The Daily Brief – 22nd September, 2016

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• The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has signed a contract with German company DST to design vessels suited to navigate the 1620 km stretch of National Waterway (NW-1). The Union Government is developing NW-1 (Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly) under the Jal Marg Vikas Project, with assistance from the World Bank. 
• The Incredible India Tourism Investors Summit (IITIS) 2016 has begun in New Delhi after it was inaugurated by Union Finance Minster Arun Jaitley. The three day summit has been organized by the Union Ministry of Tourism in association with Tourism Finance Corporation of India (TFCI) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
• The Union Cabinet has given its approval to enact the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill 2016. Admiralty jurisdiction is related to the powers of High Courts in respect of claims associated with transport by sea and navigable waterways. The Bill consolidates the existing laws relating to admiralty proceedings on maritime claims, admiralty jurisdiction of courts, arrest of vessels and related issues.
• The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing and ratification of an agreement between India and Samoa for the exchange of information with respect to taxes. It will help to stimulate the flow of exchange of information between India and Samoa for tax purposes which will help curb tax avoidance and tax evasion.
• Justice G C Gupta has been sworn-in as Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court. His tenure, however, is brief as he is due to retire in December.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given its approval for initiating the process of winding up of Hindustan Diamond Company Private Limited (HDCPL). Its objective was to supply rough diamonds particularly to small and medium diamond jewellery exporters, who had no direct access to rough diamonds from Diamond Trading Company (DTC), London.
• Multilateral funding agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $631 million loan for building India’s first coastal industrial corridor between Visakhapatnam (Vizag) and Chennai. The coastal industrial corridor is expected to boost development on eastern coast of India and enable seamless trade links with other parts of Southeast and South Asia.
• The Karnataka state government has decided to defy the Supreme Court order and not release any water to Tamil Nadu, after a Cabinet meeting was called to discuss and ratify such a move.
• The Union Cabinet has decided to do away with the 92-year-old tradition of presenting a separate Rail Budget. It has been decided to merge the Rail Budget and the General Budget. Consequently, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will not present it for the year 2017-18. Instead, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present a “unified” budget.
• The Army is moving two brigades into Kashmir valley from outside the State to beef up forces in North Kashmir as tensions mount between India and Pakistan. The development comes days after the terror attack on the Army’s base in Uri sector in Kashmir which claimed the lives of 18 soldiers and another 30 were injured.
• On September 26, the PSLV satellite launcher will for the first time place its multiple passengers in two different orbits. The flight is also significant as it will last two hours and 15 minutes, making it the PSLV’s longest ever. The PSLV has so far launched 39 remote-sensing satellites of ISRO, including the Chandrayaan-1 of 2008 and the Mars mission of 2013-14. It has also orbited 74 foreign commercial and university satellites in a global trend where the demand for its category of launch services is increasing.
• The Union Cabinet has approved changes allowing the National Mission for Clean Ganga to fine those responsible for polluting the river. Earlier this power was vested solely with the Central Pollution Control Board. 
• The Union government on Wednesday cleared the deal with France for buying 36 Rafale fighter jets in flyaway condition at a cost of €7.878 billion. The deal will be signed on Friday, in the presence of French Defence Minister Jean Yves Le Drian.

• Adi Godrej, the Chairman of Godrej Group, was conferred the 10th Annual Clinton Global Citizen Award for leadership in business and philanthropy. The award embodies the former US President’s call to action by honouring outstanding individuals who exemplify global citizenship through their vision and leadership.
• The Union Cabinet approved the provision of a direct communication link through a dedicated submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) between Chennai and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The project to be completed by December 2018 will connect mainland Chennai with Port Blair & five other islands viz. Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Havelock, Kamorta and Great Nicobar.
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named the captain of the all-time India Test XI team chosen by cricket magazine Wisden. Wisden, one of the most reputed cricket magazines in the world, announced the team to mark India’s 500th Test match starting on 22 September 2016 against New Zealand at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. The team comprises Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni (captain, wicketkeeper), Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Bishan Singh Bedi, Mohammad Azharuddin (12th man).
• 31 countries have joined the Paris agreement on climate change during the United Nations General Assembly. The accord requires all countries to devise plans to achieve the goal of keeping the rise of temperatures within two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. To come into force, the Paris agreement needs ratification from 55 countries that account for at least 55 per cent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions.
• Underwater archaeologists have found a 2,000-year-old skeleton belonging to a victim of the famed Antikythera shipwreck from ancient Roman times. The bones are the latest prize from a treasure trove that has yielded bronze statues, marble sculptures and, most famously, the Antikythera mechanism, a clock-like device thought to be the world’s oldest analogue computer. The plans are to begin genetic tests as soon as the team receives permission from Greek authorities.

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