Current Affairs - April 12, 2018 Current Affairs

Balram Bhargava was appointed the Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Secretary of the Department of Health Research. Balram Bharagava is currently Professor/Senior Consultant Cardiologist at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He has been appointed the DG of ICMR for a 3 year term or until 60 years of age, as per an order issued by the Personnel Ministry.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the two-day "Scientific Convention on World Homeopathy Day" in New Delhi. The two-day convention has been organized by Union Ministry of AYUSH. The inaugural function was presided over by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH Shripad Yesso. Nearly 1500 delegates including homoeopathic researchers, practitioners, scientists from allied sciences, industrialists, students as well as representatives of various homoeopathic associations will be attending this convention. The theme of this convention is "Innovate: Evolve; Progress: Exploring Science since 40 years".World Homeopathy Day is observed on April 10 every yeaer to commemorate the birth anniversary of the founder of Homoeopathy, Dr. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann.

The National Safe Motherhood (NSMD) is celebrated every year on April 11 to create awareness on proper healthcare and maternity celebrities to pregnant and lactating women. It also seeks to create awareness about the institutional delivery, reducing anemia among women and better pre and postal natal health care and necessary for mothers. The theme of 2018 NSMD is "Respectful Maternity Care".

Haryana State Government has come up with Water ATM Policy to provide clean drinking water to people at public places. Distance between two water ATMs within a city would be 400 metres, which could be adjusted according to convenience of people. Spots for installation of water ATMs will be identified by the municipalities. Installation would be done mostly at public places such as bus-stands, parks, railway stations, parking areas and markets Post installation, functioning of Water ATMs would be looked after by the municipality itself or by an agency. This responsibility may also be handed over to a company willing to look after it as a part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative.

Anupama Bhatnagar, the senior Indian Information Service (IIS) officer, has assumed charge as the new secretary of the Press Council of India (PCI) on April 2. She succeeded Vibha Bhargava. Prior to her new assignment, Bhatnagar was posted as the additional director general (news) in All India Radio (AIR).

Google Home and Home Mini Bluetooth speakers have been launched in India. Google Assistant-powered speakers will be available on Flipkart and in 750 retail stores in India. Google Home is priced at Rs 9,999 and Home Mini at Rs 4,499 in India. They were launched at Google's I/O 2016 conference. This is the first time Google has launched its speakers in India. Google Home and Home Mini can be activated by saying 'Ok Google'. Google Home works with Android TVs also and can be used to control Netflix. Google Home and Home Mini are offered with six months of ad-free music experience by Saavn and Gaana. Google has tied up with NDTV, Times of India, Aaj Tak and Dainik Bhaskar in India for news content. Google Home can also be connected with Google Chromecast. It also works with Youtube.

New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport entered into the league of the top 20 busiest airports in the world for 2017 in terms of traffic volumes. The GMR-group-run New Delhi airport jumped from 22nd rank in 2016 to 16th rank, as per the Airports Council International (ACI). Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) was ranked the busiest airport in the world.

A new class of antibiotics named "Odilorhabdins" has been discovered which can help in fighting drug-resistant or hard-to-treat bacterial infections. The antibiotic called odilorhabdins, or ODLs, are developed by symbiotic bacteria present in soil-dwelling nematode worms that colonise insects for food. The bacteria helps to kill the insect and secretes the antibiotic to keep competing bacteria away. Researchers from the University of Illinois (UIC) at Chicago and Nosopharm, a France-based biotechnology company, were involved in this study. It has been found that ODLs act on the ribosome of bacterial cells. When ODL is bound to ribosome, it disrupts its ability to interpret and translate genetic code.

Vice Foreign Minister of Vietnam, Dang Dinh Quy met Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi and held discussions on India-Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership and on ways to further boost ties. It is to be noted that in 2016, India and Vietnam formally upgraded their relationship status (from Strategic Partnership) to "comprehensive strategic partnership". India-Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership focuses on bilateral trade and Defence cooperation. During 2018, so far, there have been two high-level visits to India from the Vietnamese side. Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was one of the chief guests for the Republic Day Parade on January 26, 2018, while Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang also paid a visit to India in March 2018.

Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (RInfra) said that, it has won a Rs 1,081 crore contract from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) for work in two units of the Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu. RInfra said that, it has obtained purchase order of Rs 1,081 crore for Common Services System, Structure & Components (SSC) package and allied civil works of Unit -3 and 4 of the Kudankulam project at Tirunelveli District. The contract comprises design, engineering, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of SSC package and allied civil works on EPC basis. This project will be commissioned in 56 months. The contract value is inclusive of taxes and duties and also has imported component of USD 23.2 million.

Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh inaugurated a special court at Cheirap Court Complex in Imphal West district to try drug-related cases. The fast-track court will facilitate the speedy trial of offences relating to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Similar court to try Crime Against Women was also inaugurated by the chief minister on June 27 last.

The UN World Tourism Organization has appointed FC Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel Messi as an ambassador to promote responsible tourism. The UN body defines "responsible tourism" as tourism that "helps maximise the sector's benefits". Responsible tourism minimises the negative impact of tourism on the environment, cultural heritage and societies across the globe.

The 16th International Energy Forum Ministerial Meeting - IEF16 has started in New Delhi, India from April 10, 2018. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The aim of the 3-day IEF16 is to focus on how global shifts, transition policies and new technologies influence market stability and future investment in the energy sector. The IEF16 is the largest gathering of energy ministers from across the globe, industry leaders and heads of key international organisations who will debate the future of global energy. Its 72 member countries are signatories to the IEF Charter, which outlines the framework of the global energy dialogue through this inter-governmental arrangement. Apart from them, 20 countries are also participating in this meeting as special invitees.

Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot has been made a member of Congress central election committee. The Congress central election committee selects candidates during elections. It has been said that Ashok Gehlot will become a member of the key committee chaired by Congress president Rahul Gandhi with immediate effect. Ashok Gehlot is a former chief minister of Rajasthan. He was appointed the AICC (All India Congress Committee) general secretary in charge of organisation and training of party cadres.

ech Mahindra has partnered with Balbix, a breach avoidance platform provider, to launch the security industry's first AI (Artificial intelligence)-powered continuous threat assessment and prioritised actionable risk intelligence platform. It intelligent security operations center (iSOC). Using this, cyber-breaches can be predicted and proactively avoided by continuously monitoring IT inventories. An iSOC can prioritise actionable intelligence for proactive handling of identified critical risks. It also prevents security incidents and decreases compliance verification cycles from months to minutes. The Tech Mahindra and Balbix platform uses deep learning and specialised AI algorithms to predict how attacks can occur and propagate. It offers actionable insights to reduce breach.

Indian shooter Manu Bhaker has been named the brand ambassador of Haryana's Measles and Rubella (MR) vaccination campaign. This campaign will be launched by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on 25th April 2017. Vaccination for around 85 lakh children aged between nine months and 15 years will be done in this campaign. This campaign will continue for 5-6 weeks. Decision regarding this was taken in a meeting of State Level Steering Committee for Measles Rubella Campaign chaired by Chief Secretary, D S Dhesi. As part of this campaign, immunisation will be done in 22,626 government and private schools, 25,771 Anganwadi centres, construction sites, brick kilns, poultry farms, other high risk zones and urban areas.