GK and Current Affairs Updates

Kalvari, Indian Navy's first indigenous Scorpene-class stealth submarine, will hit the waters again in September for its final phase of sea trials ahead of its planned induction by the end of this year.
•    The 66-metre-long INS Kalvari is part of an over USD 3.5 billion contract signed by the defense ministry with French firm DCNS in October 2005 to jointly develop six submarines.
•    Under Project 75 of the Indian Navy, the submarines are being built at the MDL dockyard in Mumbai under license from DCNS.
•    However, sources indicate that the AIP technology might be delayed.
•    Interestingly, the submarines still do not have its main weapon -- the heavy weight torpedos.
•    The original torpedo selected for the submarine was the one manufactured by one of the subsidiaries of scam-tainted firm Finmeccanica.
•    The government has decided to withdraw the tender for the heavy weight torpedos and go in for an alternative.
•    Once INS Kalvari is handed over to the Navy, the plan is to have other five inducted every nine months.
•    Construction of the first submarine started on 23 May 2009. The project is running four years behind schedule.
 

First Children's Court was on 25 August 2016 inaugurated in Hyderabad. Moreover, it was also the first Children Court in South India. 
•    The court was jointly inaugurated by acting High Court Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and TS director general of police (DGP) Anurag Sharma. 
•    It was presided by T Rajani, Metropolitan Sessions judge, and Dr Soumya Misra, inspector general of police (IG), Crime Investigation Department.
•    Features like separate waiting rooms for children and a video camera trial for the accused will be available.
•    The child (witness/victim) will be allowed direct interaction with the judge.
•    The accused, who will be at a different location, will be able to view and hear the proceedings via two-way video conferencing in the courtroom
•    A two-way video communication system will allow the child witness to identify the accused on camera. 
•    The judge will not sit on a dais to be more approachable and the police accompanying a child will also not be in uniform.
 

Kerala will be declared as open defecation-free state on its formation day on November 1 with the CPIM-led LDF government planning to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend a function here. 
•    A decision to this effect was taken at the state Cabinet meeting . 
•    The  Cabinet decided to invite Modi, who has launched the Swachh Bharat mission for a Clean India, to attend the state-level function. 
•    A total of more than 1.90 lakh toilets are being constructed across the 941 gramma panchayats in the state, including in individual houses, located at critically challenged and hilly terrains, as part of the sanitation programme by the state government.
•    Suchitwa Mission, the state nodal agency for sanitation, which is implementing the plan said work on 35 per cent of the toilets had already been completed and the state would achieve the new milestone by November.
 

Union Cabinet on 24 August 2016 approved the signing of an agreement and the protocol between the India and Cyprus for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income.
•    The approval will help India in its fight against tax evasion, round tripping and base erosion/profit shifting.
•    The approval will replace the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) that was signed between the two nations on 13 June 1994. 
•    It will align the applicable provisions with the consistent policy followed by India and the revised international standards.
•    It will also prevent the abuse of beneficial provisions of the DTAA that can distort financial and real investment flows and create challenges in respect of tax collection.
•    It provides for source based taxation of capital gains on transfer of shares, instead of residence based taxation as provided in the existing DTAA.
•    The proposed DTAA also enables source based taxation of capital gains from transfer of shares of any company the property of which consists directly or indirectly principally of immovable property situated in a Contracting State.
•    It includes a provision for Assistance in Collection of Taxes.
•    It also provides for a revised provision for Exchange of Information that would enable the use of information exchanged for other purposes, with the permission of the Competent Authority of the country providing the information.
•    It expands the scope of the Permanent Establishments (PE) that enables source based taxation of business income.
 

Disney India, which owns UTV Motion Pictures, one of the top film studios in the country, is going to focus on its Hollywood films distribution and television and licensing and merchandising businesses effectively pulling the plug on its Hindi film production business. 
•    Siddharth Roy Kapur, the managing director, will bid adieu once his contract gets over by January. 
•    The Walt Disney Company India (simply Disney India) is the Indian subsidiary of American Media Conglomerate The Walt Disney Company, and is a premier entertainment company in India. 
•    The Walt Disney Company (India) is a public limited company, which develops and produces motion pictures and videos for children. 
•    The company is based in Mumbai, India and operates as a subsidiary of Walt Disney Company.
•    Walt Disney India was formed in August 1993 with licensing agreement as a joint venture partnership between The Walt Disney Company and Modi Enterprises.
 

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for introduction of the "Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016". 
•    The Bill will regulate surrogacy in India by establishing National Surrogacy Board at the central level and State Surrogacy Boards and Appropriate Authorities in the State and Union Territories. The legislation will ensure effective regulation of surrogacy, prohibit commercial surrogacy and allow ethical surrogacy to the needy infertile couples. 
•    All infertile Indian married couple who want to avail ethical surrogacy will be benefited. Further the rights of surrogate mother and children born out of surrogacy will be protected. The Bill shall apply to whole of India, except the state of Jammu and Kashmir. 
•    The major benefits of the Act would be that it will regulate the surrogacy services in the country. While commercial surrogacy will be prohibited including sale and purchase of human embryo and gametes, ethical surrogacy to the needy infertile couples will be allowed on fulfilment of certain conditions and for specific purposes. As such, it will control the unethical practices in surrogacy, prevent commercialization of surrogacy and will prohibit potential exploitation of surrogate mothers and children born through surrogacy. 
•    No permanent structure is proposed to be created in the Draft Bill. Neither there are proposals for creating new posts. The proposed legislation, while covering an important area is framed in such a manner that it ensures effective regulation but does not add much vertically to the current regulatory structure already in place at the central as well as states. Accordingly, there will not be any financial implications except for the meetings of the National and State surrogacy Boards and Appropriate Authorities which will be met out of the regular budget of Central and State governments. 
•    India has emerged as a surrogacy hub for couples from different countries and there have been reported incidents concerning unethical practices, exploitation of surrogate mothers, abandonment of children born out of surrogacy and rackets of intermediaries importing human embryos and gametes. Widespread condemnation of commercial surrogacy prevalent in India has also been regularly published in different print-and electronic media since last few years highlighting the need to prohibit commercial surrogacy and allow ethical altruistic surrogacy. The 228th report of the Law Commission of India has also recommended for prohibiting commercial surrogacy and allowing ethical altruistic surrogacy to the needy Indian citizens by enacting a suitable legislation.
 

The BRICS Countries on 23 August 2016 adopted the Udaipur Declaration during the second meeting of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa) Ministers for Disaster Management in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
•    The Joint Task Force shall consist of one representative from each BRICS country and will be chaired by rotation by the representative of the country holding chairmanship of BRICS during that year.  
•    It shall meet on the sidelines of the meeting of the BRICS Ministers for disaster management and may also hold additional meetings as necessary, including through video conferencing. 
•    During the meeting, the countries also finalised the roadmap for implementation of the three-year Joint Action Plan (JAP) for BRICS emergency services (2016-18). 
•    The JAP was agreed upon at the first meeting of BRICS Ministers for Disaster Management at St. Petersburg in Russia in 2016 itself. 
•    Through JAP, the countries will work together on exchange of Information on disaster management, research & technology exchange on forecasting and early warning for floods.
The 8th BRICS Summit will be hosted by India, the current BRICS chair, in Goa in October 2016.
 

Union Government on 24 August 2016 launched Accessible E-Library 'Sugamya Pustakalaya' for Divyang under Prime Minister’s Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan). 
•    The e-library was jointly launched by Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar and Thawar Chand Gehlot.
•    Sugamya Pustakalaya is an online platform that makes accessible content available to print-disabled people. 
•    It houses more than 2 lakh books in diverse subjects and languages and multiple accessible formats.
•    The e-library was created by Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in collaboration with member organizations of Daisy Forum of India and powered by TCS Access.
•    The initiative is in line with the Article 9 of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) to which India is a signatory from 2007.
President Pranab Mukherjee launched Akashvani Maitree (Moitree) Channel and its multimedia website in Bengali language for listeners in West Bengal, Bangladesh and the adjoining areas.
 

The Akashvani Maitree channel can play a significant role in promoting and preserving the composite Bengali cultural heritage which is the proud inheritance of all Bengali speaking people irrespective of their geographical location. 
The blending of content from both India and Bangladesh in the fields of art, culture, literature, music, sports and also on shared socio-economic issues will make the channel a unique one and establish it in the hearts of millions of radio loving people both in India and Bangladesh as well as outside. 
•    India and Bangladesh are not just neighbors but are bound by an umbilical connection of ethnicity and kinship. 
•    India always attaches highest importance to bilateral relations with Bangladesh because of our shared history, heritage, culture, language, physical proximity and also the role which the two nations can play together for the development and prosperity of the entire subcontinent and beyond. 
•    The bedrock on which the edifice of this unique relationship stands is the unwavering faith of both the countries in democratic values, principles of liberalism, egalitarianism, secularism and respect for each other’s sovereignty and integrity. 
•    With the launch of Akashvani Maitree, a new chapter is being added in the annals of India- Bangladesh relations. 
•    Akashvani Maitree and its multimedia website is a unique venture and initiative of All India Radio not only for the Bengali listeners in West Bengal, Bangladesh and the adjoining areas but the entire Bengali speaking Diaspora living in different parts of the globe.
 

National Career Service (NCS) signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with strategic partners for enhancing quality and reach of employment services through the NCS network. 
•    These MoUs were signed with job portals companies Indeed, First Job, Freshersworld, Merajob and HT Shine etc. to enhance quality and reach of its employment generation services. 
•    Earlier, the NSC had partnered with leading organisations like Uber, Monster.com, Saral Rozgar, Quikrjobs, Indian Staffing Federation etc for  the same purpose. 
•    NCS project is being implemented by the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment. 
•    It was launched in 2015. 
•    It is an ICT based portal developed to provide a wide variety of employment related services to job seekers and youth through technology. 
•    NCS portal facilitates registration of job seekers, job providers, skill providers, career counsellors, etc. free of cost. 
•    Since its launch, the NCS has grown significantly with over 3.6 crore job seekers, 9 lakh employers. It had mobilised over 1 lakh jobs in the last few months.