Current Affairs - February 16, 2018 Current Affairs

President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the international conference 'Agricon 2018' and 'Agriexpo 2018' at Chandrashekhar Azad University of Agriculture & Technology (CSAUT), Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi were also present at the inauguration ceremony. The conference has been organised under the joint auspices of The Society of Agricultural Professionals, Kanpur and Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture & Technology, Kanpur. Organisations like National Institute of Agricultural Sciences (referred to as NAAS) and Indian Council of Agricultural Research are partnering in this conference.

Hampi monuments, regarded as Karnataka's pride, will be one among 10 tourist destinations across India to be developed as 'Iconic Tourism Site' by Central Government. Announcement to develop 10 prominent tourist sites across India into iconic tourism destinations, through a holistic approach, was made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget 2018 speech. The holistic approach involves infrastructure development, deploying technology, attracting private investment, branding and marketing. List of 10 tourist destinations to be developed as 'Iconic Tourism Site' was announced on February 13, 2018 and Hampi Group of Monuments is one of them.

On 12th February 2018, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Liberian president, won the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. The Ibrahim prize for African Leadership is awarded to a democratically-elected African leader who had proved to be an outstanding leader, served their stipulated term and finished their term within the last 3 years. The award consists of $5 million, which will be paid over 10 years, and $200,000 every year for the rest of the recipient's life. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the first elected female head of state in Africa. She served as Liberian President for 12 years. She is the first female leader to receive this award. Her term ended in 22 January 2018.

Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman approved capital acquisition proposals of the defence services, valued at Rs 15935 crore. Light Machine Guns for the three services at an estimated cost of over Rs 1819 crore. Seven lakh forty thousand assault rifles for the three services at an estimated cost of Rs 12,280 crore. These rifles will be made by the Ordnance Factory Board and a private company. 5719 sniper rifles for the army and the air force at an estimated cost of Rs 982 crore. DAC has also approved the procurement of Advanced Torpedo Decoy Systems for enhancing the anti-submarine warfare capabilities of the Indian naval ships.

India's Umang App has won the Best M-Government Service award in the Accessible Government category while Aadhaar won the best emerging technology award at the recently concluded 6th edition of the World Government Summit 2018 in Dubai, where India had the status of 'Guest of Honour' country. The summit acknowledged technology pioneers for providing global solutions to global challenges. The mobile application "Umang App" provides users a unified platform that combines government departments and services, facilitating transactions for citizens. The award acknowledged Government of India's efforts to provide convenient services to its citizens. The Aadhaar project was recognized as the world's largest biometric enabled identification programme which provides access to service income tax, passport services, bank accounts, social services benefits aimed at providing 1.2 billion citizens unique identification card with fingerprint, eye-print and other vital data.

Equitas Small Finance Bank has rolled out 'selfeSavings', an interactive digital savings account. This account can be opened with the web-based interactive video form hosted on Equitas's website by using Aadhaar number, PAN and other basic details. It allows customers to set up a mobile banking PIN, through which they can start using their account instantly. 'selfeSavings' account comes with a virtual Visa debit card that can be used to shop online. This account also allows customers to make online money transfers for free.

India's first radio festival is being held in New Delhi to mark World Radio Day. The festival is being organized by International Association of Women in Radio and Television, in collaboration with UNESCO. The festival includes live performances, an exhibition, and slotted panel discussions. Apart from touching on the theme for World Radio Day 2018 - radio and sports - the festival is also examining the potential of the medium as a platform for social change, ways to make it more creative and will trace the journey of music on the radio.

Yes Bank announced the listing of US $600 million bond issue under its maiden US $1 billion medium-term note (MTN) programme on IndiaINX. Medium Term Note (MTN) is a debt note that usually matures or has a payback period of 5 years. Yes Bank's debut MTN bonds received an overwhelming response from international investors as it was oversubscribed by more than 1.83 times from over 90 accounts. Yes Bank had established a Medium Term Note (MTN) programme in December 2017 to raise USD 1 billion post approval from its board's Capital Raising Committee. BSE's IndiaINX is India's first international exchange located at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

China will host 2018 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit at Qingdao, eastern Shandong Province in June 2018. China had taken over rotating chair of SCO after17th SCO summit concluded in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan in June 2017. SCO is a Eurasian economic, political and security organization headquartered in Beijing, China. It was founded in 2001. The full members of the organization are headquartered in Beijing, China. It was founded in 2001.

The World Sustainable Development Summit - 2018 will be held in New Delhi on February 16. The summit will address a wide variety of issues, including combating land degradation and air pollution, effective waste management and create financial mechanisms to enable effective climate change mitigation. The theme of the 2018 Summit is - Partnerships for a Resilient Planet, which seeks to create action frameworks to resolve some of the most urgent challenges facing developing economies in the backdrop of climate change. The summit is the flagship forum of the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). It seeks to bring together on a common platform, global leaders and thinkers in the fields of sustainable development, energy and environment sectors. Over 2,000 delegates are expected to participate in the summit, including policy makers, researchers, diplomats and corporates from around the world.

South African Government declared the ongoing drought as a "national disaster". The drought has afflicted southern and western regions of South Africa including Cape Town. According to experts, this drought that began two years ago was triggered by El Nino (a complex phenomenon, developing in Pacific region, that causes global changes in temperature and rainfall). Declaring the ongoing drought as 'national disaster' implies that South African central government will now take responsibility for relief efforts. The drought is so severe that, April 12, 2018, was predicted as 'Day Zero' (date when its taps are expected to run dry) for Cape Town. However, due to water saving measures announced by the local authorities and duly adopted by the residents, "Day Zero" has now been pushed to June 4, 2018.

India has signed the second loan agreement of $100 million with New Development Bank (NDB) for Rajasthan Water Sector Restructuring Project for Desert Areas on 13th February 2018 at New Delhi. This is the first tranche loan approved by the NDB under the Multi Tranche Financing Facility of $345 Million for this project. The project implementation period is six years. Rajasthan government will implement the project primarily through its Water Resources Department. The purpose of this project is to rehabilitate the 678 kilometre long Indira Gandhi Canal system built during 1958 to 1963 to prevent seepage, conserve water, and enhance water use efficiency as mandated by both national and state level policies on water use.

Punjab State Government has issued notification to attach Super Straw Management System while using the combine harvester machines for harvesting the paddy (rice) crop. Super straw management system, attached to self propelled combine harvesters, cuts the paddy straw into small pieces and spreads the same. By following this method of harvesting, farmers are not required to burn the paddy straw, before sowing the next crop. Burning the paddy straw, before sowing the next crop (referred to as stubble burning), has been identified as a major cause of air pollution in North India during winter months. In context of this news, it is important to note that local harvesters are not keen on using super straw management system as it is priced at around Rs 1.20 lakh and attaching it to the combine harvester increases fuel consumption.

Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, the chairperson of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), has been sworn-in as the 41st Prime Minister of Nepal, after his Left alliance routed the ruling Nepali Congress in the country's historic parliamentary and local polls. President Bidhya Devi Bhandari administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly-elected Prime Minister on 15 February 2018 under Article 76 of newly adopted Constitution of Nepal. Oli, who is known for his pro-China stance, has served his first stint as Prime Minister of Nepal from 11 October 2015 to 3 August 2016.

Indian Government is working on developing a "soft power matrix" to foster better diplomatic traction with neighbouring countries and rest of the world. Soft power is country's ability to persuade other countries to do what it wants without resorting to force or coercion. Country's unique culture, its political values and its foreign policies are the three resources that builds a country's 'Soft Power'. Currently, India's Soft Power is articulated in foreign countries through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). ICCR works to promote India's artistic and cultural traditions through a range of activities such as organising 'Festivals of India' abroad. Besides, Indian Government's outreach efforts such as the propagation of Gandhian values and philosophy, extending educational scholarships to foreign students, showcasing the strength of the Mumbai film industry, extending humanitarian assistance to foreign countries affected by natural disasters and evenmementos offered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Heads of Government during his foreign visits are perceived as attempts to inform the world about Indian artistic and cultural heritage.