12 August 2016 Current Affairs

President approves six new IITs across country and one NIT in AP

Six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will be set up in places like Jammu and Tirupati as President Pranab Mukherjee gave his nod to a law in this regard. As per the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 2016, which got Mukherjee’s assent, IITs will also be started in Palakkad (Kerala), Goa, Dharward (Karnataka) and Bhilai (Chhattisgarh). The law has also brought the Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad under its ambit. The ISM will now be called Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The President has also given his assent to a law for establishment of a National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Andhra Pradesh.


M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurates I-Day film festival in Delhi

Union Urban Development Minister, M Venkaiah Naidu on 12 August inaugurated the Independence Day Film Festival in Delhi’s Siri Fort Auditorium. The festival commences from 12th Aug and will conclude on Aug 18. Twenty films will be screened during the seven-day period. The festival will kick-start with Richard Attenboroughs Gandhi. Addressing the people, Naidu said, Independence Day is an occasion to recall the lives of our great leaders, the sacrifices they have made. Our freedom struggle has given the world the power of non violence, he added.


Badal inaugurates first ‘Sewa Kendra’ in Punjab

In order to provide efficient and transparent governance to the people at their doorsteps, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has inaugurated the state’s first ‘Sewa Kendra’ where people will be able to avail 243 services under one roof. A total of 2,147 Sewa Kendras has been constructed at a cost of Rs 500 crore. The Kendra’s were being started to minimise public interaction with various offices and weeding out corruption besides enhancing the efficiency of the administration and delivery of services to common people.


Touch-and-feel garden for visually impaired

A first-of-its-kind touch and feel garden for the visually impaired people in the country was inaugurated near Calicut University campus by Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan. The garden has nearly 70 aromatic, medicinal and herbal plants brought from various parts the country. The visually impaired will get an opportunity to study the plants not only by touching, feeling and smelling them, but also getting information about them through audio inputs. The garden is arranged in such a way that the visually impaired can move around freely. It has been constructed in a year with an aid of Rs 17 lakh from the Environment Ministry. By touching a Sonic Labeller in the shape of a pen on the nameplate, the visitors can listen to complete details about the plants.


Assam becomes first state to ratify GST

Assam has become the first state to ratify the Goods and Services Tax (GST) constitution amendment Bill. The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 3 August 2016 and by the Lok Sabha on 8 August 2016. The GST will have two components keeping in mind the federal structure of India: the Central GST (CGST) and the State GST (SGST). For goods and services that pass through several states, or imports, the Centre will levy another tax, the Integrated GST (IGST). Alcohol for human consumption has been kept out of the purview of GST.


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