Current Affairs - December 22, 2017 Current Affairs

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently approved the Ministry of Railways' trans-formative initiative to set up India's first-ever National Rail and Transport University (NRTU) in Vadodara to skill its human resources and build capability. This innovative idea, inspired by the Prime Minister, will be a catalyst for transformation of rail and transport sector towards New India. The University will be set up as a Deemed to Be University under de novo category as per the UGC [Institutions Deemed to be Universities] Regulations, 2016. Government is working towards completing all approvals by April 2018 and to launch the first academic program in July 2018. A not-for-profit Company under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013 will be created by the Ministry of Railways which shall be the Managing Company of the proposed university.

In a move aimed at combating black money stashed abroad, India signed an agreement with Switzerland that would allow automatic sharing of tax-related information from January 1, 2017. The agreement was signed by CBDT chairman Sushil Chandra and Swiss Ambassador to India Andreas Baum at the North Block.

World University of Deisgn (WUD), India's first and only Design University opened its campus at Sonipat, Haryana. The World University of Design is promoted by Om Parkash Bansal Educational and Social Welfare Trust of Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab. WUD offers 23 specialized UG and PG programs in various fields like Design, Fashion, Communication, Visual Arts, Design and Retail Management, and Architecture. It is the first university in India dedicated to education in the creative domain. It has a well-facilitated residential campus.

The 9th edition of International Youth Sailing Competition of India is held in Krishnapatnam Port in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, from December 27th to December 31st 2017. This is the largest sailing competition in India. It is organised by the Navayuga Sailing Academy, Tamil Nadu Sailing Association (TNSA) and Yachting Association of Andhra Pradesh (YAAP) under the control of the Yachting Association of India (YAI) and the Asian Sailing Federation (ASAF).

The famed Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan's birth anniversary on December 22 is celebrated as National Mathematics Day. It was in 2012 that then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declaredDecember 22 as National Mathematics Day. In 1917, Ramanujan was elected to be a member of the London Mathematical Society. In 1918 he also became a Fellow of the Royal Society, becoming the youngest person to achieve the feat. He passed away on April 6, 1920.

Uttar Pradesh government announced the setting up of Cow Protection Committees (Gau Sanrakshan Samitis) in all districts of Uttar Pradesh to make sure that cow sheds (gaushalas) are operated efficiently. The Cow Protection Committees will be headed by the district magistrate. The superintendent of police and the district's chief development officer will act as the district magistrate's deputies. The Cow Protection Committees would sell cow-related products like soaps, incense sticks, mosquito repellant coils, biogas, compost and phenyl made from cow urine. This has been done in order to make the cow sheds self-sufficient.

Union Minister of Communications, Manoj Sinha launched DARPAN - "Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India". DARPAN project will be implemented with financial outlay of Rs. 1400 Crore. Under the project, each Branch Postmaster (BPM) will be provided a low power technology solution that will enable each of approximately 1.29 Lakhs Branch Post Offices (BOs) to enhance the quality of services being offered to rural customers across all the states of India.

World Bank has granted USD 825 million loan Pakistan for upgrading its energy and public finance sectors. World Bank has stated that, USD 425 million out of the total loan would be used to modernise Pakistan's national power grid. Remaining USD 400 million loan will be deployed to improve the management of public finances which would consequentially improve the delivery of health and education services.

Cricketer Virat Kohli has replaced actor Shah Rukh Khan as India's top-ranking celebrity brand. The 'Rise of the Millennials: India's Most Valuable Celebrity Brands' report for 2017 was published by Duff & Phelps. It has stated that Virat Kohli is the top scorer in the list with brand value of $144 million. He is followed by actors Shah Rukh, Deepika Padukone, Akshay Kumar and Ranveer Singh.

A loan agreement has been signed between India and Germany for providing additional funding of EUR 20 million for the Pare Hydroelectric Plant project under Indo-German Bilateral Development Cooperation. The objective of the project is the generation of hydroelectric power for the socio-economic development of the North Eastern region. The government of Germany signed a loan agreement with North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) for providing EUR 80 million with the government of India's guarantee for the Pare Hydroelectric Plant project.

Louise Martin, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation announced Birmingham as host city of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.The Common Wealth Games is to be hosted in England for the first time since Manchester hosted the Games in 2002. The expenses of the Common Wealth Games is expected to be around £750m. The government would cover £560m. The local council would contribute around £180m.

The union government appointed Justice U D Salvi as officiating chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) following the superannuation of Justice Swatanter Kumar. He will remain in the saddle until his retirement on February 13, 2018. The selection panel is headed by the Chief Justice of India or his nominee, with other members recommended by or from the Environment Ministry.

According to Expedia Vacation Deprivation Report 2017, India is the fifth most vacation deprived country. This report has been compiled on basis of an online survey conducted by Northstar Research Partners on behalf of Expedia, an international travel company.In the survey, 60 per cent Indian respondents admitted of being vacation deprived due to heavy work schedule.

The 17th Indian Science Communication Congress (ISCC-2017) has started at Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi on December 21. It is organized by the CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR) in collaboration with Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Indian Science Writers' Association (ISWA), Society for Information Science (SIS), Vigyan Bharati (VIBHA) and Indian Science Communication Society (ISCOS). The purpose of the 2-day ISCC-2017 to engage in narratives around India's scientific wisdom, assess the current status of communicating India's scientific wisdom and deliberate the ways and means of communicating India's scientific wisdom to the global audience. The Focal Theme of the ISCC-2017 is "Communicating India's Scientific Wisdom: Changing Paradigms".

Priyanka Chopra has won the Global icon award at the Zee Cine Awards 2018 on December 19 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The excerpts of the awards are as follows: Sridevi and Varun Dhawan won the trophies of Best Actor (Female) for Mom and Best Actor (Male) for Badrinath Ki Dulhania , respectively. The Best Film award was conferred to Rohit Shetty directorial comedy 'Golmaal Again' and Extraordinary Legend Award was goes to Amitabh Bachchan.