GK for Bank Exams: Weekly Digest: 11 to 17 September 2016

Talgo train

What was the news? Talgo train completed its final trial between Delhi and Mumbai in less than 12-hours at a maximum speed of 150 km per hour while Rajdhani Express train takes around 16 hours to cover the distance.

Talgo train comprising lightweight aluminium coaches with tilting technology.

Talgo trains are supplied by Spanish firm Talgo from Spain.  It is not a made in India train. 

Indian athletes in Paralympics

Indian athletes won a total of four medals, including two golds, a silver and a bronze each.

Indians won Paralympic Medals in Rio 2016

Mariyappan Thangavelu and Varun Singh Bhati had won Gold and bronze respectively in the men's high jump.

Deepa Malik won silver in the women's shot-put.

Devendra Jhajharia won the Gold medal in the men’s javelin throw.

Government notifies GST Council

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-second -122-Amendment) Bill, 2016, for introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the country was accorded assent by the President and the same has been notified as the Constitution (One Hundred and First – 101 -Amendment) Act, 2016. (Don’t get confused -21 bills fail to become act!)

• As per Article 279A (1) of the amended Constitution, the GST Council has to be constituted by the President within 60 days of the commencement of Article 279A. So the government obeyed.
• GST Council will be a joint forum of the Centre and the States

This Council shall consist of the following members namely: -

1. Union Finance Minister-Chairperson
2. The Union Minister of State, in-charge of Revenue of finance- Member
3. The Minister In-charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State Government- Members
4. The Chairperson of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) will attend all the meetings but he does not have voting powers.

GST Council will decide on the tax rate, exempted goods and the threshold under the new taxation regime.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana launched

No exam will question you URL, but the Ujjwala Yojana is in News

• Ujjwala Yojana  is to provide LPG connections to BPL households in the country in the name of women.
• It is aimed at replacing the unclean cooking fuels mostly used in the rural India with the clean and more efficient LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas)

India Declares itself Free from Avian Influenza (H5N1)

Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare has declared India free from Avian Influenza (H5N1) from 5th September 2016.

Avian influenza (H5N1) is popularly known as bird flu.

Last outbreak was on May 9 at Humnabad, Bidar in Karnataka.

Mangalajodi to be developed into ecotourism destination

It is the second largest hotspot for birds on the northern banks of Chilika Lake in Odisha

Chilika Lake - Asia's largest brackish water lagoon and second-largest in the world after

Chilika was designated as a Ramsar site in 1981 to afford better protection and India’s 1^st wetland to be declared as Ramsar site.

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. Such sites are called as Ramsar Site.

National Company Law Tribunal

NCLT President Justice M M Kumar has said something good on NCLT obviously, NCLT is in news.

NCLT was constituted last month, August 2016, replacing Company Law Board (CLB) under the Companies Act, 2013,

NCLT will resolve insolvency cases of companies

The Decisions of the NCLT may be appealed to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.

Mormugao: Indian Navy's new 'indigenous' missile destroyer

It is a made in India missile destroyer warship built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL)

Mormugao is the second destroyer, first destroyer, INS Visakhapatnam, was launched in 2015.

Mormugao will have Barak-8 long-range missiles, high-tech surveillance systems, which have been jointly developed by Israel and India