Daily Current Affairs Updates – 2nd September 2015

Daily Current Affairs Updates – 2^nd September 2015:

Daily Current affairs News Updates about the National and International events were listed here. Candidates those who are preparing for IBPS/SBI/PO/Clerk exam and all other competitive exams can use this.

1). Maharashtra government approved ordinance to amend Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act, 1981

·         This decision was taken in a meeting headed by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis

·         Illegal sand mining has been made non-bail able offence and the culprits arrested in such cases will not get bail for one year after their arrest

·         Sand smuggling and smugglers added in section II of the Act

·         Tampering of the Public Distribution System (PDS) mechanism and food grain mafia will be brought under this Act

2). Union Government approved the recommendation of the Justice A. P. Shah Committee report on the Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT) on Foreign Institutional Investors (FII)

·         The recommendations given by the committee are as follows

a.    No legal basis for levying 20% MAT on past capital gains of FII

b.    To Amend Section 115 JB the Income Tax Act to clarify the issue with regard to levy of MAT on FII

c.    MAT exemption will not applicable to FII

·         The government ordered the Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT) field officers not to pursue cases against FII on issues of MAT

3). National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) appointed A. K. Jha as the interim Chairman & Managing Director (CMD)

·         Mr. Jha is presently NTPC’s Director (Technical)

·         He is given the additional charge of interim CMD which he will serve for 3 months from 1^stSeptember 2015

·         He had joined NTPC in 1977 as an Executive Trainee and was directly associated with its flagship project Singrauli

4). Union government recognized Yoga as a Sports discipline

·         The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports decided to recognize Yoga as a sports discipline in the Priority category

·         Along with Yoga, Fencing was also upgraded from the Others category to General category

·         This decision of the Ministry after reviewing and revising the categorization of various disciples

5). Union Government developed a smart National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) model to enable seamless metro travel and shopping

·         Union Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu approved the EMV Open Loop Card with stored value

·         National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will be the nodal agency in indigenously developing and managing of settlement and clearing of payments

·         The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) will develop the specified standards and hardware for Metro gates

6). NASA and US Agency for International Development (USAID) commissioned the SERVIR-Mekong project, to strengthen the environmental monitoring in Southeast Asia

·         It was launched in the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center in Bangkok, Thailand

·         SERVIR – Mekong will serve the 5 countries of the Mekong River Basin often called as theRice Bowl of Asia namely

a.    Cambodia

b.    Myanmar

c.    Thailand

d.    Laos

e.    Vietnam

·         This project will help the governments of the 5 countries to incorporate Earth observations and geospatial technologies to improve water and natural resources

·         It also provides early warning of dramatic changes in the following areas

a.    Regional water

b.    Weather

c.    Land cover

d.    Land use

e.    Climate

f.      Food security

7). India won the UNESCO’s Award of Excellence 2015 for its conservation efforts of the Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple

·         150 year old Sino-Portugese which is the former residence of a Thai aristocrat won the UNESCO’s Award of Merit in Heritage award

·         This award recognizes the effort made by the countries in conserving sacred sites

·         Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple – an ancient Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Thrissur district, Kerala

·         It was declared as a National Monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 for its mural paintings

8). Mumbai won the Buchi Babu Memorial Trophy in the All India Invitation Cricket Tournament

·         Mumbai defeated the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association Districts (TNCA) XI team by 6wickets in the finals held in Chennai

·         Scores of the two teams are as follows

a.    Tamil Nadu – 163 runs in 74 overs

b.    Mumbai – 166 runs in 45.2 overs

·         Man of the series – Mumbai’s Surya Kumar Yadav

·         The 2 Mumbai players who played a significant role in this victory are as follows

a.    Herwadkar – 108 runs

b.    Tare – 53 runs