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25 February 2016 Current Affairs

Railway Budget 2016-2017

“Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented the railway budget for financial year 2016-17 on 25 February 2016, detailing the projects that he wishes to undertake in the next financial year. He announced a capital plan of Rs. 1,21,000 crore for 2016-17.
Highlights of Railway Budget:
1. No hike in railway fares.
2. Two dedicated freight corridors by 2019.
3. Rs. 50 crore for providing innovation grants to start-ups.
4. 33% sub-quota for women under all reserved categories.
5. India’s first rail auto hub to come up in Chennai.
6. Special purpose vehicle for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai high speech corridor registered this month.
7. Coolies will be called ‘Sahayaks’.
8. We’ve introduced Sarthi Seva in Konkan Railways for help to senior citizens; will expand this service.
9. Include e-ticket facility for foreign debit and credit card holders.
10. Open cancellation facility through 139 helpline number.
11. Planning to introduce bar-coded tickets on pilot basis to tackle menace of ticket less travel.
12. Long distance super fast train Antyodaya Express for unreserved passengers.
13. Introduces Deen Dayal coaches for long distance trains for unreserved passengers.
14. CCTV network has been provided at 311 railway stations.
15. Enhanced capacity of e-ticketing system from 2000 tickets/min to 7,200/min.
16. There is an increase in seat quota this year; 50% up for senior citizens.
17. Introduced 1,780 ticket-vending machines.
18. Swacch Bharat: 17,000 bio-toilets and additional toilets to be provided by end of this Fiscal Year.
19. North-East India, especially Mizoram and Manipur, to be connected through broad gauge soon.
20. New freight corridors announced: Delhi-Chennai, Kharaghpur-Mumbai, Kharaghpur-Vijayawada.
21. LIC has agreed invest Rs. 1.5 lakh crore over 5 years on extremely favourable terms.
22. By 2020, eliminate all unmanned level crossing.
23. To generate revenues of order of Rs.1,84,820 cr next year, 10.1% higher than revised target of current year.”

Lok Sabha Passed Election Laws (Amendment) Bill,2016

The Lok Sabha passed Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016 on 25 February 2016. The bill seeks to amend the Delimitation Act, 2002 and the Representation of the People Act, 1950.These Acts regulate allocation of seats to the national and state legislatures, and delimitation (that is, fixing boundaries) of parliamentary and assembly constituencies. The Bill aims to empower the Election Commission to carry out delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal that were affected by the enactment of the Constitution (100th Amendment) Act, 2015. Under the Constitution (100th Amendment) Act- 2015, 51 Bangladeshi and 111 Indian enclaves were exchanged between India and Bangladesh on 31 July 2015. Enclaves are territories belonging to one country that are entirely surrounded by another country. The Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister for Law and Justice, DV Sadananda Gowda, on February 24, 2016. Earlier, Union Cabinet approved the amendment to the Delimitation Act, 2002 and the Representation of the People Act, 1950 on 17 February 2016.

Govt appointed 3 info commissioners to CIC

The Government appointed three retired civil servants as information commissioners on 24 February 2016.This will be the first time that all the information commissioners except a law professor are from the government or the public sector.An official announcement on February 25th named former IAS officers, Bimal Julka and Amitava Bhattacharyya and a retired IPS officer Divya Prakash Sinha. Julka had retired as information & broadcasting secretary, Bhattacharyya was chairman of the Staff Selection Commission and Sinha, a counter-terror veteran was secretary (security) at the Cabinet Secretariat.The three information commissioners will hold the posts till they turn 65. The CIC had started out with five commissioners in 2005. By 2008, it had eight. In 2011, there were as few as five and in 2012, there were only seven of them.

Former DRDO chief Dr Avinash Chander received the prestigious Astronautical Society of India’s Aryabhata Award

Dr Avinash Chander, former scientific advisor to the defence minister and ex-DRDO chief received the prestigious Astronautical Society of India’s Aryabhata Award on 25 February 2016. He received the award from Dr R Chidambaram, principal scientific advisor to government of India, and Dr A S Kiran Kumar, chairman ISRO, at ASI-ISRO Awards function held at Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad. The Aryabhata Award, named after the fifth century Indian astronomer and mathematician and also in commemoration of the first Indian satellite, Aryabhata, is presented annually to an individual for outstanding lifetime contribution to the promotion of astronautics in India. The award consists of a citation and Rs 1 lakh in cash.

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