01 January 2018 Current Affairs
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Arunachal Pradesh declared open defecation-free State
Arunachal Pradesh was officially declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) state. It is second State from Northeast, after Sikkim and overall fifth state after Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Haryana to be declared ODF state. The announcement comes after three remaining districts – Upper Subansiri, Siang and Changlang were officially declared ODF. Arunachal Pradesh has total 21 districts and it attained this major cleanliness feat under Swach Bharat Abhiyan much before (one year and 10 months ahead) the national deadline of October 2, 2019.
Saudi Arabia, UAE introduce VAT for first time
Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) became first countries of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to introduce Value Added Tax (VAT) for the first time to increase their revenue away from oil reserves. The other members of 6 member GCC– Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar – have also committed to introduce VAT, though some have delayed plans until at least 2019.
NASA to launch Parker Solar Probe to explore sun’s outer atmosphere
NASA is going to launch Parker Solar Probe in 2018 to explore the sun’s outer atmosphere. It will be launched onboard of Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle. It will perform its scientific investigations in a hazardous region of intense heat and solar radiation. The primary goals of mission are to Trace how energy and heat move through solar corona, Explore what accelerates solar wind as well as solar energetic particles.