1) India’s 1st Multi-Petaflop Supercomputer ‘Pratyush’ Dedicated to Nation
•Union Minister of Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan dedicated India’s fastest and first multi-petaflops supercomputer named ‘Pratyush’ to the nation in Pune. It is established at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune.
•It will be a national facility for improving weather and climate forecasts and services under the umbrella of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
2) PM Modi Inaugurates 1st PIO Parliamentary Conference in Delhi
•PM Narendra Modi inaugurates the first Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) Parliamentary Conference in Delhi on the occasion of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. The day is celebrated every year to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community in the development of India.
•It also commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to Mumbai on 9 January 1915. In the Conference, the biggest delegation was from Guyana with 20 members of parliament and three mayors. Established in 2003, and sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is held from 7-9 January every year.
3) National Anthem Not Mandatory in Cinema Halls: Supreme Court
•The Supreme Court said playing the national anthem before screening movies in cinema halls is not mandatory. The bench was headed by chief justice Dipak Misra. In November 2016, the Supreme Court had ordered all cinemas to play the anthem before screening a film “for the love of the motherland”.
•It also said the national flag must be displayed on the screen for the duration of the anthem and that movie-goers should stand in a show of respect.
4) Indian Railways Launches Transparent and Efficient “New Online Vendor Registration System”
•Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO), the research arm of Ministry of Railways, has launched “New Online Vendor Registration System”. This new system provides major improvements and big changes in the registration system over the earlier system.
•Public access to the information, expeditious process completion with defined timelines, simplification of procedures, round-the-year services, availability of all related information on RDSO Website, constant monitoring at all levels, reduction in cycle timelines, regular updating of online data, user-friendly interface etc. are the hallmarks of the new system.
5) World’s Largest Ice Festival Held in China
•World’s largest Ice Festival 'International Ice and Snow Festival' was held in Harbin, China. This is one of China’s coldest cities in the winter. It is the 34th annual Ice Festival in Harbin, north-east China.
•It features sculptures of Moscow’s Red Square and Bangkok’s Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
6) Direct Tax Collections for FY 2017-18 Show Growth of 18.2% up to December, 2017
•The provisional figures of Direct Tax collections up to December 2017 show that net collections are at Rs. 6.56 lakh crore which is 18.2% higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year.
•The net Direct Tax collections represent 67% of the total Budget Estimates of Direct Taxes for Financial Year 2017-18 (Rs. 9.8 lakh crore). Gross collections (before adjusting for refunds) have increased by 12.6% to Rs. 7.68 lakh crore during April to December 2017.
•An amount of Rs. 3.18 lakh crore has been received as Advance Tax up to December, 2017 reflecting a growth of 12.7% over the Advance Tax payments of the corresponding period of last year. The growth in Corporate Income Tax (CIT) Advance Tax is 10.9% and that in Personal Income Tax (PIT) Advance Tax is 21.6%.
