30th MAY 2020 CURRENT AFFAIRS QUIZ

What you need to know about this WHO Foundation?

• The WHO Foundation which is recently been planned by WHO, is an independent grant-making foundation that will support WHO efforts to address the most pressing global health challenges by raising new funding from “non-traditional sources”.
• The Foundation will be headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• The WHO Foundation will play a major role in supporting the global health support ecosystem by funding high-impact initiatives and advancing strategies of innovation, effectiveness, and rapid response
• Further, the foundation is legally independent from the World Health Organization and is established under the laws of Switzerland.
• The WHO Foundation will accept funding from non-traditional sources, including individual major donors, corporate partners and the general public. Until now the WHO has been one of the few international organizations which has not traditionally received donations from the general public.

Read This Article for detailed information about World Health Organization.

Key facts to be remembered about PAN or Permanent Account Number

• A permanent account number (PAN) is a ten-character alphanumeric identifier, issued in the form of a laminated “PAN card”.
• The PAN Card is issued by the Indian Income Tax Department under the supervision of the Central Board for Direct Taxes (CBDT).
• It is allotted to any “person” who applies for it or to whom the department allots the number without an application.
• A PAN is a unique identifier issued to all judicial entities identifiable under the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961.
• The income tax PAN and its linked card are issued under Section 139A of the Income Tax Act.
• It is also issued to foreign nationals (such as investors) subject to a valid visa, and hence a PAN card is not acceptable as proof of Indian citizenship.
• A PAN is necessary for filing income tax returns.
• It is mandatory to quote PAN on return of income, all correspondence with any income tax authority.
• From 1 January 2005 it has become mandatory to quote PAN on challans for any payments due to Income Tax Department.
• The issuance of PAN, verification, delivery and maintenance works on public-private partnership (PPP) model like Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) for reasons of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness.
  • The reputed entities like NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited (formerly National Securities Depository Limited) and UTI Infrastructure Technology Services Limited (UTIITSL) has been entrusted by Income Tax Department as managed service providers.
  • They are responsible for processing of applications, collecting, handling and verifying personal documents like proof of ID, age and address, clarification with the applicants, printing the card and the letter and then mailing it.

The fourth character identifies the type of holder of the card. Each holder type is uniquely defined by a letter from the list below:

• A — Association of persons (AOP)
• B — Body of individuals (BOI)
• C — Company
• E – LLP (limited liability partnership)
• F — Firm
• G — Government
• H — HUF [Hindu joint family|Hindu undivided family]
• L — Local authority
• J — Artificial juridical person
• P — Individual or Person
• T — Trust (AOP)

PAN Application Forms

• Application for allotment of PAN: This application should be used when the applicant has never applied for a PAN or does not have PAN allotted to him.
  • FORM 49AA: – To be filled by foreign citizens if applying for the first time.
• ‘REQUEST FOR NEW PAN CARD OR/AND CHANGES OR CORRECTION IN PAN DATA’:- The same form(49A/49AA) can be used by Indian as well as foreign citizens. A new PAN card bearing the same PAN but updated information is issued to the applicant, in such a case.

Key facts to be remembered about Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat Programme

“Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat” Programme was announced by Hon’ble Prime Minister on 31st October, 2015 on the occasion of the 140th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Subsequently, the Finance Minister announced the initiative in his Budget Speech for 2016-17.

• All States and UTs will be covered under the programme.
• There will be pairing of States/UTs at national level and these pairings will be in effect for one year, or till the next round of pairings.
• The State/UT level pairings would be utilized for state level activities.
• District level pairings would be independent of the State level pairings.
• The Ministry of Human Resource Development has been designated Nodal Ministry for co-ordination of the programme.

Recently, the foundation stone for a Missile Park was laid at INS Kalinga. The Missile Park is named as “Agneeprastha”.

Key Details about Agneeprastha

• Once completed, the Missile park would be dedicated to all the officers, sailors and the support staff of INS Kalinga who have served in the operation support base since its establishment in 1981.
• The park also commemorates the award of the prestigious Unit Citation to INS Kalinga for the year 2018-19.
• Further, the park aims to capture glimpse of missile history of INS Kalinga since 1981 till date.
• The Missile Park has been set up with a replica of missiles and Ground Support Equipment (GSE) that showcase the evolution of missiles handled by the unit.
• The main attraction of the newly proposed Missile Park is P-70 ‘Ametist’ which is an underwater launched anti-ship missile from the arsenal of the old ‘Chakra’ (Charlie-1 submarine) which was in service with Indian Navy during the period of 1988-91.

Singapore emerged as the largest source of FDI in India during the last fiscal with $14.67 billion investments followed by Mauritius ($8.24 billion).

Key Details about Growth in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India rose 13% to a record $49.97 billion in FY2019-20 from $44.36 billion a year earlier.
• While the FDI through FIPB route / RBI’s Automatic Route / Acquisition Route rose 13% on year, total FDI that also includes equity capital of unincorporated bodies, reinvested earnings and other capital was up 18% on year to $73.45 billion, more than double from $36.04 billion in 2013-14.
• Sectors which attracted maximum foreign inflows during 2019-20 include:
  • Services ($7.85 billion)
  • Computer software and hardware ($7.67 billion)
  • Telecommunications ($4.44 billion)
  • Trading ($4.57 billion)
  • Automobile ($2.82 billion)
  • Construction ($2 billion)
  • Chemicals ($1 billion)
• Singapore emerged as the largest source of FDI in India during the last fiscal with $14.67 billion investments followed by Mauritius ($8.24 billion).
• Among states, Maharashtra garnered the highest share of FDI at 30% with investments clocking $7.26 billion.
• Karnataka and Delhi followed with 18% and 17% share, respectively.

Sectors where up to 100 per cent foreign direct investment is permitted under the automatic route are:

• Petroleum Refining (By Public Sector Undertakings)- 49%
• Infrastructure Company in the Securities Market- 49%
• Power Exchanges- 49%
• Insurance- up to 49%
• Medical Devices- up to 100%
• Pension- 49%

Sectors of the Indian economy where up to a 100 per cent is permitted under the approval or government route are:

• Banking & Public sector- 20%
• Mining & Minerals separations of titanium bearing minerals and ores- 100%
• Core Investment Company: 100%
• Broadcasting Content Services: 49%
• Food Products Retail Trading: 100%
• Satellite (Establishment and operations): 100%
• Multi-Brand Retail Trading: 51%
• Print Media including publications, printing of scientific and technical magazines, specialty journals, periodicals and facsimile edition of foreign newspapers- 100%
• Print Media including publishing of newspaper, periodicals and Indian editions of foreign magazines dealing with news & current affairs- 26%