The Daily Brief – 31st December 2016

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• Indian Railways is proposing to levy a Railway Safety Cess on tickets to fund the Railway Safety Fund. The Railway Safety Fund worth Rupees One Lakh Crore will be created to revamp technology so that the railway accidents are reduced. This is based on the recommendations of the Anil Kakodkar Committee on Railway Safety.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a new Unified Payments Interface (UPI) Mobile App called BHIM (BHarat Interfance for Money). This App can be used to transfer money from one bank account to another without having to disclose the bank account details. This App has been named so to celebrate Dr. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar.

• At the United Nations Organisation, India proposed to include Masood Azhar in the 1267 Sanctions Committee. He is the chief of JeM based in Pakistan and is suspected in various terrorist attacks that took place in India. However, China, which is a permanent member of the Security Council, blocked India’s proposal.
  • 1267 Sanctions Committee is the Committee created by a Security Council Resolution. It maintains a list of international terrorists which all members of UN are bound to take action against. The committee is so named because it was created by Resolution Number 1267 of the Security Council.
  • There are five permanent members of the Security Council (US, UK, France, Russia, and China), and any of them can veto a proposal to include a name in the list of terrorists.

• Ratan Watal Committee has submitted its report on promoting digital payments and digital economy. It has suggested various changes such as government offices accepting payments only using digital systems, reducing charges and taxes on digital transactions, etc.

• Haryana has established India’s first digital investigation and training centre. This centre will aim to train and inform the police officials on digital processes and crimes so that they are equipped to track and investigate digital crimes.

• World Bhojpuri Conference 2016 was conducted in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. It also presented awards such as ‘Bhojpuri Karmayogi’ and ‘Bhojpuri Ratna’. People from various countries who have connections to Bhojpuri language and culture participated in the event.

• December 30^th was celebrated as the National Trust Foundation Day. National Trust is a statutory organisation established by the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999. The theme of the event was ‘Celebrating Inclusion’.

  

• The Cochin Shipyard has completed the construction of ICGS Ayush. ICGS Ayush is a Fast Patrol Vessel which will be used to patrol the Exclusive Economic Zone of India. Note that Exclusive Economic Zone is an area up to 200 nautical miles from the coast.

• Sorin Grindeanu has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Romania. Romania is a country in Europe with a coast to Black Sea. Did you know that Romania is well-known for its vampires? There are many traditions prevalent such as putting garlic in the mouth of dead body, shooting the dead body through the coffin, and even ripping the heart off to burn it, mix that ash in water and drink that water. I’m sure CLAT will not ask you all this, but we thought it is an interesting fact to end the year 2016 on. Check this. Happy New Year! 😀

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