i. India has successfully test-fired its first all weather tracked-chassis Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QR-SAM) from a mobile launcher at Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha.

ii. The test was carried out for validating various parameters of the sophisticated weapon system to further strengthen its air defence system.


Static Takeaways-

● APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha was previously called as Wheeler Island

● General Bipin Rawat is the 27th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army.

i. Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has set up a committee under the Chairmanship of Uday Kotak, Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank to help improve the standards of corporate governance of listed companies in India.

ii. Besides Kotak, the panel comprises of 20 members including representatives of Corporate India, stock exchanges, professional bodies, investor groups, chambers of commerce, law firms, academicians and research professionals.


Static Takeaways-

● Ajay Tyagi is the current Chairman of SEBI

● SEBI is Headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra

● Kotak Mahendra Bank is Headquartered in Mumbai and it was founded in 2003.

i. The GST (Goods and Services Tax) Council has cleared the pending rules, including transition provisions and returns, with all the States agreeing to the July 01st 2017 rollout of the tax. Transition rules have been cleared and everybody has agreed for a July 1 rollout,” according to Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac.

ii. The GST Council last month fitted over 1,200 goods and 500 services in the tax brackets of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has chaired the 15th meeting of the GST Council, which is scheduled to decide on the tax rate of six items, including gold, textiles and footwear.


Static Takeaways-

● GST is one indirect tax for the whole nation, which will make India one unified common market.

● In 2003 the Kelkar Task Force on indirect tax had suggested a comprehensive Goods and Services Tax (GST) based on VAT principle.

i. The Ministry of Rural Development has selected Vizianagaram district in Andhra Pradesh as one among the 17 districts across the nation for the MGNREGA annual award

ii. The award was given for effective implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) Act during 2015-16.


Static Takeaways-

● MGNREGA was set up on Feb 2, 2006 from district Anantapur in the state of Andhra Pradesh

● Coringa National Park is situated in Andhra Pradesh

● Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam (Tiger Reserve) is in AP.

i. India has been ranked 45th, down four notches from last year, in terms of competitiveness in the annual rankings compiled by IMD which saw Hong Kong topping the list. The list was compiled by the International Institute for Management Development's (IMD) World Competitiveness Center.

ii. Switzerland and Singapore were ranked second and third respectively, with the USA at the fourth spot.


Static Takeaways-

● Top three Ranked countries in the list are Hong Kong, Switzerland and Singapore

● The rank of India for 2016 was 41st

● The IMD World Competitiveness Center is a research group at International Institute for Management Development (IMD) business school in Switzerland

● It was formed in year 1989 by Prof. Stephane Garelli.

i. Reliance Communications (RCom) Chairman Anil Ambani has announced that the merged entities of RCom and Aircel will be called Aircom. These merged entities are Reliance Communications and Maxis Communications Berhad (MCB).

ii. The merged company will be one of India’s largest private sector companies. It will have an asset base of over 65000 crore rupees and net worth of 35000 crore rupees.


Static takeaways-

● The Group was founded by Shri Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002)

● Anil Dhirubhai Ambani is the Chairman of Reliance Group