCER OF SOLAR ENERGY?
a)  Germany
b)  USA
c)  France
d)  United Kingdom

ANSWERS: 

1 - B          2 - A    3 - D    4 - C    5 - A