Daily Current Affairs, 13th and 14th January 2019

1) Presidential Award Presented to PM Narendra Modi

•The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, received the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award, in New Delhi. The Award focuses on the triple-bottom-line of People, Profit, and Planet. It will be offered annually to the leader of a Nation. The Citation mentions initiatives such as Make in India, Startup India, Digital India, and Swachh Bharat.

•Prof. Philip Kotler is a world-renowned Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management. Owing to his ill-health, he deputed Dr. Jagdish Sheth of EMORY University, Georgia, USA, to confer the award.

2) Gujarat Becomes The First State To Implement 10% Quota For General Category

•Gujarat has become the first state to implement the 10% reservation for economically weaker sections of the general category. This comes a day after President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the bill.

•Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani stated that it will also be applicable to jobs for which announcement has been made but the procedure is yet to commence.

3) Sikkim CM Launched ‘One Family, One Job’ Scheme

•Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling launched the ‘One Family One Job’scheme, under which for every family one government job has been allotted, in Gangtok. New recruits were taken for Group C and Group D posts in 12 departments.

•Thus, Sikkim became the first state in the country to carry out such a programme for the people entitling them to state government employee benefits. He also declared that all loan debts in the farming and agriculture sector would be revoked.

4) Sushil Modi To Head Committee On GST Revenue Shortfall Faced By States

•Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi will head the 7-member committee to look into revenue shortfall being faced by the states after the GST roll-out and suggest steps foraugmenting collections.

•The GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state ministers, had on December 22, 2018, decided to set up a group of ministers (GoM) toanalyze reasons for the shortfall in revenue collections by the states since July 2017. It would also look into structural patterns of major sectors of the economy impacting revenue collection, including the services sector.

5) US Launches ‘Fair Value for Innovation’ At Raisina Dialogue

•The Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) of United States Chamber of Commerce launched a new innovation strategy at Raisina Dialogue, 2019 in New Delhi. The Initiative is titled as “Fair Value for Innovation”.

•The Initiative will examine economic underpinnings in order to enable breakthrough innovation and explore the opportunities to harness innovation capital in India and around the globe through research, advocacy, partnerships, and programs. India is the first market where GIPC is launching this new innovation initiative.

6) TCS Appoints Daniel Callahan As Independent Director

•India’s largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services has appointed Don Callahan as an additional and independent director for a period of 5 years, based on the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.

•He was the Chief Administrative Officer and Head of Operations and Technology at Citigroup and was a member of Citi’s Operating Committee earlier.