Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 10 December 2016

:: National ::

Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi (retd.) was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation, along with his cousin Sanjeev Tyagi and lawyer Gautam Khaitan, for alleged involvement in the Rs. 3,700-crore AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal case. Accused of routing the kickbacks, the lawyer was earlier arrested by the Enforcement Directorate.
The CBI has determined that about Rs. 450 crore, or 12 per cent of the Rs. 3,767-crore deal for procurement of 12 helicopters was paid as bribes.
The government rescinded the contract in January 2014 in view of the bribery allegations.

The 2017 National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), passed earlier by the U.S. House of Representatives, now goes to Obama for signature
The U.S. Congress has cleared the decks for India to become a “major defence partner,” with the Senate overwhelmingly passing the $618-billion American defence budget for 2017 by 92 to 7 votes.
The budget was passed earlier by the House of Representatives by 375-34 votes.

Aachi group of Companies Chairman and Managing Director A.D. Padmasingh Isaac was presented the National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) 2016 under “The Best employer’ category.
The award was conferred by President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on December 3, 2016 on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
This year, the Screening Committee received 908 applications under 14 different categories. A total of 78 individuals/institutions were selected and conferred the awards.
Aachi Group and Mr. Isaac have bagged several awards that includes Helping Hand to Humanity, CSR Excellence Award and Trail blazers among others.