1st February 2017 Important Daily Current Affairs

sponsored links

Dear Great Ambitionists, here are today's (1st February 2017) Important Current Affairs updates. Happy Reading :)

Daily Current Affairs of 1st February 2017

International Current Affairs

• Mexican consumers have started boycotting US products and US companies like Walmart, Starbucks and McDonalds protesting US President Donald Trump administration's proposed 20% tax on Mexican imports.
• The tax was aimed at making Mexico pay for a 2000-mile border wall even after the country's President, Enrique Pena Nieto, said Mexico will not pay for it.
• Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today lifted the ban on screening of Bollywood films in the country.
• If the changes are implemented on time, Hrithik's 'Kaabil' and Shah Rukh's 'Raees' can reportedly be released in Pakistan on February 3 and February 10 respectively.
  
• Note : Pakistan had banned screening of Bollywood films in October 2016.
• India and Russia have held high-level consultations on counter-terrorism issues in New Delhi. 
• Both sides shared views and assessment on the threats posed by increasing terrorist activities including India’s concern on state-sponsored, cross-border terrorism. 
• Head of Indian delegation : Preeti Saran, Secretary (East) in the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) 
• Head of Russian delegation : Oleg V. Syromolotov (Deputy Foreign Minister)

National Current Affairs

• Today (1st February) is 40th Indian Coast Guard Day.
• Important Points to Note :
• The interim Indian Coast Guard came into being on 1 February 1977, equipped with two small corvettes and five patrol boats transferred from the Navy.
• The duties and functions of the service were formally defined in the Coast Guard Act, which was passed by India's parliament on 18 August 1978 and came into immediate effect.
• 14th Death anniversary of 1st Indian American woman in space Kalpana Chawla is being observed today.
• She died when the space shuttle of NASA disintegrated on re-entering Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003.
• 2 new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will come up in Jharkhand and Gujarat.
• This takes the number of AIIMS in the country to nine, with six centres having been inaugurated in 2012 and four in 2014. 
• In order to bring transparency in political funding and curbing black money, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that maximum cash funding to parties will be limited to ₹2,000 per donor. P
• olitical parties can receive donations in cheque, electronic mode and electoral bonds issued by the RBI.
• Note : Earlier, the maximum limit for political funding in cash was ₹20,000.
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the launch of Swayam, an online education platform that will give students access to over 350 courses, while presenting the Union Budget today. 
• Swayam courses, to be accessed via Direct-To-Home channels, will include video lectures and online discussion platforms.
• Jaitley also announced the launch of a skill acquisition fund, at an investment of ₹400 crore.
• 31st Surajkund International Crafts Mela began today.
• The mela is being hosted jointly by the Haryana Tourism Corporation and Surajkund Mela Authority, in collaboration with the Union Ministries of Tourism, Textiles, Culture and External Affairs.
• Theme state : Jharkhand
• Partner nation : Egypt
• CBSE is going to conduct National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for admission to all medical colleges in country on 7th May this year.
• The Income Tax Department (ITD) launched Swachh Dhan Abhiyan (Operation Clean Money), an e-platform to analyse large cash deposits made during the demonetisation window (9 November to 30 December 2016).
• Under it, e-verification of large cash has been done using data analytics for comparing the demonetisation data with information in ITD databases.

New Appointments

• Former Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Verma today took charge as the new Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Chief.
• A 1979 batch IPS officer, Verma has also served as Mizoram's police chief.
• The post had been lying vacant for over a month following Anil Sinha's retirement.
• Amulya Kumar Patnaik officially took charge as the new Commissioner of the Delhi Police, succeeding Alok Kumar Verma, who has been appointed new Director of CBI.
• Mr Patnaik is an IPS officer of the 1985 batch of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre.
• He will retire in January 2020, and thus, he is expected to have one of the longest tenures as Delhi Police chief.

Awards & Honors

• The Indian School of Business in Hyderabad has been ranked best from India, according to the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking of the best 100 programmes for 2017 worldwide.
• Other than ISB (27), IIM-Ahmedabad (29), IIM-Bengaluru (49) and IIM-Calcutta (95) were the Indian B-schools mentioned in the ranking, which has been topped by France's INSEAD.

Deaths

• Brunhilde Pomsel (106), a former secretary of Nazi Minister Joseph Goebbels, passed away.
• Pomsel recently revealed that she knew nothing of the murder of sixty lakh Jews during the Holocaust and called herself foolish for working for Goebbels.

Banking & Economic Affairs

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has presented the Union Budget for the year 2017-18 in the Lok Sabha today.
• This is his fourth annual budget and the first budget after demonetization.
• Download the PDF Version of the Union Budget 2017 from HERE
• Here are some Major Highlights of the Union Budget 2017
• Cash transactions above ₹3 lakh will not be allowed.
• Aadhaar-based smart cards with details of health conditions will be issued to senior citizens. 
• There will be zero tax liability for people earning up to ₹3 lakh per annum. 
• Income tax for those earning ₹3-5 lakh per annum has been reduced to 5% from 10% earlier.
• Defence Budget increased by 10% to ₹2,74,000 crore, excluding pensions.
• ₹10,000 crore was allotted for the Bharat Net project to provide high-speed broadband in 1.5 lakh Gram Panchayats by the end of 2017-2018.
• Railway firm Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will be listed on stock exchange. 
• Service charge levied on booking e-rail tickets through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will be withdrawn.
• A payment regulatory board will be set up in RBI. The board will regulate electronic payments and replace the Board for Regulation and Supervision in Payments and Settlements System.

Read more Daily Current Affairs updates from here

Download December 2016 Current Affairs Quick Review PDF File from here

sponsored links