Current Affairs 27th November 2018

Current Affairs 26th November 2018 - Important Points

• Government appoints Akhilesh Ranjan as Convenor of Task Force drafting a - New Direct Tax Legislation
• World-class township for autistic children, adults to be built in - Kolkata
• Indian missions abroad to soon issue passports within - 48 hours
• Syed Modi International Badminton title 2018 won by - Sameer Verma
• Indian Space Research Organisation to launch hi-tech imaging satellite with 30 foreign satellites on - 29th November 2018
• Venkaiah Naidu lays down foundation stone of Dera Baba Nanak - Kartarpur Sahib Corridor

Current Affairs 26th November 2018 - Details

Government appoints Akhilesh Ranjan as Convenor of Task Force drafting a - New Direct Tax Legislation

The Union Government on November 26th, 2017 designated Akhilesh Ranjan as Convenor of the Task Force that was established in November 2017 for drafting a New Direct Tax Legislation.  Akhilesh Ranjan is currently working as the Member (Legislation) of the Central Board of Direct Taxes. The other associates of the Task Force remain unchanged.
Other members are: Girish Ahuja, non-official Director of SBI, Rajiv Memani; Chairman & Regional Managing Partner of E&Y; Mukesh Patel, Practicing Tax Advocate, Ahmedabad; Mansi Kedia, Consultant, ICRIER, New Delhi; G.C. Srivastava, Retd IRS and Advocate.
Besides, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian will be a permanent Special Invitee in the Task Force. 
The task force has been planned to draft a suitable Direct Tax Legislation keeping in view the direct tax system widespread in different nations, International best practices and economic requirements of the nation. The Task Force has formed its own process for regulating its work. Further, the Task Force will present its report to the Government by February 28th, 2019.

World-class township for autistic children, adults to be built in - Kolkata

The India Autism Centre- IAC, a world-level autism township is being planned to be construct near Kolkata, where children and adults suffering from the autism would receive training, treatment and boarding amenities.
The one-of-its-kind initiative is a combined effort between a private organisation and the state government. It is supposed to come up more than 52 acres plot at Sirakol in South 24 Parganas in the next 5 years.
Crucial Highlights

• The township is believed to be construct at an estimated cost of Rupees 500 crore. It will be built under Section 8 of Companies Act, 2013.
• The construction work for the township will start in 2019 and it is expected to be accomplished by 2023. The soft launch of the project has been planned for January 2019.
• The centre will be the 1st of its kind in India as well as overseas, with housing facilities for 350 inhabitants and day-care centre for more than 200 children, adolescents and adults. 
• It will have provisions for training teachers, who would be trained with those suffering from the autism disorder.
• It will also have an administrative branch and a guest house, to house parents of those receiving training at the institute.

Indian missions abroad to soon issue passports within - 48 hours

Indian missions worldwide to soon issue passports in less than 48 hours to residents overseas. The information was given by Minister of State for External Affairs V.K.Singh while addressing a meeting after launching the “Passport Seva” project at the Indian Embassy in New Delhi.
V.K.Singh informed that the passport offices at Indian missions have been digitally connected with the data centre in India, which would speed-up the process of issuing passport.
Important Points

• Earlier this week, the Indian mission at New York had delivered passports in less than 48 hours. The same will soon begin happening across the world.
• Currently, there has been a major simplification of rules & regulations for passport applicants.
• In fact, verification of much of information of the aspirants would now be done digitally.
• The “Passport Seva” project was 1st launched in the UK in October 2018. In the USA, the project was 1st rolled out in New York on November 21st, followed by Washington on November 24th.
• The project would be later launched in Indian Consulates at Atlanta, Houston, Chicago and San Francisco.
  Importance
• The initiative is going to quantitatively and qualitatively upgrade India’s passport services immensely, both in the scope of the applications that can be tackled and also in the way they will be tackled and the way they will be united into the total much better consular services.
  Other Details
• The Indian government will soon release a new set of passports, the sketch of which has already been sanctioned.
• The new passports will consist of advanced security features and better printing and paper quality.
  However, there will be no changes in the colour of the Indian passport.

Syed Modi International Badminton title 2018 won by - Sameer Verma

India’s Sameer Verma has secured Syed Modi India Grand Prix Gold badminton championship 2018 in
men’s singles group. In the final match organised in Lucknow, he conquered China’s Lu Guangzu by 16-
21, 21-19 and 21-14 points. Women’s singles championship was secured by China’s Han Yue after
conquering India’s Saina Nehwal by 21-18, 21-8 points.
Syed Modi International India Open Grand Prix championship

• It was initiated by UP Badminton Association in 1991 as “Syed Modi Memorial Badminton Tournament” in the memory of Syed Modi. Primarily, it was National level programme and in 2004 it was held as International event for the 1st time. In 2011, it was advanced to BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament.
• It is organised every year at Lucknow, UP.

Indian Space Research Organisation to launch hi-tech imaging satellite with 30 foreign satellites on - 29th November 2018

The ISRO on November 29th, 2018 will release a Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite- HySIS, an earth observation satellite along with 30 overseas commercial satellites from Sriharikota launch centre in Andhra Pradesh.
The satellites will be released via Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle- PSLV-C43, from the 1st launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
The satellite, which can look in 55 spectral/colour bands from 630 kilometres above the ground, will be
utilised for a range of applications including agriculture, forestry and assessment of coastal zones, inland waters, soil, other geological environments and by the military for surveillance motives. 
Important Highlights

• Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is a 4-stage launch vehicle with alternating solid and liquid propellent stages.
• Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C43 is the Core Alone version of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle which is the lightest version of it.
• Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite is an earth observation satellite advanced by Indian Space Research Organisation. It is the chief satellite of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C43 mission.
• The weight of the spacecraft is about 380 kilograms.
• The satellite will be placed in 636 kilometres Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit with an inclination of 97.957 degrees.
• The mission life of the satellite is believed to be 5 years.
• The chief objective of the Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite would be to observe the earth’s surface in visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• The overseas satellites to be launched along with Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite include One Micro and 29 Nano satellites from 8 different nations.
• All these satellites will be positioned in a 504 kilometres orbit by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C43. Out of the 30 commercial satellites, 23 are from the USA.
• These satellites have been commercially agreement for launch via Antrix Corporation Limited, which is the commercial branch of Indian Space Research Organisation.

Venkaiah Naidu lays down foundation stone of Dera Baba Nanak - Kartarpur Sahib Corridor

The Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on November 26th, 2018 laid the foundation stone for the building of Dera Baba Nanak- Kartarpur Sahib Road Corridor at an event in Mann village, Gurdaspur district of Punjab.
The foundation stone ceremony was witnessed by Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal, and CM Punjab Captain Amrinder Singh. On November 22nd, 2018, the Union Government finalised to construct the Kartarpur road Corridor up to the international border between India and Pakistan as an integrated development project to highlight 550th birthday of the Guru Nanak Dev Ji in 2019. Earlier on November 15th, 2018, India and Pakistan had declared to construct Corridors on their respective sides to allow Sikh pilgrims visit the holy shrine without visa.
Gurudwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur

• The Gurudwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur is situated on the bank of river Ravi in Pakistan and is
  approximately 3-4 kilometres from the Indo-Pak border in Pakistan.
• It was listened that Guru Nanak Dev ji gathered a Sikh community and lived for 18 years until his death in 1539.
• The shrine is visible from the Indian side with the help of binoculars installed at Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak for darshans. Pakistan authorities generally trim the nearby obstructing elephant grass.
• The gurdwara was unlocked to pilgrims following repairs and restoration in 1999, and Sikh jathas have been visiting the shrine regularly ever since.