Daily Current Affairs, 15th February 2019

1) India Withdraws Most Favoured Nation Status To Pakistan

•Following the attack in Jammu & Kashmir’s Pulwama that left 44 CRPF personnel dead, India has withdrawn the MFN (Most Favoured Nation) status that it had granted to Pakistan.

•The decision was taken during the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting held in New Delhi. India had granted the status to Pakistan in 1996, a year after WTO’s formation.

2) Universal Old Age Pension Scheme Announced By Bihar Government

•Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar announced a Universal Old Age Pension scheme, named Mukhya Mantri Vriddha Pension Yojana (MMVPY), irrespective for all caste, community, religion, except for those who are retired from government organizations.

•The scheme facilitates the amount of Rs. 400 monthly pension for all in the state above the age of 60 who are not getting a pension from the government. The Chief Minister also announced a pension of 6,000 rupees for journalists above 60 years of age.

•Those who have been in regular service in the field of media and not getting any other pension will be eligible for Bihar Patrakar Samman Yojana (BPSY). The schemes will come into its enforcement from 1st April 2019.

3) Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan Implemented In India

•Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM) was rolled out by the Ministry of Labour and Employment from 15 February 2019. The scheme announced in the Interim Budget was notified by the Ministry recently. As many as 42 crore workers are estimated to be engaged in the unorganized sector of the country.

•Following are the Salient Features of PM-SYM:

1. Minimum Assured Pension: Each subscriber under the PM-SYM, shall receive minimum assured pension of Rs 3000/- per month after attaining the age of 60 years.

2. Family Pension: During the receipt of pension, if the subscriber dies, the spouse of the beneficiary shall be entitled to receive 50% of the pension received by the beneficiary as family pension. Family pension is applicable only to spouse.

4) India Signed Deal With US To Procure 72,400 Assault Rifles

•The Indian Government has signed a deal with the US under Fast Track Procurement (FTP) to avail the Indian Army with 72,400 new ‘Sig Sauer Assault Rifles’ which will overhaul the army’s inventory of frontline rifles.

•These Sig Sauer Assault rifles are 7.62*51 mm which are compact, robust, advance in technology and easy to maintain in field conditions. These new rifles will come at a cost of around Rs. 700 Crore and will be used by the army troops deployed along the 3,600 kmChina’s border.

5) India-U.S. Commercial Dialogue And CEO Forum Held in New Delhi

•India and the United States held India-U.S. Commercial Dialogue and India-U.S. CEO Forum in New Delhi. Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, chaired the meeting.

•The CEO Forum was co-chaired by Chairman, Tata Sons, N. Chandrasekaran and President and CEO of American Tower Corporation, Mr. James D. The MoU was signed between National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) of India and ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) of the United States for cooperation in matters related to accreditation.

6) NASA Announces The End Of Opportunity

•NASA announced that its Opportunity Rover mission is complete after the rover failed to respond despite repeated trials since August 2018. The space agency inferred that a planet-encircling dust storm cut off communications with Opportunity on June 10, 2018, disabling its solar panels from storing power. Since then NASA has beamed over 830 unanswered rescue commands.

•The robotic rover, which wandered the surface of the red planet for over 15 years, was launched by NASA in July 2003 as a part of its Mars Exploration Rover program. It is survived by NASA’s Curiosity rover, which is now the only active robot on Mars.

7) India Signs Legal Agreements With The World Bank

•The Government of India, Government of Himachal Pradesh (GoHP) and the World Banksigned a $40 Million Loan Agreement to help bring clean and reliable drinking water to the citizens of the Greater Shimla area, who have been facing severe water shortages and water-borne epidemics over the last few years.

•The Shimla Water Supply and Sewerage Service Delivery Reform Programmatic Development Policy Loan 1 is expected to improve water supply and sanitation (WSS) services in and around the iconic hill city of Shimla. The $40 Million Loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a 4-year grace period and a maturity of 15.5 years.

8) P C Mody Appointed As Chairman of CBDT

•Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has appointed senior IRS officer Pramod Chandra Mody as chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). He will succeed Sushil Chandra, who was recently appointed Election Commissioner.

•He is 1982 batch Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax cadre). Prior to this appointment, he was a member in CBDT.

•Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)

1.It is nodal policy-making body of Income Tax (IT) department functioning under Department of Revenue, Union Ministry of Finance.

2.It is a statutory authority established under The Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963.

3.It is supreme body in India for framing policies related to direct taxes and is also tasked to enforce direct tax laws in the country.