Current Affairs - July 27, 2018 Current Affairs

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) has organized 2nd meeting of National Council on India's Nutrition Challenges under POSHAN Abhiyaan on 24th July 2018 in New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Rajiv Kumar, the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog. In it, it was declared that Month of September to be celebrated as National Nutrition Month (NNM) every year. During the meeting, the National Council approved to include 32 new districts in the current year 2018-19 under POSHAN Abhiyaan by which it will saturate all the districts of the UTs which are left to be included under Phase-I and Phase-II. The POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) was launched nationwide from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan on 8th March 2018. It aims to ensure holistic development and adequate nutrition for pregnant women, mothers and children.

The Junior Asian Wrestling Championship was held in New Delhi from July 17-22, 2018. Junior Asian Wrestling Championship is conducted by United World Wrestling (UWW) annually. Iran topped the team championships with 189 points. India ranked second with 173 points and Uzbekistan ranked third with 128 points.

According to a report on US journal Science, a massive underground lake has been detected for the first time on Mars. The lake is about 20 kilometres wide, located under a layer of Martian ice and is the largest body of liquid water ever found on the Red Planet. It lies almost 1.5 km beneath the icy surface in a harsh and frigid environment and the water is not drinkable. The tool that detected this is called Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS).

Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu is appointed as the Chancellor of Pondicherry Central University by the President, Ram Nath Kovind, in his capacity as Visitor of the university. The term of the Chancellor will be five years.

Chief Minister of Delhi Mr. Arvind Kejriwal launched the 'Mukhyanmantri Kisan Aaye Badhotri Solar Yojna'. It aims to increase the income of farmers by three to five times in the national capital. Without affecting the agricultural activity maximum one-third of the land would be used for installation of solar panels. The minimum height for installing solar panels will be 3.5 metres. Electricity from the solar panel installed by the private companies will be bought by the government at Rs.4 per unit which will save Rs. 400 to Rs.500 crore.

Four persons of India-origin, including three women, have been named by Fortune among 40 of the most influential and inspiring young people in business under the age of 40. Instagram Cofounder and CEO Kevin Systrom and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, both 34, are tied for first place on the Fortune '40 Under 40' list. The 4 people from India-Origin is; 1. Dhivya Suryadevara (4th), CFO of General Motors; 2. Anjali Sud (14th), CEO of Vimeo; 3. Baiju Bhatt (24th), Cofounder and Co-CEO of Robinhood; 4. Anu Duggal (32nd), founding partner of Female Founders Fund.

Virat Kohli received the International Player of the Year award for 2017-2018 from England's Barmy Army. Barmy Army is a popular fan club of English cricket supporters. In 2018, Kohli has played a total of 19 matches across formats and has scored 1181 runs with an average of 65.61. He has scored four hundred and four half-centuries.

The Lok Sabha passed the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018. The Bill aimed at preventing human trafficking of women and children, providing rehabilitation to the victims and prosecuting offenders. The Bill was introduced in the House by the Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi. The Bill approves severe punishment of 10 years to life imprisonment for aggravated forms of trafficking. It also proposes establishing a National Anti-Trafficking Bureau (NATB) for coordinating, monitoring and surveillance of trafficking cases. It allocated Rs.10 crore for Relief and Rehabilitation Committee and Rehabilitation Fund.

The 6th India-UK Science & Innovation Council (SIC) meeting held in New Delhi discussed a range of issues on S&T cooperation between the two countries. Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences & Environment, Forests and Climate Change, India and Mr. Sam Gyimah, Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, UK led the Indian and UK delegations respectively.

Tamilnadu government has released the draft state Forest Policy that aims to conserve forests and wildlife, ecosystems, and climate change mitigation etc. It was released by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami. It aims to increase forest cover, protect wetlands and other waterbodies in Tamil Nadu.The objectives are conservation of biodiversity, wildlife, rehabiliation and restoration of degraded forests, coastal ecosystem conservation etc. The policy includes engagement of local tribal communities in protection, conservation and wildlife management.

Two Indians Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk were named winners of 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Award. A total of 6 persons were declared winners of 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Award. Bharat Vatwani is awarded for leading the rescue of thousands of mentally ill destitute people and reuniting them with their families. Sonam Wangchuk is awarded for his contribution in the field of education, culture and progress of communities in remote northern India. The recipients of Ramon Magsaysay Award 2018 will receive a certificate, a medallion, and a cash prize.

India's Vicky Chandhok was unanimously re-elected President of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship Working Group for a second two-year term at the annual meeting in Johor, Malaysia. Representatives from Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Indonesia among others attend the meeting and the elections.

For the first time a 16 member committee has been formed by Insurance regulator IRDAI. Its main objective is to examine motor third party insurance pricing and make recommendations on the premium rates for 2019-20. IRDAI member - P.J. Joseph is the chairman of the committee. Other members include 2 senior officials of IRDAI, one each from Centre's Department of Financial Services and Ministry of Road transport and Highways and 5 members from general insurance companies. It also includes other members from All India Motor Transport Corporation (AIMTC), Bus Operators Corporation of India, Federation of India Automobile Association, Consumer Voice, General Insurance Council, Insurance Information Bureau of India (IIBI).

A book titled "Gandhi: The years that changed the world (1914-1948)" has been written Ramachandra Guha. This book will be released in September 2018. It will be published by Penguin Random House India. Ramachandra Guha is a popular historian and author. He is 60 years old. This book will narrate the story of Gandhi's life, from his departure from South Africa to his assassination in 1948. It will also tell the history of Indian freedom movement. It also contains Gandhi's arguments with B.R. Ambedkar, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Subhas Chandra Bose, etc. This book is a follow up to "Gandhi Before India" (2013).

R Ramanan, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission and Arvind Gupta CEO, MyGov launched the "#InnovateIndia Platform", a collaboration between the Atal Innovation Mission and MyGov, a citizen-centric platform of the Government of India. The portal will serve as the common point for all the innovation happening across the nation.