Current Affairs: November 2, 2016

November 2, 2016

10th Indo-Nepal joint military exercise Surya Kiran commences

The tenth edition of Indo-Nepal joint military exercise

Surya Kiran commenced at Army Battle School,

Saljhandi in Nepal. Its emphasis will be on counter

terrorism in mountainous terrain. The two weeks

(from 31 October to 13 November 2016) military

exercise seeks to boost defence ties between India and

Nepal. In this edition of Joint Battalion Level Exercise, Indian Army is being represented by elite

Kumaon Regiment, while Nepal Army is being represented by Jabar Jung Battalion. The aim of

exercise is to conduct battalion level joint training with emphasis on Counter Terrorism in

mountainous terrain. Besides, aspects of Disaster Management have also been included in the

exercise.

Maharashtra tops in 2016 Agricultural Marketing and Farmer Friendly Reforms

Index of NITI Aayog

Maharashtra has been ranked first state in the country in

2016 Agricultural Marketing and Farmer Friendly Reforms

Index. The first-ever index based on initiatives taken by the

states in implementing farm sector reforms was issued by

the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India)

Aayog. The index ranks states based on their initiatives

taken in implementing provision of seven farm sector reforms. These reforms have been

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Current Affairs: November 2, 2016

proposed under model APMC Act, joining eNAM initiative, special treatment to fruits and

vegetables for marketing and level of taxes in mandis. States are ranked based on score on the

scale ranging from 0 to 100. The minimum score of 0 implies no reforms at all and score of 100

means state is friendliest to farmers.

More differently abled attend schools than before: Census

Nearly two-thirds of the disabled population in

the age-group of 5-19 in 2011 were attending

educational institutions. As many as 40.2 lakh

(61.2 per cent) out of the total of 65.7 lakh

disabled population in the specified age group

were attending educational institutions in 2011. This is an improvement of 11 percentage points

from 2001 when 33 lakh (50 per cent) of the 65.3 lakh differntly abled persons had attended

educational institutions. The enrolment figure is 10 percentage points lower than that of the
total population 71 per cent attending educational institutions.

Sushil Chandra takes charge as CBDT chairman

Senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sushil

Chandra took over as chairman of the Central Board of

Direct Taxes (CBDT) today. He succeeds Rani Singh Nair

who retired from service. Chandra is a 1980-batch

officer of Indian Revenue Service. Prior to this

appointment he was working in the board as Member

(Investigation). CBDT is nodal policy-making body of the Income Tax (IT) department under

the Union Finance Ministry. It is a statutory authority established under The Central Board of

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Current Affairs: November 2, 2016

Revenue Act, 1963. The composition of CBDT includes Chairman and six members. It is

responsible for framing policy and administrative issues related to direct taxes and the Income

Tax department.

Union Government notifies rules for Real Estate Act for five UTs

The Union Ministry of Housing has notified the Real Estate

(Regulation and Development) (General) Rules, 2016, to be

applicable to the five Union Territories. These five Union

Territories are Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar

Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep and Chandigarh. These

Rules have been notified as stipulated in the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016

for ensuring timely completion of projects in five Union Territories As per provisions of the Act,

Real Estate Regulatory Authorities (RERA) and Real Estate Appellate Tribunals (REAT) have to

be set up by the end of April, 2017.

Kerala becomes 3rd Open Defecation Free State

Kerala has become the third Open Defecation Free state

in the country after Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh

under the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan. The announcement

in this regard was made by the Drinking Water and

Sanitation Secretary Parameswaran Iyer in New Delhi

on the occasion foundation day of Kerala (1 November). With this Kerala becomes first high

density populated state in the country to achieve Open Defecation Free status. On 1st

November 2016, Kerala observed 60th anniversary of the state. On the occasion, Chief Minister

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Current Affairs: November 2, 2016

Pinarayi Vijayan launched four major programmes in the education, health, housing and

sanitation sectors.

Andhra Pradesh, Telangana top Ease of Doing Business list

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have jointly

topped the Ease of Doing Business Reforms

Ranking 2015-16. The ranking of the states was

conducted by the Department of Industrial Policy

and Promotion (DIPP) and the World Bank. States

were ranked on their implementation of DIPP-

proposed 340-point Business Reform Action Plan in period between July 2015 and June 2016.

They were rated based on their score in the per cent scale i.e. implementation rate regarding the

340 reform measures. These 340 reform areas are broadly under six key categories: tax reforms,

single-window systems, environment and labour reforms, construction permits, inspection

reforms and commercial disputes and paper-less courts.

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