Daily Current Affairs for Competitive Exams: November 4, 2016

Hello readers,Here are today's important headlines with key details for UPSC, SSC, IBPS and other competitive examinations.

National

Maharashtra is the first state to have cyber police stations in all districts

• Maharashtra has become the first state in the country to have cyber police stations in each district. There are 36 districts in the state.
• Maharashtra has seen a rise cyber crime cases. The number of cases registered in 2015 was 2,195 from 907 in 2013.

Clean energy fund set up by Union Government

• An equity fund of $2 Billion to push renewable energy capacity addition is being set up.
• The fund will be managed by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and Power Finance Corporation of India Limited (PFC).
• The government aims to achieve 175 Gigawatt renewable energy generation capacity by 2022.

GST Council agrees on a four rate tax structure 

• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has agreed to a tax structure consisting of four tax bands- 5 %, 12 %, 18 % and 28 %.
• The tax rates are as follows: 5 % on mass consumption goods like spices, oil; 12% to 18% on goods including fast moving consumer goods; 28 % on white goods, cars; 28 % plus cess (to be levied for five years) on luxury goods.
• Different cess like Swachh Bharat Cess, Krishi Kalyan Cess etc will be subsumed under one common cess. Only cess now levied will be Clean Environment Cess.  

International

Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in New Delhi

• The Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, under the Sendai Framework is being held in New Delhi from November 3 to November 5, 2016
• The conference is aimed at discussing implementation of the framework and devising a mechanism to monitor it.

Sendai Framework

• Sendai framework is a non-binding agreement of 15 year duration, starting 2015.
• The framework was adopted under the aegis of United Nations  International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
• Priority areas under the framework are-  understanding disaster risk, strengthening disaster risk governance, investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience and enhancing preparedness for effective response.

Kristalina Georgieva is the new CEO of lending arms of World Bank 

• Georgieva, a Bulgarian national, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of International Bank for Reconstruction and  Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA).
• IBRD and IDA are the lending arms of the World Bank group.
• She is currently with the European Commission as Commissioner of International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid.

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