Latest Current Affairs – February 11 2019
1.Light House Projects challenge” launched
The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has instituted a challenge for States/ UTs to select six sites across the country for constructing the Lighthouse projects under GHTC-India. MoHUA encourages all States/ UTs to participate in this challenge proactively. The winning six States/ UTs that score the highest marks across the prescribed criteria will be awarded lighthouse projects.
In addition to this, a Technology Innovation Grant (TIG) for the States/ UTs is provisioned to offset the impact of any additional cost implication due to the use of new technology and to absorb the issues related to economies of scale and other related factors.
The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has already launched a “Global Housing Technology Challenge-India (GHTC- India)”. The challenge has three components viz. i) Conduct of Grand Expo-cum-Conference, ii) Identifying Proven Demonstrable Technologies from across the globe and iii) Promoting Potential Technologies through the establishment of Affordable Sustainable Housing Accelerators- India (ASHA-I) for incubation and accelerator support.
2.Corentin Moutet wins Chennai Open ATP challenger title
France’s Corentin Moutet, the second-seed, beat Andrew Harris of Australia 6-3, 6-3 in the singles final to win the title in Chennai Open ATP Challenger tennis tournament in Chennai. The 19-year old left-hander displayed a range of exquisite shots, tremendous agility and exemplary court-craft in subduing Harris, a former junior doubles champion at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Harris coming into the final on the back of some tough matches, struggled to find his form particularly on his ground strokes. His single-hand backhand did not find its target often enough.
3.Pankaj Advani wins 86th senior snooker national championship
Country’s ace cueist Pankaj Advani Sunday defeated Lakshman Rawat by 6-0 to clinch the 86th Senior Snooker National Championship title. Advani won by 70-36, 91-22, 66-06, 65-51, 77-49, 59-18 in the finals .
After successful 11 Indian titles as a junior, Advani, as a senior, has received 9 billiards, 3 six-red snooker and now 9 snooker gold medals. Advani now has 21 global titles and 21 nationwide titles as a males’s participant, in each snooker and billiards.
4.BAFTA Awards 2019
Awards season moved across the pond with this year’s BAFTA Awards in London.
“The Favourite” took home the most awards with seven, including both actress categories for Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman and best original screenplay, though “Roma” nabbed the top prize for best film.
The Yorgo Lanthimos film also took home prizes for best production design, best costume design, best hair & makeup and the outstanding British film prize. “Roma” came in second with four prizes, including best director for Alfonso Cuaron, best film not in the English language, and best cinematography.
The leading actor prize went to Rami Malek for “Bohemian Rhapsody” while favorite Mahershala Ali was lauded for “Green Book.” “Vice” surprised with the award for best editing, while “BlacKkKlansman” took home the best adapted screenplay trophy.
5.INS Trikand participates in exercise Cutlass Express 2019
INS Trikand, a front-line warship of the Indian Navy, participated in a multinational training exercise ‘CUTLASS EXPRESS – 19’ held from 27 Jan to 06 Feb 19. The aim of the exercise was to improve law enforcement capacity, promote regional security and progress inter-operability between the armed forces of the participating nations for the purpose of interdicting illegal maritime activity in the Western Indian Ocean.
During the exercise, Naval, Coast Guard and Marine Police personnel from a number of East African countries were jointly trained by mentors from USA, India, and Netherlands, with support of international organisations like the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Combined Maritime Force (CMF) and European Naval Forces (EUNAVFOR).
The Indian Navy played a significant role in ‘CUTLASS EXPRESS – 19’, being involved in planning, coordination and execution. Through INS Trikand, the IN provided a platform for live Visit Board Search Seizure (VBSS) drills, which proved to be of immense training value to the participating nations.
6. United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in Science: 11 February
February 11, 2019, is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, an annual occasion established in 2015 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to support and promote the access of women and girls and their participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, training and research activities at all levels.
Now in its fourth year, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science has the support of over 68 countries, who have all committed to transforming the world through achieving equality and parity in science for sustainable development.
2019 Theme: “Investment in Women and Girls in Science for Inclusive Green Growth”
7.Engineers India bags Mongolian oil refinery deal
An MoU for this was signed on the sidelines of the Petrotech 2019 event . Under the deal, EIL will provide project management consultancy (PMC) services to Mongol Refinery. The Mongolia government is setting up the 1.5 million tonnes per annum greenfield crude oil refinery through Mongol Refinery State Owned LLC under a line of credit (LoC) extended by India.
EIL has carried out a detailed feasibility study for the project. It was pre-qualified and subsequently shortlisted for providing PMC services.
8.Harsimrat Kaur inaugurates Himachal’s first mega food park
Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated Cremica Food Park, which is the first mega food park of Himachal Pradesh. The Park is located at Village Singhain Una District of Himachal Pradesh.The mega food park has been set up at a cost of Rs 107.34 crore.
This is the first mega food park operationalised in Himachal Pradesh. The inauguration took place in presence of Jai Ram Thakur, Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh and Anurag Singh Thakur, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Hamirpur, according to the statement.
The park has been set up in 52.40 acre of land at a cost of Rs 107.34 crore. The facilities being created by the developer at Central Processing Centre (CPC) of this mega food park include Multi-crop pulping line with bulk aseptic packaging (24 MT/ hour), Frozen storage (1,000 MT), Deep Freeze, Dry Warehouse, QC Laboratory and other food processing facilities.
9.PM Narendra Modi lays foundation for Sela Tunnel
In a key move aimed at improving all weather connectivity and enabling the swift movement of Indian troops to Arunachal Pradesh bordering China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Sela Tunnel Project. The tunnel is being built at an estimated cost of ₹687 crores by the Border Roads Organisation and is to be completed in three years.
It aims to provide all weather connectivity to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh — an area claimed entirely by China — and other forward areas. Once built it will cut travel time to Tawang by at least an hour for Indian troops stationed in adjoining Assam’s Tezpur town — the headquarters of the Indian army’s IV Corps.
It (the project) covers a total distance of 12.04 kms which consist of two tunnels of 1790 metres and 475 meters.
10.Boost for IAF, Boeing delivers first four Chinook helicopters
In a major boost for the operational capabilities of the Indian Air Force, Boeing delivered the first batch of four Chinook helicopters to India which has procured 15 of these helicopters from the United States.
The multi-mission, heavy-lift transport helicopter was delivered at the Mudra port in Gujarat after it was initially handed over to the Indian authorities in the United States earlier this week. They will be formally inducted into the Indian Air Force later this year.
The company had delivered the helicopter in the presence of Indian ambassador to the US Harsh Shringla during the ‘India-Chinook Transfer Ceremony’. The helicopter will be used by the Air Force to move and transport troops, cargo, artillery, ammunition supplies and equipments across the length and breadth of the country. The procurement of the machine is in line with modernisation push of its helicopter fleet by the Indian Air Force.
