GK and Current Affairs Updates

India’s bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) will be the centre-stage again this week as the group meets for the Consultative Group technical meeting on September 9-10.
●    The government hopes its application will be considered again, five months after the last unsuccessful round.
●    A flurry of diplomatic activity since then has focused on all the countries, including China, that didn’t back India’s bid.
●    Amandeep Singh Gill, joint secretary (Disarmament), travelled to Dublin to soften Ireland’s position, and also met with Chinese nuclear negotiator Wang Qun in Beijing on October 31. Other contacts have been made by Ministry of External Affairs officials and missions abroad in the 48 member countries of the NSG.
●    However,China made it clear that its position hasn’t changed.
●    This Friday, in Vienna, a plenary session of the NSG will be held. 
 

Indian archaeologists are planning to use high-end lasers to map Bihar’s ancient city of Rajgir. 
●    The plan is a part of their inter-disciplinary Rajgir Archaeological Survey Project (RASP), which includes surveying the archaeological evidence and the flora and fauna of the area.
●    To achieve the same, archaeologists are planning to make use of a remote-sensing technique, Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), which uses laser light to survey the earth’s surface. 
●    The LIDAR device will have to be mounted on drones or helicopters to get the expected result, for which necessary permissions are required.
●    It is a collaborative project between the society and Nalanda University in co-ordination with Bihar’s Ministry of Art, Culture and Youth.
●    It aims to establish a better understanding of the historic city’s landscape by studying the existing archaeological remains through a comprehensive survey. 
●    It will examine the multi-phased development of Rajgir as an urban, political and religious centre. 

Here are the important points for scrapping the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes:

Here are the highlights:

• Corruption and black money are diseases rooted in this country, they are obstacles to our success. It is due to these black money and money laundering that terrorism gets sponsored
• Already schemes for retrieving back black money have been taken. A voluntary disclosure scheme for undeclared money saw a good response. A Special Investigating Team is making progress to identify who has sent money abroad. 
• 1.25 lakh crores of black money has been recovered. 
• A new step in this direction - From now on, Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000  notes will not be used.
• However, here are what people can do with your existing Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes -

1. The Rs. 500 and 1000 notes can be tendered at the RBI office or any branch and obtain value thereof by credit into your respective bank accounts. This will be available from November 10 to close of banking hours on December 30, 2016 without any limit.
2. The value credited to your bank account can be freely used by issue of cheques or by remitting through various electronic modes of transfer like NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, mobile banking, internet banking etc
3. Notes of value up to Rs 4,000 per person can be exchanged for cash over the counter of any bank branch, head post office or sub post office. Carry a valid proof of identity for availing this exchange facility.

• Here’s what you can do till November 11 midnight:

1. Government hospitals will continue to accept old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes for payment
2. Railway ticket booking, ticket counters of government buses and airline ticket counters at airports will accept the old notes for purchase of tickets.
3.  Old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes will be accepted at:

1.  Petrol, diesel and gas stations authorised by public sector oil companies
2. Consumer co-operative stores authorised by State or Central government
3. Milk booths authorised by State governments
4. Crematoria and burial grounds

• ATMs –

1. All ATMs will stay closed on 9 November, few will stay closed on 10 November to facilitate recalibration
2. All ATMs will open from 11 November to dispense bank notes of only Rs. 50 and Rs. 100 denominations
3. Banks have been advised to provide all cash withdrawal transactions at their ATMs free of cost to their customers till December 30, 2016.
4. Banks will fix a limit of Rs 2000/- per day per card withdrawal limit at ATMs, for all customers, till November 18, 2016.
5. The limits shall be raised to Rs 4,000 per day per card from November 19, 2016.

• When will banks reopen?

1. All banks are closed on November 9.
2. Till the end of November 24, 2016, all cash withdrawals from bank accounts, over the bank counters, will be restricted to a limited amount of Rs 10,000 per day subject to an overall limit of Rs 20,000 a week. These limits will be reviewed after that.

• If you are not able to exchange the notes by December 30, you will be given an opportunity to do so at specified offices of the Reserve Bank or such other facility until a later date as may be specified by the Reserve Bank by March 31, 2017 by submitting a declaration form
• The existing valid currencies are Notes of one hundred, fifty, twenty, ten, five, two and one rupee and all coins
• From November 10 onwards, RBI will start issuing the new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes.
• There is no restriction of any kind on non-cash payments by cheques, demand drafts, debit or credit cards and electronic fund transfer.
• For tourists and international air travellers, arrangements will be made at international airports for arriving and departing passengers who have Rs 500 or Rs 1000 notes of not more than Rs 5,000, to exchange them for new notes or other legal tender. Foreign tourists will be able to exchange foreign currency or old notes of not more than Rs 5000 into legal tender.
• RBI is all set to issue a new Rs 500 denomination banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series with inset letter ‘E’. The central bank will also issue two sets of Rs 2000 notes, one with the inset letter ‘R’ and one without the inset letter. Both will be legal tender money.

The number of rural households provided with free LPG connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has crossed the 1 crore mark. 
●    Under the scheme launched six months ago, each below-poverty-line rural household without LPG is being given an LPG cylinder, a stove and regulator.
●    The NDA government’s flagship programme aims to make 5 crore rural households smoke-free during its tenure by offering clean cooking gas, at a cost of R8,000 crore (R1,600 per household).
●    Among the states, poll-bound Uttar Pradesh has received the lion’s share with 34 lakh connections provided under PMUY. 
●    Other states that benefited the most from the scheme are Madhya Pradesh (13 lakh), Rajasthan (12 lakh), Bihar (10.2 lakh), West Bengal (7 lakh), Gujarat (5 lakh), Odisha (4.8 lakh), Chhattisgarh (3 lakh), Maharashtra (2.7 lakh), Haryana (2 lakh) and Tamil Nadu (1.4 lakh).
●    The connections under the scheme are given in the name of the woman head of the family.

The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Patricia Espinosa, announced on Sunday that 100 parties formally joined the Paris Agreement on climate change.
●    The announcement was made during a press conference before the official kick-off of the UNFCCC’s 22nd Conference of Parties (COP22) in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh on November 7.
●    The Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015 at the COP21 in Paris, was ratified in October by 96 countries and the European Union, and entered into force on November 4.
●    Espinosa said that the 100 parties who joined demonstrate “real climate action”.
●    She also announced that the first meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA1) would take place at COP22 on November 15.
●    Over 50,000 people are expected to attend COP22 in Morocco, including around 20,000 delegates, some 30,000 civil society members, over 40 heads of state and 30 heads of government.
●    Salaheddine Mezouar, COP22 President, stressed the importance of reaching tangible commitments from states and civil society during the 11-day climate change conference particularly regarding climate finance and adaptation.

India and the UK on Monday signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on increasing cooperation in intellectual property rights (IPRs) and ease of doing business.
●    Both the MoUs were exchanged in the presence of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and her British counterpart Theresa May.
●    The MoU on IPR was inked between the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and the Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (UKIPO).
●    It is intended to promote innovation, creativity and economic growth in both countries, an official statement said.
●    It establishes a broad and flexible framework through which both countries can exchange best practices and work together on training programmes and technical exchanges to raise awareness on IPRs and better protect intellectual property rights.
●    The MoU on ease of doing business will harness UK expertise to support India's efforts to climb the World Bank Ease of Doing Business ratings.
 

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched ‘Startup Mentorship Circle’, a unique platform to help in connecting start-ups with the global marketplace. 
●    The platform was launched in view of Union Government’s vision of nurturing entrepreneurship under the Startup India Initiative. 
●    Under this Platform Large corporate houses are planning to mentor about 100 start-ups over the next two years. 
●    Initially it will focus on start-ups in the Western part of the country and will be soon scaled to other parts. 
●    It seeks to provide platform to create strong ecosystem to nurture innovation and startups to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities. 
●    CII is an association of Indian businesses which works to create an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India. 
●    The headquarters of CII is located at New Delhi.

Reserve Bank of India on 7 November 2016 appointed M Rajeshwar Rao as the Executive Director. 
●    He succeeded G Mahalingam, who took voluntary retirement from the central bank.
●    As Executive Director, Rajeshwar Rao will look after Department of Statistics and Information Management, Financial Markets Operation Department and International Department.
●    Prior to taking over as the Executive Director, Rajeshwar Rao was the Chief General Manager, Financial Markets Operations Department.
●    He carried a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Master of Business Administration from University of Cochin. He is also a Certificated Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers.
●    He joined the Reserve Bank in 1984 and as career central banker has exposure in various aspects of central bank functioning.
●    He has previously held charge of the Risk Monitoring Department.
●    He has also worked as the Banking Ombudsman, New Delhi and in the Reserve Bank’s regional offices at Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai and New Delhi.

Scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur have claimed to discover evidence of lost river Chandrabhaga in Odisha. 
●    Earlier, KS Valdiya led expert committee had found out that Saraswati River did exist and flowed through India and Pakistan before meeting Arabian Sea through Rann of Kutch.
●    Chandrabhaga River is an ancient mythical river believed to have existed at a distance of about two km from the 13th century Sun Temple at Konark, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Odisha. 
●    It has been mentioned prominently in ancient literature. Besides, almost all lore regarding Konark, including illustrations and photographs, indicate presence of the river in proximity of temple. 
●    At present, no trace of any water body is at present visible in proximity of temple.
●    The IIT study was conducted through an integrated geological and geophysical exploration in conjunction with historical evidence and analysis of satellite data. 
●    Imagery from US’s Landsat and Terra satellites and those obtained by NASA Space Shuttle Endeavour’s Radar Topographic Mission in 2000 were also used.

The Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge), Shri Shripad Yesso Naik  inaugurated  the 9th Annual Meeting of International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines (IRCH) in New Delhi today. The three-day meet has been organised by the Ministry of AYUSH in New Delhi from 8-10 November, 2016. Over 33 delegates from 17 countries are participating in the three day-long Annual Meeting of IRCH.
●    Addressing the delegates, Shri Shripad Naik said it is very essential to develop evidence based remedies in the field of traditional medicine. It is for this reason that since long we are working on pharmacopoeias and formularies and have laid down quality standards of Ayurvedic drugs including herbal extracts, the AYUSH minister added. He said that Pharmacopoeia work has been given lot of importance and Pharmacopoeia Commission of Indian Medicine is set up to develop quality standards of Indian medicine drugs matchable with global requirements of quality. Shri Naik said that regulatory laws for education, practice and drugs are in place and are amended and reinforced from time to time in accordance with the emerging needs and requirements.
●    He further added that the traditional systems of medicine in India have reached a stage wherefrom we are able to look ahead for globalisation of these systems and offer technical support and inputs to other countries in developing guidelines or norms for traditional medicine. India has signed 6 MoUs with other countries over the last two years for improving collaboration in the field of traditional medicine, Shri Shripad Naik explained.