Weekly Current Affairs

Transcription

1 Weekly Current Affairs 25 February 03 March, 2018

2 National News 1. National Conference on e-governance in Hyderabad: The 21 st edition of the National Conference on e-governance will be organized on February, 2018 in Hyderabad, Telangana. The theme for the conference will be- Technology for Accelerating Development. 2. PM launches Amma Two-wheeler scheme in Chennai: Prime Minister NarendraModi will launch the Tamil Nadu Government s Amma Two-Wheeler Scheme. Under the scheme, 50% subsidy will be provided to the working women to buy two-wheelers. 3. Ras Banaras Sanskrit Mahotsav in Varanasi: The Ministry of Culture has organized a diversified cultural festival- Ras Banaras- Swachhagrah- BapukoKaaryaanjali, in Varanasi. The festival aims to connect the youth to the country s rich culture apart from giving a message of cleanliness to the people of Varanasi. 4. AadiMahotsav in Assam: To celebrate the ethnic tribal culture of the country, the Government of Assam has organized a tribal festival called AadiMahotsav in Guwahati. The 10 day festival was inaugurated by SarbanandaSonowal, Chief Minister of Assam. 5. UIDAI launches BalAadhaar: Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has launched BalAadhaar for kids under 5 years of age. It will have blue color to differentiate it from the regular Aadhaar cards. It will be linked with one of the parent s Aadhaar card and no biometric details will be required for it st National Conference on e-governance held in Hyderabad: The 21 st edition of the National Conference on e-governance was recently held in Hyderabad, Telangana. It was organized by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances along with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The theme for this year was- Technology for Accelerating Development. 7. Viral Load Test for People with HIV:

3 The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched Viral Load Testing for the people living with HIV/AIDS. The test measures the amount of HIV RNA in milliliter of blood. The test will provide free of cost viral load testing for 12 lakhs people living with HIV/AIDS. 8. Union Government to launch GOBAR-DhanYojna: With an aim to manage and convert cattle dung and solid waste into compost, the Union Government is going to launch Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan (GOBAR-DHAN) Scheme. The scheme will also help in keeping the village clean while increasing the income of farmers and cattle herders. 9. Cabinet approval for the Action Plan for Champion Sectors in Services: Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of Ministry of Commerce and Industry to give focused attention to 12 identified Champion Services Sectors (CSS) for promoting their development and realizing their potential. The 12 identified CSS are: IT and IT enabled services, Medical Value Travel, Transport and Logistics, Tourism and Hospitality, Accounting and Finance, Audio Visual, Communication, Legal, Construction and Related Engineering, Environmental, Financial and Educational. 10. Government launches 2 nd SwajalYojna project in Rajasthan: Uma Bharti, the Union Minister of Drinking water and Sanitation has launched the second project of SwajalYojna in Rajasthan. Swajal is a community owned drinking water program for sustained drinking water supply. The project aims to construct four reservoirs in the village and a common tap connection will be given to almost 300 households. 11. Cabinet approves establishment of National Financial Reporting Authority: With an aim to tighten regulatory oversight over auditors, the Union Cabinet has approved the establishment of National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) as an independent regulator for the auditing profession. NFRA will be established under Companies Act 2013 to ensure quality audit. 12. Maharashtra Government ties up with Wikipedia to promote Marathi: The Government of Maharashtra has collaborated with Wikipedia to promote Marathi and increase its online usage. The Marathi people will be provided a platform and encouraged to write about their profession in their native language. 13. Maharashtra s first Mega Food Park inaugurated:

4 HarsimratKaurBadal, Minister of Food Processing Industries, has inaugurated the Maharashtra s first Mega Food Park named as Satara Mega Food Park in Satara district. With this, the number of Mega Food Parks in country became 12. Mega Food Park scheme has been implemented in the country by the Ministry of Food Processing to create modern infrastructure facilities for food processing along with value chain from farm to market through cluster based approach. International News & Foreign Affairs 1. Anti-Dumping duty on ceramicware from China: With an aim to protect the domestic producers, the Union Finance Ministry has imposed anti-dumping duty on ceramic tableware and kitchenware from China. $ 1.04 per kg of anti-dumping duty will be imposed on both the items, making the import expensive. 2. International Conference on Sustainable Bio-fuels begins in New Delhi: A two day International Conference on Sustainable Biofuels was jointly organized by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India on Behalf of Mission Innovation and Biofuture Platform In New Delhi. 3. China elected as vice chair of FATF: China has been elected as the vice chair of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which is an inter-governmental policy making body that aims to establish International standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. FATF has placed Pakistan under Grey List in its plenary meeting in Paris. 4. India-South Korea Business Summit in New Delhi: The 2 nd edition of the India-Korea Business Summit was held in New Delhi. It was addressed by Prime Minister NarendraModi. The theme for this year is India-Korea: Scaling up the Special Strategic Relationship through Trade and Investments. The aim of the summit was to create a platform for the Government officials and top business leaders from both the countries to discuss the relevant issues. 5. India secures 47 th rank on Inclusive Internet Index 2018: India has achieved 47 th rank out of 86 countries in the Inclusive Internet Index 2018 report. The report was commissioned by Facebook in 2017 and conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

5 6. TAPI- Work begins in Afghanistan: Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have ceremonially broke ground in Afghanistan for the ambitious TAPI gas pipeline project. TAPI gas pipeline is 1840 km long trans-country project from Caspian sea, Turkmenistan to India through Afghanistan and Pakistan. The estimated cost of the project is $10 billion and is being funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB). Both India and Pakistan will get supply of about 38 mmscmd whereas Afghanistan will get 14 mmscmd of natural gas. Banking 1. RBI launches Ombudsman scheme for NBFCs: India s Central Bank, RBI has launched Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) for the redressal of complaints against NBFCs registered with RBI under section 45-IA of the RBI Act The scheme will provide cost-free and expeditious complaint redressal mechanism. The offices of Ombudsman will function at four metro cities-mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi and Kolkata. 2. RBI raises ETCD trading limit to $100 million: The Central Bank of India has raised the exposure limit under Exchange Traded Currency Derivatives (ETCD) trading for the residents and Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) to $100 million across all currency pairs involving Indian rupee. The step has been taken to help entities engaged in forex transactions to maintain their currency risks in better manner. 3. PNB and ICICI Bank increase MCLR Rates: The Punjab National Bank and ICICI have increased the Marginal Cost of funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) from 8.3% to 8.15% and from 8.2% to 8.3% respectively. New Appointments & Person in News 1. HarmanpreetKaur joins Punjab Police as DSP: Indian woman cricketer HarmanpreetKaur has joined Punjab Police as Deputy Superitendent of Police.

6 Science Tech & Defence 1. Andaman & Nicobar Command to host Milan 2018 : The Andaman & Nicobar Command will host a multinational mega event MILAN 2018 in the second week of March. The event will be a congregation of littoral navies conducted biennially by Indian Navy at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands under the aegis of the Andaman and Nicobar Command. 2. IAF conducts first ever Online Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT): With an aim to promote Digital India Initiative, the Indian Air Force has brought in Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), which is a Government undertaking under the Ministry of Electronics and IT. It has conducted the first ever on-line test for Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT) and Selection Test for Airmen Recruitment (STAR). 3. DRDO successfully Test Flight Rustom 2: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully conducted the first test flight of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Rustom-2 in user configuration with high power engine. The flight was conducted at its Aeronautical Test Range at Chitradurga in Karnataka. 4. Maldives declines India s invitation for Milan : Maldives has declined India s invitation to participate in the biennial naval exercise Milan starting from March 6. This is due to the state of emergency in Maldives after the Government refused a Supreme Court order to release political prisoners. 5. ATMG Nag successfully test fired: Indigenously developed Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATMG) Nag has been successfully test-fired. With this, the developmental trials of Nag missile have been completed and is now ready for induction. ATMG Nag is one of the five missiles indigenously developed by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP). The other four missiles are- Agni, Akash,Trishul and Prithvi. 6. Paschim Lehar concludes: Indian Navy concluded Tri-Service Maritime Exercise Paschim Lehar off the western coast in Arabian Sea. The exercise aimed to enhance cooperation and interoperability between Indian Navy, Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Coast Guard.

7 7. Annual Army Seminar : Minister of State for Defence, DrSubhashBhamre has inaugurated the one day Annual Army Seminar for The seminar aims to showcase the contribution of Army towards nation building. 8. RISE Scheme- IITs to get largest chunk of loans: The Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) will get the largest chunk of loans on offer under Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE). It is a new funding model scheme for all centrally run institutes. The scheme was announced in budget th February- World NGO Day: Important days The World NGO Day is observed annually on 27 th February. It was first hosted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in th February- National Science Day: The National Science Day is observed on 28 th February every year to create awareness about the importance of science and its application in the world. The day is observed to mark the discovery of Raman Effect by CV Raman on 28 th February The theme for this year was- Science and Technology for a sustainable future. 3. Assam to observe September 22 as Rhino Day: With an aim to generate public awareness about the protection of one-horned rhinoceros, the Government of Assam will observe 22 nd September as Rhino Day. The State Government is also launching the State Rhino Project in line with the National Rhino Project for protecting them from the threats of poaching. Sports 1. Indian to win st ArunaBudda Reddy becomes 1individual medal at Gymnastics World Cup: ArunaBudda Reddy has become the first Indian to win an individual medal at the Gymnastics World Cup in Melbourne, Australia.

8 She has won the bronze medal in the Women s Vault. 2. MorneMorkel announces retirement: South African fast bowler MorneMorkel has announced his retirement from International cricket. The 33 year old player has played 83 tests and picked up 294 wickets so far. 3. Karnataka wins Vijay Hazare Trophy: Karnataka has won the Vijay Hazare Trophy by defeating Saurashtrain the final match by 41 runs. Karnataka has won the tournament for the third time. 4. Roger Federer and Serena Williams becomes Most Decorated Laureus Award Winner: Roger Federer and Serena Williamshave become the most decorated winners in the history of Laureus World Sports Awards. 5. NavjotKaur 1 st Indian woman to win gold in senior Asian Championship: NavjotKaur has become the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold in the Senior Asian Championship. She has won in the 65 kg freestyle category. 1. Sridevi passed away: Obituaries Veteran Bollywood actress Sridevi passed away in Dubai at the age of 54. She died due to cardiac arrest.

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