Daily Current Affairs
Daily Current Affairs (17 Nov 2017)
November 17, 2017
Moody's upgrades India's credit rating to Baa2
- US-based Moody's has upgraded India's sovereign credit rating by a notch to 'Baa2' with a stable outlook citing improved growth prospects driven by economic and institutional reforms.
- The rating upgrade comes after a gap of 13 years.
- Moody's had last upgraded India's rating to 'Baa3' in 2004.
- In 2015, the rating outlook was changed to positive from stable.
- The 'Baa3' rating was the lowest investment grade just a notch above 'junk' status.
- Moody’s said, the decision to upgrade the ratings is underpinned by Moody's expectation that continued progress on economic and institutional reforms will enhance India's high growth potential.
Topic- GS-3- Indian Economy, Economic Development
Cabinet approves creation of Anti-profiteering Authority to ensure GST benefits passed on to consumers
- Cabinet has approved creation of National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) under GST, to ensure benefits of reduction in indirect tax rates are passed on to consumers.
- The authority will comprise a standing committee, screening committee in every state and Director General of safeguards in the central board of Excise and customs.
- NAA enables consumers to apply for relief if they feel reduction in prices is not passed on to them and for this an institutional framework has been provided to take appropriate remedial action.
- In case the consumers do not get the benefit of reduction in prices, they can apply for the relief to the screening committee to the particular state.
Topic- GS-3- Indian Economy
Source- AIR
Urdu becomes Telangana's 2nd official language
- The government has decided to declare Urdu language as the Second Official Language in the entire State by amending Section 2 of the Official Languages Act, 1966.
Languages with official status in India
- According to Article 343, the official language of the India should be Hindi in Devanagari script.
- There is no national language as declared by the Constitution of India.
- The Eighth Schedule to the Indian Constitution contains a list of 22 scheduled languages.
- Those are Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarathi, Hindi, Kananda, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali and Oriya.
Classical Languages-
- Tamil, Sanskrit, Kananda, Telugu, Malayalam, Oriya
Topic- GS-3- Indian Constitution
Source- AIR.
Bt cotton
- Bt cotton is a genetically modified organism (GMO) cotton variety, which produces an insecticide to bollworm.
- Bt cotton is supplied in India's Maharashtra state by the agri-biotechnology company Mahyco, which distributes it.
Topic- GS-3- Agriculture
Source- The Hindu
Govt. cleared for first mega CEZ (coastal economic zone)
- The government has given the go-ahead for setting up India’s first mega coastal economic zone (CEZ) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra as part of a plan to develop 14 such industrial clusters to spur manufacturing and generate jobs.
- The plan envisages a total investment of Rs 15,000 crore in the first phase.
Topic- GS-3- Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
Source- Economic Times
President Ram Nath Kovind launches schemes worth Rs 3,455 crore in Jharkhand
- President launched the Rs 636-crore 'Mukhyamantri Health Insurance Scheme' under which 57 lakhs of the 68 lakh families in the state will benefit. Beneficiaries will get treatment costing Rs 2 lakh under the scheme.
- President also launched JOHAR (Jharkhand's Opportunities for Harnessing Rural Development) schemes entailing expenditure of Rs 1,500 crore to help tribal and Dalit families double their incomes in four years.
Topic- GS-2- Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States
Source- New Indian Express
Freedom fighter-Birsa Munda
- Birsa Munda was a young freedom fighter and a tribal leader, whose spirit of activism in the late nineteenth century, is remembered to be a strong mark of protest against British rule in India.
- He was born on November 15, 1875 in the tribal belt around Bihar and Jharkhand.
- He belonged to the Munda tribe in the Chhotanagpur Plateau area.
- The impact of Christianity was felt in the way he came to relate to religion later.
- Birsa started the faith of ‘Birsait’.
- The members of the Munda and Oraon community started joining the Birsait sect and it turned into a challenge to British conversion activities.
- On March 3, 1900, Birsa Munda was arrested by the British police while he was sleeping with his tribal guerilla army at Jamkopai forest in Chakradharpur.
- He died in Ranchi jail on June 9, 1900 at a young age of 25.
- After his death, he is known to have mobilised the tribal community against the British and had also forced the colonial officials to introduce laws protecting the land rights of the tribal.
- In recognition of his impact on the national movement, the state of Jharkhand was created on his birth anniversary in 2000.
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