Current Affairs Update 10 January 2019

Current Affairs is an important part for many exams. Be prepared for this section with ByScoop which brings all the important Current Affairs in one place. 10 January 2019

Threshold limit for GST Composition Scheme increased to Rs 1.5 cr from 2019-20

• Composition Scheme for Goods: The threshold limit for eligibility under the GST Composition Scheme was raised to Rs 1.5 crore, from Rs 1 crore, by the GST Council. This will apply from the 2019-20 fiscal beginning April 1, 2019. 
• Those opting for the Composition Scheme pay a minimal Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 1 per cent of the turnover. 
• Note: The Threshold for North-Eastern State will be decided in the coming week. 
• Composition Scheme for Services has also been introduced – A Composition Scheme shall be made available for Suppliers of Services (or Mixed Suppliers) with a Tax Rate of 6% (3% CGST +3% SGST) having an Annual Turnover in the preceding Financial Year up to Rs 50 lakhs.

India’s longest single lane steel cable suspension bridge Byorung bridge opens in Arunachal

• Chief Minister Pema Khandu has inaugurated India’s longest single-lane steel cable suspension bridge named  Byorung bridge in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The length of the bridge is 300 meter and is built over Siang River at a cost of Rs 4,843 crore. It is present in the Upper Siang district

Govt cuts timeline for completing solar projects by 6 months

• The power ministry has compressed timelines for executing solar power projects by six months.
  • For  projects in Solar Parks: timeline reduced to 15 months from 21 months (from the date of execution of the power purchase agreement (PPA))
  • For projects elsewhere: timeline reduced to 18 months from 24 months. (from the date of execution of the power purchase agreement (PPA)).
• India has set an ambitious target of having 100 GW of solar energy by 2022. The country has about 26 GW of solar energy capacities.

Government launches National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to Tackle Increasing Air Pollution

29th Indian Paint Conference – 2019 to be held in Agra

• The Indian Paint Association (IPA) has announced that the 29th biennial Indian Paint Conference would be held in Agra, Uttar Pradesh from 11th to 13th January 2019.
• IPA is the apex body of the country’s paint industry. This would be the largest trade show of the estimated INR 500 billion (50,000 Crore) Indian Paints & Coatings industry.
• The theme of the Conference is ‘Paints Pe Charcha – Naye Aayaam’

High-powered committee removes Alok Verma as the Director of CBI

• The selection panel/committee led by prime minister Narendra Modi has removed Alok Verma from the post of Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
• The move comes within 48 hours of Supreme Court reinstated Alok Verma as the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation.
• His tenure was about to end on January 31, 2019. He has become the first Director in the history of the CBI to face such action.
• There were eight counts of charges against him in the CVC report presented before the Committee.
• The committee consisted of three persons:
  • Shri Narendra Modi (Voted for Removal), 
  • Justice AK Sikri  (He was appointed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi to represent him)  (Voted for Removal),
  • Mallikarjun Kharge .(Against Removal)
• Alok Verma has been made the Director General of Fire Service.

India to Become Third Largest Global Consumer Market by 2030: WEF

• A report by World Economic Forum, titled ‘Future of Consumption in Fast-Growth Consumer Market – India’, has said that India is set to become the world’s third largest consumer market behind only USA and China by 2030. 
• As per the report, consumer spending in India is expected to grow from 1.5 trillion US dollar at present to 6 trillion US dollar by 2030. (Domestic private consumption accounts for 60 percent of the country’s GDP.)
• With the annual GDP growth rate of 7.5 percent, India is currently the world’s sixth largest economy.

Indian Coast Guard’s NATPOLREX-VII Exercise held in Mumbai

• The seventh edition of the National Level Pollution Response Exercise (NATPOLREX-VII) was held in Mumbai.
• The aim of the Exercise is to validate and reinforce response mechanism for oil Pollution incidents and enable the Indian Coast Guard to fine tune the actions required in such eventualities

2nd edition of Khelo India Youth Games Officially Kicks Off in Pune

• The Khelo India Youth Games 2019 was officially inaugurated by Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune on January 9, 2019.
• Besides Pune, the 12-day sporting extravaganza will be held at other centers of Maharashtra. 
• The second edition of Khelo India have about ten thousand participants as compared to 3,500 participants in the first edition. 
• 1,000 players will be selected out of competitions in the current edition of Khelo India and they will be given Rs 5 lakh each per annum for the next 8 years for development of their sporting talent by the Sports Ministry.
• The second edition of the game has been re-christened as Khelo India Youth Games and it will cover 18 different disciplines of which six are team sports.

IWF President Birendra Prasad Baishya will be Ched de Mission for Tokyo Olympics

Arundhati Roy launches Hindi edition of her popular novel- “Aapar Khushi Ka Gharana”

World Hindi Day: January 10

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