GK and Current Affairs Updates

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on 28 March 2016 signed 11 unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs). With this, India entered into 59 unilateral/bilateral APAs.
•    The APA programme was introduced by the Finance Act, 2012 to provide a predictable and non-adversarial tax regime and to reduce litigation in the Indian transfer pricing regime. 50 of these agreements were signed in the financial year 2015-16.
•    It covers a range of international transactions, including corporate guarantees, royalty, software development services, IT enabled services and trading.
•    It pertains to different industrial sectors like telecom, media, automobiles, IT services, and others. 
•    Some of the agreements have rollback provisions and provide certainty to the taxpayers for 9 years with regard to the covered international transactions.
•    Rollback provisions in APAs were introduced in the July 2014 Budget to provide certainty on the pricing of international transactions for 4 years (rollback years) preceding the first year from which APA becomes applicable. 
•    With the notification of Rollback rules in March 2015, the taxpayer has been provided the option to choose certainty in transfer pricing matters with the Government for a total of nine years (5 future years and 4 prior years).
•    Since the notification of the APA scheme on 30 August 2012, approximately 580 applications for APAs have been received and about half of these contain a request for the Rollback provisions. 
•    The number of applications is indicative of the wide international and national appreciation of the India’s APA programme’s ability to address complex transfer pricing issues in a fair and transparent manner.

Renowned playback singer P. Susheela Mohan in the last week of March 2016 entered the Guinness Book of Records for singing 17695 songs in 12 Indian languages.
•    On the other hand, Asia Book of Records also officially recognised Susheela for singing most number of songs in Indian languages.
•    While the Guinness Book of Records officially credited her for singing 17695 songs (solo, duet and chorus backed songs) in twelve Indian languages, Asia Book of Records recognised her for singing 17330 songs.
•    Pulapaka Susheela Mohan, popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer.
•    She is associated with the South Indian cinema for over six decades.
•    She was the first playback singer to receive the first National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer in 1969. She went on to receive the same four more times in 1971, 1978, 1982 and 1983.
•    She was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in January 2008.
•    In a career spanning more than six decades, she has recorded numerous songs in various Indian languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Sanskrit, Tulu, Badaga.

Acclaimed Actress and singer Patty Duke passed away due to Sepsis from a ruptured intestine. She was 69. 
•    She had won Academy award (Oscar) in 1963 at the age of 16 for her portrayal of deaf blind political activist Helen Keller in The Miracle worker. 
•    Born as Anna Marie Duke on December 14, 1946 in Elmhurst, New York, US. 
•    She had started her acting career as a child and her first major role came in 1959, when she portrayed the blind and deaf Keller on Broadway. 
•    She also was known for roles in Valley of the Dolls, My Sweet Charlie and Me, Natalie. 
•    She was also known for TV show The Patty Duke which aired more than 100 episodes from 1963 to 1966. 
•    In 1982, she was diagnosed with mental illness i.e. with bipolar disorder. 
•    Later she devoted much of her time to advocating for and educating the public on mental health issues She had served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1985 to 1988.

The Bihar Assembly has unanimously passed the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Bill 2016 to enforce the ban on country made liquor from April 1. The 1915 liquor Bill was amended to incorporate stricter penal provisions, including death sentence, for manufacturers and distributors of illicit liquor in the event of a hooch tragedy.
•    In the first phase, there will be a complete prohibition in rural areas besides a complete ban on country-made liquor across the state while Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) will be sold in limited areas of the state i.e. municipal corporations and councils.
•    There is a provision for life term sentence for those who manufacture and trade illicit liquor and whose consumption makes a person disabled or cause loss to the human body.
•    Those who manufacture, trade and transport illicit liquor or making people drink industrial spirit or country-made liquor as foreign liquor, then such person would be handed down with a minimum of 10 years of sentence which may extend up to life, besides a fine of Rs 1 to 10 lakh.
•    If anyone creates a scene at public places after consuming liquor, he would be sentenced with a minimum five years of sentence which may be extended up to 10 years.
•    If anyone creates nuisance after having liquor at one’s home, campus and shop, then the accused person would be given a minimum of 10 years of imprisonment that can be extended up to life.
•    A person would be awarded with 7 to 10 years of sentence in addition to a fine of Rs 10 lakh for forcing minors to drink liquor, Kumar said adding that if anyone forces women and minors into illicit liquor business, he/she would get imprisonment between 7 to 10 years, besides a fine of Rs 10 lakh.
•    Similarly, the government would seize property and other goods and seal the campus if anyone is found indulged in the manufacture and trade of illicit liquor.
•    Gujarat, Nagaland, Manipur, Lakshadweep, Kerla have already implemented this rule before Bihar
•    Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Iran, Iran and many other countries have adopted alcohol prohibition .

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on 29 March 2016 notified Guidelines for 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce.
•    The guidelines were issued under the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular 2015 that was notified by the DIPP of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
•    E-commerce means buying and selling of goods and services including digital products over digital and electronic network.
•    100 percent FDI under automatic route is permitted in marketplace model of e-commerce.
•    FDI is not permitted in inventory based model of e-commerce.
•    Marketplace e-commerce entity will be permitted to enter into transactions with sellers registered on its platform on B2B basis.
•    E-commerce marketplaces may provide support services to sellers in respect of warehousing, logistics, order fulfillment, call centre, payment collection and other services.
•    E-commerce entity providing marketplace will not exercise ownership over the inventory. Such an ownership over the inventory will render the business into inventory based model.
•    An e-commerce entity will not permit more than 25 percent of the sales affected through its marketplace from one vendor to their group companies.
•    Marketplace based model of e-commerce means providing of an information technology platform by an e-commerce entity on a digital and electronic network to act a facilitator between buyer and seller.
•    Inventory based model of e-commerce means e-commerce activity where inventory of goods and services is owned by e-commerce entity and is sold to the consumers directly.
•    Indian Scenario: In India, 100 percent FDI under automatic route is permitted in marketplace model, while no FDI is permitted in inventory based model of e-commerce.
•    In marketplace model, any warrantee or guarantee of goods and services sold will be responsible of the seller.
•    E-commerce entities providing marketplace will not directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods or services and shall remain level playing field.
•    As per the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular 2015, FDI up to 100 percent under automatic route is permitted in B2B e-commerce, while no FDI is permitted in Business to Consumer (B2C) e-commerce.
•    Though this consolidated policy was issued in May 2015 and led to large scale foreign investments in this sector there had been considerable vacuum with respect to operational guidelines of e-commerce platforms. This present guidelines fill that critical gap.

Fiction writer, poet and essayist, Jim Harrison passed away on 26 March 2016 due to cardiac arrest in Patagonia, Arizona, United States. He was 78.
•    Harrison is best known for his 1979 novella Legends of the Fall. He was called a force of nature, and his works were compared to that of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway.
•    The author obtained his B.A. in 1960 and M.A. in 1964 in comparative literature from Michigan State University.
•    After working as an Assistant Professor of English at Stony Brook University for an year, Harrison started working full-time as a writer.
•    Harrison’s work appeared in many leading publications, including The New Yorker, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, Outside, Playboy, Men's Journal and The New York Times Book Review. 
•    He published several collections of novellas, two of which were eventually turned into films- Revenge and Legends of the Fall.

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is set to launch a record number of 22 satellites in a single mission in May 2016.
•    The launch vehicle will inject 22 satellites into orbit, a first in the history of the organisation.
•    Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV C34 will carry India’s remote sensing satellite Cartosat 2C along with 21 other satellites to be injected into the orbit.
•    The 21 satellites to be launched will include four micro-satellites weighing 85 to 130 kg each and 17 nano-satellites weighing 4 to 30 kg. 
•    18 of these satellites are being launched for foreign agencies including the United States, Canada, Germany and Indonesia. Two of the nano-satellites have been developed by the Pune Engineering College and Sathyabama University, Chennai.
•    Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Microsatellite (M3MSAT): This micro-satellite of Canada will be used for collection and study of automatic identification system signals from low earth orbit.
•    LAPAN A3: The micro-satellite of Indonesia will used for earth surveillance and magnetic field monitoring.
•    BIROS: This German satellite is meant for remote sensing of high temperature events.
•    SKYSAT Gen2-1: This US satellite will be used for earth imaging.
•    The satellites will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

On 13th march 2016 a six-year-old girl entered the Asia book of records for skating a distance of 10.5 km in 41.03 minutes.
•    K Darshini, a student of Yuvabharathi Public School here today entered the India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records by covering a distance of 10.5 km in 41.03 minutes in the event titled "Quarter Skating Marathon".
•    According to Tamil Nadu Speed Skating Association (TNSSA) General Secretary, Muruganandam, the event was the first-of-its-kind in Asia.
•    The young skater has bagged gold medals in 150 as well as 500 metre during the Coimbatore District Roller Skating Championship in 2014 besides having taken part at the state level event for Tamil Nadu State Roller Skating championship the same year.
•    Darshini has won gold and bronze medals at the national level event held last month in Goa organised by TNSSA to be chosen for international level event scheduled in Singapore next month.

Public Sector Power equipment manufacturer Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has commissioned the second 40 MW hydropower generating unit at the Teesta low dam hydroelectric project (HEP) stage IV in West Bengal. 

•    The hydropower generating unit was successfully installed at the Teesta low dam HEP, a run-of-the-river greenfield project, located in Darjeeling district of the West Bengal. 
•    Teesta low dam HEP is being set up by National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC). BHEL’s Bhopal, Jhansi, Rudrapur, Mumbai and Bengaluru facilities had supplied equipment for the project and execution of work was undertaken on site is being. 
•    The estimated annual energy (power) generation from the project is around 720 million units. 
•    It is expected to reduce green-house gas (GHGs) emissions and will help in achieving a low carbon development path for the state as well as the nation. 
•    So far, BHEL has commissioned nearly 400 hydro generating sets of various ratings with a cumulative capacity of around 20,000 MW in the country.

Ukraine born Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin, won the FIDE World Chess Candidates Tournament held in Moscow.
•    The Russian triumphed over the United States’ Fabiano Caruana, whom he played in the last round. 
•    Karjakin scored 8.5/14 to finish first in the eight-player tournament.Sergey Karjakin won 2016 World Chess Candidates Tournament
•    Russian Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin has wonthrilling Moscow cliffhanger to challenge for world title against the incumbent world champion, Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, in a match for the world chess crown in the United States in November this year.
•    Prior to winning the Moscow Candidates tournament, Karjakin’s biggest successes include winning the 2015 World Cup and finishing second in the last Candidates tournament, held in the Siberian city of Khanty-Mansiysk in 2014.
•    He was born in Ukraine he has competed for the Russian federation since 2009.
•    Sergey learned to play chess when he was five years old and became anInternational Master at age 11 years and 11 months.
•    The 26-year-old Mr. Karjakin was born in Ukraine and holds the record for the youngest player ever to win the grandmaster title.
•    He has competed in sixChess Olympiads, three times for Ukraine and three times for Russia, winning three gold medals, two silver and a bronze