Latest Current Affairs – November 27 & 28 2018
1. Himachal Pradesh 1st state to launch single emergency number
Himachal Pradesh became first Indian state to launch a single emergency number “112”. This will connect to police, fire, health and other helplines through an Emergency Response Centre in the state. “Ensuring safety of women,…’SHOUT’ feature has been introduced in ‘112 India’ mobile app to seek immediate assistance from registered volunteers…,” Union Home Ministry statement said.
2. Wipro’s Azim Premji conferred highest French civilian honour
Wipro Chairman Azim Premji on Wednesday received the highest French civilian honour, Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) from French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler. The award was bestowed on Premji for his economic outreach in France, his contribution to developing the IT industry in India, and contribution to society as a philanthropist, Ziegler said.
3. Ukraine warns of threat of ‘full-scale war’ with Russia
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has warned of the threat of “full-scale war” with Russia amid the tensions between the two countries. The number of Russian units deployed along the Ukraine-Russian border has “grown dramatically”, he said. Russia seized three Ukrainian Navy ships and captured 24 Ukrainian sailors off the coast of Crimea, accusing them of entering its territorial waters.
4. India, US and Japan to hold trilateral meet at G20 summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe and US President Donald Trump will participate in a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina later this week. This will be the first trilateral meeting between India, Japan and the US at the leaders’ level. The G20 summit will be held from November 30-December 1.
5. Govt to sell 100% stake in Air India’s ground handling subsidiary
A ministerial panel led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley decided to sell 100% of Air India’s ground handling arm Air India Air Transport Services (AIATSL). The proceeds will be used to retire a part of Air India’s debt. The government also plans to transfer a “significant part” of the airline’s debt to a special purpose vehicle (SPV).
6. ‘My Name is Lakhan’ singer Mohammed Aziz passes away aged 64
Singer Mohammed Aziz passed away aged 64 following a cardiac arrest in Mumbai. The singer’s daughter Sana Aziz said he was returning from Kolkata when he collapsed at the airport. Aziz, who did playback singing in Hindi, Bengali and Odia films, was known for songs like ‘My Name is Lakhan’, ‘Mard Tangewala’ and ‘Main Teri Mohabbat Mein’.
7. India, China to hold joint military exercises from Dec 10
The militaries of China and India would hold a joint 14-day drill from December 10 in southwest China’s Chengdu city to improve their capabilities in fighting terrorism and promote mutual understanding. Each side will send 100 troops to take part in the 7th India and China joint military exercises – ‘Hand in Hand’ – which will focuss on counter-terrorism operations.
The exercises will be held after a gap of one year as both the sides were locked in a 73-day standoff in Doklam in the Sikkim sector of the border in 2017.
8. Govt launched ‘Paisa’ portal for affordable credit and interest subvenion access
The government launched a centralised electronic platform for processing interest subvention on bank loans to beneficiaries under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), called ‘Paisa’. PAiSA, or `Portal for Affordable Credit and Interest Subvention Access’, is a web platform designed and developed by Allahabad Bank, which is the nodal bank.
9. Researchers developed new method that uses sunlight to purify water
Scientists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) in Germany have developed a simple process that can remove persistent pollutants in water using mere sunlight under the most basic conditions.
The researchers rely on electrons moving freely in water, called hydrated electrons, to degrade dissolved pollutants. They conducted a field trial in a meadow and tested their new approach in water contaminated with chloroacetic acid. The pollutants were eliminated in a small sample of water even when there was only a moderate amount of sunshine. Follow-up studies will examine whether the method developed by the chemists in Halle can also be used for large-scale removal of pollutants.
10. Reserve Bank of India Eases Hedging Norms For ECBs To 70% From Current 100%
Reserve Bank of India relaxed norms for External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) by reducing the mandatory hedging provision to 70% from the current 100%. The relaxed norms will apply to the ECBs with a maturity period between 3 and 5 years.
11. Gujarat topped in implementing Ayushman Bharat after 2 months of launch: NHA
According to the National Health Agency, after 2 months of the launch of Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, Gujarat emerged as the top performer under the scheme. Around 76,000 hospital admissions have been cleared in Gujarat since September 23, Tamil Nadu ranked second at 54,273 and Chhattisgarh third at 53,180 sanctioned hospitals.
Karnataka and Maharashtra rank 4th and 5th closing off the top 5 ranks under the scheme. Although Uttar Pradesh and Bihar accounted for the highest number of beneficiaries, they still rank among the lowest performers so far. UP verified 1.18 crore families as beneficiaries and in Bihar, the number is 1.09 crore families.
12. Govt transferred over Rs 1,600 crore to 48.5 lakh mothers under PMKVY: CDFI
According to Centre for Digital Financial Inclusion (CDFI), the government had transferred over Rs 1,600 crore to 48.5 lakh mothers under Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana through direct benefit transfer. The exact figure is Rs 16,04,66,63,000 and the process have been conceptualized, designed and implemented by CDFI through the PMMVY-CAS (Common Application Software) System.
13. Centre and ADB sign 200 Million Dollar loan pact to upgrade State Highways in Bihar
The Centre and Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a 200 million dollar loan agreement to finance widening and upgrading of about 230 Kilometers State Highways in Bihar to all-weather standards with road safety features. The agreement was signed by Additional Secretary in the Finance Ministry Sameer Kumar Khare and Officer-in-Charge of ADB’s India Resident Mission, Rajeev P Singh in New Delhi.
14. National Milk Day observed on 26 November
National Milk Day that was started in 2014 on 26th November to mark the birth anniversary of the father of White Revolution, Dr Verghese Kurien was celebrated in the Meghalaya for the first time. Kurien was the architect of Operation Flood which was launched in 1970 by India’s National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). India’s Operation flood was the world’s biggest dairy development program which gave a major thrust to the milk production of the nation.
