Latest Current Affairs of 5th December, 2015

14 gasp to death as floods snap Chennai ICU power

As the city continued to reel under calamitous floods, 14 critically ill patients at a private hospital died in the past 48 hours after generators holding up their life support systems were swamped by a surging Adyar river.The toll in the floods in Tamil Nadu rose to 415 on Friday , with at least 64 people dying over the past two days across Chennai.

Peg standard GST rate at 17-18%, drop 1% levy: Panel

A Centre-appointed panel has recommended standard Goods and Services Tax rate at 17-18% and a revenue-neutral rate of 15-15.5% and dropping of 1% additional tax on inter-state trade, readying the basis for fresh negotiations with Congress.“It is a forward movement,“ said Congress's Randeep Surjewala. But the initial welcome was no guarantee for an early resolution of the stalemate over the landmark tax reforms scheme as Surjewala indicated the principal opposition party would stick to its demand for a constitu tional cap of 18% on GST.

RIL heads for gas row with ONGChttp://acmeentranceexpert.com

The stage seems set for an other confrontation between Reliance Industries (RIL) and state-run ONGC, after US-based consultant DeGolyer and MacNaughton submitted its final report which says gas worth Rs 11,000 crore has flowed from ONGC's idle block off Andhra coast into RIL's neighbouring block, reports Sanjay Dutta.The report was submitted earlier in the week to the directorate general of hydrocarbons, the oil ministry's quasi-judicial technical arm.It raises more questions than it answers and could lead to a long-drawn legal battle stretching into years before a resolution is found.

Assembly passes Janlokpal Bill

The AAP government got the Delhi Janlokpal Bill, 2015, passed in the assembly on Friday with a mammoth majority of 64 votes. CM Arvind Kejriwal said he would be forced to resort to “other tactics“ if the Centre didn't support passage of the law. The bill has no prior sanction from the LG's office.

Rupee hits 2-yr low of 67, sensex dips on global cues

The sensex dropped 249 points on Friday to settle at a two-week low of 25,638, tracking a global rout after the ECB stimulus fell short of expectations. Sentiment was also impacted by a weakening rupee which fell to 67.01 intraday , a two-year low, which along with sustained capital outflows kept investors on the edge.The RBI stepped in through public sector banks to support the rupee, which resulted in the domestic currency closing at 66.69 -three paise lower than its previous close. Meanwhile, data released by the RBI showed that India's foreign exchange reserves fell $750 million to $351.6 billion in the fortnight ending November 27.

Gas row with ONGC may open another front for RIL

Globally , oil and gas pools are known for not sticking to geographical or political boundaries. The eastern gas bowl off the Andhra coast in the Bay of Bengal has been the stage for intense rivalry among explorers to pump up volumes. Additionally , it has also cradled a festering dispute between two of India's largest oil companies -state-run ONGC and private sector RIL -over allegations of gas siphoning since 2013.

GK Updates of 24th October

GK Updates of  24^th October

Hurricane Patricia struck Mexico's Pacific coast

Hurricane Patricia, one of the most powerful storms on record, struck Mexico's Pacific coast on 23 October 2015. The hurricane carrying destructive winds with a speed of 165mph forced thousands to flee homes and beach front resorts.

ii. Patricia landed about 55 miles west-northwest of Manzanillo, home to the largest container port on Mexico's Pacific seaboard. There were no reported casualties and officials said the damage might not be as catastrophic as feared.

iii. The US National Hurricane Center said the hurricane hit as a Category Five storm - the highest classification. But it has since weakened to a Category Four, and will be downgraded to a tropical storm in the coming hours. It also said that it would lead to life-threatening flash floods and mudslides in rural areas.

Indian mountaineers climbed an untouched mountain peak, named it after APJ Abdul Kalam

Two mountaineers Arjun Vajpai and Bhupesh Kumar in third week of October 2015 created history by becoming first people to climb 6180 meter high unnamed peak in Himachal’s Spiti Valley. The duo named the peak as Mout Kalam, in honour of former President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam.

President gives away Sangeet Natak Akademi awards, fellowships

President Pranab Mukherjee presented the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Awards for the year 2014 at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday.

ii. While leading musicologist S R Janakiraman, theatre doyen and noted filmmaker M S Sathyu, and musicians Vijay Kumar Kichlu and Tulsidas Vasant Borkar were awarded fellowships of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, 35 eminent personalities were honoured with Akademi Awards in the categories of music, dance, theatre, traditional folk/tribal music/dance/theatre and puppetry and overall contribution/scholarship in the performing arts.

iii. Nine artistes — including Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, Iqbal Ahmed Khan, Nath Neralkar, Nayan Ghosh and Ronu Majumdar— received awards for their contribution to music, while eight artistes were honoured for their contribution to dance.

iv. Eminent folk singer from Jammu and Kashmir Abdul Rashid Hafiz, who is known for his renditions of traditional  Chakri singing, was among eight artistes facilitated for their contribution to traditional arts. Noted playwright Asgar Wajahat was amongst the eight artists honoured for their contribution to theatre.

Ratan Tata invests in virtual cash start-up Abra

Abra, a Silicon Valley bitcoin startup, on Thursday revealed it had raised money from Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata and American Express, as part of its $12-million Series-A funding.. Abra raising funds was reported last month, but the company did not reveal Tata’s participation then. These are the first investments in the crypto-currency world for both American Express and Ratan Tata.

Japan offers soft loan to India for bullet train project

Japan has offered soft loan of 15 billion dollars (Rs 90,000 crore) at an interest rate of less than 1 per cent to India’s ambitious first bullet train project viz. Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor along with technology.

Himachal Pradesh to host India’s first Paragliding World Cup

India’s first Paragliding World Cup has begun at Bir Billing near Baijnath town in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. Snow leopard is the official mascot of this World Cup. It is for the first time that Paragliding World Cup is being organised in a South Asian country. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju flagged off the event.

ii. In this one week competition, more than 130 registered pilots including 14 women pilots from 35 countries would take part. Indian side is represented by 8 flyers and 6 among them are from the Himachal Pradesh.

Latest Current Affairs for SSC/BANK Exams

(28^th Sep.)

Google teamed up with Indian Railways to provide free Wi-Fi at 400 Stations

Internet search engine giant Google on 27 September 2015 announced its tie-up with Indian Railways that will provide free Wi-Fi facilities to 400 stations. The Wi-Fi facilities will be provided underProject Nilgiri .

The plan will initially start with 100 busiest railway stations. Later, the facility will be extended to the remaining stations.

Google on 28 September 2015 released a map of the first 100 stations online that will get high-speed Wi-Fi hot spots in India.

(29^th Sep.)

Union Ministry of Tourism launched new initiatives on World Tourism Day

The Union Ministry of Tourism on 27 September 2015 launched several new initiatives to augment tourism related infrastructure and manpower in the country.

The initiatives were launched in New Delhi to mark the World Tourism Day.

Ministry of Railways launched Indian Railway Knowledge Portal

Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on 28 September 2015 launched Indian Railway Knowledge Portal for dissemination of detailed information on Indian Railways.

It is an initiative of the National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR) which allows the user to access most of the available knowledge about Indian Railways at one location due to linkage of websites, documents and much more.

The portal was launched through video-conferencing established between Ministry of Railways, Rail Bhawan and NAIR Headquarters at Vadodara.

Indian Railway Knowledge Portal also provides e-access to existing libraries of Railways. Also, National Informatics Centre (NIC) has clustered all the libraries to a single interface via e-Granthalaya. Besides, information regarding fan clubs, heritage, and rail museums across the world can also be accessed from the portal.

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[01/09/2015]

PM Modi released digitally restored recordings of epic ‘Ramcharitmanas’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 31 August 2015 released digital recordings of epic Ramcharitmanas, as a set of digital CDs produced by All India Radio (AIR).Digital recordings of the epic is a part of AIR’s attempt to go digital in a big way so that the public broadcaster can reach audiences globally. 

The recordings of Goswami Tulsidas work, sung by leading singers of Bhopal gharana, have been done by the AIR over several years and are regularly broadcast especially in the Hindi heartland. 

The Ramcharitmanas was composed and recorded for the first time in 1980 at Akashvani Bhopal.

Haryana Government inaugurated Sakhi, one stop center for women in distress

Haryana Women and Child Development Minister Kavita Jain on 31 August 2015 inaugurated state’s first One Stop Centre, known as Sakhi, at Karnal. The center will play a role in helping the women in distress. This is the second such centre in the country after Chhattisgarh.

The Center, opened under a Union Government scheme, would provide help to sexually, mentally and emotionally harassed women and others.

SC stays Rajasthan HC’s decision declaring ‘Santhara’ ritual illegal

The Supreme Court (SC) of India has stayed Rajasthan High Court’s order declaring Santhara, a Jain ritual of voluntary and systematic fasting to death illegal. The stay order was given by SC Bench comprising Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy. What is Santhara? Santhara is a religious custom of Jain religion that embraces voluntary death in order to purge oneself of bad ‘karma’ and attain ‘moksha’. The practitioners of this custom take an oath to stop eating until they die of starvation. This oath is taken in consultation with a guru and follows the most detailed of procedures.