11-12 August
Unit 1 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant dedicated to nation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on 10 August 2016 dedicated Unit 1 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant to the nation.
Besides, PM Modi announced that five more reactors of 1000 megawatt each will come up in the same location.
About Unit 1 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant
•The reactors are being built jointly by Nuclear Power Corporation of IndiaandAtomstroyexportcompany, a subsidiary of Rosatom (the regulatory body of the Russian nuclear complex).
•The power plant is updated with most modern Russian technologies.
•Thefirst reactor of the plant attained criticality on 13 July 2013 at 11:05 P.M.
•KKNPP was first synchronised to grid at 2:45 A.M. on 22 October 2013. Power generation from first nuclear reactor started on the same day.
•Unit 1 was operating at 73% capacity by April 2014.
•Unit 1 attained its maximum capacity of 1000 MWe at 1:20 P.M. on 7 June 2014.
•It started commercial operation from 31 December 2014.
•Almost 85 per cent of the funding of the project has come from the State loan of the Russian Federation.
Background
•The Government of India signed a contract with the Soviet Union to build the plant in 1988.
•However, the construction started only in 1997 due to the political and economic upheaval in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
•The construction of the first two units was later halted in September 2011 following protests by villagers around the plant.
•Work at the plant finally resumed in March 2012.
•The allocation from KKNPP-1&2 (2000 MW) include Tamil Nadu (925 MW), Karnataka (442 MW), Kerala (266 MW), Puducherry (67 MW) and 300 MW remains unallocated.
Lok Sabha passes Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016
The Lok Sabha on 10 August 2016 passed the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The Bill seeks to amend the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.
The Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha on the same day was passed by voice vote after a short debate.
Features of the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016
• Income Tax Act, 1961
a) Demerger of public sector companies:The Bill clarifies that the provisions of demerger will apply in case of demerger of a public sector company and the resultant company is no longer a public sector company. The Companies Act, 1956 allowed companies to demerge (split) into multiple companies. As a result of the demerger, the income, expenses, and profits of the parent company are transferred to the resultant companies. The Income Tax Act, 1961 takes into account these transfers from the parent company for taxation of resultant companies.
b) Deduction in respect of employment of new employees:The bill decreases the period of employment of an employee of the businesses which manufacture apparel from 240 days to 150 days. Earlier, the existing Income Tax Act, 1961 allows businesses to obtain a deduction on taxable income to the extent of 30% of the cost of recruiting a new employee. The Act requires that the employee should have been employed for a minimum of 240 days in the previous year.
• Customs Tariff Act, 1975: The Bill proposes to increase the existing customs duty on imports of granite and marble blocks used for certain purposes from 10 percent to 40 percent.
Earlier in June 2016, Union Cabinet had approved a special package for employment generation and promotion of exports in textile and apparel sector.
NITI Aayog ties up with US EIA to set up portal on energy data
National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog on 10 August 2016 signed agreement with United States (US) Energy Information Administration (EIA) to set up web portal on energy data.
The web portal will host all the data related to energy sector including oil & gas, coal, solar & thermal energy etc. NITI Aayog, a think tank of Union Government, is working to develop India's energy data agency which will take 3-4 years to develop.
Agreement with USAID & UK
Niti Aayog also signed Statement Of Principle (SOP) with US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) of United Kingdom (UK) for collaboration in the area of energy research.
Through this agreement, the Aayog aims to host all the data related to energy sector in the country including oil and gas, coal, solar and thermal energy, much on the lines of the Energy Information Administration of US.
Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Balandin wins men's 200m breaststroke at Rio Olympics
Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Balandin on 10 August 2016 won gold medal in the men's 200-meter breaststroke final. It is Balandin’s first Olympic medal.
With Balandin's win comes Kazakhstan's second gold medal of the 2016 Olympics. It is the country's first-ever medal in a swimming event.
United States’ Joshua Prenot won the silverin the 200-meter breaststroke and Anton Chupkov of Russia finished third, securing the bronze.
Who is Dmitriy Balandin?
•Dmitriy Balandin is a Kazakhstani swimmer.
•He specializes in breaststroke events.
•At present, he holds two Kazakh records in the 100 and 200 m breaststroke.
•He set a historic milestone for his nation by striking the breaststroke triple at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
Lok Sabha passes Employee’s Compensation (Amendment) Bill 2016
The Lok Sabha on 9 August 2016 passed the Employee’s Compensation (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to reduce litigation in cases of disputes arising over compensation to workers.
The Bill seeks to amend the Employee’s Compensation Act, 1923. This law provides payment of compensation to employees and their dependents in the case of injury by industrial accidents, including occupational diseases.
Provisions of the Bill
• It makes it mandatory for employer to inform the employee of his right to compensation under the parent Act. Such information must be given in writing in Hindi, English or relevant official language at the time of employment.
• It penalises an employer if he fails to inform his employee of his right to compensation. Such penalty may be between fifty thousand to one lakh rupees.
• Any dispute related to an employee’s compensation will be heard by a Commissioner, only if the amount in dispute is ten thousand rupees. It allows Union Government to further raise this amount.
• It deletes the provision of withholding payments towards the employee if an employer has appealed against a Commissioner’s order in High Court.
12 August
Legendary Pakistani cricketer Hanif Mohammad passes away
Hanif Mohammad, the original 'Little Master,’passed away on 11 August 2016 in Karachi, Pakistan. He was 81.
Hanif was diagnosed with the cancer in 2013, for which he received treatment in London.
About Hanif Mohammad
•Born on 21 December 1934, Hanif Mohammad was a Pakistani cricketer.
•He played for the Pakistani cricket team in 55 Test matches between 1952–1953 and 1969–1970.
•At his peak, he was considered one of the best batsmen in the world.
•He played at a time when there was very little Test cricket being played by Pakistan, with just 55 Test matches in a career spanning 17 years.
•He was trained by Abdul Aziz, an Afghan cricket player, who had earlier played in Ranji Trophy for Jamnagar.
•The highest of Hanif's Test centuries was a famous 337 made against West Indies in a six-day test at Bridgetown in 1957/58. It remains the longest innings in Test history.
•He is known to have played the slowest test innings when he scored 20 off 223 balls at a strike rate of 8.968
•He was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Yearin 1968.
•In January 2009, he was named along with two other Pakistani players, Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, among the inaugural batch of 55 inductees into the ICC's Hall of Fame.
Rajya Sabha passed Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016
Rajya Sabha on 11 August 2016 passed the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The Bill seeks to amends the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.
The Maternity Benefit Bill amends provisions related to the duration and applicability of maternity leave, and other facilities. The existing Act regulates the employment of women during the period of child birth, and provides maternity benefits. It applies to factory, mines, plantations, shops and other establishments.
Highlights of the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016
• Duration of maternity leave: It seeks to raise maternity leave for working women from existing 12 weeks to 26 weeks for two surviving children.
Under the existing Act, this maternity benefit should not be availed before six weeks from the date of expected delivery. The Bill changes this to eight weeks.
In case of a woman who has two or more children, the maternity benefit will continue to be 12 weeks, which cannot be availed before six weeks from the date of the expected delivery.
• Maternity leave for adoptive and commissioning mothers: The Bill introduces a provision to grant 12 weeks of maternity leave to:
a) A woman who legally adopts a child below three months of age
b) A commissioning mother
The 12-week period of maternity benefit will be calculated from the date the child is handed over to the adoptive or commissioning mother.
A commissioning mother is defined as a biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo implanted in another woman.
At present, the Maternity Benefit Act does not provide any maternity leave for commissioning or adopting mothers.
• Option to work from home:The Bill introduces a provision that states that an employer may permit a woman to work from home. This would apply if the nature of work assigned to the woman permits her to work from home. This option can be availed of, after the period of maternity leave, for a duration that is mutually decided by the employer and the woman.
•Crèche facilities:The Bill introduces a provision which requires every establishment with 50 or more employees to provide crèche facilities within a prescribed distance. The woman will be allowed four visits to the crèche in a day. This will include her interval for rest.
Informing women employees of the right to maternity leave:The Bill introduces a provision which requires every establishment to intimate a woman at the time of her appointment of the maternity benefits available to her. Such communication must be in writing and electronically.
Background
The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in Lok Sabha on August 11, 2016 by the Minister for Labour and Employment, Bandaru Dattatreya.
The amendment bill is applicable to all establisments employing 10 or more persons. It asks for creche facility for establishment where the number of workers is 50 and above.
The amendments will help around 18 lakh women workforce in organised sector.
Michael Phelps becomes first swimmer to win four consecutive golds in same event
Michael Phelps on 11 August 2016 won his fourth consecutive 200m individual medley Olympic title. With this, he became the first swimmer ever to win four consecutive golds in the same event.
Phelps clocked one minute, 54.66 seconds to grab the 200m individual medley Olympic title.
Japan’s Kosuke Hagino won the silver medaland China’s Wang Shun took the bronze.
Records broken
•Phelps earned his 15th individual Olympic gold, breaking his tie with Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for the record.
•His gold also marks the first time a swimmer earned at least three gold medals in four different Olympic Games.
•He became the first swimmer to win the same individual event four times, surpassing the previous record of three held by Dawn Fraser and Krisztina Egerszegi.
•He also became the third Olympian to win the same event four times, after Al Oerter and Carl Lewis.
•With that 13th individual gold medal, he broke a 2168 year old Olympic Record, set by Leonidas of Rhodes, who had held the most Olympic Individual titles of all time, with twelve.
CCEA approves proposal of R&D project for development of AUSC Technology for Thermal Power Plants
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 10 August 2016 approved a proposal of research and development (R&D) project for development of Advanced Ultra Super Critical (AUSC) Technology for Thermal Power Plants.
The estimated cost of the project is 1554 crore rupees. BHEL will be provided one time budgetary support of 900 crore rupees spread over a period of three years for implementation of the project.
Key Facts
• This will enable domestic industries to design, manufacture and commission higher efficiency coal fired power plants with indigenously developed technology and manufacturing processes.
• This will be the first time that large power plant equipment will be manufactured with advanced technologies, but without any technological Collaboration and Licensing Agreement with foreign companies.
Environmental Benefit
• The technology will help in reduction of CO2 emission at source combined with 20% saving in coal consumption compared to a sub-critical plant. At present, the power generation from coal contributes to about 38% of CO2 pollution in the atmosphere.
Consortium of Proposal for AUSC technology
A Consortium of three Government Entities proposed a R&D project for development of AUSC Technology for Thermal Power Plants of future, envisaging reduced coal consumption as well as Carbon Di-Oxide (CO2) emission. The three entities and their contribution includes
• Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) – 270 crore rupees
• Indira Gandhi Centre of Atomic Research (IGCAR) - 234 crore crore rupees
• National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) - 50 crore rupees
Department of Science and Technology (DST) is the fourth contributor and it will invest 100 crore rupees in the project. Balance amount of 900 crore rupees will be contributed by Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) as grant.