DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 30TH JUNE 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 30TH JUNE 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1. DR JITENDRA SINGH LAUNCHES NEW TRAINING PROGRAMME ‘COMMIT’ FOR STATE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
i. Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region, Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Atomic Energy and Space, Public Grievances & Pensions, launched a new training programme Comprehensive Online Modified Modules on Induction Training for State Government officials.
ii. The objective of this training programme is to improve the public service delivery mechanism and provide citizen centric administration through capacity building of officials who interact with the citizens on day-to-day basis.
iii. COMMIT is cost effective and has the potential to cover about 3.3 lakh officials annually, compared to 10,000 officials under existing 12-Day Induction Training Programme.
iv. COMMIT will be launched in 6 States of Assam, Maharashtra, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal initially on pilot basis during the current financial year 2017-18 and within next year it is expected to cover all India level.
v. COMMIT programme has been developed by Department of Personnel and Training in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme.

2. AADHAAR-PAN LINKING MANDATORY FROM 1 JULY
i. The Government has issued notification to all those who have Permanent Account Number should link to their existing Aadhar card from July 1 in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 139AA.
ii. Under the Finance Act for 2017-18 both Aadhar card and PAN became mandatory for filing tax returns, opening of Bank accounts and financial transactions over Rs.50000.
iii. The 12-digit identification number or Aadhaar enrolment ID is compulsory for those who are applying for new PAN.
iv. Go to incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in to link your Aadhaar with PAN and click on the tab ‘Link Aadhaar’. After this first enter your PAN and Aadhaar number; then enter your name exactly as mentioned in Aadhaar and then submit it.
v. After verification of details from the Unique Identification Authority of India, the linking will be confirmed.

3. INDIA BECOMES 1ST COUNTRY TO GIVE TO UN TAX FUND WITH $100000 CONTRIBUTION
i. India has contributed $100,000 to UN Trust Fund for International Cooperation in Tax Matters (UN Tax Fund) and has thereby become the 1st country to make the contribution.
ii. The UN Tax Trust Fund aims to support the work of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters.
iii. Voluntary contributions for the fund have been called for by the UN and the committee since its establishment in 2006. The call for contributions was also emphasised in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda  adopted at the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development in 2015.
iv. The contribution to UN Tax Fund is dedicated towards ensuring greater support for developing countries’ participation in the sub-committee meetings of the UN Tax Committee, which are currently unfunded.

4. AP CM CHANDRABABU LAUNCHES MSME CORPORATION WITH RS 100 CR
i. Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu launches the establishment of Micro, Small, Medium Entrepreneurs Development Corporation at Vijayawada with fund of Rs.100 cr on the occasion of International MSME Day.
ii. Around 15 acres would be allotted for MSME bhavan in Amaravati for research, development and training programmes.
iii. MSME bhavans would be constructed in all the 175 Assembly constituencies and Industrial Promotion Councils are being set up, headed by a Minister, in all the districts.
iv. Minister D Umameshwara Rao were also present in the event and Chief Minister gave away awards to 17 enthusiastic MSME entrepreneurs.

5. TRUMP PICKS INDIAN AMERICAN KRISHNA R. URS TO BE AMBASSADOR TO PERU
i. US President Donald Trump has nominated Indian American Krishna R. Urs to be the ambassador to Peru after James Costos, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama`
ii. Urs, a 30-year veteran of the Foreign Service was earlier the Deputy Chief of Mission in Spain. He is currently Charge d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Madrid. Urs can speak Spanish, Hindi and Telugu.
iii. Meanwhile last week Trumph nominated Kenneth Juster, the President’s Deputy Assistant for International Economic Affairs and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, to be the Ambassador in New Delhi.
iv. Trump has appointed Indian-American Nikki Haley as the US Permanent Representative to the UN and it was the highest levels of the State Department.

6. ISRO’S GSAT-17 SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED FROM FRENCH GUIANA
i. Indian Space Research Organisation’s latest communication satellite GSAT-17 was successfully launched on board Arianespace rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.
ii. GSAT-17 with a lift-off mass of about 3477 kg carried payloads in normal C-band, extended C-band and S-band to provide various communication services.
iii. It also carried equipment for meteorological data relay and satellite based search and rescue services being provided by earlier INSAT satellites.
iv. GSAT -17 was approved in May 2015 with an outlay of Rs. 1013 cr, including its launch fee and insurance.

7. KIDAMBI SRIKANTH CLIMBS UP THREE SPOTS TO RE-ENTER TOP-10 OF BADMINTON RANKINGS
i. India’s top badminton player Kidambi Srikanth broke back into the top-10 at 8th in the latest World Badminton Rankings. By winning successive titles at Indonesian Open and Australian Open, Kidambi Srikanth now has 58,583 points in his kitty.
ii. Srikanth is the only Indian shuttler to figure in the top-10 of men’s singles ranking after climbing up three places.
iii. Among other Indian male shuttlers, B Sai Praneeth has moved up a position to be 15th, while Ajay Jayaram lost a spot to be 16th.
iv. In women’s singles, PV Sindhu dropped to be world no. 5, while Sania Nehwal has gained a spot to be at 15th.

8. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE TROPICS: JUNE 29, 2017
i. United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution on 14 June 2016, which declared that 29 June of each year is to be observed as the International Day of the Tropics.
ii. The date is the anniversary of the launch of the inaugural State of the Tropics 2014 report. State of the Tropics Report was launched on June 29, 2014 by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
iii. The international Day of the Tropics was designated to raise awareness to the specific challenges faced by tropical areas, the far-reaching implications of the issues affecting the world’s tropical zone and the need, at all levels, to raise awareness and to underline the important role that countries in the tropics will play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. UNION GOVERNMENT HAS LAUNCHED A NEW TRAINING PROGRAMME ‘COMMIT’ FOR STATE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. ABBREVIATION ‘COMMIT’ STANDS FOR?
a)  Comprehensive Online Management Modules on Induction Training
b)  Compulsory Online Modified Modules on Induction Training
c)  Comprehensive Online Mentoring Modules on Induction Training
d)  Comprehensive Online Modified Modules on Induction Training
Q2. WHICH AMONG THE FOLLOWING HAS BECOME THE 1ST COUNTRY TO MAKE VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION TO UN TAX FUND?
a)  India
b)  US
c)  Australia
d)  Japan
Q3. WHICH STATE GOVERNMENT LAUNCHED MSME DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION WITH A CORPUS FUND OF RS 100 CR TO PROMOTE MICRO SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN THE STATE?
a)  Telangana
b)  Gujarat
c)  Andhra Pradesh
d)  Tamil Nadu
Q4. US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP HAS NOMINATED KRISHNA R. URS TO BE THE AMBASSADOR OF US TO:
a)  Argentina
b)  Peru
c)  Colombia
d)  Chile
Q5. ‘INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE TROPICS’ IS OBSERVED ON WHICH DATE EVERY YEAR?
a)  27th June
b)  26th June
c)  29th June
d)  28th June

ANSWERS: 

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