9th September 2015 daily current affairs digest: INS Vajrakosh commissioned in Indian navy by the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at Karwar, Karnataka.
- INS Vajrakosh is the latest establishment of the Indian Navy.
- The Naval units operating out of Karwar are required to be equipped with specialised armaments and missiles.
- These sophisticated missiles and ammunition require special storage facility and specialised servicing facilities.
- INS Vajrakosh will have all the required infrastructure to meet these requirements.
Union Budget Speech 2015-16 : Union Cabinet gave its node to Gold Monetization Scheme.
- Fin Minister Arun Jaitley made this announcement in his budget speech 2015-16.
- Under the scheme, revamped Gold Deposit Scheme (GDS) and the Gold Metal Loan (GML) Scheme will be implemented in addition to the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme as approved by the Cabinet.
About Gold Monetisation Scheme :
- Any person can earn interest by depositing the gold in banks. Interest may be either in form of cash or gold.
- Interest will be payable after 30-60 days of account opening.
- Threshold limit for deposit is 30Gms.
- Interest earned on it will be exempted from income tax and capital gain tax.
- Minimum period for Gold Savings Account is 1 year.
Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme approved , aims to reduce dependence on physical gold.
- Union Cabinet on 9 September 2015 gave its approval for the Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme.
- Aim : To reduce the demand for physical gold and to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for investment into Demat (Dematerialised) gold bonds.
About Gold Bond Scheme :
- Under this scheme, Indian residents can buy the gold bond instead of buying physical gold.
- Bonds will be issued in 2,5 and 10 gm of gold or other denominations.
- Likely to have an annual cap of 500 gms per person.
- It would be issued for a period of 5-7 years.
J Manjula appointed as the DG of the Electronics and Communication Systems cluster of DRDO.
- He became the first woman of to be appointed as DG of DRDO.
- She is an alumna of the Osmania University and an electronics and communications engineer.
Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) launches Niryat Bandhu @ Your Desktop.
- DGFT collaborated withIndian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) to launch this innovative online programme for exporters and entrepreneurs.
- Niryat Bandhu @ Your Desktop is an online certificate programme in export-import business under the Niryat Bandhu Scheme of Department of Commerce.
- The Online registration for the programme can be done from 10 September 2015 onwards at http://niryatbandhu.iift.ac.in/home.asp.
- This programme will serve the twin objective of Digital India and Skill India.
Union Cabinet gave its nod to constitution of 21st Law Commission of india on 9th September 2015.
- The term of 20th law commission ends on 31st August 2015 which was headed by Justice Ajit Prakash Shah.
The 21st law commission will be functional for a period of three years between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2018 and will consist of:
- Full-time Chairperson
- Four full-time Members (including a Member-Secretary)
- Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs as ex-officio member
- Secretary, Legislative Department as ex-officio member
- Not more than five part-time Members.
Haryana Govt passes Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill 2015.
- Under this Bill, Haryana Govt sets minimum qualification criteria for elections to Panchayati Raj institutions.
- Note : Haryana became 2nd state in India after Rajasthan to fix educational and other qualifications for the candidates contesting Panchayat elections.
India and Belarus to take trade target to 1 billion dollar from 400 million dollar by 2018.
- The decision in this regard was taken at the Seventh Session of the India-Belarus Inter governmental Commission held in Minsk, Belarus.
- The meeting was co-chaired by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman co-chaired and her Belarusian counterpart Minister for Industry Vitali Mikhailovich Vovk.
Also Read : What is Goods and Service Tax? (GST)
Queen Elizabeth II becomes longest reigning monarch of Britain and longest reigning female monarch.
- She surpassed the previous record held by her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria who had reigned thousand-year-old dynastical institution of Britain for more than 63 years and 7 months.
- Note : Presently Queen Elizabeth II (88 years old) is world’s oldest living monarch.
- She was crowned as queen of Britain and other realms, including Canada and Australia on 2 June, 1953.
6 percent hike in dearness allowance approved by union cabinet for Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) pensioners.
- The notification of DA and DR will be effective from 1 July 2015.
- With this announcement the total DA will go up to 119 percent from 113 per cent.
- Around 56 lakh pensioners will get the benefit of this hike.
Pakistan Supreme Court ordered adoption of Urdu as Official language of country.
- Three member bench headed by Chief Justice Jawwad S Khawaja passed the order while delivering judgment in a case.
- The petitioner Advocate Kokab Iqbal through his petition wanted promotion and implementation of the national language.
- The Court also ruled that under the 1973 Constitution it is must to adopt Urdu as official language.
Bombay Stock Exchange has highest number of listed companies in the world according to World Federation of Exchanges (WEF).
- There are a total of 5689 companies listed with BSE by the end of June 2015.
- While National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) had 1750 listed companies by the end of June 2015.
- BSE in oldest exchange in Asia estabilished in 1855.
Indian Weightlifter Deepak Lather wins Gold in Commonwealth Youth Games 2015 on 8th September 2015.
- He won the gold in 62 kg category and Games were held in Apia, Samoa.
- This was India’s second gold in weightlifting after Jamjang Deru (17-year-old) who won a gold medal in the 56 kg category on the opening day of the event.
Short story writer and novelist Jhumpa Lahiri, short story writer and novelist awarded with the 2014 National Humanities Medal by the White House, US.
- President Barack Obama conferred the medal onto her at a ceremony held at White House, US.
- She was among 10 recipients of the award.
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Ace Indian Golfer Anirban Lahiri qualify for President’s cup.
- With this he became first Indian golfer to qualify for prestigious President’s Cup of Golf.
- Ranked No. 40 in world ranking, Lahiri qualified to this prestigious cup through automatic qualifications as team member of the International Team.
- The International team is set to take on United States team in the biennial Presidents Cup 2015 to be held at Incheon, South Korea.
Abitha Mary Manuel and Anamika Das wins bronze medals at the 5th Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) in Apia in Samoa.
- Manuel won in girls 800m race while Das won it in shot put event on the third and final day of athletics competitions.
- With the two bronze, India’s medal count swelled to 10 in total (4 gold, 2 silver, and 4 bronze).
