DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 5 NOV 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN
1. GOVERNMENT LAUNCHED DEEN DAYAL SPARSH YOJANA, A SCHOLARSHIP
PROGRAM FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN
i. Union
Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha launched a pan India scholarship program
for school children called Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana to increase the reach of
Philately.
ii. Abbreviation
SPARSH stands for Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in
Stamps as a Hobby.
iii. Under
this scheme annual scholarships will be awarded to children of Standard VI to
IX who have good academic record and are also pursuing Philately.
2. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON “RAMAYAN CIRCUIT AND MITHILA-AWADH
RELATIONS” BEGINS IN JANAKPUR
i. An
International Conference on “Ramayan Circuit and Mithila-Awadh Relations”
started at Janakpur in Nepal. Culture Minister of Nepal Jitendra Naryan Dev,
inaugurated this conference.
ii. This
conference has been held with dual objective. First is to boost social,
cultural and religious ties between Mithila and Awadh and developing
connectivity between Janakpur and Ayodhya.
iii. Mithila
is a municipality in Danusha District in the Janakpur Zone of south-eastern
Nepal, whereas Awadh is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
and a small area of Nepal’s Province No. 5.
iv. It is to
be noted that in 2014, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Nepal Visit, India
and Nepal had signed an agreement to develop Ayodhya and Janakpur as twin
cities.
3. 4TH JWGACTC MEETING HELD IN INDIA
i. 4th
meeting of the India-US Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology
Co-operation was organised in India. JWGACTC was constituted under the auspices
of the Indo – US Defence Trade and Technology Initiative.
ii. The 13
member-US delegation for this meeting was headed by Rear Admiral Brian Antonio.
During this meeting, US-India discussed future co-operation under various
aspects of aircraft carrier technology
iii. The US
delegation visited various key strategic locations in India including Shore
Based Test Facility at Goa, Mazagaon Dock Limited, Naval Base at Karwar, INS
Vikramaditya at sea and Headquarters of Western Naval Command.
iv. Next
meeting of India-US JWGACTC will be held in the US early next year.
4. PAN NOT NEEDED FOR CASH SALE OF AGRI PRODUCE UP TO RS 2 LAKH PER
DAY
i. Central
Board of Direct Taxes clarified that farmers do not need to quote Permanent
Account Number for cash sale of their produce up to Rs 2 lakh a day. Cultivators/agriculutralists
had sought clarification from CBDT pertaining to applicability of a specific provision of Income-tax Act, 1961
to cash sale of agricultural produce.
ii. As per
provision of section 269ST in the Income Tax Act, any cash sale of an amount of
Rs 2 lakh or more on a single day, in respect of a single transaction or
transactions relating to one event or occasion from an individual is
prohibited.
iii. CBDT
thus clarified that cash sale of the agricultural produce by its cultivator for
an amount less than Rs 2 lakh will not attract prohibition under section 269ST.
iv. In
addition to this, cultivator will not be required to quote PAN or furnish Form
No 60 (filed by a person who does not have a permanent account number) for such
transactions
5. GOVT FORMS PANEL UNDER YASHWANT THORAT TO STUDY MERGER OF WEAK
DCCBS WITH MSC BANK
i. Maharashtra
State government has formed a panel to study the feasibility of merging
financially weak District Central Cooperative Banks with the Maharashtra State
Cooperative Bank.
ii. The panel
is headed by former NABARD chairman Yashwant Thorat. The panel has also been
mandated to study reasons for financial weakness of banks and suggest ways for
improvement.
iii .It is
expected to submit its report in a month’s time. Currently, there are 31 DCCBs
in Maharashtra. In recent years financial health of these banks has
deteriorated significantly as farmers are unable to repay loans due to drought.
Many of these DCCBs are also facing corruption charges.
iv. MSC Bank
is the apex bank of all the DCCBs. In recent years it has increased its retail
footprint in various parts of Maharashtra. Merging DCCBs with MSC will further
improve its reach.
6. INDIA’S CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT TO BE 1.5% OF GDP THIS FISCAL
i. As per a
report by Japanese financial services firm Nomura, India’s current account
deficit for FY 2017-18 is expected to be around $40 billion, or 1.5% of Gross
Domestic Product.
ii. Current
Account Deficit arises when outflow of foreign exchange from the country is
greater than the inflow of foreign exchange. As per Nomura, CAD for 1st half of
FY 2017-18 i.e. for April –September 2017 period, is expected to be around 2%
GDP
iii. The
widening of CAD in April-September 2017 was due to transitory factors, which is
expected to reverse in the second half i.e. October 2017-March 2018. Owing to
this reversal the full year CAD estimate for FY 2017-18 has been pegged at 1.5%
of GDP.
iv. However
CAD estimate for FY 2017-18 is still wider as compared to FY 2016-17 for which
CAD stood at 0.7% of GDP.
7. INDIA’S FOREX RESERVES FALL TO $398.8 BILLION
i. Reserve
Bank of India data has showed that, India’s foreign exchange reserves fell for
the second consecutive week to $398.761 billion. The forex reserves act as a
cushion against dollar outflows. The forex rate fell $1.560 billion in the last
two weeks amid concerns over tightening of global monetary easing.
ii. RBI did
not provide reasons behind fall in reserves. Forex traders said that, the fall
indicates that RBI must have sold more dollars than what it had purchased over
the last two weeks.
iii. The
fall was also due to changes in valuation of reserves held in other global
currencies such as euro and pound sterling.
8. KRISHNA SOBTI GETS PRESTIGIOUS JNANPITH AWARD 2017
i. The
Jnanpith Selection Board announced that renowned Hindi writer Krishna Sobti has
been chosen for 2017 Jnanpith Award.
ii. Krishna
Sobti was born in 1925 in Gujrat, Pakistan’s Punjab Province. Sobti is 92 years
old. She is known for experimenting with new writing styles. Her language was
highly influenced by the intermingling of Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi cultures.
iii. Some of
her important works are Daar Se Bichhudi, Zindaginama, Mitro Marjani, Dil-o-Danish,
Badalom ke Ghere, Ai Ladki and Gujarat Pakistan Se Gujarat Hindustan. Several
of her works have been translated into other languages.
iv. She has
been recipient of many awards in the past, like Hindi Akademi Awards, Maithli
Sharan Gupt Samman, Shiroman Awards, Sahitya Akademi Fellowship and Padma
Bhushan.
9. MARY KOM NAMED YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AMBASSADOR
i. Five-time
world champion MC Mary Kom has been appointed as ambassador of the AIBA Women’s
Youth World Championships 2017 to be held in Guwahati from 19 to 26 November
2017. The competition is held in India for the first time.
iii. Mary
Kom has won an Olympic bronze medal. She hails from Manipur. The Boxing
Pavilion at the Nabin Chandra Bordoloi AC Indoor Hall in Guwahati, India, will
be the venue for the AIBA Women’s Youth World Championships 2017.
10. INDIA SUCCESSFULLY TESTS ITS FIRST FULLY INDIGENOUS 'GLIDE BOMB'
i. The
Indian Air Force, along with the Defence Research and Development Organisation
successfully tested an indigenously developed lightweight ‘Glide’ bomb in
Chandipur in Odisha.
ii. With
this DRDO announced that this bomb will soon be inducted into the armed forces.
Named Smart Anti Airfield Weapon, it was dropped from an IAF aircraft at the
Integrated Test Range.
OBJECTIVE
QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1. DEEN DAYAL SPARSH YOJANA IS A PROGRAM LAUNCHED BY GOI, WHICH
WILL BE BENEFITED BY WHOM?
a) Youths
b) School Children
c) Backward Class
d) Under Previleged
Q2. WHERE DID THE 4TH MEETING OF THE INDIA-US JOINT WORKING
GROUP ON AIRCRAFT CARRIER TECHNOLOGY CO-OPERATION CONDUCTED?
a) India
b) USA
c) Washington
d) New York
Q3. CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES CLARIFIED THAT FARMERS DO NOT
NEED TO QUOTE PERMANENT ACCOUNT NUMBER FOR CASH SALE OF THEIR PRODUCE UP TO RS
____ A DAY?
a) 2.5 lakh
b) 3 lakh
c) 1 lakh
d) 2 lakh
Q4. WHO IS HEADING THE PANEL WHICH WAS FORMED BY MAHARASHTRA
STATE GOVERNMENT TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF MERGING FINANCIALLY WEAK DISTRICT
CENTRAL COOPERATIVE BANKS WITH THE MAHARASHTRA STATE COOPERATIVE BANK?
a) Devendra Fadnavis
b) Satyanarayan Iyer
c) Yashwant Thorat
d) Moraji Desai
Q5. WHO RECEIVES THE PRESTIGIOUS JNANPITH AWARD 2017?
a) Sumitranadan Pandit
b) Krishna Sobti
c) Shankha Ghosh
d) Ashapoorna Devi
ANSWERS:
1 - B 2 - A 3
- D 4 - C 5 - B
