Current Affairs: 6th Jan 2017

Om Puri passes away after a massive heart attack
i.Veteran actor Om Puri has passed away after a massive heart attack.The actor was 66.
ii.Om Puri was an Indian actor who has appeared in mainstream commercial Pakistani, Indian, British, and Hollywood, Independent films and art films.
ii.His credits also include appearances in American films.
iii.He has been awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India.

India & Kazakhstan sign 5 protocol to amend Double Taxation Avoidance Convention
i.India and Kazakhstan have signed the five national capital a Protocol to amend the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) between the two countries which was earlier signed on 9th December, 1996 for the avoidance of double taxation and for the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.

4th Assam International Agri-Horti show to begin in Guwahati
i.Fourth Assam International Agri-Horti show will begin in Guwahati, Assam.
State Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will inaugurate the show.
ii.Assam Agriculture Minister Atul Bora informed that 10 foreign countries are also taking part in the show.
iii.Nearly 600 farmers from Assam will be trained on doubling farmers’ income, more crop per drop and agri-preneurship development.
iv.More than 200 organisations from across the country will take part in the show.

Three Days International Conference on Yoga for Diabetes Organised in New Delhi
i.The Minister of State for AYUSH Shri Shripad Yesso Naik inaugurated the International Conference on “Yoga for Diabetes” which began in New Delhi on January 4, 2017.
ii.The three days conference aims to generate discussions on the role of Yoga in the prevention and management of Diabetes and draw up a roadmap to be adopted for the control of Diabetes through Yoga.

Centre approves assistance of Rs 1782 crore for Karnataka
i.The Centre has approved an assistance of over 1782.44 crore rupees for Karnataka. The state will get this sum from the National Disaster Relief Fund as drought relief.
ii.The financial assistance was approved by Home Minister Rajnath Singh at a meeting of the High Level Committee in New Delhi.

Island Tourism Festival 2017 to begins in Andaman & Nicobar
i.The Island Tourism Festival 2017 will begin today at Port Blair in Andaman & Nicobar islands. Lt. Governor Jagdish Mukhi will inaugurate the mega event at ITF Ground this evening.
ii. During the 10-day event, performances by the cultural troupes from mainland will help the Islanders renew their cultural ties with mainland India.

Govt imposes anti-dumping duty on Bangladesh, Nepal jute products
i.The Government has imposed an anti-dumping duty ranging from 6.30 US dollars to 351.72 US dollars per tonne on imports of jute and its products from Bangladesh and Nepal.
ii.This anti-dumping duty has been imposed in order to protect the domestic industry. The duty has been imposed for five years.
iii.It further added the import restrictive levy has been imposed on jute yarn, twine, Hessian fabric and jute sacking bags in all forms and specifications.

Launch of IPR Enforcement Toolkit for Police and IPR Awareness Campaign for Children
i.The Commerce & Industry Ministery launched an IPR Enforcement Toolkit for Police.
ii.The toolkit has been jointly prepared by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
iii.This toolkit will be a ready reckoner for police officials across the country in dealing with IP crimes, specifically Trade Marks counterfeiting and Copyrights piracy.

SIDBI ties up with LIC for capital support to enterprises
i.Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) on Thursday said it has tied up with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for augmenting capital support to enterprises in the country.
ii.The idea behind tying up with the state-run insurance behemoth is to give a boost to the venture capital ecosystem for MSMEs.

Karnataka Bank launches group Personal Accident Insurance Scheme named KBL Suraksha
i.Karnataka Bank has launched a month-long campaign to promote a group personal accident insurance scheme for savings bank account-holders. ‘KBL Suraksha’, which was launched on January 2, will be in force till January 31.
ii.Launched in association with Universal Sompo General Insurance, KBL Suraksha provides coverage against all types of accidental deaths.
iii.All savings bank account-holders of the bank in the age group of 18-70 years can subscribe to this scheme by paying an annual premium of ₹100 for ₹10 lakh and ₹50 for ₹5 lakh coverage.

S Padmanabhan Appointed as Chairman of Tata Power
i.Tata Sons has nominated S Padmanabhan as the Chairman of Tata Power Co Ltd with immediate effect, in place of Cyrus Mistry.He is also the executive chairman of Tata Business Excellence Group. Recently he was appointed as the head of group for human resources for Tata Sons.
ii.He is associated Tata group for 34 years, of which 26 were with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

Sir Tim Barrow has been appointed as the Britain’s ambassador to the EU
i.UK Senior diplomat Sir Tim Barrow was appointed the new ambassador to the European Union (EU). ii.He replaced Sir Ivan Rogers.He previously served in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as a representative to various bodies of the European Union, and as British Ambassador to Ukraine 2006–2008.

Capgemini Appoints Anil Jalali of IBM as HR head for India Operation
i.French Consulting Corporation, Capgemini has appointed Anil Jalali as Chief Human Resources Officer for its India operation .
ii.Jalali takes over from BL Narayan who is joining Capgemini’s Business Services Strategic Business unit as head of solutions and sales support.

IBM India Appoints Karan Bajwa as Managing Director
i.IBM has appointed Karan Bajwa as Managing Director of IBM India Pvt Ltd, succeeding Vanitha Narayanan who has been appointed as chairman of the Indian subsidiary.
ii.Bajwa joined IBM in 2016 as Executive for Strategy and Transformation in the Asia Pacific region. He was earlier Managing Director, Microsoft India where, besides leading the India business for the company, he also the led the cloud transition and the ecosystem engagement.

Book on Dr. Kalam titled ‘The People’s President: Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam’ released
i.Vice President Hamid Ansari on 4 January 2017 released a book titled The People’s President: Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
ii.The book was released at a function in New Delhi which was attended by Union Finance.

Dilip Vengsarkar steps down from MCA vice-president post
i.Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar has submitted his resignation as vice-president of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).
ii.The move comes on the line of the Supreme Court order. On December 17, Sharad Pawar resigned as president of the MCA.

Sitar Player Abdul Halim Jaffer dies at 88
Renowned Sitar maestro Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan died due to cardiac arrest. He was 88.Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan was an Indian sitar player and received the national awards Padma Shri (1970) and Padma Bhushan (2006) and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1987