Daily GK Potion – 5th May 2015

  1. Government makes PAN mandatory for central excise registration
    • Permanent Account Number (PAN) has been made mandatory for private firms seeking central excise registration.
    • The registration will now be given within two days of filing online applications, as per the new simplified rules.
    • Applicants seeking registration shall mandatorily quote PAN of the proprietor or the legal entity being registered in the application form.
    • Applicant shall also quote his or her e-mail address and mobile number in the application form for communication with the department.
    • The registration is needed to pay central excise duty charged on goods produced within the country.
      pan_card
  2. Rajasthan Government signed deal with NHM, UNICEF & GAIN to counter malnourishment
    • Rajasthan Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Health Mission (NHM), UNICEF and GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition) in Jaipur to tackle the severe problem of malnourishment of the state.
    • Initially, the programme will be implemented in thirteen districts in which more than 10000 children have been identified as malnourished.
    • At present, Rajasthan has 40 malnourishment treatment centres, which are equipped with 10000 beds. It is also facilitated with 107 centres with six beds.
  3. India to tie up with Iran for Chabahar, its answer to Pakistan’s Gwadar port with China
    • India will push ahead this week with plans to build a port in southeast Iran.
    • India and Iran agreed in 2003 to develop a port at Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, near Iran’s border with Pakistan, but the venture has made little progress because of Western sanctions on Iran.
  4. Microsoft’s Edu-Cloud to make learning ‘fun’
    • Microsoft India on Tuesday unveiled Edu-Cloud, a cloud computing-based offering, designed to offer digital learning and teaching in schools and higher educational institutions through virtual learning platforms in India.
    • Microsoft India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik said Edu-Cloud is expected to benefit 10 lakh teachers and 60 lakh students in over 1,500 institutes over the next 18 months.
    • The company has also announced a tie-up with the Chaitanya group of educational institutions, which will adopt Edu-Cloud.
    • Teachers and students of Sri Chaitanya Schools will use 14,000 Windows-powered tablets to access rich, interactive and relevant content from the Microsoft cloud to make learning and teaching more engaging and productive.
  5. Union Cabinet cleared 119th Constitutional Amendment Bill on LBA between India and Bangladesh
    • The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the 119th Constitutional Amendment Bill on Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India and Bangladesh.
    • Under the land boundary agreement, India and Bangladesh will exchange several enclaves which are under each other’s adverse possession.
    • The bill also includes the territories in Assam in addition to territories of West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya.
      india-bangladesh

Read next : Daily GK Potion – 6th May 2015 ››

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