Important Current Affairs : 8 October 2015

Oct 9, 2015

Nobel Prize in literature 2015 winner : Svetlana Alexievich

Svetlana Alexievich, a Belarussian journalist and prose writer, won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday “for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time,” the Swedish Academy announced.
Alexievich, 67, is the 14th woman to win the literature prize.
The prize of 8 million Swedish kronor (around $960,000) was announced in Stockholm by Sara Danius, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, which awards the prize.

Aadhar card not mandatory for welfare schemes : SC.

SC has refused to allow some states and statutory bodies like RBI, SEBI to voluntary use of Aadhaar card for welfare schemes other than PDS and LPG schemes.
Ruling in this regard was given by SC bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar and made it clear modification in this matter will be heard by a larger constitution bench of SC.
This order was given by SC on applications of Union Government, RBI, IRDA, SEBI, TRAI, Pension Fund Regulatory Authority and states like Gujarat and Jharkhand.

Hoesung Lee elected as Chairman of IPCC.

Hoesung Lee of South Korea has been elected Chairman of Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC).
He was elected in on-going 42nd session IPCC in Dubrovnik, Croatia by 78 votes to 56 in a run-off election with Jean-Pascale van Ypersele from Belgium.
Lee succeeds environmentalist R.K. Pachauri of India who had resigned following the sexual abuse scandal in which he was allegedly involved.
IPCC is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change.

Three AIIMS approved under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna.

These three new AIIMS will come up at Nagpur in Maharashtra, at Manglagiri in Andhra Pradesh and at Kalyani in West Bengal.
Cost : All the three AIIMS will cost 4949 crore rupees to the exchequer with AIIMS at Manglagiri costing 1618 crore rupees, at Nagpur costing 1577 crore rupees and at Kalyani costing 1754 crore rupees respectively.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY) launched in 2006, so far six AIIMS have been made functional. AIIMS, Rae Barely is under progress.
The AIIMS which have become functional are at Patna (Bihar), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Bhubaneswar (Orissa), Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and Rishikesh (Utaranchal).

Union cabinet gave its approval on Double Taxation Avoidance with Israel and Vietnam.

Its was approved for avoidance of double taxation and for prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital.
The Protocol with both the countries provides for internationally accepted standards for effective exchange of information on tax matters including bank information and information without domestic tax interest.
With this, the information received from Israel and Vietnam in respect of a resident of India can be shared with other law enforcement agencies with authorisation of the Competent Authority of both the countries and vice versa.

National War memorial will be constructed in Delhi as approved by Union Govt

National War Memorial and a National War Museum will be constructed at Princess Park near India Gate, Delhi in memory of all Indian soldiers who have made the supreme sacrifice for the country post-independence.
The estimated cost of the project will be around 500 crore rupees and the total time for completion of the entire project is estimated to be five years.

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved World Bank assisted National Watershed Management Project Neeranchal.

Implementation : The project will be implemented at the national level as well as in the nine states of Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.
The government’s share in the project is 50 percent and the rest cost will be borne by the World Bank.
Objective : The project aims at achieving the major objectives of the Watershed Component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana (PMKSY) and for ensuring access to irrigation to every farm (Har Khet Ko Pani) and efficient use of water (Per Drop More Crop).

Deborah Herold became first ever Indian cyclist to win five medals at Taiwan Cup.

She bagged one gold, three silver and one bronze medal at the 2015 Taiwan Cup held at the Hsin Chu Velodrome, Hsin-Chu city in Taiwan.
With this, she became the first ever Indian cyclist to win in women’s elite section.
20-year-old Deborah is a tribal girl from Andaman and Nicobar Islands who survived the 2004 Tsunami that devastated the islands.
She was trained at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Andaman and emerged as one of the rising stars of Indian cycling.