Dear Students,
We, Avocat Tutorials are back with our regular GK Current Affairs ("CA") blog especially designed for you and your preparation needs for Law Entrance Exams coming your way. We will regularly update the blog / write fresh as we have enough material on CA to share with you. We would appreciate your comments hereinbelow carrying your feedback and your feel about this blog.
After all, we are humans who yearn to learn! :)
Here's how it is going to work:
We will give you excerpts on CAs and you will be making detailed notes on the news shared by carrying further research on the internet. You will also be following up these news in the newspapers to add to your notes. Obviously, we will be checking your notes.
1. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved sale of government’s 51.11% stake along with management control in HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum) to ONGC. HPCL will continue as PSU after the acquisition.
Brief Background:
There are only six major PSUs in the oil sector, ONGC and Oil India Ltd being the oil producers, IOC, HPCL and BPCL are in refinery business and GAIL is in midstream gas transportation business. The rest, such as ONGC Videsh, Numaligarh Refinery Ltd, Chennai Petroleum Corp (CPCL) and MRPL are subsidiaries of one of these six PSUs.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his 2017-18 Budget had talked about creating an integrated oil behemoth. After that oil companies were asked to give their options. ONGC had evaluated options of acquiring either HPCL or BPCL, the two downstream oil refining and fuel marketing companies. It had found that acquisition of BPCL, country’s second-biggest fuel retailer is too expensive. On the other hand, HPCL’s acquisition easier as its market cap is of Rs 58,485.55 crore and buying government’s entire 51.11% stake would entail an outgo of Rs 29,900 crore.
Give your comments on this topic underneath.2. India will host Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS) 2017, the world’s largest conference on cyber space and related issues in New Delhi in November 2017.
Brief Background:
This is for the first time GCCS is taking place outside Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations. It will be the fifth edition the conference. The theme for the GCCS 2017 is ‘Cyber4All: An Inclusive, Sustainable, Developmental, Safe and Secure Cyberspace‘. The cyber security will be one of the major focus areas in GCCS 2017. It will serve as a platform for the exchange of ideas with global think thanks and promote closer co-operation among the international community.
3. The Union Ministry of Rural Development will launch Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY), a sub-scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
More about it:
AGEY will provide safe, affordable and community monitored rural transport services like e-rickshaws, 3 and 4 wheeler motorised transport vehicles to connect remote villages. These transport vehicles will connect villages with key services and amenities including access to markets, education and health for the overall economic development of the area. The scheme will be implemented in 250 blocks in the country on a pilot basis for a period of 3 years from 2017-18 to 2019-20. Under it, Community Based Organisation (CBO) is proposed to provide interest free loan from its own corpus to SHG member for purchase of the vehicle.
Research more on AGEY and this cause.
4. The Lok Sabha has passed The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
We will not be providing any details on this. Research on this and make your notes. We will be checking them. Read the entire background of Right to Education under the Constitution on google and make your notes on this amendment as to what changes does this bring.
5. The Union Finance Ministry has launched Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), a pension scheme exclusively for senior citizens aged 60 years and above.
Details:
Under this scheme, senior citizens will get a guaranteed interest of 8% for 10 years depending upon the investment made by them. This PMVVY scheme will be available from May 4, 2017 to May 3, 2018. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has been given the sole privilege to operate the scheme. It can be purchased offline as well as online through LIC. This scheme provides an assured return of 8% per annum payable monthly for 10 years on single lumpsum premium ranging from Rs. 150000 (minimum) to Rs.750000 (maximum). Pension (minimum: Rs.1000/ month; maximum: Rs.5000) will be payable at the end of each period, during the policy term of 10 years, as per the frequency of monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, yearly as chosen by the pensioner at the time of purchase. It is exempted from goods and services (GST) tax. It will offer senior citizens more avenues to earn steady regular income at a time of falling interest rates. On survival of the pensioner to the end of the policy term of 10 years, the purchase price of the scheme along with the final pension installment will be payable. The scheme also offers loan up to 75% of the purchase price after 3 policy years (to meet the liquidity needs). Loan interest will be recovered from the pension installments and loan will be recovered from claim proceeds. The scheme allows for premature exit for the treatment of any critical terminal illness of self or spouse. On such premature exit, 98% of the purchase price would be refunded. On death of the pensioner during the policy term of 10 years, the purchase price should be paid to the beneficiary.
We will be back with more tomorrow.
Leave your comments below and let us know what you think! Thank you!!
3. The Union Ministry of Rural Development will launch Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY), a sub-scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
More about it:
AGEY will provide safe, affordable and community monitored rural transport services like e-rickshaws, 3 and 4 wheeler motorised transport vehicles to connect remote villages. These transport vehicles will connect villages with key services and amenities including access to markets, education and health for the overall economic development of the area. The scheme will be implemented in 250 blocks in the country on a pilot basis for a period of 3 years from 2017-18 to 2019-20. Under it, Community Based Organisation (CBO) is proposed to provide interest free loan from its own corpus to SHG member for purchase of the vehicle.
Research more on AGEY and this cause.
4. The Lok Sabha has passed The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
We will not be providing any details on this. Research on this and make your notes. We will be checking them. Read the entire background of Right to Education under the Constitution on google and make your notes on this amendment as to what changes does this bring.5. The Union Finance Ministry has launched Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), a pension scheme exclusively for senior citizens aged 60 years and above.
Details:Under this scheme, senior citizens will get a guaranteed interest of 8% for 10 years depending upon the investment made by them. This PMVVY scheme will be available from May 4, 2017 to May 3, 2018. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has been given the sole privilege to operate the scheme. It can be purchased offline as well as online through LIC. This scheme provides an assured return of 8% per annum payable monthly for 10 years on single lumpsum premium ranging from Rs. 150000 (minimum) to Rs.750000 (maximum). Pension (minimum: Rs.1000/ month; maximum: Rs.5000) will be payable at the end of each period, during the policy term of 10 years, as per the frequency of monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, yearly as chosen by the pensioner at the time of purchase. It is exempted from goods and services (GST) tax. It will offer senior citizens more avenues to earn steady regular income at a time of falling interest rates. On survival of the pensioner to the end of the policy term of 10 years, the purchase price of the scheme along with the final pension installment will be payable. The scheme also offers loan up to 75% of the purchase price after 3 policy years (to meet the liquidity needs). Loan interest will be recovered from the pension installments and loan will be recovered from claim proceeds. The scheme allows for premature exit for the treatment of any critical terminal illness of self or spouse. On such premature exit, 98% of the purchase price would be refunded. On death of the pensioner during the policy term of 10 years, the purchase price should be paid to the beneficiary.
We will be back with more tomorrow.
Leave your comments below and let us know what you think! Thank you!!
