GK & Current Affairs March 2016

Union Govt unveils Defence Procurement Procedure 2016
Procurement Procedure 2016 (DPP 2016). It was unveiled on the sidelines of the Defexpo-2016 that was inaugurated by him at Naqueri Quitol in Quepem Taluka, Goa.
•    The DPP 2016 will replace the Defence Procurement Procedure 2013 (DPP 2013). It will come into force on 1 April 2016.
•    The key provisions of the DPP 2016 are based on the Dhirendra Singh committee report that was appointed in May 2015 to review the DPP 2013.
•    The aim of the DPP is to ensure timely procurement of military equipment, systems, and platforms as required by the armed forces through optimum utilization of allocated budgetary resources.
•    Except for medical equipment, it will cover all capital acquisitions undertaken by the Ministry of Defence, Defence Services and Indian Coast Guard both from indigenous sources and ex-import.
•    Capital Acquisitions: Capital Acquisition schemes are broadly classified into 3 categories - Buy, Buy and Make and Make.
•    The Buy scheme refers to an outright purchase of equipment and procurements under this scheme are further categorized as Buy (Indian – IDDM), Buy (Indian), and Buy (Global).
•    Under the Buy and Make scheme, the procurements are categorized as Buy and Make (Indian) and Buy and Make.
•    In decreasing order of priority, the procurement of defence equipment under this procedure are categorized as
•    Buy (Indian – IDDM)
•    Buy (Indian)
•    Buy and Make (Indian)
•    Buy and Make
•    Buy (Global)
•    The Make category aims at developing long-term indigenous defence capabilities and procurements under this category would be pursued in isolation, in sequence or in tandem with any of the five categories under Buy or Buy and Make classifications.
•    It allows the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) to take a fast-track route to acquire weapons, which was limited to the armed forces till now.
•    The Buy (Indian - Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured or IDDM) category was created to boost indigenous production. For procurements under this category, it is mandatory that 40 percent of the content to be sourced locally.
•    This new category was created to promote domestic manufacturing, including government funding for Research & Development and recognition of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in technology development.
•    Validity of the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) has been brought down to six months from the earlier one year. It will help the defence forces to issue tenders faster.

The United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on 29 March 2016 launched animate film series ‘Unfairy Tales’.
•    The series seeks to help frame positive perceptions towards the tens of millions of children and young people on the move globally.
•    As per an estimate, at least 65 million children and young people globally are on the move to escape conflict, poverty and extreme weather and find a stable life and a place to call home.
•    It is a collection of 3 animations that explain the horror behind fleeing of three children in real life.
•    One story – “Ivine and the Pillow” – animates the true story of 14-year-old Ivine and her pillow, Pillow. After a perilous escape from Syria, Ivine settles at a refugee camp in Germany only to face new challenges.
•    “Malak and the Boat”, tells the tale of a young girl’s voyage in a leaky boat.
•    The third animation depicts the story of Mustafa, who after fleeing his home, wonders who is left to be his friend.
•    These tales are part of the #actofhumanity initiative that emphasise that children are children, no matter where they come from, and that every child has rights and deserves a fair chance.
•    The ad agency 180LA conceived and fully produced the series with help from animation houses Consulado, House of Colors, Bubba’s Chop Shop and Gilles+Cecilie Studio.

Htin Kyaw was sworn-in President of Myanmar on 30 March 2016 at a joint session of parliament in the capital Nay Pyi Taw.
•    With this, Aung San Suu Kyi's close aide Kyaw also became the first elected civilian leader to be the President of the country after 53 years of military rule. Army took power in a 1962 coup.
•    Htin Kyaw, 69, from the National League for Democracy (NLD) took over from Thein Sein, who introduced wide-ranging reforms during his five years in power.
•    Although, NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi is barred from the Presidency, she said that she will rule by proxy. 
•    The handover completes the transition that began after the NLD won a landslide win in elections in November 2015.
•    Kyaw was elected as the president of the country by the Myanmar's Parliament on 15 March 2016. Others to sworn-in included Vice-presidents Henry Van Thio and Myint Swe, who lost to Kyaw in the presidential vote on 15 March 2016. 
•    They were also sworn in, as were new cabinet ministers. Suu Kyi will be in charge of foreign affairs, the president's office, education, and energy and electric power.
•    Besides, the military also appointed its own nominees for three key ministries namely defence, home affairs and border affairs.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on 28 March 2016 signed 11 unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs). With this, India entered into 59 unilateral/bilateral APAs.
•    The APA programme was introduced by the Finance Act, 2012 to provide a predictable and non-adversarial tax regime and to reduce litigation in the Indian transfer pricing regime. 50 of these agreements were signed in the financial year 2015-16.
•    It covers a range of international transactions, including corporate guarantees, royalty, software development services, IT enabled services and trading.
•    It pertains to different industrial sectors like telecom, media, automobiles, IT services, and others. 
•    Some of the agreements have rollback provisions and provide certainty to the taxpayers for 9 years with regard to the covered international transactions.
•    Rollback provisions in APAs were introduced in the July 2014 Budget to provide certainty on the pricing of international transactions for 4 years (rollback years) preceding the first year from which APA becomes applicable. 
•    With the notification of Rollback rules in March 2015, the taxpayer has been provided the option to choose certainty in transfer pricing matters with the Government for a total of nine years (5 future years and 4 prior years).
•    Since the notification of the APA scheme on 30 August 2012, approximately 580 applications for APAs have been received and about half of these contain a request for the Rollback provisions. 
•    The number of applications is indicative of the wide international and national appreciation of the India’s APA programme’s ability to address complex transfer pricing issues in a fair and transparent manner.

Renowned playback singer P. Susheela Mohan in the last week of March 2016 entered the Guinness Book of Records for singing 17695 songs in 12 Indian languages.
•    On the other hand, Asia Book of Records also officially recognised Susheela for singing most number of songs in Indian languages.
•    While the Guinness Book of Records officially credited her for singing 17695 songs (solo, duet and chorus backed songs) in twelve Indian languages, Asia Book of Records recognised her for singing 17330 songs.
•    Pulapaka Susheela Mohan, popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer.
•    She is associated with the South Indian cinema for over six decades.
•    She was the first playback singer to receive the first National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer in 1969. She went on to receive the same four more times in 1971, 1978, 1982 and 1983.
•    She was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in January 2008.
•    In a career spanning more than six decades, she has recorded numerous songs in various Indian languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Sanskrit, Tulu, Badaga.

Acclaimed Actress and singer Patty Duke passed away due to Sepsis from a ruptured intestine. She was 69. 
•    She had won Academy award (Oscar) in 1963 at the age of 16 for her portrayal of deaf blind political activist Helen Keller in The Miracle worker. 
•    Born as Anna Marie Duke on December 14, 1946 in Elmhurst, New York, US. 
•    She had started her acting career as a child and her first major role came in 1959, when she portrayed the blind and deaf Keller on Broadway. 
•    She also was known for roles in Valley of the Dolls, My Sweet Charlie and Me, Natalie. 
•    She was also known for TV show The Patty Duke which aired more than 100 episodes from 1963 to 1966. 
•    In 1982, she was diagnosed with mental illness i.e. with bipolar disorder. 
•    Later she devoted much of her time to advocating for and educating the public on mental health issues She had served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1985 to 1988.

The Bihar Assembly has unanimously passed the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Bill 2016 to enforce the ban on country made liquor from April 1. The 1915 liquor Bill was amended to incorporate stricter penal provisions, including death sentence, for manufacturers and distributors of illicit liquor in the event of a hooch tragedy.
•    In the first phase, there will be a complete prohibition in rural areas besides a complete ban on country-made liquor across the state while Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) will be sold in limited areas of the state i.e. municipal corporations and councils.
•    There is a provision for life term sentence for those who manufacture and trade illicit liquor and whose consumption makes a person disabled or cause loss to the human body.
•    Those who manufacture, trade and transport illicit liquor or making people drink industrial spirit or country-made liquor as foreign liquor, then such person would be handed down with a minimum of 10 years of sentence which may extend up to life, besides a fine of Rs 1 to 10 lakh.
•    If anyone creates a scene at public places after consuming liquor, he would be sentenced with a minimum five years of sentence which may be extended up to 10 years.
•    If anyone creates nuisance after having liquor at one’s home, campus and shop, then the accused person would be given a minimum of 10 years of imprisonment that can be extended up to life.
•    A person would be awarded with 7 to 10 years of sentence in addition to a fine of Rs 10 lakh for forcing minors to drink liquor, Kumar said adding that if anyone forces women and minors into illicit liquor business, he/she would get imprisonment between 7 to 10 years, besides a fine of Rs 10 lakh.
•    Similarly, the government would seize property and other goods and seal the campus if anyone is found indulged in the manufacture and trade of illicit liquor.
•    Gujarat, Nagaland, Manipur, Lakshadweep, Kerla have already implemented this rule before Bihar
•    Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Iran, Iran and many other countries have adopted alcohol prohibition .

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on 29 March 2016 notified Guidelines for 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce.
•    The guidelines were issued under the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular 2015 that was notified by the DIPP of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
•    E-commerce means buying and selling of goods and services including digital products over digital and electronic network.
•    100 percent FDI under automatic route is permitted in marketplace model of e-commerce.
•    FDI is not permitted in inventory based model of e-commerce.
•    Marketplace e-commerce entity will be permitted to enter into transactions with sellers registered on its platform on B2B basis.
•    E-commerce marketplaces may provide support services to sellers in respect of warehousing, logistics, order fulfillment, call centre, payment collection and other services.
•    E-commerce entity providing marketplace will not exercise ownership over the inventory. Such an ownership over the inventory will render the business into inventory based model.
•    An e-commerce entity will not permit more than 25 percent of the sales affected through its marketplace from one vendor to their group companies.
•    Marketplace based model of e-commerce means providing of an information technology platform by an e-commerce entity on a digital and electronic network to act a facilitator between buyer and seller.
•    Inventory based model of e-commerce means e-commerce activity where inventory of goods and services is owned by e-commerce entity and is sold to the consumers directly.
•    Indian Scenario: In India, 100 percent FDI under automatic route is permitted in marketplace model, while no FDI is permitted in inventory based model of e-commerce.
•    In marketplace model, any warrantee or guarantee of goods and services sold will be responsible of the seller.
•    E-commerce entities providing marketplace will not directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods or services and shall remain level playing field.
•    As per the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular 2015, FDI up to 100 percent under automatic route is permitted in B2B e-commerce, while no FDI is permitted in Business to Consumer (B2C) e-commerce.
•    Though this consolidated policy was issued in May 2015 and led to large scale foreign investments in this sector there had been considerable vacuum with respect to operational guidelines of e-commerce platforms. This present guidelines fill that critical gap.

Fiction writer, poet and essayist, Jim Harrison passed away on 26 March 2016 due to cardiac arrest in Patagonia, Arizona, United States. He was 78.
•    Harrison is best known for his 1979 novella Legends of the Fall. He was called a force of nature, and his works were compared to that of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway.
•    The author obtained his B.A. in 1960 and M.A. in 1964 in comparative literature from Michigan State University.
•    After working as an Assistant Professor of English at Stony Brook University for an year, Harrison started working full-time as a writer.
•    Harrison’s work appeared in many leading publications, including The New Yorker, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, Outside, Playboy, Men's Journal and The New York Times Book Review. 
•    He published several collections of novellas, two of which were eventually turned into films- Revenge and Legends of the Fall.

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is set to launch a record number of 22 satellites in a single mission in May 2016.
•    The launch vehicle will inject 22 satellites into orbit, a first in the history of the organisation.
•    Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV C34 will carry India’s remote sensing satellite Cartosat 2C along with 21 other satellites to be injected into the orbit.
•    The 21 satellites to be launched will include four micro-satellites weighing 85 to 130 kg each and 17 nano-satellites weighing 4 to 30 kg. 
•    18 of these satellites are being launched for foreign agencies including the United States, Canada, Germany and Indonesia. Two of the nano-satellites have been developed by the Pune Engineering College and Sathyabama University, Chennai.
•    Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Microsatellite (M3MSAT): This micro-satellite of Canada will be used for collection and study of automatic identification system signals from low earth orbit.
•    LAPAN A3: The micro-satellite of Indonesia will used for earth surveillance and magnetic field monitoring.
•    BIROS: This German satellite is meant for remote sensing of high temperature events.
•    SKYSAT Gen2-1: This US satellite will be used for earth imaging.
•    The satellites will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.