CURRENT GK
1.Parliamentary board to decide on Chief Minister’s name in Gujarat :-
In Gujarat, the newly elected legislators will have a meeting in the party headquarters of Gandhinagar under the chairmanship of the party’s central observer Arun Jaitley and Saroj Pandey. In this meeting, the final decision will be taken regarding the names of the Cabinet Ministers and the date of the swearing-in ceremony besides Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister. Vijay Rupani and Nitin Patel are likely to retain their positions. However, the secret to the name of the new government is still intact. The final decision about the Chief Minister will be taken by the party’s parliamentary board. After the defeat of six former ministers in the recent elections, there is a possibility of some new faces being added to the cabinet.
2.India has signed an agreement with Switzerland for automatic exchange of tax information from next month :-
India has signed an agreement with Switzerland to curb black money deposited abroad. Under this, the exchange of tax information between the two countries will start automatically from January 1. In a tweet, the Central Board of Direct Taxes- CBDT said that after the parliamentary process in Switzerland and the signing of the mutual agreement , the exchange of information between India and Switzerland will start from January 1, 2018 . CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra and Switzerland’s Ambassador in India Andreas Baum signed this agreement on Thursday in New Delhi.
3.NPPA notified the price of 27 essential drugs :-
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has notified the prices of 27 essential medicines. These include diabetes , blood pressure and pain medicine. Growers are allowed to increase the maximum retail price by 10 % annually on non-medicines under price control . Essential medicines are calculated based on the general average of all medicines sold in more than one percent of the special medical category.
4.128 countries supported India’s proposal in the United Nations General Assembly against the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel :-
In the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, during the voting on a resolution against the American decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, America was completely isolated. 128 countries, including India , voted in favor of the proposal. 9 countries, including Guatemala , Honduras and Togo, voted against it. 35 countries did not participate in voting. This proposal was proposed by Turkey and Yemen.
Prior to the voting, US President Donald Trump had threatened to stop the financial support of countries supporting the proposal.
Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the UN General Assembly’s decision.
Israel’s Prime Minister Beniamin Netanyahu condemned the vote in the United Nations , but expressed satisfaction over the fact that many countries did not participate in it.
5.Secure money deposited in public banks: Finance Minister :-
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has assured the Lok Sabha that money deposited in public sector banks is safe and there should be no apprehension about this. Responding to the debate on the supplementary demand for the year 2017-18 in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Jaitley said that people’s money will be safer than before when the proposed financial resolution and deposit insurance bill pass.
The Finance Minister denied the allegations that the imposition of goods and services tax-GST is causing the loss of revenue to the states. Mr. Jaitley criticized the reduction of tax on petrol and diesel in Congress ruled states.
6.Union Cabinet approves new consumer protection bill :-
The Union Cabinet has approved the new Consumer Protection Bill. It has been proposed to create an authority to protect the rights of consumers. The new bill provides for imprisonment for imprisonment for adulteration and fraudulent advertisements of companies. This provision has been made to impose fines and ban for three years on well-known persons involved in misleading advertisements in the new bill. The Cabinet approved the introduction of Consumer Protection Bill 2017 yesterday. After its submission, the bill brought in 2015 will be withdrawn. The Center introduced the Consumer Protection Bill in Lok Sabha in August 2015 to cancel the thirty-year-old Consumer Protection Bill 1986. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said that consumer protection is the priority of the government.
7.Bangladesh accused Pakistan of plotting against Bangladesh in collaboration with Rohinja militant groups :-
Bangladesh’s Minister Obaidul Kader has said that Pakistan Rohingyas are plotting against Bangladesh with militant groups. In Kolkata, he said that Pakistan does not miss any chance of harassing Bangladesh. Mr. Kader has criticized Pakistan for supporting war criminals of Bangladesh Liberation War. Mr. Kader urged the international community to intervene in the Rohinjya case and leave Myanmar to solve the problem of those who went out to pressurize Myanm.
8.The Bombay High Court canceled the acceptance of the Governor in the Adarsh housing society scam case :-
The Bombay High Court on Friday canceled the acceptance of the governor given for the court proceedings against former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in the Adarsh housing society scam. The court said that the CBI had claimed several new evidence against Mr. Chavan while obtaining permission from the Governor, but he has failed to present them.
The High Court bench on Friday ordered its order on the petition filed by Mr. Chavan against the acceptance of court action in the Adarsh housing scam.
A bench headed by Justice Ranjit More and Sadhana Jadhav dismissed the Governor’s decision after hearing on the petition of Ashok Chavan. The Bench said that in this case the Central Bureau of Investigation has not yet submitted any concrete evidence. The petition was filed by Ashok Chavan. In February 2016, the Governor had allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation to prosecute Chavan as per the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
9.Election process for the new leader of the legislature party in Himachal :-
After the assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, discussions with local leaders of two Central Ministers and Indian public party observers are in discussions regarding the election of the new leader of the legislature party and the formation of the new government. The name of the new Chief Minister will be announced very soon.
Party MP and Ramswaram Sharma has interacted with Union Ministers and Party Supervisors Narendra Singh Tomar and Nirmala Sitaraman for Himachal. However, some newly elected party members also met him separately and conveyed the opinion of the chief minister about his views. After this long discussion, the Central Supervisor will now give its report to the Parliamentary Board in Delhi. According to party sources, the announcement of the name will be announced soon by the parliamentary board.
10.Sahitya Akademi announces the awards for the year 2017 :-
Sahitya Akademi announced on Thursday for the year 2017. In these awards for twenty four languages, five novels, five collections of poems and short stories, five literary criticisms, a play and an essay book were selected for the prize.
Dakha will be given the story collection of the Sahitya Akademi Award bag emotions in Urdu. In Assamia, Jayant Madhav will be given novel Mariyohala of Barah, Apna Aad’s novel Sei Nikhonj Manushata in Bengali and will be given to the poet Kandhal Natkal of the late Inklab in Tamil. Niranjan Mishra will be given the award for Gayatri Saraf and Sanskrit novel Gangaputavadanam for the Itadiatil Shilpi for Odiya story collection. The Academy has also announced annual translation awards. Sahitya Akademi awards will be distributed during the annual literature festival on February 12 next year.
