Current Affairs Daily Digest – February 12 2019
1.Textiles Ministry to Organize Outreach Programme for Stakeholders
Ministry of Textiles is organizing an outreach programme for Textiles Sector MSMEs , in New Delhi to hold interactions with the stakeholders to help them avail the support and outreach for 100 days programme announced by the Prime Minister.Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, Dr. Thawar Chand Gehlot will be the Chief Guest. Minister of Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani will preside over the function. An exhibition showcasing achievements of the textiles sector MSMEswill also be held during thisoccasion.
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, had launched the support and outreach 100 days programme for MSMEs on 2nd November, 2018 identifying one hundred districts in various sectors across the country. Amongst these, thirty-nine districts were identified for textiles sector – 12 for handloom, 19 for handicraft and 8 for power loom.
2.Indian Historian Wins Israel’s Million Dollar Dan David Prize
Noted Indian historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam has won Israel’s prestigious Dan David Prize for this year for his work on inter-cultural encounters between Asians, Europeans and people of North and South America during the early modern era. Mr Subrahmanyam, son of strategic analyst K Subrahmanyam and brother of former foreign secretary S Jaishankar, won the award in the category of ”past time dimension” for his work in macro history. He shares the USD 1 million award in this category with Prof Kenneth Pomeranz of University of Chicago.
The international Dan David Prize is awarded annually to those who have made outstanding scientific, technological and humanistic accomplishments in fields representing the past, present and future of human achievement. Three Dan David Prize are given every year.
This year’s winners were chosen from the three categories for their work in macro history, defending democracy and combating climate change, respectively.
3.NTPC signs pact with SBI for Rs 5K crore term loan
State-owned power giant NTPC said that it has signed a term loan agreement for Rs 5,000 crore with State Bank of India. The loan facility is extended at an interest rate linked to 3-Month MCLR of the Bank. This loan has a door to door tenure of 15 years and will be utilised to part finance the capital expenditure of NTPC.
The loan agreement was signed by Masood A Ansari, General Manager (Finance), NTPC Ltd and Neelabh Sinha, Dy General Manager, SBI in the presence of Saptarshi Roy, Director (Finance), NTPC Ltd , Sudhir Arya, CFO, NTPC Ltd and Pradeep Kelshikar, General Manager, SBI.
4.PM launches DD Arunprabha – a dedicated 24×7 Satellite channel for Arunachal Pradesh
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched DD Arunprabha at Arunachal Pradesh. He also laid foundation stone of Film and Television Institute (FTI) and several other projects in the state.
In order to strengthen and develop the culture of the State, a dedicated 24×7 Satellite TV channel DD Arunprabha has been launched by the Government. PM expressed hope that the channel will act as an ambassador of the culture of the state and will familiarize people across India with the beauty and the culture of the State.
5.Senior National Badminton C’ships begin in Guwahati
The Senior National Badminton Championship has begun in Guwahati. The event which is being held in Guwahati after 9 years will see the participation of some of the top players including Saina Nehwal, P V Sindhu, Sameer Verma and P Kashyap among others. The top 8 players ranked below 50 in the BWF- world rankings will directly start their games from the Pre- Quarter finals that begin on 14th February.
6.India and Norway launch initiative to combat Marine Pollution
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change today signed a letter of Intent establishing the India-Norway Marine Pollution Initiative together with the Norwegian ministry of Foreign Affairs. In January, 2019, the Indian and Norwegian governments agreed to work more closely on oceans by signing a MoU and establishing the India-Norway Ocean Dialogue during the Norwegian Prime Minister’s visit to India in January.
In partnership, Norway and India will share experiences and competence, and collaborate on efforts to develop clean and healthy oceans, sustainable use of ocean resources and growth in the blue economy.
Both the governments launched the first Joint initiative under this new partnership. The India-Norway Marine Pollution Initiative will combat marine pollution, which is one of the fastest growing environmental concerns.
7.3-Day Long Krishi Kumbh Held In Bihar
In Bihar, Governor Lalji Tandon and Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh jointly inaugurated the three-day Krishi Kumbh in Motihari. Over fifteen thousand farmers from different states and about two hundred agricultural scientists are participating in the Kumbh.
The objective of Krishi Kumbh is to promote modern techniques and diversification in agriculture that could help in doubling farmers income. The government is creating strong infrastructure from “Beej to Bazar” for enhancing the income of farmers.
8.IIP grows at 2.4% in December as compared to 7.3% in year-ago period
Industrial output growth remained subdued at 2.4 per cent in December 2018 on account of contraction in the mining segment and poor show by the manufacturing sector. Factory output as measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had grown by 7.3 per cent in December 2017, according to the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) .
The industrial growth for November 2018 was revised downwards to 0.3 per cent from the provisional estimate of 0.5 per cent released last month. During April-December 2018-19, industrial output grew at 4.6 per cent against 3.7 per cent in the same period of the previous fiscal.
The manufacturing sector, which constitutes 77.63 per cent of the index, recorded a low growth of 2.7 per cent in December as against 8.7 per cent expansion in the year-ago month. Mining sector production contracted by 1 per cent in December as against 1.2 per cent growth in December 2017. The growth of the power sector output remained flat at 4.4 per cent in December 2018.
9.Deepa Mehta to be feted with Lifetime Achievement Award
Acclaimed Indo-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta will be given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Mehta, best known for her Elements Trilogy – “Fire”, “Earth” and “Water” – In May 2012, Mehta received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada’s highest honour in the performing arts.
The Canadian Screen Awards are awards given annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television recognising excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media productions.
Mehta’s “Earth” was submitted by India as its official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and “Water” was Canada’s official entry for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. “Earth” was the first to receive an Oscar nomination.
10.Egypt’s President el-Sissi Elected New Chairman of African Union
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has been elected chairman of the African Union at the continental body’s summit in Ethiopia.
The rights group Amnesty International warned that el-Sisi’s chairmanship might undermine the African Union’s human rights mechanisms. The rights group said Egypt since 2015 has orchestrated a sustained political attack against the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the body that aims to monitor African states’ human rights records.
11.YES BANK Bags Data Science Innovation Award
YES BANK has been announced as the winner of the 9th edition of Aegis Graham Bell Award 2018 for its ‘Yes Engage Enrich Excel (EEE)’ project in data science. YES EEE program is an industry-first analytics tool that aids the Bank’s relationship managers with top three talking points to engage with their customers.
Graham Bell Awards, in its 8th edition this year, specifically in the area of data science. We are proud of our industry-first data science initiatives like YES EEE. We have been quick adopters of data-driven decision making culture and believe that such initiatives have been instrumental in giving a competitive advantage to the Bank.
12.Prime Minister addresses 16,000 women Swachhata Champions to honour Swachh Shakti
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, saluted the contribution made by women in leading the Swachh Bharat people’s movement. He was addressing 16,000 women Swachhata Champions from across the country who have come to Kurukshetra, Haryana, for the Swachh Shakti 2019 convention.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister spoke about the symbolism in holding this convention in Kurukshetra, the birthplace of the Bhagwad Gita. He said that the presence of thousands of Women Swachhagrahis from across the country is another message from the same land and will serve to affirm the message of Swachhata in the country and the whole world.
The Prime Minister said that women safety and dignity was his prime inspiration behind announcing the Swachh Bharat Mission on 15 August 2014 from the ramparts of the Red Fort. He said that it was because of the efforts made by the people of India, especially women, that the sanitation coverage in rural India, which stood at merely 39% as of October 2014 even after 67 years of India’s independence, has today crossed the 98% mark in just a little over four years of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).
13.1st LAWASIA Human Rights Conference to be held in New Delhi
LAWASIA, in association with the Bar Association of India, is pleased to invite the participation of members and legal professionals at the 1st LAWASIA Human Rights Conference to be held in New Delhi.
Hosted at the Hyatt Regency Delhi, and with a theme of “State Power, Business and Human Rights: Contemporary Challenges”, the conference will explore a broad range of human rights issues of relevance in the Asia Pacific region, including:
- Gender, Sexuality and Human Rights
- New Technologies, Privacy and Mass Surveillance
- Experiences and Challenges of Human Rights Lawyers
- Aggressive Policing and Human Rights
- Freedom of the Press in the Digital Age
- Cross-border Migration & its Conflicts
- Climate Change, Water Conflicts & Human Rights
- Business and Human Rights
This is LAWASIA’s inaugural Human Rights Conference, providing a unique opportunity for lawyers and associated professional members to exchange insights and expertise on topics of significant importance to all.
14.Asia’s largest early Childhood Conference – Early Ed Asia 2019 begins tomorrow
Jaipur organised the Early Ed Asia 2019. This two day educational event, touted to be Asia’s largest conference on Early Childhood will be held at the pink city’s most revered heritage structure – The iconic City Palace.
Conceived and presented by Early Childhood Association (ECA) and ScooNews under the patronage of the Royal Family of Jaipur, the conference will bring together the brightest minds in Early Childhood Education on 12th and 13th February to discuss the latest trends in teaching and research to provide a stronger foundation to our children.
It is the first time that a conference of this magnitude is organised around early childhood education in India.
15.Gordon Banks death: World Cup winning England goalkeeper dies, aged 81
The legendary England footballer, who was part of the victorious 1966 World Cup side, passed away.
Banks started his professional football career with Chesterfield in the old third division, but after just one season secured a move to Leicester City where he made 356 appearances over eight seasons between 1959 and 1967.
While with Leicester Banks won the 1964 League Cup, and his form earned him international recognition in 1963 with his first England call-up. England manager Sir Alf Ramsey promoted Banks to his first-choice goalkeeper and in 1966 he played every minute of England’s World Cup campaign as they triumphed on home soil.
