Current Affairs - February 7, 2018 Current Affairs

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has been ranked the number one environment policy think tank in India. The ranking was done by The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) of the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. In the world level, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has obtained 16th position. It has improved 2 positions compared to last year. CSE has ranked 2nd in India and 38th in world-level in the 'Energy and Resource Policy Think Tanks' category.

Jerome Hayden Powell has been sworn-in as the new Chairman of the Federal Reserve for a four-year term on February 5, 2018. The oath was administered by Vice Chairman Randal K. Quarles in the Board Room. He succeeded Janet Yellen, the first woman to lead the US central bank in its 100-year history. He was nominated to the position by President Donald Trump on November 2, 2017, and was later confirmed by the United States Senate. Prior to this appointment, Powell served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of a temple in Abu Dhabi during his visit to the United Arab Emirates. The event will be part of a three-nation tour from February 9 to 12, starting in Palestine. The UAE granted the temple project after India conveyed the demand of its nationals for a place of worship during Mr. Modi's 2015 visit to the country.

The Uttar Pradesh has launched massive door to door campaign DASTAK in association with UNICEF to eradicate deadly Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanise Encephalitis (JE) disease in the state. The war cry of DASTAK is Darwaja khatkhatao, AES aur JE ko bhagao. In DASTAK campaign, the whole state machinery with the help of UNICEF will now literally go door to door in 38 JES and AE affected districts which mostly fall in the Tarai region of the state which contributes to about 60% of the total AES cases all over the country. In this massive campaign, many departments of the state especially health, rural development, primary education will work together to spread awareness about the diseases through mass media communication, provide clean drinking water, initiate sanitation drive, ensure vaccination and early treatment so that disease should be nipped in the bud. Children of 600 schools in the affected areas will also be part of this campaign.

Capgemini will acquire LiquidHub to enhance its digital-consulting capabilities in North America. The cost of acquisition is estimated to be nearly 400 million euros. This amount is said to be twice that of LiquidHub's 2017 revenue. Capgemini said that, the transaction would be closed in the next 2 months. LiquidHub is a digital technology services company.

Ministry of Railways signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Ayush in New Delhi to scale up Ayush services in Railway's Zonal hospitals. As per the MoU, Ayush Services will be augmented at B. R. Singh Hospital (Kolkata) in Eastern Railway, Perambur Railway Hospital (Chennai) in Southern Railway, Central Hospital (New Delhi) of Northern Railway, JR Hospital (Mumbai) in Western Railway and the Central Hospital of Northeast Frontier Railway (Guwahati). The MoU was signed in presence of Minister of State of Railways - Manoj Sinha, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH - Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State of Railways - Rajen Gohain and Chairman of Railway Board - Ashwani Lohani.

The US-based SpaceX successfully launched the world's most powerful operational rocket Falcon Heavy towards Mars. The rocket, carrying a Tesla Roadster car, will revolve around the Sun in a way that will repeatedly bring it close to the Earth and Mars. The Falcon Heavy's thrust and capacity are the highest since NASA's Saturn V, which carried astronauts to the Moon. Falcon Heavy successfully lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The President of India Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the 88th Mahamastakabhisheka Utsav of Lord Gomateshwara in Hassan district of Karnataka. Mahamastakabhisheka of Gommateshwara, who is also known as Bahubali takes place once in 12 years. It is an important Jain pilgrimage center and lakhs of tourists visit Shravanbelagola to see 57 feet tall monolithic stone statue that is anointed from head to feet during the Utsav.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under Commerce Ministry unveiled Start-up-India ranking framework to rank states/UTs based on measures regions that have taken to foster entrepreneurship. It was launched by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry at a function held in New Delhi. The framework aims to foster competitiveness and propel states/UTS to act proactively in startup matters. This ranking will help states to bring progress made in their startup ecosystem and also make different states learn and replicate good practices. Its objective is to encourage States/UTs to take proactive steps towards strengthening Startup ecosystems at the local level.

Eminent molecular biologist Professor Michael N Hall of the Biozentrum University of Basel, Switzerland, has been chosen for the 2018 Genome Valley Excellence Award for his pioneering work in discovering the nutrient-activated TOR (Target of Rapamycin) proteins and their central role in the metabolic control of cell growth. The award will be presented to him during BioAsia 2018, an annual flagship event of the Telangana government. The award, instituted in 2004, was in recognition of the transformative advances toward biomedical research and facilitating improvement in human life and was chosen by an international advisory board consisting of eminent personalities of the life sciences industry.

British Athletics announced that, London will host a new World Cup at the London Stadium on 14th and 15thJuly 2018. The following 8 countries will participate in the new World Cup: Britain, the United States, Poland, China, Germany, France, Jamaica and South Africa. One male and one female athlete from each country will be selected for every field event and each track race up to 1500 metres. Total prize money for the event is fixed at $2 million. It will be conducted as a two day event.

Commerce and Industries Minister Mr. Suresh Prabhu set off a series of nation-wide consultations with the industry on the proposed new Industrial Policy. The first consultation was held at Guwahati in February 2018. The event, organized by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in partnership with Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), was attended by more than 120 industrialists from the North East in addition to government officials from the North Eastern States.

The Haryana government has launched the 'Gobardhan Yojana' to provide for the sale of organic manure and cow urine with an aim to benefit farmers. Under this scheme, a provision of Rs 11 crore has been made to provide benefits of various projects. According to official release, the Gobardhan Yojana would help in doubling the income of farmers and next time, the MSP would be given with additional benefit of 50% over the cost of production.

'Pelican Bird Festival-2018' was held at the Atapaka Bird Sanctuary on Kolleru Lake, in Andhra Pradesh. The Pelican Bird Festival-2018 was jointly organised by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA) and Krishna district administration. Andhra Pradesh Tourism minister Bhuma Akhila Priya and Krishna District collector B Lakshmikantham inaugurated the Pelican Bird Festival-2018. A rally was organized from Kaikaluru town to Atapaka bird sanctuary during the festival. Thousands of artists, students and officials of the tourism department participated in the rally.