Daily GK Updates - 8th December, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. President Kovind  presents Presidential Colours to Submarine Arm of Navy: President Shri Ram Nath Kovind awarded the Presidential Colour to the Submarine Arm of the Indian Navy at the Command headquarters in Vishakhapatnam. The award of Presidents Colour is the highest honour which can be bestowed upon any military unit. Earlier, President has inaugurated the Naval Maritime Aircraft Museum in Vishakhapatnam, featuring the maritime patrol aircraft Tupolev-142M. It was on this day in 1967 that the Naval Ensign and the National Flag were hoisted on the first Indian Naval Submarine, Kalvari.

2. NGT holds Sri Sri's AOL Foundation responsible for damage to Yamuna floodplains: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar has held the Art of Living (AOL) Foundation of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar responsible for the damage caused to the Yamuna floodplains due to the holding of the World Cultural Festival organized by it in March 2016. According to the NGT, AoL is responsible for the damage caused to the Yamuna floodplains in terms of the report submitted by the expert committee.The amount of five crore rupees which was submitted by it earlier will be used for the restoration of the floodplains.

3. Health Minister J.P. Nadda directs CM's to implement Clinical Establishments Act: The Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda has directed all the Chief Ministers to adopt and implement the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 so that malpractice in private hospitals can be curbed. The effective implementation of the Act would deter clinical establishments from indulging in unethical practices and ensuring that they discharge their duties responsibly towards the patients. The Act has been enacted by the Central government to provide for registration and regulation of all clinical establishments in the country with a view to prescribing the minimum standards of facilities and services provided by them.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. The new Ambassador of India to Turkmenistan: Azar A.H.Khan has been appointed as the new Ambassador of India to Turkmenistan. Presently, he is Consul General in the Consulate General of India. He is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

2. USA country has officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel: United States has officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. With this, the United States will be the first country to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians. At present, Jerusalem is the seat of the modern Israeli government.

3. 7th International Ground Water Conference (IGWC-2017) on ground water Vision 2030: The 7th International Ground Water Conference (IGWC-2017) will be hosted by India in New Delhi with a theme of “Ground water Vision 2030- Water Security, Challenges and Climate Change Adaptation” from December 11 to 13, 2017. The conference has been organized by the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under the aegis of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

OTHER UPDATES

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. EPFO opens new facility for over 4.5 crore members: The Retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation(EPFO) has opened a new facility to allow consolidation or merger of their multiple PF accounts (4.5 crore members) with the current Universal Account Number(UAN).Now, the subscribers of the EPFO can merge as many as 10 previous accounts with their UAN at one go.The EPFO has made it easy with this facility with an objective of having one employee, one EPF account.Earlier, The EPFO has already issued a direction to its over 120 offices earlier this week to use this service and ensure multiple accounts are consolidated as early as possible.

2. RBI rationalizes charges on debit card transactions: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come out with differentiated merchant discount rates (MDR) for debit card transactions, prescribing separate caps for small and large traders to promote digital payments. MDR charges for small merchants with an annual turnover of up to 20 lakh rupees has been fixed at 0.4% with a cap of 200 rupees per transaction by debit cards through Point of Sale (PoS) machines or online transactions.MDR charges would be 0.9% with a cap of 1,000 rupees per transaction with an annual turnover of a merchant is over 20 lakh rupees. For accepting payments via QR (quick response) code based transactions, the charge will be 0.3% subject to a cap of 200 rupees per transaction. The directions will come into effect from 1st January.

SPORTS:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo wins fifth Ballon d'Or award: The Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Ballon d'Or for a fifth time to move level with rival Lionel Messi at a ceremony in Paris.The award caps a year in which Ronaldo has won LaLiga, the Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup with Real Madrid, as well as helping Portugal qualify for the 2018 World Cup.Ronaldo previously won the award in 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2016.