Current Affairs 8th January 2015

Current Affairs 8th January 2015 - Important Points

• Ordinance to amend the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 signed by President

• Two Earth-like planets discovered by Scientists namely Kepler 438b and Kepler 442b

• 100 percent production of Neem-Coated Urea approved by Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers

• Atul Khare named as the UN Under Secretary-General

• Contactless credit and Debit cards launched by ICCI Bank

Current Affairs 8th January 2015 - Details

Ordinance to amend the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 signed by President

On 7th January 2015, President Shri Pranab Mukherjee signed an ordinance to amend the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 which paved the way for plying of e-rickshaws on roads of the National Capital Region (NCT).

On 24th December 2014 promulgation of the ordinance was approved by Union Cabinet, but this bill was stuck in Rajya Sabha after getting passed in Lok Sabha. Earlier in July 2014 Delhi High Court banned E-rickshaws on safety concerns. 

E-rickshaws will be carrying maximum four passengers and 40 kgs of luggage while e-carts would transport goods up to 310 kgs. 

Two Earth-like planets discovered by Scientists namely Kepler 438b and Kepler 442b

As per the findings which were published in The Astrophysical Journal on 5 January 2015, Scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics have discovered two Earth-like planets namely Kepler 438b and Kepler 442b. Kepler space telescope of NASA spotted these newly found planets. 

Team led by Guillermo Torres confirmed the planets were real after using a computer program called Blender.

Kepler 438b is 475 light years away from earth while Kepler-442b is 1100 light-years away. 

100 percent production of Neem-Coated Urea approved by Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers

On 7th January 2015, Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers allowed fertilizer firms to produce 100 percent Neem Coated Urea to boost income of the farmers and reducing subsidy bill by up to 6500 crore rupees.

Neem coated urea is different from normal urea as it also works as insecticide, so farmers will have to spend less on farming. Neem coated urea costs 5 percent more than the cost of normal urea. It will also help in reducing ground and soil pollution apart from reducing nitrogen loss by more than 10 percent.

Atul Khare named as the UN Under Secretary-General

On 7th January 2015, Senior Indian diplomat Atul Khare was appointed as Under Secretary-General for Field Support by UN chief Ban Ki-moon. Atul Khare will head the department that provides dedicated support to peacekeeping missions around the world.

Atul Khare will succeed Ameerah Haq of Bangladesh. Atul Khare joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1984 and till now has served Indian diplomatic missions in France, Mauritius, Senegal, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

Contactless credit and Debit cards launched by ICCI Bank

On 7th January 2015, Contactless credit cards and debits cards were launched by ICICI Bank. Contactless credit cards were called Coral Contactless Credit Card and Contactless debit cards were called Expressions Wave Debit Card. So now customers will able to make electronic payments by waving the cards near a merchant terminal instead of dipping or swiping the cards. These newly launched cards are powered by MasterCard contactless and Visa payWave technologies.

These cards have speed and security advantages over other cards. 

Do You Know : 

Full form of ICICI : Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India.