Daily Current Affairs for Aug 15-19,2018 (English)
Tamil Nadu:
1.
International
Conference on Recent Advances in Food Processing Technology (iCRAFPT) was held
at Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IFPT), Thanjavur in Tamil
Nadu. The theme of conference was “Doubling farmers’
income through food processing”. The conference provided strong platform for
knowledge sharing and meaningful delegation among industry, academia,
researchers and farmers which will potentially impact the food sector growth to
a newer height.
National:
1. Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal
delivered its final verdict to ending 50-year-old dispute over sharing of
Mahadayi or Mandovi River between Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The tribunal was constituted in November 2010 under Interstate River Water
Disputes Act, 1956 to resolve water sharing dispute between riparian states.
Mahadayi River (also spelt Mahadeyi or Mhadei, and called Mandovi in Goa) rises
in Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in Western Ghats, in Khanapur taluk of Belagavi
district in Karnataka.
2. During
his addresses to the nation on occasion
of 72nd Independence Day from Red Fort Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced
that permanent commission will be granted to serving women officers of armed
forces. Henceforth, women officers who have been selected through Short
Service Commission (SSC) in defence forces will now have option to take up
permanent commission (PC). The announcement comes after Government had told
Supreme Court (in May 2018) that it was considering granting PC to SSC women
Army officers. Granting PC to women officers will change their career paths,
besides provide full-length career opportunity for women aspirants in the
future.
3. India has released additional
Rs. 470 million (Nepali) for Phase I of Postal Highway Project being
constructed in Southern Plains of Nepal. The amount released
will help to maintain fund liquidity for ongoing construction of 14 road
packages under Postal Highway Project. Postal Highway is also called Hulaki
Rajmarg which runs across Terai region of Nepal, from Bhadrapur in east to
Dodhara in west, cutting across entire width of the country. With release of
recent additional funds, India so far has released Rs 2.35 billion to Nepal out
of total grant assistance of Rs. 8.00 billion committed to implement 14
packages under Packages 2-6 of Phase I of Postal Highway Project. The Package 1
of the Project comprising two road sections Dhangadhi-Bhajaniya-Satti road and
Lamki-Tikapur-Khakraula have already been completed with help of India’s grant
assistance worth Rs 1.02 billion. The two roads were opened for service in
January 2017.
4. An
initiative to enable collection and
conversion of used cooking oil to biodiesel,
the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched RUCO
(Repurpose Used Cooking Oil). Under this initiative, 64 companies at 101
locations have been identified to enable collection of used cooking oil.
According to FSSAI regulations, maximum permissible limits for Total Polar
Compounds (TPC) have been set at 25%, beyond which the cooking oil is unsafe
for consumption. Beside this, FSSAI is also working in partnership with
Biodiesel Association of India (BAI) and food industry to ensure effective
compliance of used cooking oil regulations.
5. India (Union Ministry of
Agriculture) has written to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of United
Nations (UN) proposing declaration of year 2019 as “International Year of
Millets”. It has requested inclusion of this proposal in
agenda of 26th session of the Committee on Agriculture (COAG) meeting,
scheduled to be held in October 2018 in Rome, Italy. India is celebrating 2018
as National Year of Millets. It is promoting cultivation of millets as part of
this celebration by amending cropping pattern of areas which are especially
susceptible to climate change.
6. Supreme Court has accepted
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) proposal to use hologram-based
coloured stickers on vehicles, plying in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) to
indicate the nature of the fuel used. The apex court has
asked government to implement use of coloured stickers on vehicles plying in
Delhi-NCR by September 30, 2018. It also clarified that this colour-coding will
only be applicable in Delhi and NCR. With this approval, Delhi will be first
city in India to have hologram-based coloured stickers on according to fuel
they run on. This move aims to counter air pollution in national capital. Under
this colour scheme proposed by MoRTH, light-blue colour will be used for
vehicles running petrol and CNG-run vehicles while orange colour sticker will
be used for diesel-driven vehicles. These hologram-based stickers will also
contain registration date of the vehicle. MoRTH is also considering to
introduce green number plates for electric and hybrid vehicles.
7. The import of petcoke for use as
fuel has banned by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under
Ministry of Commerce and Industry. But it
has allowed its import of only for use as feedstock in some select
industries such as cement, lime kiln, calcium carbide and gasification
industries. India is the world’s biggest consumer of petcoke. It gets over half
its annual petcoke imports of around 27 million tonnes from United States.
There are two kinds of pet coke produced viz. Fuel grade pet coke (80%) and
calcined pet coke (20%) during oil refining.
8. Union Home Ministry has agreed
to relax conditions laid down in ‘four-corner agreement’ signed with Bru
migrants for their repatriation from Tripura to Mizoram.
The agreement was signed between Government of India, Governments of Mizoram
and Tripura and Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF) in July 2018. The
agreement covers 5,407 Bru families (32876 persons) presently staying in
temporary camps in Tripura to repatriate them to Mizoram before September 2018.
Bru (or Reang) are tribals inhabit to some parts of Northeastern
states. In Mizoram, they are largely restricted to Mamit and Kolasib districts.
9. Aadhaar-issuing body UIDAI
(Unique Identity Authority of India) has announced phased roll-out of face
recognition for carrying out Aadhaar authenticaton from September 15, 2018 as
additional security layer. It also has announced new
feature ‘live face photo,’ which is live feed of person facial features whose
12-digit unique number Aadhaar is submitted. This move is aimed at curbing
possibility of fingerprint cloning or spoofing and also seeks to tighten audit
process and security around the issuance and activation of mobile SIMs.
International:
1. United States has announced to
grant $39 million as part its foreign military financing to Sri Lanka to boost
maritime security. The US funding for Sri Lanka is part
of its $300 million set aside for South and Southeast Asia to ensure free,
open, and rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region.
2. The 24th World Congress of
Philosophy (WCP) organized by the International Federation of Philosophical
Societies, and Peking University was held in Beijing, China from August 13 to
17, 2018. Its theme was “Learning To Be
Human”. This was first time that the quinquennial (once in five years) event
was held in China.
3. The creation of Iran Action
Group (IAG) to execute President Donald Trump administration’s Iran strategy
and pressure country to change its behaviors has announced by United States
(US) State Department. IAG will be responsible for
directing, reviewing, and coordinating all aspects of State Department’s
Iran-related activity, and it will report directly to US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo.
Science & Technology:
1.
Aerogel,
a transparent heat-resistant super-insulating gel using beer waste have
developed by Scientists. Aerogels defining feature is
air, as it comprise at least 90% gas by weight. It looks like flattened plastic
contact lens film (roughly 100 times
lighter than glass). It may be used to build greenhouse-like habitats for human
colonised on extraterrestrial habitats such as Mars or Moon. It could also be
used on buildings on Earth to help make huge savings on energy costs.
2. As a part of his 72nd
Independence Day speech , PM Narendra Modi
vowed to put Indian in space by 2022 under manned space mission on board
‘Gaganyaan’.
The proposed human spaceflight programme (HSP) has been on table since 2004.
ISRO is still long way away, despite advancements in some critical technologies
in past decade. It is stilling building its capabilities and developing
critical technologies required to send astronaut being into space. The mission
will be completed at budget of Rs 10,000 crore and some of technology
components required for it already has been developed. This includes heavy-lift
launch vehicle (GLSV Mark-III), re-entry and recovery technology, crew module,
Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) and astronaut training.
If successful, India will become fourth nation in the world to send astronaut
into space after US, Russia and China. Former Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot
Rakesh Sharma was first Indian to travel to space. He was part of the Soviet
Union’s Soyuz T-11 expedition, launched on April 2, 1984, as part of the
Intercosmos programme.
3. UPI 2.0, an upgraded and renewed
version of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) by adding four new features to make
it attractive and safer for users has launched by National Payments Corporation
of India (NPCI). UPI is payments system that allows
multiple bank accounts belonging to any participating bank to be controlled via
single mobile app. It was launched by NPCI in April 2016 to allow easy, quick
and hassle free money transfer between any two parties. These new features will
allow users to link their overdraft account to UPI, creation of one-time
mandates and pre-authorisation of transactions for payment at later date and checking
the invoice sent by merchant prior to making payment.
4. Team of international
researchers including 18 Indian scientists for first time has decoded wheat
genome. The research conducted by more than 200
scientists from 73 research institutions in 20 countries. The reference enome
decoded covers 94% (14.5 Gb) of entire wheat genome. Team of 18 Indian
scientists contributed in decoding of Chromosome 2A of wheat genome. This
project was financially supported by Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of
Science and Technology. The research shows that bread wheat has complex
hexaploid genome which is 40 times larger than that of rice genome and 5 times
larger than human genome. Information generated by decoded wheat genome will
help to identify genes controlling complex agronomic traits such as yield,
grain quality, resistance to diseases and pests as well as tolerance to
drought, heat, water logging and salinity.
Defence:
1. Israeli Navy has announced to
procure multi-purpose Barak 8 missile defence system, jointly developed by
India and Israel. Barak-8 (Lightning 8 in Hebrew), also known as also known as
LR-SAM or as MR-SAM is an operational air and missile defense system used by
Israeli Navy and air forces. The missile is
about 4.5 meters long, 0.225 meters in diameter and weighs 275 kg including 60
kg warhead. It has maximum speed of Mach 2 with maximum operational range of 70
km (which has been increased to 100 km). It has dual pulse rocket motor as well
as Thrust vector control and possesses high degrees of maneuverability at
target interception range. It will be used by Israeli Navy’s Sa’ar-6 corvettes
to expand its operational capabilities of Israeli navy, including defence of
Israel’s territorial and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and strategic facilities
from diversified threats.
Economy:
1. Indian rupee for first time in
history plunged to record low of Rs. 70.07 against US dollar on 14 August 2018.
However, it recovered later at around Rs. 69.84 after heavy intervention by
Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This sudden deprecation of rupee is similar to
fall of other currencies of emerging markets triggered by crash in Turkish
currency lira.
2. Recently hackers have stolen
(illegally withdrawn) Rs .94 crore from Pune’s Cosmos Cooperative Bank via ATMs
in 28 countries. It is possibly first of its kind
coordinated digital attack on Indian bank.
3. Pitch to MOVE-a mobility pitch
competition to provide budding entrepreneurs of India unique opportunity to
pitch their business ideas to distinguished jury has launched by NITI Aayog.
It aims to identify and incentivize (also reward) startups offering innovative
solutions to Government realize its vision of shared, connected, intermodal and
environment friendly mobility for India. Its objective is to harness latest
disruption for generating employment and growth in our country.
4. 2018 Global Liveability Index
released by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Austrian capital Vienna was
ranked as world’s most liveable city among 140 major cities.
It is first time that European city has topped rankings of EIU annual survey.
10 most liveable cities’ list includes Vienna, Austria (rank: 1st, with total
score of 99.1), Melbourne, Australia (2nd, 98.4); Osaka, Japan (3rd, 97.7);
Calgary, Canada (4th, 97.5); Sydney, Australia (5th, 97.4); Vancouver, Canada
(6th, 97.3); Toronto, Canada (7th, 97.2); Tokyo, Japan (8th, 97.2); Copenhagen,
Denmark (9th, 96.8); and Adelaide, Australia (96.6). No Indian cities were
ranked in the top ten or bottom ten of this edition of index. New Delhi had
figured at 112th and Mumbai 117th position in list.
5. India’s growth has revised down
to 7.2% from its earlier projection of 7.4% for 2018-19 (FY19) in its Mid-Year
FY19 Outlook by Rating agency India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra).
The downward revision comes as Indian economy to face headwinds from high crude
oil prices, increase in minimum support prices (MSP) of kharif crops, rising
trade protectionism, depreciating currency and no visible signs of abatement of
the non-performing assets (NPA) of the banking sector.
Ind-Ra is one of the India’s most respected credit rating agency
that provides ratings, research and rigorous analytics of market in India. The
headquarters of Ind-Ra is located in Mumbai and is belong to Fitch group.
6. Banks Board Bureau (BBB) has
appointed two firms Egon Zehnder International Pvt. Ltd and Hay Consultants
Pvt. Ltd to assist in developing strategies for top bank management.
Egon Zehnder was appointed as knowledge partner to design, implement and institutionalise
a flagship leadership development strategy for state-run banks in India. Hay
Consultants was appointed to assess leadership competencies and potential
capabilities of people appearing for post of whole time directors in state-run
banks.
7. Union Government is expecting
that public sector banks (PSBs) placed under RBI’s Prompt Corrective Action
(PCA) framework will come out of it by the end of this year.
As many as 11 out of 21 state-owned banks are currently under PCA framework.
PCA framework is supervisory tool of RBI, which involves monitoring of certain
performance indicators of banks to check their financial health as early
warning exercise and to ensure that banks don’t go bust.
8. According to National Bank for
Agriculture & Rural Development’s (NABARD) All India Rural Financial
Inclusion Survey 2016-17, agriculture (farming) generates only 23% of rural
income i.e. not even quarter of rural household incomes in India.
Even for so-called agricultural households, just over 43% of their average income
comes from cultivation of crops and rearing of animals. The reference period of
survey was 2015-16.
9. Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority (IRDAI) has asked insurers to cover mental illness under
medical insurance policy from immediate effect treating it at par with physical
illness. At present, insurers exclude mental illness from
ambit of medical insurance policies.
Schemes:
1. Kanyashree Prakalpa scheme- It
is conditional cash transfer scheme aimed at improving status and well-being of
girl child by incentivising schooling of teenage girls and delaying their
marriages until the age of 18. It was launched by
Mamata Banerjee led West Bengal Government (Women Development and Social
Welfare department) in October 2013. West Bengal Government has announced to
remove annual family income ceiling in eligibility criteria to be beneficiary
under state’s UN award winning Kanyashree Prakalpa scheme. This will help more
girls to chase their dreams with Government support. Currently only girls
belonging to families with annual family income not more than Rs 1.20 lakh were
entitled to get the benefits of this scheme. State government is also planning
to set up “Kanyashree University” under this scheme for girls soon.
Targeted Beneficiaries: All girl children within age of 13
to 19 in the state.
2. The first project under Swadesh
Darshan Scheme ‘North East Circuit: Imphal and Khongjom’ was inaugurated in
Manipur. The project covers two sites i.e Kangla Fort and
Khongjom in Manipur. Kangla Fort is one of the most important historic and
archaeological site of Manipur located in the heart of the capital city Imphal.
It had served as tradition seat of past Meetei rulers of Manipur till 1891. The
old Govindajee Temple is the largest Hindu, Vaishnav temple in Imphal city in
Manipur. Under this project, Union Tourism Ministry has carried out works such
as restoration and improvement of outer and inner moat of old Govindajee Temple
and rejuvenation of sacred ponds, reconstruction of old rampart, among others.
Appointments/Resignations:
1. IAS officer K S Srinivas has
taken over as Chairman of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).
MPEDA is a nodal coordinating state owned agency engaged in
fishery production and allied activities. It was established in 1972 under
Marine Products Export Development Authority Act (MPEDA), 1972. It is
headquartered in Kochi, Kerala.
2. Bollywood actor Akshay
Kumar was appointed as brand ambassador
of Road Safety campaigns by Union
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. As part of this
campaign, three short films featuring Akshay Kumar for generating public
awareness towards road safety were also released. The subject of road safety is
of supreme importance in India as approximately around 1,46,000 people had died
in road accidents across the country in 2017.
3. Madhya Pradesh Governor
Anandiben Patel had given additional charge of Chhattisgarh by President Ram
Nath Kovind. She was given additional charge
following death of Chhattisgarh Governor Balramji Dass Tandon (in office from
25 July 2014 to 14 August 2018 till his death after suffering heart attack).
4. Indian scientist-academician N
Raghuram became first Indian and Asian to get elected as Chair of International
Nitrogen Initiative (INI), a global policy making initiative.
He will succeed Mark Sutton of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology,
Edinburgh. David Kanter of the New York University was elected as Vice-Chair.
The new chairs will formally take up their roles on January 1, 2019.
5.
A
three-member committee to look into draft food labelling and display
regulations-Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations 2018
has constituted by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).The
committee will be headed by B Sesikeran, former director of National Institute
of Nutrition (NIN)and comprises of current NIN director Hemalatha and AIIMS’
endocrinologist Nikhil Tandon. FSSAI had
proposed mandatory red-label marking on such packaged food products which are
high in fat, sugar and salt contents. But, Union Health Ministry had put on
hold on the draft regulations, after industry stakeholders had expressed
concerns, citing that it may have an adverse impact on evolving packaged food
industry. So address their concerns, FSSAI has decided to set up committee of
experts with health and nutrition background to look into t draft regulations.
6.
Union
Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has proposed to set up five-member
committee headed by IIT-Madras director Bhaskar Ramamurthy to suggest changes
to JEE (Advanced) in the wake of an inadequate number of candidates qualifying
entrance test this year. The mandate of committee is to
develop robust and scientifically designed entrance exam system to test
potential of candidates as well as to reduce their dependence on coaching
institutes.
Awards:
1. 2018 Albany Medical Center Prize
in Medicine and Biomedical Research (It is United States’ second highest value
prize in medicine and biomedical research, awarded by the Albany Medical Center)
will be given to three US scientists James Allison, Carl June and Steven
Rosenberg. They were awarded in recognition of their
research in immunology and translation of their ideas into effective therapies
that have led to innovative treatments for cancer, HIV and other diseases. They
will receive the award at ceremony to be held in September 2018 in Albany, New
York. They will share this $500,000 medical prize.
2.
Indian
Teen cyclist Esow Alben (17) created history by winning the country’s maiden
medal in track cycling at the world level. He achieved
this feat by winning silver medal in Men’s Keirin event of UCI Junior Track
Cycling World Championships held in Aigle, Switzerland.In the final sprint of
this event, Esow finished just 0.017 seconds behind gold medallist Jakub
Stastny (Czech Republic).
Sports:
1.
The
18th edition of Asian Games was inaugurated in Jakarta, Indonesia.
This will be second time that Indonesia will be hosting Asian Games. For first
it was held in Jakarta in 1962. Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra was India’s
flag-bearer at the glittering opening ceremony. This edition of pan-continental
mega sporting event will be held from August 18 to September 2, 2018 in two
cities – Jakarta (capital of Indonesia) and Palembang (capital of Indonesia’s
province of South Sumatra) to accommodate all branches of sports. This will be
the first time that the Asian Games will be held in two cities.
2.
India
won South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Under-15 Women’s Championship by
defeating Bangladesh in the final match held in Thimpu, Bhutan.
SAFF U-15 Women’s Championship is association football tournament for women’s
national teams under the age of 15 from seven south Asian countries
(Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bhutan). This was
second edition of SAFF Under-15 Women’s Championship.
Deaths:
1. Veteran political leader,
prolific writer and former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee (93) passed
away in New Delhi. He was born on 25th December 1924 in
Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. He was amongst founder members of erstwhile Bharatiya
Jana Sangh (and was its president in 1968 upon death of Deendayal Upadhyaya)
which later became known as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He is a
parliamentarian for over 47 years elected to Lok Sabha for 10 times (elected
for first time in 1957 from Balrampur constituency in Uttar Pradesh) and
2 times to Rajya Sabha. During first non-Congress Government of Prime Minister
Morarji Desai in Centre he had served as Minister of External Affairs. He
served as PM of India between 1996 and 2004 in three non-consecutive terms viz.
May 1996 (for 13 days), 1998–1999 (for 11 months) and 1999–2004(making him
first non-Congress leader to have completed full term as Prime Minister).
During his second term as PM, he had ordered thermonuclear tests in May 1998
which were seen as strategic masterstroke to blunt Pakistan’s nuclear
ambitions. Some of his pet projects launched during his tenure as PM were
National Highway Development Project (Golden Quadrilateral) and Pradhan Mantri
Gram Sadak Yojana, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. In 2009, he had retired from active
politics due to health concerns. His birthday is celebrated as Good Governance
Day (GGD) by the Central Government since 2014 to foster awareness among the
people of accountability in government. His poetry collection is released in
his book Meri Ekyaavan Kavitayein (My 51 Poems). He was awarded the India’s
highest civilian honour ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 2015.
2. Former United Nations
General Secretary and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan (80) passed away in
Bern, Switzerland. He had served as seventh Secretary-General of UN for two terms reigning
from 1997 till 2006. He was first black African to become Secretary-General of
UN and also the first to be elected from UN staff itself. He was born on 8
April 1938 in Kumasi, Gold Coast (now Ghana). After completing his education,
he had joined UN in 1962 as Budget officer for World Health Organization (WHO)
in 1962. He went on to work in various capacities at UN, which included serving
as Under-Secretary-General for UN Peacekeeping from 1992 to 96. Later he had
served as UN Secretary-General for two terms reigning from 1997 till 2006 (He
was succeeded by South Korean diplomat Ban Ki-moon in 2007). He was also
founder and chairman of Kofi Annan Foundation and chairman of ‘The Elders’, an
international organisation founded by Nelson Mandela. He was co-recipient of
2001 Nobel peace prize along with the United Nations. In September 2016, he was
appointed to lead UN commission to investigate Rohingya crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine
province.
Announcement !
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