Current Affairs: August 3

Current Affairs 3 August rajras.in                                                                    

• Parliament passed NIT, Science Education & Research (Amendment) Bill, 2016
• Key features:
  • National Institute of Technology (NIT), Andhra Pradesh will be considered as Institute of National Importance from date of its establishment (August, 2015)

• Parliament passes Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016
• Key Features:
  • Introduction of a uniform entrance examination for all medical educational institutions for admission at Undergraduate and post-graduate level.

• Parliament passes Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2016
• Key Features:
  • With passage of the bills, admission to dental courses across the country will be done through a single common entrance test i.e. NEET from academic year 2017-18.

• Union Government caps prices of 24 essential drugs used for treatment of cancer, HIV, bacterial infections, anxiety and cardiac conditions.
  • How: National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) – which regulated drug prices – has issued a order and revised ceiling prices of 24 scheduled formulations of schedule-I under Drugs (Price Control) Amendment Order, 2016

• Ex-CMs are not entitled for government accommodation for lifetime: Supreme Court
• What Happened?
  • Uttar Pradesh Government had framed ex-Chief Minister’s Residence Allotment Rules, 1997 (non-statutory) for allotting bungalows to successive former-chief ministers.
  • Uttar Pradesh-based NGO Lok Prahari filed a petition and sought a direction against allotment of government bungalows to former CMs.
  • Supreme Court decides that former chief ministers are not entitled for government accommodation and any such government accommodation should be vacated within two to three months.

• Senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Rani Singh Nair has been appointed as Chairperson (Chairman) of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

• 3,000 NGOs get over Rs. 22,000 cr in 2014-15.
  • According to government data a total of 3,068 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) received foreign funding above Rs. 22,000 crore in 2014-15.
  • As of July 2016, 33,091 NGOs were registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, which regulates foreign funding to these bodies.

• West Bengal government passed a proposal to rename the State as just Bengal
  • In 1947 Bengal was divided as East Bengal & West Bengal following partition. In 1971 East Bengal became Bangladesh but Indian state continued to be named at West Bengal.

• Spanish-made Talgo completed the Delhi-Mumbai trial
  
  • Speed 150 Kms/hr .
  • Cover Delhi-Mumbai distance in 13 hours against Rajdhani express, which takes nearly 16 hours.
  • However, because of monsoon could not complete as desired and arrived only 9 minutes early.
  • Notes:
  • Talgo are coaches and not engine. The train is still hauled by Indian engines (locomotives).
  • The how speed is increased? Talgo coaches are made of aluminium and so are light using less electricity and increasing speed
  • Better design than Indian coaches so can handle curves at speed and does not need to slow down.

• Typhoon Nida makes landfall near Dapeng Peninsula in China
• What is Typhoon?
• Typhoon is tropical cyclone that originates in the western part of the North Pacific Ocean between 180° and 100°E.
• Remember: Tropical Cyclones are known by different names in different regions.
• Cyclones: Indian Ocean – India, Pakistan, Srilanka etc
  • Hurricanes: Atlantic Ocean – America etc
  • Typhoons: Western Pacific and South China Sea.
  • Willy-willies: Western Australia
• You must have heard of news from different parts of world with such different names.
• Note that essentially all of above are tropical cyclones but are called by different names in different areas
• Common features include:
  • All originate and intensify over warm tropical oceans.
  • On reaching land – it starts to slow down.

• Novak Djokovic (World no 1) from Serbia won the 2016 ATP Toronto Masters also known as the Rogers club title in the men’s single category.

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