Current Affairs Assam – November 15-21, 2018
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of November 15-21, 2018 )
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November 15
Assam’s scientist Mantu Bhuyan elected as Fellow of Royal Entomological Society of London
- Senior Scientist of the Jorhat based institute CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology Dr Mantu Bhuyan has been elected as the Fellow of Royal Entomological Society of London recently for his significant contribution in Entomology.
- Dr Bhuyan, a post graduate from Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat and post-doctorate from Rutgers University, USA has been working on insect-plant interaction and exploiting plant secondary metabolites for pest management including butterfly ecology, insect behaviour and vector control.
- He has published in reputed journals and co-author of a paper published in the Annual Review of Entomology.
FACTFILE – The Royal Entomological Society
- The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists.
- The Royal Entomological Society was established during 1833 in London and is known as one of the oldest and prestigious societies in the field of Entomology.
- Many pioneering scientists including Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace were also the alumni Fellow of the society.
Arunachal Pradesh government signs MoU worth Rs 1,200 crore
- The Arunachal Pradesh government on 14th November signed and exchanged MoUs with 17 private investors for projects worth Rs 1,200 crore during the 5th edition of North East Connectivity Scheme.
- The MoUs with private investors across sectors like tourism and hospitality, oil and gas, retail, power, equipment manufacturing and sports has the potential to create over 8,000 gainful employment opportunities in the state.
Modi meets PMs of Singapore, Australia, Thailand in East Asia Summit
- India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 14th November held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Singapore, Australia and Thailand on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit.
- Modi started the day with a meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Subjects pertaining to India-Singapore relations, particularly trade and people-to-people ties were discussed during the meeting.
- Following this, Modi had a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Both leaders had a good discussion on deepening ties in trade and investment, defence and security and other areas of bilateral cooperation.
- Later, the Indian Prime Minister met up with his Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-o-cha. Issues relating to trade, commerce and connectivity were among the various subjects discussed by the leaders.
FACTFILE – EAST ASIAN SUMMIT
- The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a regional forum held annually by leaders of, initially, 16 countries in the East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian regions, based on the ASEAN Plus Six mechanism.
- Russia and the United States were made members in 2011.
- ASEAN country holds the central role and leadership in the forum.
- EAS meetings plays an important role in the regional architecture of Asia-Pacific.
- The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 14 December 2005.
- The Thirteenth East Asia Summit was held in Singapore on November 14–15, 2018.
Andhra Pradesh launches AWS Cloud-based initiative to skill 60,000 students
- The Andhra Pradesh government on 14th November launched a Cloud-based skill initiative with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s Cloud arm, where it will skill 60,000 students across the state’s over 300 engineering and non-engineering colleges by 2020.
- An MoU to build skills and literacy under the mission titled “Cloud For All-Knowledge and Skills Mission,” was exchanged between Sambasiva Rao, CEO, Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) and Sunil PP, India Education Lead, Public Sector, Amazon Internet Services Private Limited .
- APSSDC will build Cloud computing technology skills across Andhra Pradesh leveraging the AWS Educate programme, Amazon’s global initiative to provide students and educators with the resources needed to accelerate cloud-related learning.
- APSSDC has collaborated with AWS Educate Programme to provide a skilled workforce across high-priority and emerging sectors.
- The Cloud Career Pathway framework enables students to put their cloud knowledge to use across 12 self-paced pathways aligned to labour market trends and workforce needs.
- By September, more than 13,000 students were enrolled in the AWS Educate programme from nearly 130 non-engineering colleges.
NITI Aayog launches 72-hour hackathon to solve problems at school
- On the Children’s Day, the NITI Aayog launched a 72-hour ‘Tinkering Hackathon’ for children to come up with innovative solutions for challenges faced by them in schools, especially on quality of education and safety.
- The winners of the hackathon, being held jointly with the Unicef, would be announced on November 20, which is celebrated as the World Children’s Day.
- During the event, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar also presented the Unicef-Atal Tinkering Labs Young Champions Awards to the winners of the nationwide Atal Tinkering Marathon challenge launched last year on October 2.
- The marathon was aimed at encouraging students to observe community problems and develop innovative solutions.
November 16
ADTU signs pact with IITG for academic collaboration
- Assam Down Town University (ADTU) signed an agreement with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati for academic collaboration.
- The agreement was signed by Dr NN Dutta, Chancellor of Assam Down Town University, and Prof Gautam Biswas, Director of IIT Guwahati.
- The agreement will be in effect for five years. The two institutions agreed to enhance the agreement through the exchange of information on research and educational programmes, information on teaching, learning materials and other literature relevant to their educational and research programmes, joint short-term continuing education programmes, training on topics of mutual interest, etc.
FACTFILE – Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
- IIT Guwahati is the sixth Indian Institute of Technology established in India and is officially recognised as an Institute of National Importance by the government of India.
- The history of IIT Guwahati traces its roots to the 1985 Assam Accord signed between the All Assam Students Union and the Government of India, which mentions the general improvement in education facilities in Assam and specifically the setting up of an IIT.
- IIT Guwahati was established in 1994 by an act of parliament and its first batch of students into its Bachelor of Technology programme admitted in 1995.
- Internationally, IIT Guwahati was ranked 501-550 in the QS World University Rankings of 2018. The same rankings ranked it 98 in Asia and 52 among BRICS nations.
- In India, among engineering colleges, it ranked 7th by India Today in 2017 and 8th by The Week.
- It was ranked 7th among engineering colleges in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework in 2018 and 12 overall.
1st India Cup Open International Taekwondo Championship begins at Silchar
- The First India Cup Open International Taekwondo Championship began at Silchar, wherein more than 400 participants would lock horns.
- Teams from various states of India, namely, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Goa, Orissa, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra would take part, and participants from Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Afghanistan, would also fight it out for the coveted prizes.
- The events, Kyorugi (full contact fighting) and Poomsae (non contact) of Taekwondo, a Korean martial art form, would be on display between age groups Under 5 to Under 60 in this ongoing championship.
- Organized by Cachar district Taekwondo association along with Kreeda Bharati Cachar district, this championship is being held in India Club Silchar’s Indoor stadium with a budget of Rs 22 lakh.
- Silchar also hosted the FIDE rating International Chess Tournament just two months before.
India-Japan joint military drill ‘Dharma Guardian’ concludes
- The joint Indo-Japanese counter-insurgency military drill ‘Dharma Guardian’ concluded on 14th November at Vairengte in Mizoram.
- The primary focus of the exercise was to train and equip the contingents to undertake joint counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations in urban and semi-urban terrain
- It is a significant step towards fostering military and diplomatic ties between the two countries.
- The participants were initially familiarised with each other’s organisational structure, tactical drills and planning process before graduating to joint tactical exercises.
- Commanders at various levels from both sides were exercised to work in close coordination to receive and collate information jointly, plan operations and issue suitable orders to respective integrated groups.
China, India pledge to step up military exchanges
- At the 9th India-China Annual Defence and Security Dialogue on 14th November, both sides agreed to enhance exchanges and interactions through reciprocal high-level visits between the two ministries of Defence as well as between military commands.
- Joint training exercises, mutual visits by defence personnel including mid-level and cadet officers were also agreed upon.
- Both sides reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas, implementing the consensus of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping and specific additional confidence building measures at the operational level.
- The two sides also had an exchange of views on regional and global issues.
- The dialogue was attended by India’s Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra and Lt. General Shao Yuanming, Deputy Chief of Joint Staff Department of Central Military Commission of China.
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