Current Affairs - January 8, 2018 Current Affairs

West Bengal receives one more feather to be added to her crown. The acquired the first position for smooth implementation of e-tender process in the state. E-tendre rule for a contract for projects worthy of more than 5 lakhs was started in 2012 in the state to make the process more transparent. The main aim was to make tendre process more transparent and mainly corruption-free as many times people pointed the finger to the process for various irregularities. From the first day of 2018, e-tendre become mandatory in every department. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the award received from Central Government. The state was given the first prize for ensuring e tender. The state becomes best in the country for ensuring e-tendering of Fifty-three thousand projects worth RTs 36,000 crore.

Saudi Arabia gives green signal to Indias proposal to revive sea route for Haj pilgrimage. Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Saudi Arabia gave green signal to India's proposal to revive option of Haj pilgrimage through sea route. It will be a revolutionary, pro-poor, pilgrim-friendly decision. He said, sending Haj pilgrims through ships will help cut down travel expenses significantly. Mr Naqvi said, officials from both countries will discuss all formalities and technicalities so that Haj through sea route can be re-started in coming years. The practice of ferrying Haj pilgrims between Mumbai and Jeddah by waterways was stopped in 1995. Saudi Arabia Haj Minister Dr. Mohamed Bentin and Mr. Naqvi, who is on a Saudi Arabia visit, have signed bilateral annual Haj 2018 agreement in Makkah. For the first time, Muslim women from India will go to Haj without Mehram, male companion.

All railway station nearly 8,500 across the country, including those in rural and remote areas will be equipped with Wi-Fi facilities at an estimated cost of Rs. 700 crore ($110 million). As part of the government's ambitious Digital India initiative, the national transporter has currently commissioned Wi-Fi services at 216 major stations enabling about seven million rail passengers to log on to the free Internet facility. 1,200 stations have been identified for this facility to primarily cater to rail passengers, about 7,300 stations have been earmarked to not only serve passengers but also local people in rural and remote areas. Railway stations in rural areas will have kiosks with Wi-Fi that will become digital hot spots offering services like digital banking, Aadhaar generation, issuing government certificates, including birth and death certificates, and filing taxes and paying bills, among others.

The Indian Navy inked a MoU with the Cochin Port Trust (CPT), Kerala towards leasing of 228 meters of berths at Mattancherry Wharf for a period of five years. The MoU has been concluded to cater for the futuristic requirements of the Navy with the sizeable increase in its fleet scheduled in the near future. This is the first time such an agreement has been signed between the Navy and CPT.

New Delhi World Book Fair 2018 began on January 6, 2018 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. It is Organised by the National Book Trust (NBT) in association with India Trade Promotion Organisation. 'Environment and Climate Change' is the main theme of New Delhi World Book Fair 2018. The theme pavilion (made from environmental-friendly material like bamboo, cane and jute) highlights various environment-related issues like global warming, climate change, water pollution and other relevant matters.

Gopal Guru was appointed as the Editor of the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW). Gopal Guru is a professor and political scientist. He currently works at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. He teaches Political Science. Paranjoy Guha Thakurta resigned as the Editor of EPW last year. He resigned following accusations that he had initiated unilateral legal proceedings against a business group after legal notice was served on an article.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur announced setting up of 24X7 'Gudiya helpline' for reporting crimes against women. 'Gudiya' is a nickname given to the 16-year-old victim of rape and murder in Kotkhai town. The incident took place in 2017. Under 'Gudiya helpline' initiative, three special crime cells would be set up, one each at Mandi, Shimla and Kangra. Officers posted at these cells will be responsible for reporting cases of crime against women without any delay. In all such cases, authorities will take action within 48 hours.

Elina Svitolina secured her first WTA title in Australia with a straight-sets victory in the Brisbane International final. Svitolina beat Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Nick Kyrgios moved a step closer to claiming his first ATP title on home soil with a semifinal win over defending champion Grigor Dimitrov. He will face American Ryan Harrison in finals.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that it would launch two missions - GOLD and ICON - during 2018 to explore the little-understood area of 96 km above Earth's surface. Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission and the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) are complementary missions to explore ionosphere, a boundary area between Earth and the space (from about 60 km to 1000 km altitude) which is like a sea of particles that have been ionised by solar radiation. Ionosphere holds special significance for humans as it influences radio signals used to guide airplanes, ships and Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. GOLD mission, which will be in a geostationary orbit over the Western Hemisphere, about 35398 km above Earth's surface will be launched in January 2018 while ICON which will be in low-Earth orbit, at 560 km above Earth will be launched in later part of 2018.

Julia Goerges won the WTA Auckland Open Tennis title, in Auckland, New Zealand. Germany's Julia Goerges defeated Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the finals of the WTA Auckland Open Tennis. Julia Goerges won the Auckland singles title. Julia Goerges has won the Auckland singles title for the first time. This was her ninth attempt to win the title.

The 2nd edition of the Elite Women's National Boxing Championship, began in Haryana. The Elite Women's National Boxing Championship is considered as selection trials for the upcoming Common Wealth Games and the Asian Games. Boxers like Sarita Devi, Sarjubala, Sonia Lather are participating in the tournament. Around 300 top boxers participate in the tournament.

Different labs of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) have decided to put joint efforts for developing eco-friendly firecrackers and arriving at a cost-effective technology to make e-crackers (electronic-crackers). This research and development endeavour will initially focus on reduction of pollutants and in future will develop a solution which would remove the pollutants altogether from the compositions of firecrackers. e-crackers mainly contain high-voltage micro generators which spark at random intervals and create cracking sound just like firecrackers. For e-crackers, efforts will focus on developing low-cost technology in order to make it affordable for all consumers. Foreign-made e-crackers that are currently available in Indian market are bit expensive for average Indian consumer.

Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region, Dr Jitendra Singh announced that Central Government will set up second Film and Television Institute of Indian (FTII) in Arunachal Pradesh. Objective behind setting up FTII in Arunachal Pradesh is to tap the potential of India's North Eastern region. FTII in Arunachal Pradesh would be second such institute in the country. The first Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is located in Pune.Quick facts about FTII, Pune.

The vibrant Khelo India logo, reflecting the freshness, agility, and vitality of New India was launched at a ceremony by the Union Minister of State (I/C) Youth Affairs and Sports Rajyavardhan Rathore at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. The logo also conveys an impression of fitness and competitiveness. The three-stroke Khelo India logo, designed by Ogilvy India, has in-built modularity, allowing plenty of adaptability and flexibility into endless pictorial forms.