National Current Affairs December 2016

Election Rules Amended to Allow e-Transfer of Postal Ballot

• A notification announcing the amendment to the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 enabling service voters, including armed forces personnel, to cast their vote in elections through e-postal ballot was issued on October 24, 2016.
• Under the new system, the voters will download blank ballot papers, mark their preference and post the filled-up ballot back to their respective returning officers.
• According to sources a two-way electronic transmission (or e-voting) has not been recommended by the Election Commission, citing security and secrecy concerns.

Union Government Launched UDAN A Regional Connectivity Scheme

• The Centre unveiled a regional connectivity scheme, known as Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN), with flights priced at Rs 2500 for one hour of flying time to and from regional airports, but raised the subsidy amount to be paid to regional airlines from the level proposed in a draft scheme on October 21, 2016.
• Under the scheme, airlines will be offered a slew of sops at smaller airports such as waiver of landing and parking charges. Extending the airports benefits for flights operating from small to major airports under the scheme is under active consideration of the government.
• In a bid to woo the regional carriers, the subsidy amount has been increased from the draft scheme released earlier this year. Airlines will now get subsidy in the range of Rs 2350 to Rs 5100 per seat for three years.

President of India Inaugurated 28th Accountants General Conference

• President of India, Pranab Mukheijee inaugurated the 28th Accountants General Conference being organised by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) here on October 20, 2016.
• The Accountants General from all over the country will participate in the conference and will review the international best practices prevalent in audit and accounting.

• Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IA&AD), headed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, constantly strives to discharge its professional duties, both as an auditor and an accountant, in accordance with the international best practices.

Supreme Court Questioned on Misuse of Religion in Elections

• Questioning the practice of using the mass appeal of religious leaders to canvas votes for candidates, the Supreme Court on October 19, 2016 asked whether it amounts to a corrupt electoral practice to rope in clerics or priests to flex their religious sway over their flock to swing votes.

• A seven-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice TS Thakur is testing the limits of Section-123 of the Representation of the People Act for an authoritative pronouncement on what are the various means by which misuse of religion or- faith of the masses for electoral gains can be categorised as a corrupt practice.
• The Bench is re-considering its 1995 verdict which held ! that canvassing votes in the name of ‘Hindutva/Hinduism’ did not prejudicially affect any candidate as Hindutva is a way of life of the people in the sub-continent and ‘a state of mind.

Supreme Court Freezed BCCI’s Transactions with State Cricket Bodies

• Supreme Court froze all financial transactions between the BCC1 and Slate cricket associations by directing the apex cricket body not to disburse any funds, even for the match . purposes, to them till they resolved to abide by the Justice RM Lodha panel recommendations on reforms on October 20, 2016.

• The judgment, which was pronounced by Justice DY Chandrachud, also directed the Lodha panel to ask the auditors to scrutinise the high-value contracts given by BCCI.
• It directed the Lodha panel to fix a ceiling of high-value contracts of BCCI to be scruutinised by the auditors.

See Also – Indian Railway Question Papers

First Ever International Conference on Voter Education Held

• The Election Commission (EC) of India hold the first ever International Conference on Voter Education in New Delhi on October 19, 2016.
• The topic of the conference is Voter Education for Inclusive, Informed and Ethical Participation. The Conference was organised with an aim to share best practices, policies and initiatives of voter education by election management bodies.
• The conference will see the launch of the ambitious project of VoICE.NET a Global Knowledge Network on voter education.

National SC/ST Hub and Zero Defect-Zero Effect Scheme Launched

• The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, launched the National SC/ST hub, and the Zero Defect, Zero effect (ZED) scheme for MSMEs at Ludhiana in Punjab on October 18, 2016.
• He also presented National Awards to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). He distributed 500 traditional wooden charkhas (spinning wheels) among women. MSME sector is crucial for the economic progress of India and MSMEs must match global quality control standards.