Current Affairs 12th April 2017

Current Affairs 12th April 2017 - Important Points

• Death Penalty Report 2016 released by - Amnesty International
• Aditya Birla Nuvo merging with - Grasim Industries
• PAN and TAN issuance within 1 day by - CBDT 
• Age limit for UPPSC exams for those who appeared in 2013 increased by - UP Government

Current Affairs 12th April 2017 - Details

Death Penalty Report 2016 released by - Amnesty International

The Amnesty International released the Death Penalty Report 2016 on 11th April 2017. Report showed, at least 1,032 people were executed in 23 countries in 2016. In 2015, Amnesty International recorded 1,634 executions in 25 countries across the globe. Mostly executions took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan – in that order.

Important Highlights

• The report showed that China remained the world’s top executioner. 
• Excluding China, 87 per cent of all the executions took place in just four countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan.
• Nigeria,Belarus, and Botswana authorities within the State of Palestine resumed executions in 2016.
• Jordan,Chad, India, Oman and United Arab Emirates were the countries that executed people in 2015, but did not report any execution last year.
• Two countries – Benin and Nauru abolished the death penalty in law for all the crimes in 2016. 

Aditya Birla Nuvo merging with - Grasim Industries

The shareholders of Grasim Industries Limited, Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited (ABNL) and Aditya Biral Financial Services Limited (ABFSL) approved the Scheme of merging of ABNL with Grasim in April 2017.

More about Grasim  –

• Will be number 1 cement company in India with the largest selling brand.
• Will be among the top 5 fund managers in India with funds under management of Rs 2,29,500 crore.
• Will be among the top 7 private non-HFC NBFCs in India with a lending book of Rs 29,852 crore.
• Will be among the top 4 private sector life insurers and asset management companies in India.
• A leading player in textiles and chemicals also.
• Third largest telecom operator in the country.

The scheme is subject to final approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Do you know?

Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd received a license from RBI to commence Payments Bank operations in a joint venture with Idea Cellular.

PAN and TAN issuance within 1 day by - CBDT 

The Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT) tied up with the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA)  on 11th April 2017 to issue Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Tax Deduction Account Number (TAN) in 1 day in order to improve ease of doing business.

 Key Highlights

• Applicant companies can submit a common application form SPICe (INC 32) on MCA portal.
• Once MCA will send the data of incorporation to CBDT, the PAN and TAN will then be issued immediately without any further intervention of the applicant. 

Age limit for UPPSC exams for those who appeared in 2013 increased by - UP Government

• The Uttar Pradesh government decided to increase the age criteria for aspirants of General and OBC, SC and ST candidates to 45 and 50 years respectively in its latest cabinet meet.
• Siddharth Singh, the Cabinet Minister of the state, in a statement said that decision was taken in light of the difficulty that was faced by aspirants while facing the UPPSC pre-exam in 2013,when CSAT was introduced in the exams.
• Before 2011, the exams were conducted in a different form that including Paper I and Paper II only.
• On the other hand, the age-limit for handicapped aspirants is increased to 55-years, but this facility will be provided only to those who managed to appear in the 2013 UPPSC exams.
• As per the existing rule, the age limit for the candidates from the general category is 40 years.