GK and Current Affairs Updates

National Cadet Corps (NCC), the largest uniformed youth organisation in the world, celebrated its 68th Raising Day on 27th November 2016. 
●    In the national capital the function was marked by paying homage to the martyrs at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate. 
●    On this occasion the Defence Secretary Shri G. Mohan Kumar and Offg DG NCC Maj Gen JS Sandhu laid wreaths at Amar Jawan Jyoti.
●    The raising day was also celebrated all over India with cadets participating in marches, cultural activities and social development programmes. 
●    NCC in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare utilised this occasion to spread awareness about organ donations.
●    NCC is at the forefront of contribution towards social causes and community development activities. 
●    Its cadets have done the nation and organisation proud by their remarkable achievements in the fields of sports and adventure and have won laurels in the National Shooting and Equestrian competitions.
●    During the current year the NCC was awarded a Certificate of Excellence by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for its contribution towards Swacchta Abhiyan.
 

Union Minister of Textiles Smt Smriti Zubin Irani inaugurated the Apparel and Garment Making Centre in Lamboikhongnangkhong, Imphal today. She also distributed “Pehchan” Identity Cards to some artisans. The Centre consists of one skilling block and two commercial blocks and 300 nos. of machines are installed in the centre.
●    Smt Smriti Irani said that the scheme for identifying weavers was launched on 7th October, 2014 and now more than 2000 weavers have been identified and issued identity cards. She said that the Prime Minister wants to give special attention to NE states for development, the project for installing the centre is Rs 18 crore and it will be beneficial for the state and it was completed within 9 months .MUDRA scheme is also launched for the direct connectivity of the weavers so that they can be easily identified for International Exhibition.
●    She further added that for textile promotion in the state, the central government has sanctioned Rs.200 crores. The state Awardee will be given Rs.30, 000/- per month to trained weavers, 12 clusters from three districts are selected for Design Workshop training and will be given Rs.300/- per day.
●    The function was also attended by Dr.Th. Meinya Singh, MP,Shri Govindas Konthoujam, Hon’ble Minister, Shri L. Lakher , Principal Secretary and ShriI John B.Tlangtin khumma, Director, Commerce and Industries, Govt. of Manipur and officers from the Central Government.

Chief Justice of India, Shri Justice T. S. Thakur has said that a large number of pending vacancies in the High Courts and the various Tribunals leads to delay in disposal of cases. Inaugurating the All India Conference of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) here today, Shri Justice Thakur said there is a need to amend the rules for appointment of Chairpersons and Members of the various Tribunals so that the judges of the High Courts can also be eligible for the posts. He said the Conference coincides with the Constitution Day and the first pledge we, the people of India, have taken in the Preamble, commits us to provide Justice to all.
●    Presiding over the Inaugural Session the Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said the CAT has been a unique experience even amongst the Tribunals since the Institution is a successful blend of judicial and administrative excellence. The CAT has rendered a yeoman’s role in the evolution of Service matters and framing of rules, he added. Stating that a rising number of appeals against CAT judgements before the High Courts and Supreme Court compounds to the problem of pending litigations, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said the idea of inter-court appeal may be explored as an alternative.
●    Speaking on the occasion Supreme Court judge, Mr Justice J. Chelameswar said the CAT has completed 30 years and the occasion merits both celebration and introspection. Mr Justice Chelameswar said almost 35% of cases pending before the higher courts are Service related matters, he added. Lack of precision in the Law and judicial rulings favouring both the rival parties are the prime reasons for the mounting arrears in Service related litigations, he added.
●    Presenting a glimpse of the progress done by the various CATs, Chairman, Principal Bench, CAT, Mr Justice Permod Kohli said the various CAT benches have disposed off more than six lakh cases, which amounts to disposal of 94% cases brought before it. The fact that 77% of such judgements have been upheld by the High Courts is a pointer to the success of the CAT as an institution in Service matters. Mr Justice Kohli also urged for granting administrative and financial powers to the CAT so as to expedite its own infrastructure projects.
●    In his address Mr Justice Harun-ul-Rashid, Member Judicial, CAT, Bengaluru Bench, urged the Government to raise the age limit for Judicial Members so that vacancies can be filled up fast with deserving and experienced judges.

The Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh launched e-pashuhaat portal (www.epashuhaat.gov.in) on the occasion of National Milk Day here today.
●    Shri Singh informed that for the first time in the world under the scheme National Mission on Bovine Productivity ‘e-pashuhaat’ portal has been developed for connecting breeders and farmers regarding availability of bovine germplasm. 
●    Through the portal breeders/farmers can sell and purchase breeding stock, information on all forms of germplasm including semen, embryos and live animals with all the agencies and stakeholders in the country has been uploaded on the portal.  
●    Through this portal, farmers will be aware about the availability of quality disease free bovine germplasm with different agencies in the country.  
●    The portal will lead to propagation of high genetic merit germplasm.
●    India has the largest bovine population in the world. 
●    At  199m cattle it has 14% of the world cattle population and with 105m buffaloes it has 53% of the world buffalo population of which 79% of the cattle are Indigenous and 21% are Exotic and Crossbred varieties.
●    80% of the Indigenous cattle are Nondescript and 20% belong to 37 breeds recognised by National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources.(NBAGR) with 13 breeds of Water buffaloes.

On the occasion of Constitution Day, Chief Justice of India Justice T S Thakur today released the book published by Publications Division titled “Courts of India – Past to Present”. 
●    Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology was also present on the occasion.
●    The book has been designed as a Coffee Table Book which has several photographs of archival value which was steered by an Editorial Committee headed by Justice S.A Bobde and other eminent luminaries of the country. 
●    The 'Courts of India' traces the historical evolution of the courts, identifies the diverse court system, compile their customs and practices and also contextualizes it. 
●    The book seeks to introduce Indian Judiciary to the citizens in a lucid manner.
●    The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal under the Constitution of India, the highest constitutional court, with the power of constitutional review.
●    It comprises the Chief Justice of India and 30 other judges. It has original, appellate and advisory jurisdictions.
●    As the final court of appeal of the country, it takes up appeals primarily against verdicts of the High Courts of various States of the Union and other courts and tribunals.

Yudhvir Singh Malik in the third week of November 2016 was appointed the new Chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
●    Malik, who worked as the Special Secretary with NITI Aayog, will replace Raghav Chandra.
●    After Malik’s appointed, Chandra has been shifted to National Commission for Schedule Tribes.
●    Malik is an 83 batch Haryana cadre IAS officer.
●    He had joined NITI Aayog as its Additional Secretary in September 2015.
●    Before joining the NITI Aayog, he worked as the CEO of FSSAI from 20 October 2014 to 23 September 2015. It was during his tenure that Maggi noodle was banned.
●    The National Highways Authority of India is an autonomous agency of the Government of India.
●    It was created through the promulgation of the National Highways Authority of India Act, 1988.
●    It looks after the management of a network of over 92851.05 km of National Highways in the country.
●    It is a nodal agency of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board (IBBI) of India on 23 November 2016 notified three sets of regulations- (Insolvency Professional) Regulations, 2016; Regulations inter alia provide for registration, Regulation and oversight of insolvency professionals.
●    These regulations were notified under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and will come into effect from 29 November 2016. 
●    Advocates, Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries and Cost Accountants with 10 years’ of practice or employment.
●    A Graduate with 15 years of post-qualification managerial experience on passing the Limited Insolvency Examination.
●    Any individual who has passed the National Insolvency Examination.
●    However, Advocates, Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries and Cost Accountants with more than 15 years of practice experience can register without any examination till 31 December 2016 and such registration shall be valid for a limited period of six months.

Union Cabinet on 23 November 2016 approved the introduction of Merchant Shipping Bill, 2016 in the Parliament. Simultaneously, the cabinet also approved repealing of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 and the Coasting Vessels Act, 1838.
●    The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 has been amended 17 times between 1966 and 2014 resulting in an increase in the number of sections to more than 560 sections. However, these provisions have been shortened to 280 sections in the Bill.
●    It allows substantially-owned vessels and vessels on Bare Boat-cum-Demise (BBCD) to be registered as Indian flag vessels.
●    It introduces welfare measures for seafarers by providing them with the wages till they are released from hostage captivity of pirates and reach back home safely.
●    It directs owners of vessels to take insurance of crew engaged on vessels including fishing, sailing, etc. This applies for the vessels whose net tonnage is less than 15 tons.
●    It calls for registration of few residuary category of vessels not covered under any statute and makes provisions for security-related aspects.

Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee on 24 November  2016 won the Best Actor Award at the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, beating Nawazuddin Siddiqui who was awarded a special mention in the same category.
●    Manoj won the Best Performance award for his role as Professor Siras in "Aligarh", a powerful and personal drama based on true events. 
●    While, Nawazuddin received a Special Mention in the Best Performance category for his role in Anurag Kashyap's "Raman Raghav 2.0".
●    The winners in the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards were announced at an award ceremony in Brisbane. The event was hosted by Australian actor David Wenham and presenter Anjali Rao. 
●    The 2016 edition of the awards marked the 10th year of the awards in recognising and promoting cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the world's fastest growing film region comprising of 70 countries.
●    The awards were staged for the first time in 2007.

A minimum of 50 percent tax may be levied on unexplained bank deposits made using the banned currency notes up to 30 December.
●    However, a higher 90 percent tax and penalty could be imposed if assessees do not declare the unaccounted cash voluntarily.
●    Half of remaining deposits, or 25 percent of the original deposit, will not be allowed to be withdrawn for four years.
●    In case such deposits are not declared and are detected by tax authorities, a total of 90 percent tax and penalty would be charged.
●    The government had given a 50-day window beginning 10 November for either depositing the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in circulation or exchanging them for new currency.
●    While the exchange, which was limited to a maximum of Rs 2,000 per person, has been withdrawn, all old notes without any ceiling can be deposited in bank accounts.