BTP Amendment Act

Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 (BTP Amendment Act), will come into force from 1st November 2016, notified by Income Tax Department. This Act is designed to curb black money. The new law amended the Benami Transactions Act, 1988 and renamed as the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions (PBPT) Act, 1988. The Act defines benami transactions and also provides imprisonment upto seven years and fine for violation of the Act. The official notification says,‘The PBPT Act prohibits recovery of the property held benami from benamidar by the real owner. Properties held benami are liable for confiscation by the government without payment of compensation'.

National Data Registry (NDR)

The Union Government is developing a National Data Registry (NDR) to compile and serve metadata of different agencies and re-engineer the feature data sets for improving their use. The registry will also serve as a source of authenticated information. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) will be the nodal coordinating agency of the NDR. NDR will require all agencies state, private and academic, collecting and storing geospatial data to provide details of data they store.

 Purpose:

The registry aims to create a catalogue that will prevent duplication of data sets and to help users locate the right agencies to source information.

It will be a ‘meta-data’ repository to only inform about the nature of the data a service provider has. It is not actually be a source of geospatial data.

It can operate across a wide range of formats and can source information automatically.

Thus, Survey of India can vet it for accuracy and see whether it contains information that contravenes national security.

Brand Ambassador for Swachh Rail Mission of Indian Railway

Founder of Sulabh International Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak,appointed as a Brand Ambassador for Swachh Rail Mission of Indian Railway. Indian Railways had tied up with Sulabh International to clean some important railway stations across the country as part of the mission with an aim to promote cleanliness at rail premises. As a pilot project, Sulabh International had started cleaning and maintenance of five important railway stations Gorakhpur, Old Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Gwalior from September 2016.

Sulabh International: It is a social service organization which works to promote environmental sanitation, human rights, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education.

Paris agreement

The Paris agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016. The agreement deals with greenhouse gases mitigation,adaption and finance. The Paris Agreement to combat climate change officially entered into force after 55 parties to the convention accounting for at least 55% of total GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions ratified it. At present, 94 parties have ratified the convention,India was 62nd country to ratify it.

About Paris Agreement:

It is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC). It was opened for signature on 22 April 2016 in a ceremony in New York city. As on November 2016, 193 UNFCCC members has signed the treaty,97 of which had ratified it.

Objectives(Agreement on Climate Change):

It is an international climate deal to combat climate change. It facilitates enforcement of global GHGs reduction measures in the post-2020 i.e. in post Kyoto Protocol scenario. Under it, all countries must pursue to keep global temperature rising below 2°C by 2100 above pre-industrial levels with an ideal target of keeping temperature rise below 1.5°C. It forces developed countries to provide 100 billion dollars annually to the developing counterparts beginning in 2020 to deal with climate change. It empowers countries to determine how to cut their emissions but mandates that they report transparently on those efforts.

National Food Security Act

The National Food Security Act (NFSA), which envisages supply of subsidised foodgrains, has been implemented across the country said Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. With this, now NFSA has been implemented in all States and Union Territories. The NFSA aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).

As a result, 81.34 crore persons will get subsidised wheat at Rs. 2 per kg and rice at Rs. 3 per kg.

SAMPRITI 2016

As part of the ongoing India Bangladesh defence cooperation, a joint military training exercise SAMPRITI 2016 is being conducted at Tangail, Dhaka, Bangladesh from 05 to 18 November 2016. Exercise SAMPRITI is an important bilateral defence cooperation endeavour between India and Bangladesh and will be the sixth edition of the exercise which is hosted alternately by both countries.

The joint exercise SAMPRITI 2016 will simulate a scenario where both nations are working together in a Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism environment under the UN Charter. The exercise curriculum is progressively planned where the participants will initially get familiar with each other’s organizational structure and tactical drills. Subsequently, the training will advance to joint tactical exercises wherein the battle drills of both the armies will be practiced. The training will culminate with a final validation exercise in which troops of both armies will jointly practice a Counter Terrorist Operation in a controlled and simulated environment.

Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA)

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda has launched Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) to provide free health check-ups to pregnant women at government health centres and hospitals. The national programme aims to provide pregnant ladies free ante-natal services (ANC) and required treatment for free on 9th of every month. The scheme is applicable only for the pregnant women in their pregnancy period of 3 to 6 months. It will provide all kinds of medical checkups completely free to pregnant women.

Objectives of the scheme are (i) Provide healthy life to the pregnant women. (ii) Lowering the maternity mortality rate. (iii) Making pregnant women aware of their health issues and diseases. (iv) Making sure safe delivery and healthy life of the baby.