Current Affairts 2 January 2018

1. Saudi Arabia, UAE introduce VAT in first for Gulf Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates introduced value-added tax, a first f...

1. Saudi Arabia, UAE introduce VAT in first for Gulf

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates introduced value-added tax, a first for the Gulf which has long prided itself on its tax-free.

• The five percent sales tax applies to most goods and services and analysts project that the two governments could raise as much as $21 billion in 2018, equivalent to 2.0 percent of GDP.
• The other four Gulf states, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar are also committed to introducing VAT but have delayed the move until early 2019.

2. Maneka Gandhi to inaugurated online portal ‘NARI’

In a big leap forward to empower women, the Minister of Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi has inaugurated an online portal NARI in New Delhi.

• Developed by the Ministry of Women & Child Development, the portal will provide women citizens with easy access to information on government schemes and initiatives for women.
• Further to provide a platform for NGOs and Civil Societies to interact with the Ministry of Women & Child Development, e-Samvad portal has also been developed which was inaugurated by the WCD Minister.
• The NARI portal summarizes over 350 government schemes and other important information for the benefit of women, with more being added everyday.
• There are tips on good nutrition, suggestions for health check ups, information on major diseases, tips for job search and interview, investment and savings advice, information on crimes and against women and reporting procedures, contacts of legal aid cells, simplified adoption procedures and much more. 

3. UP declares Noida, Yamuna E-way as electronics manufacturing zone

The Yogi Adityanath government has released its 'Uttar Pradesh Electronics Manufacturing Policy' under which Noida, Greater Noida and the Yamuna Expressway region has been declared as an electronics manufacturing zone.

• A minister said the aim of this policy is to ensure that the state gets the status of a favourite investment destination.
• The target of the policy is to attract investments worth Rs 20,000 crore in the ESDM sector and 3 lakh jobs by 2022.

 4. Nagaland declared as 'disturbed area' for 6 more months

 

The entire Nagaland has been declared as "disturbed area" for six more months, till June- end, under the controversial AFSPA, which empowers security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without any prior notice.

• There have been demands from various organisations in the northeast as well as in Jammu and Kashmir for repealing the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which, they say, gives "sweeping powers" to security forces.
• The AFSPA has been in force in Nagaland for several decades.

5. Andhra CM declares 2018 as Telugu promotion year

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has declared 2018 as Telugu promotion year.

• He made this announcement at 29th edition of Annual Book Exhibition of Vijayawada.
• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and the Chief Minister inaugurated the fest, which will remain open till January 11 at Swaraj Maidan.
• He also recognised Vijayawada as the centre for Telugu magazines, newspapers, and literary publications.

6. Banks gearing up to refer 24 of 28 large NPA accounts to NCLT

 

With the closure of RBI s deadline to resolve the 28 identified large stressed accounts in the second list, banks are gearing up to refer as many as 24 of them for insolvency proceedings.

• In August, the Reserve Bank had asked banks to either resolve the 28 more large stressed accounts or refer them to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) by December 31.
• These accounts together account for 40 per cent of bad loans of around Rs 4 lakh crore.
• The biggest of the 28 cases is Videocon Industries at Rs 47,000 crore.
• RBI has also asked SBI to move to NCLT against Anrak Aluminium.

7. SBI to start insolvency proceedings against 12 defaulters

State Bank of India is set to initiate insolvency proceedings against at least a dozen defaulting companies including Videocon Industries after failing to recast their loans by the December deadline.

• The country's largest bank in terms of assets will refer Videocon Industries, Visa Steel, Monnet Power, Uttam Steel, Essar Projects, Videocon Telecom, Jaiswal Neco and Jai Balaji to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) starting January 2.

8. Vijay Keshav Gokhale appointed foreign secretary

Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale was y appointed foreign secretary for a two-year fixed term, succeeding S Jaishankar who completes his tenure on January 28, according to an official order.

• Gokhale, a 1981 batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), was India's envoy to China.
• He is at present secretary (economic relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
• Jaishankar was appointed foreign secretary on January 29, 2015, for two years. He was given a one-year extension in January last year.

9. Mali president names new govt after PM's shock resignation

Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has appointed Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga - a former defence and foreign minister and intelligence chief - as the new prime minister.

• Boubeye Maiga is expected to form a new government in the coming day after his predecessor Abdoulaye Idrissa Maiga and his entire cabinet resigned.

10. Ranji Trophy: Vidarbha beat Delhi to win maiden title

Vidarbha claimed their maiden Ranji Trophy after beating Delhi by nine wickets in the final of India's premier domestic tournament in Indore.

• Chasing a target of 29, Vidarbha completed the task with loss of skipper Faiz Fazal's wicket.

Points to Remember

• The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between teams representing regional and state cricket associations.
• The competition is named after first Indian cricketer who played international cricket, Ranjitsinhji, who was also known as "Ranji".
• Mumbai is the most successful team in the Ranji Trohy winning the title 41 times.

11. Shahzar Rizvi Wins Men's 10m Air Pistol Gold

Shooter Shahzar Rizvi ended a brilliant 2017 by winning the Men's 10m Air Pistol Gold at the 61st National Shooting Championship (NSCC), at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi.

• Representing the Air Force, Shahzar won with a new finals national record score of 241.7, leaving Army's Yashwant Singh in silver medal position with a score of 237.7.
• Yashwant's teammate Omprakash Mitherwal won bronze, securing 218.0 in the finals.
• Earlier this year, the 23-year-old Meerut shooter won gold medals at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships and at the 10th Asian Airgun Championship in Japan as well.