Current Affairs - April 10, 2018 Current Affairs

India's leading Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) bank State Bank of India (SBI) is all set to invest a sum of Rs 80 billion in Nepal's Arun-III hydropower project. The move will aid the Nepal-based firm to produce 900 megawatts (MW) electricity. According to news agency ANI, The SJVN, which has been awarded the construction of the mega power project of Nepal, has made an informal agreement with the SBI to acquire the investment as loan and soon will make the formal agreement.The Director Committee Meeting of the bank is due to make the recommendation. They soon will decide over. As of now, they have decided over the loan extend and the interest rate over it has been finalized. The 1.4 trillion rupees over the project will be expended for the construction of the structures and additional 11 billion rupees for the transmission lines. With the completion of the project, Nepal will get 21.9 percent of the total electricity produced in a year i.e., 197 MW electricity with 86 crore unit for free in a year.

Kerala State Government will start a 'community radio' to update farmers about the latest developments in the sector. This will be the first such community radio in India, under Government initiative to get connected with the farming community. The farm radio will start broadcast from Kuttanad in Alappuzha district of Kerala and will serve farmers in a 20 square kilometre radius in the region. Kuttanand was once popularly known as the 'rice bowl of Kerala. This 'community radio' will serve as a platform to provide range of information to farmers including climate change and environment issues, tips and information on various aspects of agriculture and agrarian crisis and alerts. It will be launched under the Farm Information Bureau (FIB) of the Kerala State's Agriculture Department.

IHHC (India Home Health Care) has become the first home health care company to create a dedicated ICU simulation lab to train nursing staff, at its Bengaluru facility. This advanced simulation lab will offer hands-on training modules and aide nursing staff to improve the quality of medical and healthcare services offered to homes. The ICU simulation lab recreates real-life scenarios through patient simulators, digitalised video, computer charting, electronic supply, static mannequins, etc. Through this, IHHC will introduce critical care at home services. IHHC customers can now enjoy enhanced care service in the comfort of their homes.

Singapore and China have inked Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote greater collaboration between companies from both countries in third-party markets along China's ambitious Belt and Road routes. The MoU will see the formation of a working group between Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), China's National Development and Reform Commission and Enterprise. The working group will identify sectors and markets of mutual interest, organise business-matching activities and forums to facilitate third-party market cooperation between Singapore and Chinese companies under Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Under it, both countries will work with commercial and policy banks, insurers and financial institutions to support financing and project structuring needs of third-party market ventures under BRI by companies from both sides.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to use Gross Domestic Product (GDP) instead of Gross Value Added (GVA) to measure economic activity in India. Viral Acharya, deputy governor of RBI said that, this change has been done to confirm with international practice and for ease of comparison. Worldwide, the performance of economies is measured in terms of GDP. Multilateral institutions, international analysts and investors also follow this approach. GVA gives the picture of the state of economic activity from the producers' side or the supply side. GDP provides the picture from the consumers' side or the demand side. The Central Statistical Office has been employing GDP as the main tool to measure economic activity since January 2015.

Labour Secretary M Sathiyavathy took charge as member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). She was administered oath of office and secrecy as member by Vinay Mittal, Chairman, UPSC. Sathiyavathy is IAS Officer of 1982 batch of AGMUT Cadre. She has rich and varied experience and has worked in various key positions under the Government during the course of a long career spanning over 35 years. She has held several important positions in Central Government including first woman chief of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). She also had served as Joint DG in Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Controller, ISRO Satellite Centre, Department of Space, Member Secretary, Central Silk Board, Ministry of Textiles.

India clinched their first-ever badminton mixed team event gold in Commonwealth Games history after defeating defending champions Malaysia 3-1 in the final at Gold Coast. India's previous best performance in the mixed team event at CWG was a silver-medal finish in the 2010 edition. Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth represented India in singles' matches of the five-member team event.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched Project Dhoop to address rising incidence of Vitamin D deficiencies (VDD), particularly amongst the young people. The project aims to encourage schools to shift their morning assembly to around noon-time, mainly between 11 am to 1 pm to ensure maximum absorption of Vitamin D in students through natural sunlight. It has been launched by FSSAI along with National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) as well as North MCD Schools. The concept of noon school assembly under it is an innovative and effective concept to ensure that school students get adequate Vitamin D through sunlight, while also opting to choose food products like milk and edible oils that are fortified with Vitamins A and D.

An international conference on 'Water, Environment and Climate Change: Knowledge Sharing and Partnership' started in Kathmandu, Nepal. The three-day event is being organized by the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage and Govt of Nepal. The basic objective of the conference is to bring together professionals, government and non-government institutions to discuss and deliberate on challenges related to water and environmental issues. More than 100 international participants from 20 different countries, including India, will attend the conference.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated a scientific convention on the World Homeopathy Day in New Delhi. The day is observed to commemorate the birth anniversary of Homoeopathy founder Dr Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (10 April 1755). The theme of the two-day convention is Innovate: Evolve, Progress: Exploring Science since 40 years.

Answer: NASA's Parker Solar Probe - humanity's first mission to the Sun - is undergoing final preparations.The mission is scheduled for launch on July 31, 2018. Parker Solar will orbit directly through the solar atmosphere - the corona - closer to the surface than any human-made object has ever gone.

IIT-trained Australian scientist of Indian origin Veena Sahajwalla has launched world's first microfactory that can transform components from electronic waste items into valuable materials for re-use. The e-waste microfactory uses green manufacturing technologies to turn many types of consumer waste such as glass, plastic and timber into commercial materials and products. It is modular micro factory that can operate on site as small as 50 square metres and can be located wherever waste may be stockpiled. It has one or series of small machines and devices that uses patented technology to perform one or more functions in the reforming of waste products into new and usable resources. The e-waste microfactory has the potential to reduce the rapidly growing problem of vast amounts of e-waste causing environmental harm and going into landfill. It offers a cost-effective solution to one of the greatest environmental challenges of our age. The microfactory presents solution to burning and burying waste items that contain valuable materials that can be transformed into value-added substances and products to meet existing and new industry and consumer demands.

Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was elected as Chairman of Boao Forum for Asia replacing Japan's Yasuo Fukuda. Former governor of People's Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan was appointed vice-chairman. Both the appointments took place during second session of annual Boao Forum, known as "Asian Davos" underway in China's Hainan province. Ban Ki-moon is South Korean diplomat and was eighth Secretary-General of United Nations from January 2007 to December 2016.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off India's first all-electric high-speed locomotive in Bihar. The first big Make-in-India project completed by France's Alstom, the train has the country's most powerful engine with 12,000 horsepower and a maximum speed of 120 km per hour. The average cost of one high-speed locomotive is around Rs25 crore.

On 8th April 2018, International Romani Day 2018 was celebrated all over the world. The International Romani Day also known as International Roma Day celebrates Romani culture and creates awareness on issues faced by Romani people. It is celebrated every year on 8th April. International Romani Day was officially declared at the fourth World Romani Congress of the International Romani Union (IRU) in Serock, Poland, in 1990. This day remembers the first major international meeting of Romani representatives held between 7th and 12th April 1971 in Chelsfield, England.