GK and Current Affairs Updates

To improve the connectivity by road in South East Asian region and to sensitize the stakeholders of India Myanmar and Thailand Motor Vehicle Agreement regarding potential benefits of such a regulatory regime, a Friendship Motor Car Rally from Delhi to Bangkok is being organized from 13th November to 3rd December, 2016. The Rally will be flagged off by Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Chemical Fertilizers Shri Mansukh Lal Mandaviya from India Gate lawns in New Delhi on 13th November, 2016. His Excellency Chalit Manityakul, Ambassador of Thailand to India and other dignitaries will also attend the flagging-off ceremony.

●    The rally caravan will cover a distance of 5,722 KMs along the IMT Trilateral Highway with about 80 participants from all the three countries, in 20 Indian made vehicles on a journey from Delhi to Bangkok over 19 days. Ceremonial flag off will also be held in other cities and state capitals enroute like Sarnath, Bodhgaya, Patna, Siliguri, Guwahati, Shillong, Kohima and Imphal and in cities in Myanmar and Thailand.The rally that will conclude at Bangkok on 2nd December, 2016, will further cement cultural and economic ties among the three nations and highlight the potential benefits of connectivity and integration in the region and in keeping with India’s focus on its close neighborhood.
●    A trial run of passenger vehicles on the IMT Trilateral Highway up to Naypitaw in Myanmar was carried out during 9-14 November, 2015 in which Indian vehicles travelled to Myanmar on Imphal -Mandalay -Bagan- Naypitaw route and back and Myanmar vehicles joined the Indian vehicles on the return journey from Naypitaw to Imphal and returning to Myanmar.
●    The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India had initiated a significant step for negotiating a Trilateral Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) among India, Myanmar and Thailand (IMT). 
 

The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS) today organized a National Conclave of Women Champions for Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM(G)) to celebrate, recognize and honor the efforts of women champions in rural sanitation. The conclave was organized with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), with the aim of sharing best practices across States, and encouraging and honouring such efforts in parts of the country where women are playing a leadership role in SBM(G). The event saw a participation of nearly 300 women Sarpanches, Anganwadi workers, Block Development Officers and Assistant District Collectors from all across the country who have done noteworthy work in the field.
●    Lok Sabha Speaker, Smt Sumitra Mahajan, the Union Minister, Ministry of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and MDWS, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State Shri Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi, Ms Vrinda Sarup, Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, Ms Navraj Sandhu, Additional Chief Secretary, Haryana, Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson and MD State Bank of India, attended the conclave and Shri Amitabh Bachchan sent a recorded video message for the women champions of SBM(G).
●    Speaking at the inaugural plenary session of the event, the Union Minister, MoDWS, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, said that women have been playing an important role in the SBM(G), including in its planning, implementation and monitoring in many parts of the country.
●    A video message from renowned actor, Shri Amitabh Bachchan, for women sanitation champions was also played at the event. In his message, Shri Bachchan spoke about the unique problems faced by women in villages where open defecation is still practiced today. 
●    Speaking at the inaugural plenary session of the event, the, Secretary, MoDWS, Shri Parameswaran Iyer, appreciated the efforts made by women who have led the construction and use of toilets, not only in their households, but also their entire villages and districts, women who have led self help groups that lent money to villagers to build toilets in their homes, women who were grassroots government officials as well as women civil society activists present at the event and across the country.
●    Ms Navraj Sandhu, Additional Chief Secretary, Haryana, who is leading the sanitation revolution in the State, spoke about the progress of SBM(G) in Haryana, which has a sanitation coverage of 88%.
●    Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson and MD State Bank of India, was also present at the plenary session. In her address to the participants, she spoke about the culture of ‘Panchayat pati’ in the country, and encouraged the sarpanches present to get directly and actively involved in the administrative activities that came with their offices. 

California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris on 9 November 2016 became the first India-American to win the U.S. Senate seat from the state.
●    Harris defeated fellow Democrat Loretta Sanchez from her own party. She is the first black woman elected to the upper chamber in more than two decades. She is also the sixth black individual to be elected to the U.S. Senate.
●    Harris will replace Barbara Boxer who announced her retirement in 2014 after serving more than two decades in the Senate.
●    Kamala Harris is an American lawyer, politician, and member of the Democratic Party.
●    She has been the 32nd and current Attorney General of California since 2011.
●    She graduated from Howard University and University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
●    She worked as a Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County, California, from 1990 to 1998.
●    From 1998 to 2000, she served as Managing Attorney of the Career Criminal Unit in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
●    From 2000 to 2003, she served as the Chief of the Community and Neighborhood Division in the office of San Francisco City Attorney.
●    She was elected California's Attorney General in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014.
●    She is the first female, the first African-American, the first Indian-American, and the first Asian-American attorney general in California.

Tata Sons Ltd on 9 November 2016 announced the appointment of Ishaat Hussain as the Chairman of IT giant, Tata Consultancy Services with immediate effect.  He will hold the position until the name of a new chairman is announced.
●    The announcement was delivered to the company through a letter dated 9 November 2016 from Tata Sons Ltd. Hussain succeeds Cyrus Mistry, who was ousted from the position on 23 October 2016 by the board of Tata Sons Ltd. At that time, the board appointed Ratan Tata as the Interim Chairman of the group until another suitable candidate was chosen.
●    He is a member of the board of Tata Sons and the Director of several Tata companies such as Tata Industries, Tata Steel and Voltas.
●    He is also the Chairman of Voltas and Tata Sky.
●    He is a member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India committees on insider trading and primary capital markets.
●    He is also a member of Confederation of Indian Industries finance committee.
●    Prior to Tata Sons, Hussain served as the senior Vice President and Executive Director of finance at Tata Steel for around 10 years.  
●    He joined the board of the Indian Tube Company in 1981 and moved to Tata Steel in 1983 after the merger of both the companies. 
●    A pass out from the Doon School, he graduated in economics from St Stephens College, New Delhi and completed Chartered accountancy from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales .
●    Apart from this, Tata Sons also issued a special notice under Section 169 read with Section 115 of the Companies Act, 2013 and a requisition for convening an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of the company under Section 100(2) of the Companies Act, 2013 to consider a resolution for the removal of Cyrus P Mistry as Director of the Company.

The Union Tourism Ministry is all set to name Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the mascot of its ‘Incredible India’ campaign.
●    The position was lying vacant since Aamir Khan’s ouster as the campaign’s brand ambassador in January 2016 for his remarks on Indian intolerance. Names of Bollywood superstars, Amitabh Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra were doing rounds as likely contenders of the role. 
●    Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a strong standing and his success story has been widely popular among people in India as well as abroad. 
●    He has visited a host of countries after his appointment. 
●    Tourism inflow from countries visited by the Prime Minister post his appointment like the US, Germany, Fiji, Brazil, UK, Myanmar and Australia has witnessed a significant jump.
●    The ministry plans to release a video footage of Modi speaking on tourism in India and abroad.
●    The footage will be taken from the speeches delivered by the Prime Minister on tourism during the last two and a half years.
●    It will also include sections from radio and audio releases and videos where Modi has spoken on nation’s uniqueness and diversity.
●    It is expected to get released within 45-50 days, coinciding with the peak tourist season. 

The Union Cabinet gave its approval for creation of a ‘special committee’ in accordance to an order passed by the Supreme Court in 2012 for inter-linking of Indian rivers.
●    The approval was given in a Cabinet council session headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 November 2016. According to the government, this move will help in monitoring the projects that are to be carried out under its National Perspective Plan, 1980. 
●    It is a proposed project that aims to link all Indian rivers by the creation of a network of canals and reservoirs in order to reduce the problem of continuous floods in some parts of India and water shortages in others. 
●    The project has been divided into three parts:
●    Northern Himalayan rivers inter-link component 
●    Southern Peninsular component 
●    Intrastate rivers linking component 
●    India’s National Water Development Agency (NWDA) under Ministry of Water Resources has been given the responsibility of managing the project. 
●    The project was proposed by NDA Government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

In a nine-page statement, Tata accused Mistry of trying to take control of one of Tata's units and creating distance between the promoter, Tata Sons, and its group companies.
●    It also blamed him for nearly causing losses and eroding shareholder value.
●    The Tata Sons board has already suffered two major setbacks, as the board of Indian Hotels last week, and that of Tata Chemicals on Thursday, both backed Mistry, saying he would remain chair of those group companies.
●    Tata Sons on Thursday axed Mistry as chair of its main cash cow Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), however, as it owns a stake of over 70 percent in that company.
●    The corporate power struggle is set to continue over coming days as Mistry remains chairman of other key Tata companies like Tata Steel and Tata Motors, whose boards are set to meet soon.
●    Mistry was axed as chair of Tata Sons in a boardroom coup last month, with family patriarch Ratan Tata brought back to helm the company temporarily.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Japan to participate in the annual bilateral summit in Tokyo.
●    In a pre-departure statement in Delhi on Wednesday, PM Modi said that the high-speed railway cooperation between the two countries would boost bilateral trade and investment.
●    During Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to India last year, the east Asian economic superpower committed itself to a high-speed railway line between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
●    Stating that the India-Japan partnership was characterised as a Special Strategic and Global Partnership, PM Modi said that the two countries "see each other through a prism of shared Buddhist heritage, democratic values, and commitment to an open, inclusive and rules-based global order".
●    Today, Japan is one of the top investors in India. But many Japanese companies, which are household names in India, have been committed to the potential of Indian economy for several decades.
●    The Prime Minister said that in Tokyo he would have a detailed interaction with top business leaders from India and Japan to look for ways to further strengthen trade and investment ties.

Asking why bulls should be made to suffer for the entertainment of humans, the Supreme Court has pulled up the Centre for trying to “import a Roman-type gladiator sport” despite a judgment clearly banning Jallikattu as a cruelty and crime to animals.
●    The Bench said even if argument was that Jallikattu was a “sport,” it was a “cruel” sport and cruelty to animals was prohibited by the law.
●    When senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, for Tamil Nadu, said when humans ran marathons, why could not bulls be part of a sport.
●    The court called for compassion to animals, saying it was our constitutional obligation, while posting the matter for further hearing on November 16.
●    In defence of Jallikattu, the Tamil Nadu government had highlighted how there was nothing wrong in farmers practising Jallikattu in the semi-arid regions of the State if the Spanish Senate could in 2013 declare the “far more cruel” sport of bull-fighting a cultural heritage.

Cash above Rs. 2.5 lakh deposited in banks following the scrapping of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes could attract a tax and a 200 per cent penalty in case it is disproportionate to the account owner's income.
●    The banks have been asked to keep the details of PAN card of people depositing such large amounts over the 50-day window till December 30.  
●    Similarly, jewellers have been told to keep PAN details of people buying jewellery on cash. Action will be taken against them in case of non-compliance.
●    The government's move is the sequel to the scrapping of high denomination notes, meant to flush out black money and counterfeit currency.
●    In such a scenario, the tax amount plus a penalty of 200 per cent of the tax payable would be levied under the relevant sections of the Income Tax Act.
●    Deposits up to Rs. 1.5 or Rs. 2 lakh would be below taxable income. "There will be no harassment by the Income Tax Department for such small deposits made,".