GK and Current Affairs Updates

On 11th March 2016 the Lok Sabha passed the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016.

•    Every resident shall be entitled to obtain an Aadhaar number.  A resident is a person who has resided in India for 182 days, in the one year preceding the date of application for enrolment for Aadhaar.
•    To obtain an Aadhaar number, an individual has to submit his (a) biometric (photograph, finger print, iris scan) and (b) demographic (name, date of birth, address) information.  The Unique Identification Authority (UID) may specify other biometric and demographic information to be collected by regulations.
•    At the time of enrolment, the individual will be informed of the manner in which the information will be used, the nature of recipients with whom the information will be shared and the right to access this information.
•    To verify the identity of a person receiving a subsidy or a service, the government may require them to have an Aadhaar number.  If a person does not have an Aadhaar number, government will require them to apply for it, and in the meanwhile, provide an alternative means of identification.
•    Any public or private entity can accept the Aadhaar number as a proof of identity of the Aadhaar number holder, for any purpose. However, Aadhaar number cannot be a proof of citizenship or domicile.
•    The UID authority will consist of a chairperson, two part-time members and a CEO.  
•    The chairperson and members are required to have experience of at least 10 years in matters such as technology, governance, etc.
•    The UID authority will authenticate the Aadhar number of an individual, if an entity makes such a request.  
•    A requesting entity (an agency or person that wants to authenticate information of a person) has to obtain the consent of an individual before collecting his information.  
•    The agency can use the disclosed information only for purposes for which the individual has given consent.
•    The UID authority shall respond to an authentication query with a positive, negative or other appropriate response.  However, it is not permitted to share an individual’s finger print, iris scan and other biological attributes.

On 10th March 2016 Rajya Sabha passed the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015. 
•    The bill among other provisions seeks to set up a Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) for the orderly growth of the real state sector.
•    The Bill seeks to regulate transactions between buyers and promoters and provides for setting up of state level regulatory authorities.
•    It also provides for registration of promoters and agents with the authorities.
•    The promoters are mandated to deposit 70 percent of the money collected from buyers in a separate bank account, to be used only for construction of that project.
•    They will also have to disclose project information including details of the promoter, land status, status of approvals, agreements along with details of real estate agents and contractors.
•    The commercial real estate has also been brought under the ambit of the Bill.
•    Projects under construction are also required to be registered with the RERA.
•    If builders cause delays in transferring properties to buyers, the appellate tribunal would intervene and slap fines on them within 60 days. In case consumers fail to make payments to developers, the appellate tribunal can fine them, too.
•    It provides for imprisonment of up to three years in case of promoters and up to one year in case of real estate agents and buyers for any violation of orders of Appellate Tribunals or monetary penalties or both.
•    The builders would also be responsible for fixing structural defects for five years after transferring the property to a buyer.
•    Buyers will now be paying only for the carpet area and not the super built-up area.
•    The developers will now have to take consent of 66 per cent of the homebuyers in case they have to increase the number of floors or change the building plans. This will protect the buyers from any ad-hoc changes that are a norm presently.
•    Projects only below the size of 500 square meters are exempted from the 

Marshall Islands on 07-03-2016 moved the UN's International Court of Justice in The Hague against India accusing it of failing to halt the nuclear arms race, evoking a sharp reaction from India which has written to the ICJ saying Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) provisions cannot be extended to it as a legal obligation.

•    The tiny South Pacific state began legal proceedings against India at the United Nations' highest court, as part of cases against three of the world's nuclear powers — India, Pakistan and the UK.

•    The Marshall Islands filed cases against all nine nations that have declared or are believed to possess nuclear weapons: the US, Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. 

•    But only the cases against the UK, India and Pakistan got to this preliminary stage as the other six declined to take part, according to the Marshall Islands' legal team.

•    The Marshall Islands aims to shine a new spotlight on the global nuclear threat, its lawyers and representatives said Monday, as they remembered apocalyptic scenes after US-led tests in the 1950s.
•    The Marshall Islands alleges that despite their suffering, the world's nuclear powers have failed to comply with the terms of the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
•    Israel has never admitted to having nuclear weapons.

On 9th March 2016 Rajya Sabha passed National Waterways Bill, 2015. The Bill seeks to unleash the navigation potential of India’s larger river ways resources.

•    As part of this Bill, under entry 24 of the Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, the Union government can make laws on shipping and navigation on inland waterways that are classified as national waterways.
•    The Bill identifies additional 101 waterways as national waterways. It also specifies the extent of development to be undertaken on each waterway.
•    Earlier, the Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 21 December 2015.
•    The National Waterways Bill, 2015 was introduced in Lok Sabha on 5 May 2015 by the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari.
•    It provides an alternative form of transportation in India. It will also open economic opportunities to new regions.

57 countries are going to take part in the first Maritime India Summit 2016 scheduled to be held in April 2016 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. 
•    It was announced by the Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari on the sidelines of media launch of the Maritime India Summit 2016. 
•    The maiden Maritime India Summit is scheduled to be held in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
•    It will be organised by Union Ministry of Shipping. It will be first such global summit of its kind that will also comprise of an Investors’ Summit along with exhibition and demo session.
•    The main focus of summit is to give impetus to Make In India and blue economy. 
•    South Korea is the partner country for the summit. Earlier in February 2016, the Ministry of Shipping had launched website for maiden summit to facilitate investors and participants to access detailed information about the summit.

Singapore has emerged as the world’s most expensive city to live in for the third consecutive year, narrowly edging past its rivals even though consumer prices have been slipping, a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) showed.

•    The report analysed 750 secondary cities around the world and outlines factors that make cities competitive and prosper.
•    The Worldwide Cost of Living survey released on Thursday (March 10) found that Singapore remains the most expensive place in the world to buy and run a car, due to the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) system. 
•    For general basic groceries, Singapore offers the same value as New York. This compares with Seoul, which is 33 per cent more expensive.
•    Joint second place Zurich and Hong Kong, were only two points behind Singapore on the index used to compare cost of living in 140 cities.
•    Calculation of the index is based on a weighted basket of goods, which include food, toiletries and clothing, domestic help, transport and utility bills.

The fourth edition of the India-Indonesia Joint Training Exercise Garuda Shakti has begun at Magelang in Indonesia. 
•    The 13 days (till 23 March) bilateral exercise aims at (i) Building and promoting positive relations between the Armies of India and Indonesia. (ii) Enhancing their abilities to undertake joint tactical level operations in a counter insurgency environment under United Nations Charter. 
•    The Indian Contingent has been trained for combat conditioning, firing, tactical operations, tactical skills and special hellebore operations training. 
•    Selected Indian unit has had varied operational experience in Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorist operations in the Northern, Western and Eastern theatres. 
•    The exercise will be conducted as joint Counter Insurgency operations exercise in urban and rural scenario and various facets of tactical Counter Insurgency operations (CIO). 
•    Both countries will share their experience of CIO and also the ambit of identifying areas of expertise, evolution of combat tactical drills of tactical and to undertake combined training for neutralization of insurgency threat. 
•    Background Indo-Indonesia Joint Training Exercise Garuda Shakti is conducted as part of military diplomacy between armies of both countries alternatively in India and Indonesia respectively. 
•    The first edition bilateral exercise was conducted on a reciprocal basis in 2012 in India. The second edition was conducted in Indonesia in 2013 and third in India in 2014.

Sun Pharmaceuticals has named Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni as brand ambassador of its health supplement brand Revital H. 
•    Earlier, actor Salman Khan was its brand ambassador for Revital H. 
•    The drug major announced that Dhoni’s association will help the company to increase market presence in West and South India and has also repositioned the brand with a focus on active lifestyle. 
•    The vitamin and dietary health supplement market in India is estimated to be Rs 8,828 crore and growing at 12% with top 10 brands (of which Revital H is a part) in the category contributing almost 48% of the market revenues.
•    Dhoni is the only captain to lead India in more than 50 Tests. The next on the list in Sourav Ganguly with 49.

•    Dhoni is the most successful captain in the T20Is across countries.
•    Dhoni was conferred with the honorary rank of Lt Colonel by the Indian 

The Bank of Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with the Reserve Bank of India.

•    The signing of the MoU is intended to strengthen the ties between the Reserve Bank of India and the Bank of Israel, and reflects the commitment of the authorities to the principles of consolidated supervision and cooperation among banking regulators.
•    The MoU was signed by Mrs. Parvathy V. Sundaram, Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Banking Supervision on behalf of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and Dr. Hedva Ber, Supervisor of Banks on behalf of the Bank of Israel.
•    As State Bank of India has a branch in Israel, the signing of the MoU is intended to strengthen the ties between RBI and BoI and promote the safe and sound functioning of that bank.
•    The Memorandum of Understanding also reflects the commitment of the authorities to the principles of consolidated supervision and cooperation among banking regulators.
•    The Banker’s Bank has entered into a MoU, Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and Statement of Co-operation with supervisors of a few countries to promote greater co-operation and share supervisory information. 
•    With this, the RBI has signed 32 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and one Statement of Co-operation.

Eight time Grammy Award-winning Brazilian percussionist, Nana Vasconcelos, died on 9 March 2016 in Recife, Brazil. He was 71.
•    He was known for his wide instrumental range and major role in free spirited jazz and world music of the 1970s and 1980.
•    He was a master of the single-string percussion instrument known in Portuguese as the berimbao (multi-toned Afro-Brazilian instrument).
•    The American jazz magazine DownBeat named Vasconcelos percussionist of the year every year from 1983 to 1991.
•    Nana who learnt music from his father and started playing drum kit at the age of 12 rose to prominence after he moved to Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s and started playing with Nascimento.
•    He is best known for collaborations with Brazilians Milton Nascimento and Egberto Gismonti, Argentine Gato Barbieri and Americans Don Cherry and Pat Metheny.