Current Affairs - February 15, 2018 Current Affairs

Ashok Das was named the next Ambassador of India to the Federative Republic of Brazil. Ashok Das is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Officer of the 1987 batch. Currently he is Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. He has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Federative Republic of Brazil. He will soon take charge as the Ambassador of India to the Federative Republic of Brazil.

Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) had invited tenders for supply of 500 MW power from India for short term (June 1, 2018 to December 31, 2019) and long term (January 1, 2020 to May 31, 2033). State-run NTPC Ltd will supply 300 megawatts (MW) to power-starved Bangladesh. It is a part of India's strategy of playing a key role in creating a new energy security architecture for its neighbours. Of India's current supplies of 660MW to Bangladesh, NTPC has been supplying 410MW.

Assam has become the fourth state in the country to issue the Right of Way (RoW) guidelines for telecom service providers. A legal right, established by usage or grant is referred to as Right of Way (RoW). Assam State Cabinet had approved these RoW guidelines on January 28, 2018, and State Chief Secretary V K Pipersenia held a meeting with telecom service providers and other stakeholders on February 12, 2018 to review the current mobile and internet connectivity status. These guidelines will regulate the establishment of underground and overground telecom infrastructure in Assam. The entire process of seeking Government approval and required rights will be made online within a period of one year and all operators will have to compulsorily register in the ease of doing business portal of the Assam government.

Meghalaya Governor Ganga Prasad inaugurated the 'Friendship Gate' for Indian and Bangladesh border guards. This "Friendship Gate" has been constructed with an aim to have a Wagah-like beating retreat ceremony for India's Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh. At Wagah Border (Amritsar, Punjab on Indian side), India's Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers, jointly conduct beating retreat ceremony (lowering of flags) on daily basis in a synchronised manner. This venue has become a popular tourist destination.

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has entered into a partnership with Quikr to increase the insurance outreach and offer people with adequate financial protection. With 30 million monthly Unique Visitors, Quikr will be a new age distribution channel for Bajaj Allianz's products. Under this key agreement, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance will offer personal lines of insurance products.

As per ISFR 2017, Forest and tree cover in India is 802088 sq km i.e. 24.39 per cent of the total geographical area. In terms of land area under forest and tree cover, India is a stand out case as none of the other 9 countries in the Top 10 has a population density of more than 150 persons per sq km, compared to India. Mr. Harsh Vardhan added that as per the latest Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, India is placed 8th in the list of Top Ten nations reporting the greatest annual net gain in forest area. As per ISFR 2017, Andhra Pradesh, followed by Karnataka and Kerala have shown the maximum increase in forest cover since 2015.

Punjab State Government has formed a six-member revenue commission to revisit the existing land Acts to make them relevant with the changed land use situation. The commission will be headed by Justice (Retd) SS Saron of Punjab and Haryana high court. The commission will examine the need for new Acts or the amendment of the existing ones to legalize the land lease practices in the state. Besides, it will also review the existing policies with regard to disposal and utilization of government lands. Primary objective of this commission is to streamline the existing laws, procedures and processes relating to land administration by taking in to consideration the requirements of modern agricultural and non-agricultural uses.

India will host the 8th edition of Theatre Olympics in New Delhi from February 17 with theme "Flag of friendship", which will continue till 8th of April. The event will inaugurated by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu at Red Fort. It is being organised by National School of Drama, under the aegis of Ministry of Culture. Over 25,000 artistes from 30 countries will participate in the Theatre Olympics. The 51 day long nationwide theatre extravaganza will be held in 17 cities including Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Patna, Kolkata, Mumbai, Guwahati and Jammu. It will see 450 shows including 65 shows by international artistes, 600 ambient performances and 250 youth forum shows. It's first time that the Theatre Olympics will be held in India that will serve to create a dialogue between Indian and global artistes.

Tamil Nadu won the Senior Women's National Football Championship for the first time. Tamil Nadu, which was playing its first-ever final, defeated Manipur, 2-1 at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, Odisha. Skipper Indumathi and Indrani found the net for Tamil Nadu, while Ratanbala scored Manipur's only goal.

The 'Progress' unmanned cargo ship was launched from the Russian space complex in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The Progress capsule carries 2.7 metric tons of food, fuel and other supplies to the International Space Station. It reached the orbit eight minutes after it lifted off from the Russian space complex. The International Space Station houses six astronauts: three Americans, two Russians and one Japanese. The Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket launched the Progress ship. The spacecraft will dock at the Zvezda Service Module on 15th February 2018. The spacecraft is referred to as Progress MS-08 or Progress 69.

On the occasion of Chinese spring festival, Indian and Chinese armies held a Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) in Chushul sector of Ladakh region. The Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) was held at Chinese BPM hut in Moldo garrison of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Chushul sector of eastern Ladakh. Indian delegation was led by Colonel Deependra Jasrotia and Chinese delegation was led by Senior Lieutenant Colonel Bu Hong Dong. The national flag of China was saluted by both the delegations. The Indian and Chinese delegation leaders presented their ceremonial addresses.

British government introduced a new technology to remove extremist material from social media. Home Secretary Amber Rudd made an announcement about this new technology to remove extremist material from social media. The software has been developed by ASI Data Science. It was funded by the UK government. This system is said to use advanced machine learning to study the sound and visual of videos for "subtle signals" to check if they are extremist content like Islamic State propaganda. This software will be provided to small companies that are not able to develop such technologies.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) bagged an order worth Rs 560 crore from NTPC for setting up a system for emission control. BHEL has secured the order for "supply and installation of the flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) system from NTPC for 2x490 MW National Capital Power Station at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh.

President Ram Nath Kovind hosted an'LPG Panchayat at Rashtrapati Bhavan. It was organized by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY). The LPG Panchayat aims to provide a platform for LPG consumers to interact with each other, promote mutual learning and share experiences. LPG Panchayat serves as an interactive platform for those who received LPG cylinders under MUY. One panchayat has around 100 LPG customers in nearby areas. The panchayats discuss issues such as safe practices, quality of service provided by distributors and availability of refill cylinders.

The 12th edition of International Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR-2018) was held in Bengaluru, Karnataka on February 9, 2018. The 2018 theme was " Responsible CSR: a New Agenda Beyond Governance". The 2-day conference was attended by over 400 experts and delegates from all over India and abroad. In the conference, the prestigious Golden Peacock Award 2017 was presented. The leadership award for philanthropy and social change was presented to Vineet Nayar, the chairman of Sampark Foundation.