Current Affairs - March 16, 2018 Current Affairs

International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that, it has signed a MoU with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and National Aviation University to improve human resource availability in India's aviation industry. The three parties formalised this partnership in the presence of Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation at the Wings India 2018 event in Hyderabad. This MoU also aims in developing better academic cooperation between IATA and National Aviation University. As per the MoU, the institutions will also utilize the existing infrastructure for training in India to improve the reach of vocational training in aviation sector.

India has ranked 133rd out of 156 countries in the World Happiness Report 2018. World Happiness report is an annual report published by the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The World Happiness Report 2018 ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels and 117 countries by the happiness of their immigrants.

Odisha State government and Tata Trusts signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for implementing the state's decision on land rights settlement for slum dwellers in urban areas. The MoU was signed in presence of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who directed all district collectors and concerned government officials to accord top priority to this work. As per the terms of the MoU, Tata Trusts will provide technical support to Odisha State Government in implementing this decision.

According to a study titled 'India's digital divide: how broadband speed splits the nation' by Ookla, With fixed broadband average download speed at 32.67 Megabits per second (Mbps) Chennai has topped the list and has clocked 57.7% faster download speed than the average for the rest of the country. Ookla's study on India is based on February 2018 data from real consumer-initiated tests taken using Speedtest. Chennai is followed by Bengaluru with average download speed of 31.09 Mbps. India's capital Delhi ranked fifth with average download speed of 23.57 Mbps.

Assam State Government has proposed an insurance scheme for journalists and their families in State budget for the year 2018-19. This announcement was made by Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during presentation of state budget for 2018-19 in the assembly on March 12, 2018. Mr. Sarma stated that for the year 2018-19, budgetary allocation of Rs 63 crore has been earmarked for the Information and Public Relations Department that would implement schemes for journalists in Assam. This 'Journalist Insurance Scheme would ensure security and protection of the journalists and their families.

IndianOil Corporation Ltd and Tata Motors have launched the trial demonstration of the country's first hydrogen fuel cell bus. The project is being executed with financial support from the Department of Science & Industrial Research, Ministry of Science & Technology and the Ministry for New and Renewable Energy. The vehicle will be fuelled at the hydrogen dispensing facility at IndianOil.

The Asia-Pacific Regional Conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) was inaugurated by Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on March 14, 2018. The theme of the 2-day conference is "Challenges to Policing in 2020 - How is Cyber Space shaping our approach to Cybercrime and Terrorism, how do we perform within it and take advantage of it". The conference is mainly focused on holding discussions about the growing interest of various terrorist or organized groups and radical elements in exploiting the Cyberspace and its advanced technologies for their various heinous crimes and nefarious designs. The IACP is the world's largest organization of Police and law enforcement executives that is highly regarded for its role in identifying and responding to changing needs of the law enforcement community.

Saudi Arabia's cabinet approved the national policy of the atomic energy program. The national policy limits all nuclear activities to peaceful purposes, within the limits drawn by international treaties. It also highlights the need for optimal utilization of natural resources from nuclear materials and usage of best practices for radioactive waste management. Riyadh had invited US companies to participate in developing Saudi Arabia's first atomic energy programme.

As per fifth edition of the Annual Survey of India's City-Systems (ASICS) by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, Pune is the top city to show improvement in quality of governance in 2017. Pune topped the list with an overall score f 5.1 out of 10. Bhubaneswar showed significant improvement by attaining fourth spot in 2017 survey as compared to tenth in 2016. ASICS measures the preparedness of city administration to deliver high quality standards, political leadership at the city level, municipal finance & staffing, and transparency & citizen participation. Guwahati and Vishakhapatnam were the two new cities that were covered in this survey. However, both these cities fared poorly in the assessment.

An India-UK Joint Team has won the Newton-Bhabha Fund for a project on Groundwater Arsenic Research in Ganga River Basin. The Department of Science and Technology, India and Natural Environment Research Council, UK, have undertaken this project jointly. Purpose of the project: to develop solutions to the water issues faced in Arsenic-affected Ganga River Basin. Indian Team: consists of representatives of IIT Kharagpur, National Institute of Hydrology, IIT Roorkee and Mahavir Cancer Sansthan and Research Centre of Patna. UK team: consists of representatives of University of Manchester, British Geological Survey, University of Salford and University of Birmingham.

The 105th session of the Indian Science Congress (ISC) will be hosted by Manipur Central University in Imphal from 16 to 20 March 2018. The focal theme of the ISC is "Reaching the Unreached Through Science & Technology". The Indian Science Congress is an annual event, usually held in the first week of January. Top scientists from across the country and the world attend the event. The 104th ISC was held at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.

As per World Bank's biannual publication, India Development Update: India's Growth Story, India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for next financial year i.e. FY 2018-19 is projected at 7.3 per cent. World Bank has outlined that Indian economy is likely to recover from the impact of demonetisation in November 2016 and roll out of Goods and Services Tax (GST) July 2017 and will accelerate further to 7.5 per cent in 2019-20.

The Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) has bagged the award for best implementation of E-office on March 14, 2018. E-Office is one of the Mission-mode Projects under the Digital India programme. The e-Office solution enables core operations of the Government at all levels to be performed in a 'paper-less' environment, including the E-leave,E-tour,Knowledge Management, Notice Board, Download Forms, Inventory Control etc. In the MDWS, the entire e-office suite was implemented in December 2014 and since then it is being used by all stake holders in the Ministry. All the files in the Ministry are e-files and these have been successfully handled though this system for over 3 years now, when the transition to electronic mode first took place.

US President Donald Trump has nominated Gina Haspel for the position of CIA Director. Gina Haspel was once reported to have run a secret prison in Thailand where the inmates were allegedly subjected to harsh interrogation techniques. Donald Trump recently removed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replaced him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo. He has nominated Gina Haspel for the position of CIA Director. Now the Senate must vote to confirm Gina Haspel as CIA director. She is 61 years old. She joined the CIA in 1985. If her selection as CIA director is confirmed she'll become the first woman director of CIA.

The World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) is observed every year on March 15 to promote basic rights of all consumers, demanding that those rights are respected and protected. It also gives people a chance to protest against the market abuses and social injustices. On this day in 1962, President John F Kennedy formally addressed the issue of consumer rights in US Congress. He was the first world leader to do so, and the consumer movement now marks that date every year as a means of raising global awareness about consumer rights. The first World Consumer Rights Day was observed in 1983 and has since become an important occasion for mobilizing citizen action. The 2018 theme is 'Making Digital Marketplaces Fairer'. In India, besides the World Consumer Rights Day, we observe the National Consumer Day on 24th of December every year.