Prelim Bits 05-07-2017

ODF cities

All cities of MP, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Telangana is set to become ODF by October 2 this year, marking the completion of three years of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).
Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh had already declared all cities and towns ODF.
Chandigarh is the only UT to have become ODF.

Spike and Nag Missile

Spike missile is an Israeli fourth generation anti-tank guided missile.
It is developed and designed by Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defence Systems.
India is looking to purchase it, which will compete with the Nag missile, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Nag is the third generation anti-tank missile, also known as Prospina.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent global arms research institute, India is Israel's biggest arms market, buying 41 per cent of its export between 2012 and 2016.

“Elevate 100” Scheme

It is being implemented in the State of Karnataka.
The aim is to identify 100 most innovative start-ups in the state to elevate them to the next level of success.
Through this scheme, start-ups will be given funds and technical and business supports based on their need.

DART Mission

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is the NASA’s first asteroid deflection mission.
DART will deflect a near-Earth asteroid, and helps to protect the planet from potential cosmic body impacts in the future.
DART would be NASA’s first mission to demonstrate the kinetic impactor technique (i.e) striking the asteroid to shift its orbit in order to defend against a potential future asteroid impact.

Chief Election Commissioner

Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Joti was today appointed as the next chief election commissioner (CEC) succeeding Nasim Zaidi.
Election commission of India, a constitutional body is empowered to conduct free and fair election is headed by Chief Election Commissioner and two election commissioners.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two election commissioners are appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of PM and Council of Ministers.
Conventionally, senior-most Election Commissioner is appointed as CEC.
CEC and other EC have tenure of six years or hold office till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
CEC and other EC receive salary and other allowances similar to the Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through impeachment by Parliament in a manner similar to that of a judge of the Supreme Court.
On the other hand, other Election Commissioners can be removed by the President on recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.

Abolition of Cesses along with GST rollout

The cesses that have been abolished from July 1 by the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act include

The cesses that will be continued include

Labour force Survey

A new taskforce led by Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind panagariya has recommended that the traditional Employment-Unemployment surveys carried out by the NSSO must be scrapped.
Instead, a new periodic labour force survey will be conducted annually to provide estimates of labour force, employment, unemployment, nature of employment and industry.
The task force will recommend using registrations and enrolments on GSTN as a sample size for enterprise survey, to be conducted annually.
The task force also called for a fresh definition of formal employment to include any person who gets a Form 16 reflecting income tax deductions at source.
Workers covered under any one of the The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 and miscellaneous provision Act 1952, government and other public sector employees, workers having coverage under private insurance or pension schemes of PFs will also be considered as formal workers.