Current Affairs: March 18, 2017 www.talentsprint.com 1 March 18, 2017 National Health Policy, 2017: Salient Features The Union Cabinet approved the National Health Policy 2017. It will replace the previous policy which was framed 15 years ago in 2002. It aims at providing healthcare in an ‚assured manner‛ to all by addressing current and emerging challenges arising from the ever changing socio-economic, epidemiological and technological scenarios. GST Council Approves SGST & UTGST Draft Bills at its 12th Meeting i. The Goods and Service Tax (GST) council headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley cleared the State GST (SGST) and Union Territory GST (UTGST) laws during its 12 Council meet on March 16, 2017. ii. Now the draft bills will need to be approved by the Cabinet and taken up in Parliament’s ongoing budget session for final approval. iii. Meanwhile, the SGST draft law will have to be approved by the legislative assemblies of respective states including Delhi and Pondicherry. iv .The UTGST draft law is for the union territories like Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which do not have legislative assemblies.
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Current Affairs: March 18, 2017
www.talentsprint.com 1
March 18, 2017
National Health Policy, 2017: Salient Features
The Union Cabinet approved the National
Health Policy 2017. It will replace the previous
policy which was framed 15 years ago in 2002.
It aims at providing healthcare in an ‚assured
manner‛ to all by addressing current and
emerging challenges arising from the ever changing socio-economic, epidemiological and
technological scenarios.
GST Council Approves SGST & UTGST Draft Bills at its 12th Meeting
i. The Goods and Service Tax (GST) council headed by
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley cleared the State GST
(SGST) and Union Territory GST (UTGST) laws during its
12 Council meet on March 16, 2017.
ii. Now the draft bills will need to be approved by the
Cabinet and taken up in Parliament’s ongoing budget
session for final approval.
iii. Meanwhile, the SGST draft law will have to be approved by the legislative assemblies of
respective states including Delhi and Pondicherry.
iv .The UTGST draft law is for the union territories like Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which do not have legislative
assemblies.
Current Affairs: March 18, 2017
www.talentsprint.com 2
v. The council’s next meeting is scheduled to be held on March 31 to frame rules for Goods and
Service Tax regime.
vi. The GST tax regime has nine set of rules and regulations out of which the Council has
already approved five including registration, payment, refunds, invoices and returns.
vii. The four other rules namely composition, valuation, input tax and credit transitions is yet to
get formal approval of the Council and will be taken up in the next meeting on March 31.
Sanjauli Police Post in Himachal Becomes India’s First CCTNS Linked Police Post
i. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh
inaugurated a Crime and Criminal Tracking
Network & Systems (CCTNS) in Shimla on March
15, 2017 to connect all the police posts in the state
with each other.
ii. Thus Himachal Pradesh has become the first state
in India to link its police posts in various districts with CCTNS.
iii. The CCTNS was first linked at Sanjauli Police Post in Shimla, followed by simultaneous
linking of Police posts of Manikaran in district Kullu, Police Post Solan City and that of Dada
Siba in district Kangra. All the police posts in Himachal Pradesh would be linked with CCTNS.
iv. The system will facilitate people in lodging online/offline complaints, police verification of
job applicants, tenants, character verification and migrant labourer registration.
v. Besides, senior citizens, differently abled and women in far-flung areas of the state can lodge
First Information Reports (FIRs) through the nearest police post.
vi. With the linkage of Police Posts with CCTNS, the general public can now file complaints at
these posts which earlier were confined only to Police Stations to register complaints.
vii. Once the police posts are linked under the CCTNS system, its daily activities can be viewed
online by supervisory officer of the police department which will make it easy to supervise the
staff.
Current Affairs: March 18, 2017
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India, Brazil conclude social security agreement
India and Brazil have finalised text of the Social Security
Agreement(SSA) on March 16, 2017. It will be
effective from 2018.
This is the first SSA agreement between the BRICS
Countries.
Till date, India has signed Social Security Agreements
(SSAs) with 18 countries – Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
Sweden, Switzerland, and South Korea.
Demands for Grants of Ministry of Defence for 2017-18 Passed in Lok Sabha
i. The Lok Sabha passed the Demands for Grants
of Ministry of Defence for 2017-18 on March 17,
2017 after negotiating with the opposition.
ii. In 2017-18, the Ministry of Defence has been
allocated Rs 3,59,854 crore (including pensions)
for expenditure across the various services,
production establishments and research and development organisations.
iii. This allocation is the highest from all other departments and represents 16.8% of the central
government’s budget of 2017-18 and 2.1% of India’s estimated GDP.
iv. Minister of State for Defence Dr Subhash Bhamre assured the House that money will never
be a constraint in strengthening the country’s security and that the Indian Armed Forces are
well prepared to meet any challenge against national security.
Current Affairs: March 18, 2017
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v. Besides, he said that more funds will be provided to Border Roads Organisation to create
road infrastructure.
vi. Several steps have been taken by the government to modernize the defence forces with the
latest equipment and meet all the critical requirements of the defence forces to further enhance
its capabilities.
Australia Research Institute Signs Agreement with Indian Railways for
Infrastructure Support
i. Monash University Institute of Railway
Technology (IRT), Australia has entered into an
agreement with the Indian Railways to support
future research and technology development
related to critical infrastructure in India.
ii. The agreement was signed on March 16, 2017
in New Delhi between the representatives from Monash University Institute of Railway
Technology (IRT) and Indian Ministry of Railways Corporation DFCCIL (Dedicated Freight
Corridor Corporation of India Limited).
iii. IRT along with partners, Balaji Railroad Systems Ltd (BARSYL), a leading railway consultant
in India, PwC, and Indian Institute of Bombay (IITB) will provide necessary support to Indian
Railways.
iv. They will provide guidance on the establishment of a new applied research and
development institute in India known as SRESTHA (Special Railway Establishment for Strategic
Technology & Holistic Advancement).
Current Affairs: March 18, 2017
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Indrani Das wins top prize in Regeneron Science Talent Search competition
Indian-American teenager Indrani Das (17) has won
the top prize of $2,50,000 in the Regeneron Science
Talent Search competition in the United States (US).
She has won the award for her research on treating
brain injury and disease. Her research showed a way
for increasing the survival rate of neurons affected by
brain injury or neurodegenerative disease.
G20 Meet of Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors Began in Germany
i. The two day G20 finance ministers and central bank
governors meet began in Baden-Baden, Germany on
March 17, 2017.
ii. Focus: the meeting will focus on strengthening
economic resilience in finance, digitalization and promote
investment in Africa.
iii. The meetings between finance ministers and central bank governors will provide a
preliminary discussion platform ahead the G20 Summit of heads of state and government,
which will be held in Hamburg on July 7-8, 2017.
iv. This is the first global gather to discuss economic challenges since Donald Trump took over
as the US President in January 2017. The gathering will help to set the tone for international
commerce and finance.
Current Affairs: March 18, 2017
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India ranks 148 in 2017 UN Women in Politics Map
i. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN
Women launched the ‘Women in Politics 2017 Map’
on March 16, 2017 in New York. The Women in
Politics 2017 Map is the visual representation of
women’s political empowerment in executive
government and parliament as on January 1, 2017.
ii. It was unveiled on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the 61st Commission on the Status
of Women (CSW) at United Nations. The CSW is a global organization that focuses on the
empowerment and equality for women.
iii. The theme for 2017 CSW is Women’s Economic Empowerment In The Changing World Of
Work.
iv. As per the report, the top nations that have high representation to women in the government