Daily Current Affairs for 15th & 16th Nov,2017 ( English )
1. India’s first mega
coastal economic zone (CEZ) is going to set up at Jawaharlal Nehru Port
(JNPT) in Maharashtra. About 45 companies across auto, telecom and IT sectors will
soon bid for 200 hectares of land to set up manufacturing units in zone. The
first of its kind mega CEZ will stretch along north Konkan region spread across
Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik and Raigarh. CEZ will be developed as part of plan
for developing 14 such industrial clusters to spur manufacturing and generate
jobs. The plan envisages total investment of Rs 15,000 crore in first phase and
creation of more than 1.5 lakh jobs.
2. Joint
Indo-Bangladesh Training Exercise SAMPRITI 2017 was culminated at Counter
Insurgency & Jungle Warfare School, Vairengte in Mizoram. It was 7th
edition of exercise in SAMPRITI series which is held alternately in India and
Bangladesh every year with aim to build and promote positive relations between
armies of two neighbours. The 13-day exercise also aimed to enhance
interoperability between two nations and enrich from each other’s experience
while carrying out counter-insurgency or counter-terrorism operations.
3. World’s first fully
electric cargo ship was launched by China in Guangzhou, capital city of
Guangdong province. The ship will be mainly used to run in inland section of Pearl
River for carrying coal for generation of electric power. It is the first ship
in the world to use lithium ion battery. As the ship does not use fossil fuels,
it has zero emission, including carbon, sulphur and PM2.5 which will help to
protect water quality and marine life. It can be used as passenger liner or a
working ship. It is 70.5 meters long and is powered by 26-tonne lithium
battery. It has battery energy of about 2400 kilowatt (kw) hours which is same
energy of 40 new energy cars. It can run 80 kilometers after being charged for
two hours. Its highest speed is 12.8 kilometers per hour. The 2000-metric-ton
ship was manufactured by the Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Ltd.
4. The Union Ministry
of Railways has advanced target for 100% completion of installing human waste
discharge free Bio-toilets in coaches to December 2018. The new target
was announced at event titled “Indian Transport Sector: Marching towards
sustainable mobility” at Conference of Parties (COP-23), Indian pavilion at
Bonn, Germany.Earlier, the target to install bio-toilets in all its coaches as
part of the Swachh Bharat Mission was by September 2019.
5. The Union Ministry
of Minority Affairs is organising Hunar Haat at India International Trade Fair
(IITF) at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi under Upgrading the Skills & Training in Traditional
Arts/Crafts for Development (USTTAD) scheme at different parts of country. It
displayed exquisite pieces of handicraft and handloom prepared by master artisans
from across the country. It has become successful mission to provide employment
and employment opportunities and national as well international markets for
thousands of master artisans, craftsmen and culinary experts.
6. The Petroleum
Ministry in consultation with Public Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) has decided
for preponement of BS-VI grade auto fuels in National Capital Territory (NCT)
of Delhi from 1st April 2018 instead of 1st April 2020 to reduce
vehicular emissions and improve fuel efficiency with an aim to reduce the
carbon footprints and keep a healthy environment. Bharat stage norms are
emission standards instituted by Government to regulate output of air
pollutants from internal combustion engine equipment, including motor vehicles.
The standards are based on European regulations and were first introduced in
2000. Switch to BS-VI norms will also reduce concentration of carbon
monoxide (CO), unburnt hydrocarbons, nitrous oxide (NOx) and particulate matter
from emissions.
7. RBI Governor Urjit
Patel was appointed to Financial Stability Institute Advisory Board (FSAB) or Bank of
International Settlement (BIS). BIS is international financial organisation
owned by 60 member central banks across the world
8. India Road
Assessment Programme (IndiaRAP) was unveiled by Global Charity to rate
highways’ safety levels and to eliminate the most unsafe roads. The IndiaRAP
programme is supported by FedEx Express and will be hosted by Asian Institute
of Transport Development. It will work with government agencies as well as
investors, researchers and NGOs to assess existing highways and promote use of
better design to make roads safer. Since 2010, teams from global organisation
have already undertaken star rating assessments on more than 10,000 km of roads
across several states in India.
9. The Union Ministry
of Power launched National Power Portal (NPP) NPP is centralised system for
Indian Power Sector. It will facilitate online data capture, input (daily, monthly,
annually) from generation, transmission and distribution utilities in
country. It will also disseminate Power Sector Information (operational,
capacity, demand, supply, consumption etc.through various analysed reports,
graphs, statistics for generation, transmission and distribution at all India,
state, regional level for central, state and private sector. It can be accessed
at http://npp.gov.in. Central Electricity Authority (CEA) is nodal agency for
implementation and operational control of NPP.
10. ‘Sagar Kavach’-
joint security exercise between Odisha and west Bengal. to further
tighten the existing coastal security mechanism along the 630 km long
coastline. In the exercise, they had organised simulated terror attack named
‘red force’ at random place along Odisha or West Bengal coast and check
effectiveness of marine policing. The participants in drill were personnel from
Indian Navy, ICG at Paradip and Haldia, 18 marine police stations in Odisha and
12 police stations of West Bengal.
11. The 10th South Asia
Economic Summit (SAES-2017) was held in Kathmandu, Nepal. The 3-day summit
was organised by National Planning Commission and Ministry of Commerce of Nepal
and South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment, Nepal. The
theme of 2017 is Deepening Economic Integration for Inclusive and Sustainable
Development in South Asia”.
12. The 15th Asia
Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team (APCERT) Conference organised by
Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under the aegis of Ministry
of Electronics & Information Technology was held in New Delhi.
It is first ever conference to be held in India and South Asia. 300 delegates
from 21 economies especially from Asia Pacific region, USA, Europe, Industry,
Academia, Government and Media attended the conference. The theme of
conference was “Building Trust in the Digital Economy”. ..
13. The Union
Government launched BHARAT-22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). Bharat 22
Index comprise of 22 stocks including those of central public sector
enterprises (CPSEs), public sector banks (PSBs) and its holdings under the
Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI).
14. Google doodle
celebrated the 151st birthday of Cornelia Sorabji, the first woman
to practice law in India and England. She was first woman to graduate in law
from India as early as 1892 and first Indian national to attend British
University. She was pioneer who helped open up higher education as well as the
legal profession to women. She had published two autobiographies viz. India
Calling: The Memories of Cornelia Sorabji, India Recalled, a
biography of her parents. She died on July 6, 1954.
15. Japan will relax
its visa rule for Indians from 1 Jan 2018 and issue multiple –entry
visa for short term say.
16. Leonardo Da
Vinci’s Christ painting known by the name “ Salvator Mundi” an Italian Phrase for
“Savior of the World “ sold for record of USD 450 million.
17. Nov
16 – International Day for Tolerance was observed with an aim to
bolster UN’s commitment to strengthen tolerance in the world by fostering
mutual understanding among cultures and peoples. UN has launched a new campaign
called “Together “ to promote tolerance, respect and
dignity across the world.
18.Nov 16 – World
Philosophy Day. This was observed across the world i.e. on third
Thursday of November to renew the national, sub –regional , regional and
international commitment to philosophy and to foster the same .
Announcement !
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