Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 06 December 2016

:: National ::

Proposal to amend law for cashless wage payments

The Centre has proposed amending a law to empower States and allow industries to pay wages by cheque or by direct credit into bank accounts.
The Union Labour ministry has proposed changes to the Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act of 1936.
The present law states that all payment of wages should be made in cash, with a provision enabling employers to obtain written permission of the worker to pay either by cheque, or by crediting the wages to his or her bank account.

Appointments

B.S. Bhullar, a 1986-batch IAS officer, has been appointed chief of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in the latest appointments made in the rank of Additional Secretary in various Union Ministries.
Vaduvendra Mathur, Chairman and Managing Director of Exim Bank, has been shifted to NITI Ayog as Additional Secretary, while Malini Shankar, a 1984-batch IAS officer from the Maharashtra cadre, has been appointed Director-General, Shipping, in the Shipping Ministry.
P.V. Ramesh Babu, a 1985-batch officer from Andhra Pradesh, has been appointed Chairman and Managing Director of Rural Electrification Corporation, while another official from the same batch, Rabindra Panwar, has been shifted from the Defence Ministry and appointed Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser in the Home Ministry.
R.K. Vats from West Bengal has been brought on Central deputation for appointment as Additional Secretary in the Health and Family Welfare Ministry in place of K.B. Agarwal, a 1985-batch officer from the Jammu and Kashmir cadre, who has been returned to his parent cadre.
A 1986-batch officer, Anshu Prakash, has been moved from the Department of Heavy Industries to the Ministry of Rural Development as Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser.
The appointments include an Indian Revenue Service officer, Madhu Mahajan, as Member Secretary of the National Commission for Women, and an Indian Economic Service officer, Nagesh Singh, as Additional Secretary in the Union Ministry of Rural Development.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cleared the appointments of as many as 11 senior-rank officials.

:: International :

Uzbekistan interim leader

Uzbekistan’s interim leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev has won a crushing presidential election victory to succeed the late strongman Islam Karimov,official results showed.
The Central Election Commission said Mr. Mirziyoyev scooped 88.6 per cent of the vote, according to a preliminary count, while Western monitors reported signs of fraud.
Mr. Mirziyoyev's massive margin over rivals for the five-year term echoed the past successes of predecessor Karimov, who died in September after 27 years at the helm.