Latest Current Affairs – July 06 2018
1. NSG becomes 1st central force to opt for eticketing
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) signed a MoU with the National Security Guard (NSG) at the headquarters of the special force, New Delhi. This system will eliminate the need for carrying railway warrants by the NSG personnel.
The NSG is the first central paramilitary force to opt for e-ticketing instead of the railway warrant under an agreement signed with the IRCTC. The IRCTC is also developing an e-ticketing-cum-warrant management system for the Central Reserve Police Force.
2. Nasscom opened a CoE for Data Science and AI
National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) opened a Centre of Excellence for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and signed a MoU with NITI Aayog to collaboratively foster applied research, accelerating adoption and ethics, privacy and security.
The aim is to strengthen the country’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) ecosystem. Nasscom will also include NITI Aayog as a knowledge partner.
Both the CoE and MoU aims to serve as a platform for intelligence-sharing and technology collaboration between stakeholders to build collective capabilities for the industry and country in the cutting-edge areas AI.
- Chairperson of Nasscom: Rishad Premji
- Vice Chairman of Nasscom: Keshav R. Murugesh
- Headquarters: Noida, Delhi
3. CEAT signs MoU for greenfield plan
Tyre major CEAT, the flagship company of the RPG Group, signed a MoU with the Tamil Nadu State government to invest Rs.4,000 crore in a greenfield plant in Sriperumbudur near Chennai to boost the State’s tyre manufacturing capacity.
This plant would boost its capabilities in the motorcycle and car tyre segments. The company would start with car radial tyres, with an initial capacity of around 250 tonnes per day.
CEAT has acquired 163 acres of land by itself for the project. The financial incentives for the project have been the approved by the State Cabinet.
4. Uttarakhand High Court declared animals to be ‘legal persons’
A division bench of Justices Rajiv Sharma and Lokpal Singh bestowed the unique status on the animal kingdom while issuing a series of directions to prevent cruelty against animals.
The Uttarakahnd High Court in the past had given a similar right to river Ganga when it ordered that the river is a human entity and will enjoy all corresponding rights.
5. Rajasthan government approved 1 percent reservation for 5 communities, including Gujjars
This comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Jaipur on July 7. The five communities who benefit from this order of the Rajasthan government are – Godia Lohar, Banjara, Gujjar, Raika and Gadaria.
Two separate orders have been issued by the state government – one for admission to educational institutions, and the other for government jobs.
6. Gujarat CM launched ‘Poshan Abhiyan’ to eradicate malnutrition
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani launched ‘Poshan Abhiyan’ – a statewide mission to eradicate malnutrition among children by providing them nutritious food through Anganwadi centres. He also launched ‘Purna’ project to eliminate malnutrition among girls in the age group of 14 to 18, at an allocated cost of Rs 270 crore.
♦ Full form of PURNA – Prevention of Under Nutrition and Reduction of Nutritional Anaemia among Adolescent Girls.
♦ Nationwide Poshan Mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Rajasthan on March 8 this year.
7. Cabinet approved Umbrella schemes for relief and rehabilitation of Migrants and repatriates to continue up to 2020
The Union Cabinet approved the Umbrella scheme Relief and Rehabilitation of Migrants and Repatriates of Ministry of Home Affairs to continue the 8 existing schemes up to March 2020.
This schemes will provide relief and rehabilitation assistance to refugees, displaced persons, civilian victims of terrorist, communal, Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence and cross-border firing and mine and IED blasts on Indian territory and riot victims of various incidents etc.
The 8 Schemes are:
♦ Central Assistance for one-time settlement of displaced families from Pak Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and Chhamb settled in J&K.
♦ Rehabilitation Package and up-gradation of infrastructure of Bangladeshi Enclaves and Cooch Behar District after transfer of enclaves between India and Bangladesh under Land Boundary Agreement (LBA).
♦ Relief assistance to Sri Lankan refugees staying in camps in Tamil Nadu and Odisha.
♦ Grant-in-Aid to Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC) for 5 years for administrative and social welfare expenses of Tibetan settlements.
♦ Grant-in-Aid to Tripura Government for maintenance of Brus lodged in relief camps of Tripura.
♦ Rehabilitation of Bru and Reang families from Tripura to Mizoram.
♦ Grant of enhanced relief of Rs. 5.00 lakh per deceased person, who died during the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots.
♦ Central Scheme for Assistance to Civilian Victims, Family of Victims of Terrorist, Communal, LWE Violence and Cross-Border Firing and Mine and IED blasts on Indian Territory.
8. Piyush Goyal launched the ‘Khan Prahari’ App and Surveillance system for unauthorised coal mining
Union Minister of Coal, Piyush Goyal launched the Coal Mine Surveillance & Management System (CMSMS) and Mobile Application ‘Khan Prahari’, which has been developed by CMPDI, Ranchi, a Subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL) and Bhaskarcharya Institute of Space Application and Geo-informatics (BISAG). It aims to report, monitor and take suitable action on unauthorised coal mining activities.
For each complaint, the alert will go to the Coal India Offices, State Government Officers, District Magistrate and SP of the district.
9. Cabinet approved renaming Agartala airport
The Union Cabinet approved the proposal of renaming Agartala Airport in Tripura as Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore Airport, Agartala. The decision comes in the demand of both the people of Tripura as well as Government of Tripura for paying tribute to Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore.
Agartala Airport was constructed in 1942 on the land donated by Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore. Due to his initiative, an aerodrome at Agartala was constructed and it has now evolved into the second busiest airport in North East providing crucial air connectivity to Tripura.
10. Madhya Pradesh government launches subsidised power scheme named Sambal
Under Sambal Yojana, the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families would be provided electricity at a cost of Rs 200 per month.
The scheme is expected to benefit 88 lakh families in the state.
♦ Objective:-
To make sure that all the households in Madhya Pradesh have power facility.
♦ Who are eligible for the Sambal scheme?
People who are not using air-conditioners, electric heaters and whose power consumption is below 1000 watts would be eligible for this scheme.
11. Vishwas Patel appointed as new Chairman of Payments Council of India
Vishwas Patel, Director, Infibeam Avenues Limited, has been appointed as new Chairman of Payments Council of India (PCI), the apex body representing the companies in the payments and settlement system. PCI has also announced the appointment of Loney Antony, Managing Director, Hitachi Payment Services as its new Co-Chairman.
12. ISROs first ‘pad abort’ test conducted successfully
The PAT (Pad Abort Test) was conducted at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. It marks the first step to qualify India’s indigenous Crew Escape System technology for launching astronauts into space.
The Crew Escape System is an emergency accident avoidance measure designed to quickly get astronauts and their spacecraft away from the launch vehicle if a malfunction occurs during the initial stage of the launch. A prior critical experiment was carried out on December 18, 2014, when the CARE (Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment) capsule successfully demonstrated that it could survive atmospheric re-entry.
13. World Zoonoses Day observed on 6th July
Zoonosis is derived from the Greek words zoon ‘animal’ and nosos ‘ailment’. It describes the process whereby an infectious disease is transmitted between species, from animals to humans. Approximately 150 zoonotic diseases are known to exist. World Zoonoses Day is observed on July 6 every year to create awareness among the people for zoonotic diseases.
The most common zoonotic diseases:
♦ Plague
♦ Tuberculosis
♦ Ringworm
♦ Roundworms
♦ Scabies
♦ Cat Scratch Fever
♦ Rabies
