Current Affairs Assam – December 2018
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the month of December 2018 )
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December 3
Indigenous Faith Day celebrated in Arunachal Pradesh
- The Indigenous Faith Day was celebrated on 2nd December with traditional fervour and gaiety across the hilly State of Arunachal Pradesh.
- A slew of events like cultural shows, processions, traditional sports like tug-of-war and archery competitions were conducted to mark the day.
- The Indigenous Faith Day was celebrated centrally on the Nyikum Niya Ground at Nirjuli. The celebrations started off with the arrival of a car rally from the RK Mission helipad, Itanagar.
- The founding father of the Indigenous Faith movement in the State is ‘Golgi Bote’ Talom Rukbo.
Nagaland celebrates Statehood day on 1st December
- Nagaland celebrated the 55th Statehood day with cultural regale besides parade, drill and an arms handling show by police personnel and an air show by the Indian Air Force.
- On this day in 1963, Dr S Radhakrishnan, then President of India, declared Nagaland as the 16th State of the Indian Union.
- Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and Nagaland Governor PB Acharya also extended his best wishes for a prosperous Nagaland.
FACTFILE – Nagaland
- Nagaland became the 16th state of India on 1 December 1963.
- Nagaland borders the state of Assam to the west, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam to the north, Myanmar to the east, and Manipur to the south.
- The state capital is Kohima, and the largest city is Dimapur.
- The state is inhabited by 16 tribes — Angami, Ao, Chakhesang, Chang, Dimasa, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Kuki, Lotha, Phom, Pochury, Rengma, Sangtam, Sumi, Yimchunger, and Zeme-Liangmai (Zeliang)
- Nagaland is one of three states in India where the population is mostly Christian.
- Mount Saramati is the highest peak at 3,840 metres and its range forms a natural barrier between Nagaland and Burma.
Centre releases Rs 1,024 crore fund for Smart City Mission in NE
- The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUD) released Central assistance of Rs 1,024 crore to the North Eastern States to push the Smart City Mission. Projects worth Rs 443 crore are under implementation.
- The Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) is the ‘brain of a city’, integrating all utilities and services through digital technology and helps in making the city ‘Smart’.
- An ICCC developed in a ‘cloud-based’ system for the NE cities will have the advantage of lower cost of development, faster deployment and peer-to-peer learning among cities.
- An MoU has been signed with the BEL to facilitate the development of a cloud-based ICCC system in the cities of Imphal, Itanagar, Pasighat, Kohima, Namchi, Gangtok and Shillong.
- 10 Smart Cities in the NE have been selected in various rounds of the City Challenge so far. Itanagar and Shillong have been added in Round 4 during this year.
- NE States are working on the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016 aimed at protecting the interests of home buyers. Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Sikkim have established the interim Real Estate Regulatory Authorities.
OnePlus to make its Hyderabad R&D centre biggest globally
- Chinese handset maker OnePlus announced it has was working to grow its recently-opened Hyderabad facility into its biggest R&D centre globally in three years.
- The facility will not only play a critical role in development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in OnePlus products but will also drive innovations that are centric and relevant to the company’s Indian community, the company said in a statement.
4th ‘Ex Cope India-18’ India-US Air Force exercise started
- The Air Forces of India and the US will begin joint exercise “Ex Cope India-2018” from 3rd December to provide operational exposure to their personnel and undertake mutual exchange of best practices for enhancing operational capability.
- It will be the fourth edition in the series of bilateral joint exercise held by the Air Forces of the two nations conducted in India.
- This is the first time the exercise has been planned at two Air Force bases in West Bengal’s Kalaikunda and Panagarh.
- US Air Force is participating with 12 X F15 C/D and 03 X C-130. Indian Air Force is participating with the Su-30 MKI, Jaguar, Mirage 2000, C-130J and AWACS aircraft.
December 4
Second meeting of ‘NITI Forum for North East’ in Guwahati
- The development status of the Northeast will come up for review in Guwahati, when top officials of the NITI Aayog and Ministry of Development for North Eastern Region (DoNER) take part in the second meeting of the newly constituted ‘NITI Forum for North East’.
- The meeting will be chaired by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar, while Minister of State for DoNER Dr Jitendra Singh will co-chair it. Members of the Forum include Secretaries of various ministries of the Government of India, Chief Secretaries of all the eight northeastern states and also senior government officials and experts from various fields. The Secretary, North Eastern Council (NEC) is the Member Secretary of the Forum.
- The meeting will mainly focus on issues pertaining to five critical sectors – tourism, bamboo, dairy, fisheries and tea. Besides the members of the Forum, a number of experts from the government, industry and academia have also been invited to make the discussions more meaningful.
FACTFILE – ‘NITI Forum for North East’
- In February 2018, it was constituted to periodically review the development status of the northeastern region.
- The Forum is tasked to identify various constraints on the way of accelerated, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the region and to recommend suitable interventions for addressing identified constraints.
- First meeting was held in Agartala on April 10, 2018, where a wide ranging spectrum of issues was discussed.
Mizoram has highest HIV cases in India
- Mizoram has the highest rate of HIV infection in India. With 1.19 per cent of pregnant women tested positive for HIV, against the national average of 0.28 per cent, Mizoram has the highest rate of infection in the country.
- From new HIV cases detected during 2015 till August 2018, it has been discovered that 61.4 per cent of HIV-infected persons received the virus from casual sex partners who are not commercial sex workers, while only 3.3 per cent got infected from commercial sex workers. This shows how HIV infection is common among normal people.
- HIV rate has also witnessed an increase by 19.81 percent among intravenous drug users, according to the 2016-2017 HIV Sentinel Surveillance report. This too is the highest in India.
- Parent-to-child is one of the three main modes of transmission. The rate of HIV infection from mother to child increased from 7.5 per cent last year to 9.4 per cent this year.
International Day for People with Disabilities, or World Disability Day observed on 3rd December
- On International Day for People with Disabilities, or World Disability Day, on 3rd December, the city’s disabled community may have released blue-yellow balloons while “walking to freedom” with glee, but it was not without demanding inclusion and political participation within the larger society.
- Gathered in the Delhi’s heart, the India Gate, hundreds of people with disabilities participated in the “Walk to Freedom” programme by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) and the American India Foundation (AIF).
- The event followed the year’s theme — “Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality” — declared by the United Nations (UN), which focuses on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and pledges to “leave no one behind”. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- The event also saw the launch of a manual on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016 that simplifies the provisions of the Act.
- The new Act is often hailed as a momentous victory for the movement and promises much more to the community, including recognition of 21 categories of disability, as compared to seven categories previously of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.
Sunil Arora became the 23rd Chief Election Commissioner of India
- Sunil Arora took over as the 23rd Chief Election Commissioner, succeeding O P Rawat.
- The Lok Sabha elections, which are due next year, will be conducted by the poll panel under Arora. Besides the Parliamentary polls, the 2019 assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will be held during his tenure.
- He will be in office till April 12, 2021.
FACTFILE – Chief Election Commissioner of India
- The Chief Election Commissioner heads the Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections to the national and state legislatures and of President and Vice-President.
- Difficult to remove the authority of the Chief Election Commissioner once appointed by the president, as two-thirds of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha need to vote against him for disorderly conduct or improper actions.
- N. Seshan, from 1990 to 1996, is widely credited with undertaking a zealous effort to end corruption and manipulation in Indian elections.
- Salary of the CEC is the same as salary of a Judge of Supreme Court of India, which is ₹250,000 (US$3,500) monthly
- Term length – 6 yrs or up to 65 yrs of age (whichever is earlier)
- Sukumar Sen – first Chief Election Commissioner of India. He also served as first Chief Election Commissioner in Sudan.
Microsoft to host its 1st ‘Education Days’ in India
- In an attempt to showcase innovation and exchange of ideas to transform the focus of education on artificial intelligence (AI), Microsoft India is set to host the first “Education Days 2018”.
- The two-day event starting 4th December in will bring together students, over 220 educators and Microsoft partners under one roof to showcase their work and innovation.
- It would facilitate exchange of ideas to revamp the educational landscape through technology.
- Interactive sessions are planned for Microsoft Innovative Educators; an Education Transformation Framework (ETF) workshop is designed for policy makers and education leaders to help education leadership and school principals transform education in their institutions.
Odisha govt, ADB sign agreement for skill development
- India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 3rd December signed a $85 million loan agreement to improve the skill development eco-system in Odisha and set up an advanced skill training centre – World Skill Centre (WSC) – in Bhubaneswar.
- The project will improve the quality of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs in the state by making them relevant to industry and demand driven, and will impart occupation-ready skills training.
- ADB’s India Resident Mission Country Director Kenichi Yokoyama, who signed the Odisha Skill Development Project, said it will engage Singapore-based ITE Education Services (ITEES), a unit of the state-owned Institute of Technical Education (ITE).
- ITEES will support Odisha Skill Development Authority in setting-up and operationalizing WSC which would offer internationally bench marked advanced training programs for the working age population of Odisha.
FACTFILE – Asian Development Bank (ADB)
- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966.
- Headquarter in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines.
- The bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and non-regional developed countries. From 31 members at its establishment, ADB now has 67 members, of which 48 are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside.
- ADB is an official United Nations Observer.
- As of 31 December 2016, Japan and United States hold the largest proportion of shares at 15.607%. China holds 6.444%, India holds 6.331%, and Australia holds 5.786%.
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