GK and Current Affairs Updates

The 16th meeting of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) was held on 26-October-2016. 
The Indian side was headed by the Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar while the Russian delegation was led by his counterpart General Sergey Shoigu.
●    This was the 16th such meeting between the defence ministers of the two countries.
●    The meeting was held in the backdrop of the recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin where the two agreed on defence deals – supply of S-400 Air defence systems, Project 1135.6 frigates and joint venture to manufacture Ka-226T helicopters in India.
●    Prime Minister Modi and President Putin held very substantive discussions on a wide range of bilateral, regional and international issues. 
●    India and Russia concluded many important agreements including the IGA on the supply of S-400 air defence systems and the IGA on Project 1135.6 frigates.
 

Air India Express, the low-cost arm of Air India, plans to fly four times a week from Delhi to Tehran from early next year. 
●    It will become the first Indian airline to operate flights to Tehran after lifting of Western sanctions against Iran. 
●    Air India used to operate flights to Tehran from Mumbai in 1993-94. 
●    Air India Express chief executive officer K. Shyamsundar said the airline will start flight operations to Iran in March-April next year. 
●    Mr. Shyamsundar said Air India Express will get into a code-share arrangement with Air India to offer seamless connecting flights to Goa from Delhi. 
●    Air India is expected to write to Exim Bank, U.S., to inform them about its plan to operate the Tehran flight as Air India Express aircraft is financed through a loan from Exim Bank. 
●    It required as Iran was under global sanctions until recently.
 

India and South Korea on 26 October 2016 signed a revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
●    The Provisions of the new DTAA will have effect in India in respect of income derived in fiscal years beginning on or after 1 April 2017.
●    The earlier Double Taxation Avoidance Convention between India and Korea was signed on 19 July 1985 and was notified on 26 September 1986.
●    It provides for source based taxation of capital gains arising from alienation of shares comprising more than 5 percent of share capital.
●    In order to promote cross border flow of investments and technology, the revised DTAA provides for reduction in withholding tax rates from 15 percent to 10 percent on fees for technical services and from 15 percent to 10 percent on interest income.
●    It expands the scope of dependent agent Permanent Establishment provisions in line with India’s policy of source based taxation.
 

NASA’s solar-powered Juno spacecraft is set for its next close flyby of Jupiter, after exiting its safe mode and completing a minor burn of its thruster engines. 
●    The spacecraft had entered safe mode on October 18 when a software performance monitor induced a reboot of the spacecraft’s onboard computer. 
●    The team is still investigating the cause of the reboot and assessing two main engine check valves.
●    In preparation for that close flyby of Jupiter, Juno executed an orbital trim manoeuvre using its smaller thrusters.
●    The burn, which lasted just over 31 minutes, changed Juno’s orbital velocity by about 2.6 meters per second and consumed about 3.6 kilogrammes of propellant.
●    Juno will perform its next science flyby of Jupiter on December 11. 
●    The complete suite of Juno’s science instruments, as well as the JunoCam imager, will be collecting data during the upcoming flyby.
 

India will have almost one billion unique mobile subscribers by 2020 and already now is the worlds second largest smartphone market.
●    It has overtaken the US in first half of 2016 with an installed base of 275 million devices.
●    The number of 4G connections is forecast to grow rapidly, growing from just three million at the end of 2015 to 280 million by 2020.
●    In addition, the industry is set to invest heavily, with operator CAPEX growing to $34 billion (Rs 2.3 lakh crore) for the period 2016 to 2020, the report noted.
●    In 2015, the country’s mobile industry generated economic value equivalent to 6.5 per cent of the country’s GDP, a contribution that amounts to more than $140 billion (Rs nine lakh crore).
●    This contribution is expected to grow to $210 billion (Rs 14 lakh crore) by 2020, the findings showed.
 

Despite a funding slowdown this year compared to last year’s bonanza, as many as 1,400 startups have come up in the country this year.
●    It has allowed India to maintain its position as the third largest startup base in the world with over 4,750 tech startups.
●    It is ahead of countries such as China and Israel in the startup report released at the Nasscom Product Council revealed. 
●    Even the number of startups that have been funded this year has increased by 8%, though the overall funding has come down by 20-30%. 
●    One of the reasons for the funding to have come down could be that investors are funding in tranches based on milestones. 
●    But it’s a very positive sign that more startups are getting funded," said Ravi Gururaj, chairman, Nasscom Product Council.
 

The Rt. Hon’ble John Key, the Prime Minister of New Zeland called on President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday (October 26, 2016). 
●    Welcoming the Prime Minister of New Zealand and his delegation to India, President Mukherjee said India values its relationship with New Zealand. The sustained momentum of high level contacts reaffirms the growing strength and dynamism of bilateral engagement between India and New Zealand. 
●    The President said India and New Zealand share a unique bond based on shared values and synergies, being two multicultural, vibrant democracies that believe in and respect the rule of law. New Zealand can be a key partner in India’s quest for food security. Bilateral trade in goods and services has nearly doubled in the last eight years. Currently, total trade in goods and services in 2015 amounted to US$ 1.45 billion. India and New Zealand can be partners in promoting security, stability and prosperity in the region and beyond. The two countries can work together in areas such as maritime security, ensuring freedom of navigation and in countering terrorism. The President said there exists a strong desire amongst the people of the two countries to improve relations. 
●    The Prime Minister of New Zealand reciprocated the President’s sentiments and said his Government would like to grow and strengthen bilateral relations. He thanked President Mukherjee for his visit to New Zealand earlier this year and said India’s economic growth provides many opportunities. There is a strong and growing Indian community in New Zealand. He said the high level contacts between the two countries provide the foundation stone for a better understanding of each other’s perceptions.
 

The FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 will be held in India from October 6 to 28.
●    The mega-event, to be held across six venues in India, will take place on July 7.
●    State sports minister Aroop Biswas said 75 to 80 per cent work has been done and the stadium will be complete by January 31.
●    Tournament director iS Javier Ceppi.
●    Kochi, Mumbai, Guwahati, Delhi and Margao have already been ratified as venues following inspections by the FIFA delegation.
●    The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be the 17th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
●    Nigeria, the 2015 champions, will not be able to defend their title as they failed to reach the final round of the CAF qualifying tournament. 
●    They became the first incumbent title holder since Switzerland in 2009 to fail to qualify for the subsequent tournament.
 

Tiangong-2, the experimental space lab of China, on 23 October 2016 successfully launched a micro-satellite, Banxing-2. 
●    The micro-satellite is roughly the size of a desktop printer.
●    At present, Tiangong-2 is orbiting the Earth with two astronauts on board.
●    Its mission is to take photographs of Tiangong-2 and the Shenzhou 11 spacecraft, which docked with the lab on 19 October 2016.
●    The satellite, which the media has nicknamed "Selfie Stick", also has an infrared camera that is temperature - sensitive.
●    With three solar panels, the satellite can also generate enough power to adjust its orbit to shoot pictures of the lab and spacecraft.
●    The Shenzhou-11 spacecraft carried two astronauts into space on the 17 October 2016. It docked with Tiangong-2 two days later.
●    In 2008, its predecessor, Banxing-1, did the same work for Shenzhou 7.
 

The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that seeking votes in the name of religion is an “evil” and cannot be permitted.
●    Under the Representation of the People Act, promotion of, or attempt to promote, feelings of enmity or hatred on grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language, by a candidate or his agent, amounts to “corrupt practice”.
●    But a three-judge bench held in 1995 that “Hindutva” and “Hinduism” do not imply any particular religion, and hence using these expressions could not impact validity of election of any candidate. But now seven-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India T S Thakur maintained that seeking votes in the name of religion is an “evil”. 
●    In December 1995, Justice J S Verma, writing for a three-judge Supreme Court bench, had held that seeking votes in the name of Hinduism is not a “corrupt practice” under Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act. 
●    The BJP had underlined one such judgment from 1995 in its election manifesto, asserting that even the apex court has endorsed the true meaning of Hindutva and Hinduism.