Current Affairs - February 6, 2018 Current Affairs

The 9-member committee, headed by former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan, was constituted by the Union HRD Ministry to draft new National Education Policy (NEP) on June 2017. The committee will submit its report by March 31, 2018. After that, the HRD Ministry will deliberate on the report and thereafter suggestions of the committee will be presented to the Union Cabinet for its approval. The committee also includes former IAS officer KJ Alphonse and Ram Shanker Kureel, who has a wide experience in the field of agricultural sciences and management. The committee has been appointed keeping in mind that the members bring expertise related to the diverse areas of education. Significantly, the panel also reflects the diversity of the country as the members belong to different sections as well as regions. The existing NEP was framed in 1986 and revised in 1992.

Telugu actor Lakshmi Devi died after suffering a cardiac arrest, at Manikonda, in Hyderabad, Telangana. Lakshmi Devi was 78 years old. She was a Telugu actor and a skilled acting teacher. Lakshmi Devi started a film institute along with her husband Devadas. She has trained great actors like Telugu film star Chiranjeevi.

Search engine giant Google launched '#SecurityCheckKiya' campaign in India to create awareness around Internet safety. It was launched on the ocean. The campaign aims to protect first-time web users from account hijacking, safeguard Android devices from malicious apps and secure all their personal time. Under the campaign, Google recommended three simple steps for Internet safety. It includes reviewing security settings and Google account activity. Moreover 'Google Play Protect' service scans and checks Android devices for any harmful apps. Find My Device app from Google helps a user to easily long away.

Maharashtra Minister of state for Social Justice Dilip Kamble has stated that Maharashtra State Government will set up a Transgender Welfare Board in a month's time. Board's primary task will be to look after education, employment, housing, and health schemes for transgenders and also to protect their Constitutional and human rights. Maharashtra will thus become the first Indian state to have such a board. It is to be noted that Maharashtra State Government has made a provision of Rs 5 crore for welfare of the Transgender community. Responsibility of setting up of the board and implementing welfare schemes for transgender community has been entrusted on Maharashtra State Social Justice department.

Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) spend up to 2643 crores on shares in India's Bharti Telecom, lifting its stake slightly in the holding company for Bharti Airtel to just under half. India's telecommunications sector has been hit hard by a price war since the entry of carrier Reliance Jio, the telecoms arm of Reliance Industries Ltd, more than a year ago. The purchase worth as much as 26.5 billion rupees could increase Singtel's stake in Bharti Telecom by up to 1.7 percentage points to 48.9 percent and its holding in Bharti Airtel, the country's biggest mobile carrier, by up to 0.9 percentage points to 39.5 percent. The deal will be done via a preferential share allotment.

The Central Government has announced a Rs 1.4 lakh-crore KUSUM Scheme to promote decentralised solar power production of up to 28,250 MW to help farmers. The acronym KUSUM stands for "Kisan Urja Suraksha Utthaan Maha Abhiyaan". In the Union Budget 2018-19, the Centre has allocated Rs 48,000 crore on the 10-year KUSUM scheme. The scheme would provide an extra income to farmers by giving them an option to sell additional power to the grid through solar power projects set up on their barren lands. It would help in de-dieselising the sector as also the DISCOMS. Under the scheme, the Central Government will provide subsidy to farmers on setting up of solar power plants on their barren land. The 60% subsidy on the solar pumps provided to farmers will be shared between the Centre and the States while 30% would be provided through bank loans. The balance cost has to be borne by the farmers. As a result, Kusum Scheme will solarize agricultural pump sets to double the income of farmers by 2022.

Four Indian sportspersons - Jasprit Bumrah, Harmanpreet Kaur, Savita Punia and Heena Sidhu - have featured in this year's Forbes India 30 Under 30 list. 4-year old, Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah had a fantastic 2017. During 2017, he claimed 39 wickets in 23 ODIs. He was also named in the International Cricket Council's (ICC's) One Day International (ODI) Team of The Year. In 2017, 28-year old India woman cricketer, Harmanpreet Kaur helped India win the Women's World Cup semi-final match against Australia by scoring 171 runs. This match was the most watched women's cricket match ever. In October 2017, former World No. 1 woman shooter, Heena Sidhu clinched gold at the Commonwealth shooting championships in Brisbane, Australia. Despite of suffering a finger injury last year, she did not give up and ensured a comeback. Indian women Hockey team goalkeeper, Savita Punia has proven to be an important part of the Indian hockey team on multiple occasions. She played an instrumental role in helping India qualify for Rio 2016 Olympics.

Dr Harsh Vardhan, the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has launched people-oriented campaign "Green Good Deeds" to sensitize the people and students, in particular, about climate change and global warming. Referring to the crucial role played by "Polio Sainiks" for Pulse Polio campaign, Dr Vardhan has underlined the need for "Green Sainiks" to broad-base the Green Good Deeds movement and to take it down to the grassroots level successfully. The Environment ministry has also appealed to the teaching community to join the campaign to make people aware about the cause of the campaign.

Cab-hailing startup Ola and the Government of Assam have signed a MoU to pilot an app-based river taxi service in Guwahati. The river taxis will be machine-operated boats and users will be able to book the rides through Ola's app. It'll bring commute time down to 2-5 minutes from 45 minutes by road. This MoU was signed during the Global Investors Summit: Advantage Assam.

Sweden signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement with United Nations World Food Programme, committing 370 million dollars to World Food Programme (WFP) for the next 4 years. Sweden's contribution for the 2018-2021 period is the biggest contribution made by a donor within the WFP Strategic Partnership Agreement. The Swedish government has been the largest donor of flexible funds to WFP for nearly 10 years. This is the first time in a decade, the number of hungry people in the world is on the rise. Out of the total hungry people in the world, majority of them live in conflict affected countries. World Food Programme (WFP) has said that, ten out of thirteen largest food crises in the world are created by conflict.

Naba Kumar Nayak has been appointed as the State Election Commissioner in Odisha. Naba Kumar Nayak replaces Rabi Narayan Senapati. Naba Kumar Nayak is a retired IAS officer. He had been a member and the chairman in-charge of the Staff Selection Commission (SSC). He has also held positions like Joint Chief Electoral Officer, Collector of Puri and Mayurbhanj districts and Deputy Relief Commissioner.

International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is a United Nations-sponsored annual awareness day that takes place on February 6. It is UN's efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation.

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) signed a project agreement with the World Bank for Jal Marg Vikas Project on river Ganga. The World Bank entered into a USD 375 million loan agreement with the Department of Economic Affairs, Union Ministry of Finance for Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP). Jal Marg Vikas Project, which is expected to be completed by March 2023, is being implemented with the financial and technical support of the World Bank.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai created a new world record for single-runway operations by handling 980 arrivals and take-offs in 24 hours. As per 2017 annual report of CAPA, the Sydney-based education network, Mumbai airport, which is currently operating at 94% of its maximum passenger handling capacity, will reach saturation point in 2018. Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport, Mumbai which has been facing a sever space crunch, currently handles 45.2 million passengers and on an average, operates around 930 flights per day.

General David L Goldfein, chief of staff of the US Air Force, flew a sortie in the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) 'Tejas' at the Indian Air Force (IAF) station in Jodhpur, Rajsthan. This is the first time that any Chief of Staff of the US Air Force flew LCA 'Tejas'. For the sortie, General Goldfein was accompanied by Indian Air Force Air Vice Marshal AP Singh as a co-pilot. During the course of this visit, General Goldfein also met Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa and held discussion with Indian Air Force Officials to further enhance cooperation between the two air forces.