1) CBEC renamed as CBIC under GST regime
•The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) will be reorganized for the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and will be renamed as the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) following Parliamentary approval.
•Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has approved the reorganization of the field formations of the CBEC for the implementation of GST.
2) Indian Navy fires surface-to-air missile from INS Vikramaditya
•The country’s sole aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya successfully carried out the maiden test of the newly installed Barak short-range surface-to-air missile (SAM).
•The 44,500 tonne carrier was commissioned into the Navy in November 2013 at Severodvinsk in Russia. The firing was conducted as part of the 'operational readiness inspection' of the Western Fleet by Vice-Admiral Girish Luthra.
3) Aadhaar mandatory for mobile connection
•After making Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns and applying for a Permanent Account Number (PAN), the government has moved to make Aadhaar-based e-KYC (know your customer) mandatory for mobile phone connections.
•The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) directed all mobile phone service providers to reverify existing customers, prepaid and postpaid, using their unique Aadhaar identity number and biometric details. Aadhaar-based e-KYC would also be mandatory for customers procuring new SIM card.
4) Navy gets three naval systems from DRDO
•Defence Minister Arun Jaitley handed over three naval systems, developed by premier Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to the Indian Navy.
•The naval systems, given to Indian Navy, are USHUS-II submarine sonar, directing gear for hull-mounted sonar array and inertial navigation system for ship applications. Sonars detect objects on or under the water and the latest systems are expected to significantly enhance the navy's navigation and communication network.
5) ISRO commissions world's third largest hypersonic wind tunnel
•The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) created history by commissioning the world’s third largest hypersonic wind tunnel at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
•A wind tunnel is used to study the effects of air flowing past a solid object—in ISRO's case, space vehicles. ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar has also commissioned two facilities—a one-metre Hypersonic Wind Tunnel and a one-metre Shock Tunnel, recently.
6) ISR8th Laadli Media Awards 2016
•The 8th Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity 2016 (Northern and Eastern Region) were announced at the Chinmaya Mission in New Delhi.
•Anima Pookkunnyil, Assistant Editor with BusinessLine, and Shreya Ila Anasuya, a freelance journalist, were awarded this year for their critical gender-sensitive reportage.
•Ila Anasuya was awarded for her report on Suzette Jordan. Anima Pookkunnyi was awarded for her story about Kamlesh Kairi’s petition to the Supreme Court against the unjust laws.
