GK Update: 10th Septmber, 2016 (English)
By: D.K Choudhary
President approves GST Bill
i. President Pranab Mukherjee has signed the GST Constitution Amendment Bill thereby making it a law.
ii. GST Bill has been ratified by the Parliament, as well as 16 states.
iii. The GST bill met the requisite percentage of 50% for its ratification and government plans to roll out the new indirect tax regime from 1 April, 2017.
Isro’s launches INSAT-3DR from Sriharikota
i. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched GSLV rocket, which will carry the weather satellite INSAT-3DR from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
ii. The 2211-kg INSAT 3DR will be placed in an orbit 36,000 km above Earth.
Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh ratifies GST bill
i. Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh Assembly has ratified Goods and Service Tax (GST), Bill, to simplify the taxation by implementing single tax rates across the country.
ii. GST is a comprehensive tax on the manufacture, sale and consumption of goods and services at a national level.
Sikkim cleanest state in India: Survey
i. Sikkim has been adjudged the cleanest state while Jharkhand comes last in the list of 26 states.
ii. Gujarat is ranked 14th in the survey conducted by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
iii. Kerala, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Meghalaya are among the top 10 states.
PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi only Indian-origin woman in Fortune list
i. PepsiCo CEO and Chairman Indra Nooyi was ranked 2nd on the list of Fortune’s 51 Most Powerful Women list.
ii. The list is topped by Mary Barra, CEO and Chairman of General Motors.
ICICI Bank introduces ‘Software Robotics’ to improve banks productivity
i. ICICI Bank, has announced the deployment of ‘Software Robotics’ in over 200 business processes across various functions of the bank.
ii. The software robots will reduce the response time to customers by up to 60%.
Ex-IAS officer J Satyanarayana appointed part-time UIDAI chief
i. Former IAS officer J Satyanarayana has appointed as part-time chairperson of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
ii. The post has been lying vacant following resignation of Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani’s resignation in 2014.
Syndicate Bank appoints Director
i. Jayant Purushottam Gokhale has been appointed as director of Syndicate Bank.
ii. Syndicate Bank is one of the oldest and major commercial banks of India.
Mexico sets up first consulate in South India
i. Mexico has set up its consulate in south India in Chennai that will cater to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
ii. This is the Latin American country’s 3rd consulate in India, with the other 2 being in Mumbai and Kolkata.
NASA launches first mission to collect samples from asteroid
i. The US space agency, NASA has launched its first mission to collect samples from an asteroid and return them to Earth in hopes of learning more about the origins of life.
ii. The unmanned spacecraft, known as OSIRIS-REx, blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station today.
iii. The 800 million dollar mission will travel for two years on a journey to Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid about the size of a small mountain.