– Current Affairs – August 2016 ================================================================================== Two days BRICS Women’s Parliamentarian Forum held in Jaipur i. The two-day meeting of the BRICS Women’s Parliamentarian Forum was begun in Jaipur on August 20, in which 42 delegates from member countries participated. ii. A total of 42 delegates from the BRICS countries are attending the meeting which will have different plenary sessions on August 20 and 21. iii. There will be five women parliamentarians from Brazil, three from Russia, 28 from India, two from China and four from South Africa. iv. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan inaugurated the BRICS Women’s Parliamentarian Forum.This forum helped to have one voice as women Parliamentarians to organise, mobilise, motivate and advance women. v. The BRICS nations’ women parliamentarian forum adopted the Jaipur declaration calling upon international financial institutions to “support and facilitate financing for development on favorable terms” to developing and least developed countries. ================================================================================== Government set to ban cash transactions over Rs 3 lakh The government is set to ban cash transactions over Rs 3 lakh as it seeks to clamp down on black money in the economy following recommendations from the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team. The government, however, is yet to decide on the SIT’s other proposal to bar cash holdings over Rs 15 lakh due to opposition from trade and industry. The Rs 3 lakh-limit is aimed to ensure that transactions are made using credit or debit cards, cheques or drafts which can be easily tracked. The government has already initiated several steps, including banning cash advance of more than Rs 20,000 for property transactions. ================================================================================== OIC expresses concern over Kashmir violence i. The world’s largest bloc of Muslim countries Organisation of Islamic Cooperation have expressed concern over alleged human rights violations in Kashmir. The valley has seen month long clashes between Protesters and police. ii. The IOC’s secretary-general Iyad Madani, said at a news conference in Islamabad that the situation in Kashmir was worsening and prevailing on the international community to act. iii. The secretary General also went onto say that we should not be afraid of referendum adding that it was up to the Kashmiri people to decide their future. iv.The valley wrapped up with violence since July after Police forces killed militant, OICBurhanWani during gunfight. Since then in J& K as many as 67 people have been killed and over 4,000 injured in clashes. Organisation of Islamic Cooperation: ♦ Inception: 1969. ♦ Members: 57 member’s bloc. ♦ Headquarters(Administrative centre): Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. ================================================================================== Ahmedabad to host 2016 Kabaddi World Cup The 2016 Kabaddi World Cup will be held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat from October 7 to 22. Gujarat will play host to 12 kabaddi teams from USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Iran, Poland, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Korea, Japan and Kenya, besides hosts India. The matches will be held in Ahmedabad’s The Arena stadium. ================================================================================== Chhattisgarh & Gujarat Assembly Ratifies GST Bill i. The Chhattisgarh and Gujarat state Assembly passed the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill, becoming the fifth and sixth state to pass the bill respectively. These states ratify GST bill after Himachal Pradesh. ii. Chhattisgarh and Gujarat governments ratified the Constitution One Hundred and Twenty-Second Amendment Bill (GST) after Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh. iii.The GST bill which was passed recently by the centre seen as single biggest tax reform in a long time, needs to be ratified by at least 15 state legislatures before the President can report the GST council which meant to adopt the new tax rate. Chhattisgarh ♦ Capital: Raipur ♦ Governor: Balramji Das Tandon ♦ Chief Minister: Raman Singh ================================================================================== India is 7th wealthiest country, China second India was ranked 7th among top 10 wealthiest countries in the world, according to a report by New World Wealth. The New World Wealth is a research consultancy that tracks the global wealth sector. The value of total individual wealth in India – which includes property, cash, equities and business interests – is pegged at $3,492 billion in 2015. The Top 5 Counties are: US, China, Japan, UK, Germany. ================================================================================== Union Cabinet Approvals – August 24 2016 i. On August 24th 2016, Union Cabinet headed by Narendra Modi has given its approval for MoUs with Myanmar, Cyprus, Fiji and South Africa in different fields. ii. The Union cabinet approved an MoU with Myanmar for cooperation in the field of traditional systems of medicine. iii. In another major step in fight against tax evasion, the Cabinet gave its approval to the revised DTAA between India and Cyprus that provides for source-based taxation of capital gains on transfer of shares instead of one based on residence. iv. The Union Cabinet approved signing of a new air services agreement between India and Fiji that would allow Indian airlines to fly to any point in the island nation. v. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been approved of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and South Africa to establish cooperation in Grassroots Innovation. ================================================================================== World’s first self-driving taxis launched in Singapore The world’s first self-driving taxi service was launched in Singapore. This launch is significant as it offer technology demonstration that could revolutionize the future transport industry. The self- driving taxi service was launched Singapore based nuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software startup. With this nuTonomy became entity in the world first to offer self-driving taxi rides to the public. ================================================================================== Madhya Pradesh & Delhi passes GST Amendment Billi. The Madhya Pradesh and Delhi Assembly ratified the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill, With this MP and Delhi became the seventh and eighth State to ratify the historic tax amendment bill. ii. The AAP led Delhi become the third non-BJP-ruled state and overall the eighth to clear the proposed tax regime after Bihar and Himachal to ratify the bill. iii. The Goods and Services Tax bill has already been signed by Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Assam and Gujarat.The 122 Constitution Amendment bill was passed by LokSabhaon August 9 while RajyaSabha cleared it on August 4. ================================================================================== Deepika Padukone is world’s 10th highest paid actress, Indian Psychiatric Society’s new Brand Ambassador “Forbes magazine ranked out the world’s highest paid actresses and Hunger games star Jennifer Lawrence has topped the list for the second time in a row. Indian star Deepika Padukone is also among the top 10 highest-paid actresses in the world. The Top 5 List: 1. Jennifer Lawrence 2. Mellissa Mccarthy 3. Scarlett Johansson 4. Jennifer Aniston 5. Fan bingbingDeepika Padukone: Indian Psychiatric Society’s new Brand. Deepika Padukone has also joined hands with the Indian Psychiatric Society as its brand ambassador to spread awareness about mental health and help reduce the stigma associated with its ailments.” ================================================================================== Union Cabinet approves Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 to provide six months maternity leave The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its ex-post facto approval for amendments to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 by introducing the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Parliament i. The maternity benefit Act 1961 protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her of a ‘maternity benefit’ – i.e. full paid absence from work – to take care for her child. The act is applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more persons. The amendments will help 1.8 million women workforce in organized sector. ii. The amendments include increasing maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for two surviving children and 12 weeks for more than two children, 12 weeks maternity leave to a ‘Commissioning mother’ and ‘Adopting mother’. iii. A commissioning mother is one who gets a baby via surrogate mothers. This is a completely new provision that forms part of the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016. iv. Once approved by the Parliament, the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 will mandate opening crèches in all companies having 50 employees or 30 women employees whichever is lower and also offers to facilitate ‘Work from home’. ================================================================================== Jaitley launches data bank portal of MSMEs Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has launched a data bank Portal of micro, small and medium enterprises, MSME in New Delhi. The portal aims to gather information about micro, small and medium enterprises. An Online Finance Facilitation Web Portal was also