Current Affairs - January 24, 2018 Current Affairs

The Andhra Pradesh Government and the Canton of Zurich signed a letter of intent, to promote mutual prosperity and development. The agreement was signed in the presence of Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu and Government Counselor Minister Carmen Walker Spah for sister state relation. This will bring the State of Andhra Pradesh and Canton of Zurich closer and ensure that a framework is created, which supports the exchange between both the parties.

India will host 16th International Energy Forum meet. Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan has announced that 16th International Energy Forum (IEF) Ministerial meeting will be held in New Delhi from 10th - 12th April 2018. This event will be hosted by Government of India and co-hosted by the Government of China and South Korea. Representatives from 92 countries (including 72 member countries of IEF and 20 guest countries) will be participating in the meeting. Besides, representatives from international multilateral energy organisations, including the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and International Energy Agency (IEA) will also attend this meet.

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) has become the first Indian company to cross the Rs. 6-lakh crore mark in market capitalisation as its share price touched a 52-week high of Rs. 974.5 on January 22, 2018. Market value of a company's outstanding shares is referred to as market capitalisation (m-cap). It is calculated by multiplying the current market price of company's share with total number of outstanding shares. With Rs. 971.2 share price, RIL's market cap stood at Rs. 615150 crore. In terms of market cap, RIL is followed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) having market capitalisation of Rs. 595946 crore and HDFC Bank at Rs. 508648 crore.

S Somanath, an Indian aerospace engineer and rocket technologist, has taken charge as the new Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). He succeeded K Sivan, who has become the ISRO Chairman recently. Prior to this post, he was director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Valiamala in Thiruvananthapuram, the lead centre responsible for liquid engines and stages for all launch vehicles and satellite programs of ISRO. Somanath is known for his contributions to launch vehicle design, particularly in the areas of launch vehicle systems engineering, structural design, structural dynamics, and pyrotechnics.

The International Conference on dam safety has started in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on January 23, 2018. The two-day conference will be jointly inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Water Resources Arjun Ram Meghwal and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The conference will see the participation of 550 delegates from over 20 countries. The dam safety conferences are organized as an annual event under the Dam Safety Rehabilitation and Improvement Project being run by the Water Resources Ministry. During the conference, dam safety guidelines and manuals developed under DRIP will also be released for implementation. Besides, a software programme - Dam Health and Rehabilitation Monitoring Application - will also be launched during the event. DHARMA is a web tool to digitize all dam related data effectively. It will help document authentic asset and health information pertaining to the large dams in the country, enabling appropriate actions to ensure need based rehabilitation.

Srikumar Menon was appointed as the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Angola. Srikumar Menon is currently the Ambassador of India to South Sudan. He has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Angola. He will soon take charge as the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Angola.

The Minister of State (IC), for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik laid the foundation stone for Central Research Institute (CRI) in Jaipur, Rajasthan. This will be the third CRI under the aegis of Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH). In his address during the stone laying ceremony, Sh. Naik stated that Ministry of AYUSH is determined towards a focused infrastructural push to Homoeopathy and other systems of AYUSH.

N Biren Singh, the Chief Minister of Manipur, has launched a pioneering health assurance scheme "Chief Minister-gi Hakshelgi Tengbang (CMHT)" for the poor and disabled people on January 21, 2018. The CMHT will provide cashless treatment to the poor at government hospitals, health centres and other empanelled selected private hospitals. The scheme will provide cover up to Rs 2 lakh per eligible family identified from the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) in the treatment of seven critical identified critical ailments - cardiovascular diseases, kidney ailments, neurological conditions, liver ailments, cancer, neo-natal diseases and burns per year. The beneficiaries may get themselves enrolled for the scheme with the help of ASHA workers at the kiosks opened in nearby PHCs, CHCs and District Hospitals.

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan honored with the 24th Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. According to the WEF, Shah Rukh Khan received Award for "his leadership in championing children's and women's rights in India". He received the award alongside Elton John and Hollywood actress Cate Blanchett.

India signed $120 million loan agreement with multilateral lending agency World Bank to help increase access to improved water supply services in in peri-urban areas in Uttarakhand. The agreement was signed between Government of India, Government of Uttarakhand and World Bank Board. The loan amount will be used for Uttarakhand Water Supply Program for Peri-Urban Areas to help the state to increase water supply coverage as well as ensure sustainable water supply service delivery in peri-urban areas. The program will develop and implement service-oriented and efficient water supply for peri-urban areas, strengthen current monitoring and evaluation systems. It will also provide dedicated incentives for preparation and adoption of of water supply 'master-plans' in peri-urban areas.

Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha will host the 7th edition of the Asia Steel International Conference from February 6, 2018. This conference will be organised by Tata Steel and Indian Institute of Metals. 7th Asia Steel International Conference will serve as a platform for experts from across the world to discuss innovative and environment friendly technologies for making iron and promoting automation and digitisation in steel industry. Nearly 70 key speakers including those from countries such as Japan, China, Netherlands, the UK, Germany and the US will address this conference.

The 48th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF-2018) has started in Davos, Switzerland on January 22, 2018. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading the largest-ever Indian delegation. The theme of the 5-day summit is 'Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World', which aims to set an agenda to address political, economic and Social challenges of recent times. More than 3,000 world leaders from business, politics, art, academia and civil society would be participating in the summit and the Indian presence is the largest ever with over 130 participants.

"Sachin: A Billion Dreams", a biopic on Sachin Tendulkar, has won two awards at the 11th Tehran International FICTS Festival 2018, in Iran. Helmer James Erskine won the the Best Director of a Long Documentary trophy and an honorary diploma for "Sachin - A Billion Dreams". Producer of "Sachin - A Billion Dreams" Ravi Bhagchandka won the Special Award for the Best Film in the Long Documentary section.

Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the 'Protocol for Star Rating of Garbage-Free Cities' in Goa along with the Chief Minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar in order to fulfill India's biggest dream of being a clean nation by October 2, 2019. . The star-rating initiative has been developed by the Swachh Bharat Mission - Urban. It will rate cities on a 7-star rating system based on multiple cleanliness indicators for solid waste management, which will include Door to Door Collection, bulk generator compliance, source segregation, sweeping, scientific processing of waste, scientific land filling, plastic waste management, construction and demolition management, dump remediation & citizen grievance redressal system etc.

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) appointed Dilip Chenoy as its Director General. Dilip Chenoy had held various positions including the managing director and CEO of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), director general of Society of Indian Automobile Manufactures (SIAM) and deputy director general of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Director General position of FICCI had been vacant since Arvind Prasad retired from the position two years back.