Current Affairs - March 29, 2018 Current Affairs

Indu Bhushan was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Union Government's ambitious Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission (ABNHPM). Bhushan, the Director General of East Asia Department, Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila, Philippines appointed to the post for a period of two years.

Krishnaswamy Vijay Raghavan, one of the most distinguished biologists of the country, has been appointed as the new Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India (GoI). He will succeed 81-year-old nuclear physicist R Chidambaram, who has been in the position for more than 16 years. The PSA, post created by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1999, is the topmost advisor to the government on all matters related to scientific policy. The office of the PSA is one of the three scientific bodies the government relies on for advice on matters relating to science and which act as the interface between scientific institutions and the government. The other two are Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (SAC-PM) and Science Advisory Council to the Cabinet (SAC-C).

Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar announced that, cricketer Rahul Dravid will be the state election icon for Karnataka Assembly polls. Sanjiv Kumar said that, disabled government employees will be appointed as polling staff in selected polling stations for the first time. He added that, 450 all-women polling stations will be set up. The Election Commission of India has announced a single phase poll for the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on 12th May 2018. The Karnataka Legislative Assembly comprises 224 members. Votes will be counted on 15th May 2018.

The Government of India (GoI) has signed $80 million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help modernize technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions and improve the skills ecosystem in the State of Himachal Pradesh. The Project will establish a polytechnic for women, six city Livelihood Centers, and seven Rural Livelihood Centers, and upgrade 11 employment exchanges into model career Centers. These efforts will result in improved TVET awareness among youth, modernizing training equipment, implementing a training information system, forging partnerships with private sector, and creating better access to quality market-relevant TVET and livelihood development opportunities for youth in Himachal Pradesh.

Kashmir's Tulip Garden in Srinagar was opend on March 25. The garden is situated on the foothills of Zabarwan range in Srinagar. The garden was conceived, conceptualized and created by then Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad, in 2006-07. In 2014, it was declared as the 2nd best tulip garden in the world by World Tulip Summit Society.

India, the largest consumer of mobile data in the world, ranks 109th when it comes to mobile Internet download speeds according to Ookla's Speedtest index. Norway is positioned at the top with an average download speed of 62.07 Mbps. Singapore leads in the fixed broadband front, with a download speed of 161.53 Mbps.

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), India's first operational smart city and International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP (DTTILLP) for mutual cooperation in areas related to international financial services. GIFT City, located near Gandhinagar in Gujarat is a global business district offering a platform for business opportunities in international and domestic business operations while DTTILLP is the Indian arm of multinational professional services network Deloitte. As per the terms of the MoU, GIFT-IFSC and DTTILLP will cooperate to provide quality professional services to support the establishment of businesses in IFSC. GIFT-IFSC and DTTILLP will also cooperate in organising seminars and conferences on selected topics for enhancement of the GIFT IFSC.

The NITI Aayog launched the baseline ranking for 115 aspirational districts based on 49 indicators across five sectors that include health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development, and basic infrastructure. This would be followed by delta ranking of these districts from May 2018 based on their incremental progress.

The 15th meeting of the India-US Counterterrorism Joint Working Group was held in New Delhi. The India delegation was led by Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary Mahaveer Singhvi. US delegation was led by U.S. State Department's Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Alina L. Romanowski. Threats posed by terrorist groups throughout the world and in their respective regions including cross border terrorism in the South Asian region were reviewed by the working group. Both countries ensured to strengthen information exchange on world's most dangerous terrorist groups and individuals. They discussed efforts to curb the funding and operations of regional and global terrorist organizations. Also international and bilateral cooperation on justice, law enforcement and capacity building efforts to counter terrorism and UN Security. The next meeting of the Joint Working Group will be hosted by the United States in 2019.

SBI Cards announced that it has partnered with Indian Medical Association (IMA) to launch 'Doctor's SBI Card', which has been designed to complement the distinct lifestyles and needs of doctors. SBI Cards is a joint venture between India's largest bank, State Bank of India and The Carlyle Group, while IMA is the voluntary representative organisation of Doctors. Among other features just like regular cards, unique proposition of 'Doctor's SBI Card is the professional indemnity insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh to protect doctors against professional risks and liabilities.

Jet Airways has announced plans to expand its operations in the northeast and make Guwahati its regional gateway of the region. Jet Airways has increased the number of weekly flights between the northeast and the rest of the country to 184. Jet Airways has introduced non-stop services to Aizawl, Jorhat and Silchar.

Myanmar's Parliament elected Win Myint as the country's new President. This comes after Myanmar's first democratically elected President Htin Kyaw resigned from the position due to health issues. Myint is considered a close aide of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and has been a speaker in the lower house since 2012.

The Supreme Court has appointed Justice Jawad Rahim as the new acting chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The new acting chairperson will discharge his duties until a regular appointment is made and will take part in selection process of other members of the NGT. However, the Chief Justice Dipak Misra bench made it clear that this appointment is an interim arrangement and shall not be construed to be a final determination of the seniority between Justice Rahim and Justice R S Rathore by the apex court. The bench was informed that Justice Rahim and Justice R S Rathore are the judicial members of the NGT and both were appointed to the NGT on the same date that was 12 January 2016.

Indian Navy's Talwar class frigate INS Tarkash carried out a greeting and training exercise with the U.S. Navy's Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG). Till now, TRCGS was deployed in Arabian Gulf in operations against the Islamic State. It will now be in the U.S. 7th Fleet area, responsible for counter-piracy, and training operations. As a part of this exercise, INS Tarkash sailed in formation with aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and the guided-missile destroyers USS Preble, USS Halsey and USS Sampson.

Tribal Affairs Minister, Jual Oram launched "E-Tribes India" in New Delhi. The Launch of E-Tribes India includes www.tribesindia.com, www.trifed.in and Retail Inventory Software and M-commerce app. 'Tribes India' Banners were also launched at Amazon, Snapdeal, Paytm & GeM. Also TRIFED's Handbook for Retail Trade and TRIFED's quarterly magazine 'Tribes Haat' were inaugurated. TRIFED has developed its own e-commerce website: tribesindia.com. This website offers sale of all TRIFED products. Their Android App can also be downloaded from Google store (Tribes India). TRIFED has entered into agreements with Snapdeal and Amazon to sell their products on www.snapdeal.com and www.amazon.com.