Current Affairs Assam September 22-28, 2018
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of September 22-28, 2018 )
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September 22
Arunachal Pradesh CM launches universal healthcare scheme
- Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu dedicated the Chief Minister Aarogya Arunachal Yojana (CMAAY) a universal healthcare scheme of the state government to the people of the state.
- The launching of the health insurance scheme in this frontier state coincides with the nationwide launch of Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana.
- The state s healthcare scheme will be dovetailed with the centre s PMJAY scheme with Rs 50 crore earmarked to provide cashless treatment of Rs 5 lakh per family per year.
- The state s healthcare scheme will provide coverage to those beneficiaries left out in the PMJAY scheme.
- About 88 928 families as per 2011 Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) in Arunachal are eligible for PMJAY scheme out of 3.05 lakhs families.
Maharashtra to start a new Cyber University
- Maharashtra Government is setting up a new Cyber University dedicated to mitigating cyber threats. It will train 3,000 professionals to fight online space cyber-attacks, internet crimes and conduct cyber forensics.
- The Cyber University will provide for and prepare internet professionals on lines of Microsoft Certified Professional Program.
- It will conduct courses in data analytics, cloud computing, blockchain, AI, cyber forensics and cyber investigations.
- It will also impart training in 15 other Internet of Things (IoT) areas such as Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
- For this university, state government will provide different levels of training and enable affiliated colleges to impart certification for the 15 courses.
- The current demand of cyber professionals hovers around 30 lakh. The university will be a remedy for this by providing required human resource and bridge skill gap.
271 million people moved out of poverty in India, UNDP estimates
- India has made momentous progress in reducing multidimensional poverty with its incidence almost halving between 2005-6 and 2015-16 climbing down to 27.5 per cent from 54.7 per cent according to estimates from the 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
- Among South Asian countries only Maldives has a lower headcount ratio than India at 1.9 per cent with Nepal (35.3) Bangladesh (41.1) and Pakistan (43.9) having higher incidences of multidimensional poverty.
- Across states castes religions and ages -are still the poorest they have also experienced the biggest reductions in MPI through the decade showing that they have been “catching up”
- Pockets of poverty are found across India but multidimensional poverty is particularly acute — and significant — in the four states of Bihar Jharkhand Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. These accounted for 196 million MPI poor people — more than half of all MPI poor in India.
- But there was also progress. Jharkhand made the biggest strides among all states in reducing multidimensional poverty with Arunachal Pradesh Bihar Chhattisgarh and Nagaland only slightly behind.
- Delhi Kerala and Goa have the lowest incidence of multidimensional poverty.
- Despite the massive gains made in reducing multidimensional poverty 364 million Indians continue to experience acute deprivations in health nutrition schooling and sanitation.
- Globally around 1.3 billion people live in multidimensional poverty which is almost a quarter of the population of the 104 countries for which the 2018 MPI is calculated.
- Of these 1.3 billion almost half — 46 per cent — are thought to be living in severe poverty and are deprived in at least half of the dimensions covered in the MPI.
FACTFILE – Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)
- The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is an international measure of acute poverty covering over 100 developing countries. It complements traditional income-based poverty measures by capturing the severe deprivations that each person faces at the same time with respect to education, health and living standards.
- The MPI assesses poverty at the individual level. If someone is deprived in a third or more of ten (weighted) indicators, the global index identifies them as ‘MPI poor’, and the extent or intensity of their poverty is measured by the number of deprivations they are experiencing.
- Multidimensional Poverty Index(MPI) was developed in 2010 by the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme, and uses different factors to determine poverty beyond income-based lists.
- It replaced the previous Human Poverty Index. The global MPI is released annually by OPHI and the results published on its website.
- The MPI looks beyond income to understand how people experience poverty in multiple and simultaneous ways. It identifies how people are being left behind across three key dimensions: health education and living standards and 10 indicators – nutrition child mortality years of schooling school attendance sanitation cooking fuel drinking water electricity housing and assets.
Germany rolls out world’s first hydrogen-powered train
- Germany has rolled out world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger train. These locomotives named iLint trains and emit zero emissions, making them eco-friendly.
- This train technology offers greener and quieter alternative to diesel on non-electrified railway lines.
- These hydrogen trains are manufactured by French TGV-maker Alstom and are commercially running on 100km route between towns and cities of Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervoerde and Buxtehude in northern Germany.
FACTFILE – Hydrogen trains
- Hydrogen trains are equipped with fuel cells that produce electricity by combining hydrogen with oxygen.
- This conversion process only emits steam and water, thus producing zero emissions.
- Excess energy produced is stored in lithium-ion batteries on board. These trains also make very little noise.
- Moreover, hydrogen fuel cells have advantages over batteries. Instead of recharging, they can easily be refueled like gas or diesel engine.
- It is also easier to build refueling infrastructure for these trains at railway stations.
- These trains can run for around 1,000 km on a single tank of hydrogen, similar to the range of diesel trains.
- These trains offer attractive prospect to many cities scrambling to combat air pollution.
September 23
Meghalaya Cabinet approves state education policy
- The Meghalaya Cabinet approved the State Education Policy after 46 years of statehood. The Cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, also approved a proposal to bring an official resolution in the Assembly on the need to to include Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
- The resolution will be tabled by the government during the ongoing autumn session of the 10th Meghalaya Assembly.
- Meghalaya has been without education policy for over 46 years after the state was created in 1972.
- The first draft State Education Policy, 2018 was based on a comprehensive analysis of the education sector in the state and evolved out of numerous consultations held with national and state level experts, practitioners, administrators, and key stakeholders.
- The education policy, which was finalised by a 24-member Task Force, would also address the problem of having different categories of schools and teachers in the state.
Indian satellite-linked GPS module launched for Navigation
- Ramakrishna Electro Component Pvt Ltd Group (REC), an India-based semiconductor distribution company, launched a Vehicle Tracking System (VTS), the first of its kind module that will primarily use an Indian satellite for navigation.
- The company’s UTRAQ brand which is manufactured by Shanghai Mobiletek is an endeavour to provide an alternative to the Indian customers from the currently used GPS application that is working on US Satellites.
- Major change anticipating is that the VTS industry will be changing their designs as in the coming year it will be mandatory from the government to use Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) device.
- Two UTRAQ models L100 and L110 were launched and are planning to start mass production of the products soon in India under ‘Make In India’ programme.
FACTFILE – Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)
- The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), with an operational name of NAVIC (NAVigation with Indian Constellation), is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system that provides accurate real-time positioning and timing services.
- It covers India and a region extending 1,500 km (930 mi) around it, with plans for further extension. An Extended Service Area lies between the primary service area and a rectangle area enclosed by the 30th parallel south to the 50th parallel north and the 30th meridian east to the 130th meridian east, 1,500–6,000 km beyond borders.
- The system at present consists of a constellation of seven satellites, with two additional satellites on ground as stand-by.
- NAVIC will provide two levels of service, the “standard positioning service”, which will be open for civilian use, and a “restricted service” (an encrypted one) for authorized users (including military).
- There are plans to expand NavIC system by increasing constellation size from 7 to 11
Tamil Nadu Govt. started scheme for protection of exotic Neela Kurinji plants
- Tamil Nadu government has announced a Scheme for the protection of exotic Neelakurinji (Strobilanthus kunthianus) plants that flower only once in 12 years.
- This scheme comes following complaints that these rare and ecologically unique flowers are being packaged and sold on the commercial basis.
FACTFILE – Neelakurinji plant
- Neelakurinji is a tropical plant species, it is native to the Shola forests in Western Ghats and is also found in Shevroys Hills in Eastern Ghats, Anamalai hills and Sanduru hills.
- The flowers of Neelakurinji are purple-blue in colour and because of these flowers, Nilgiri hills on the southern tip of Western Ghats are called blue mountains.
- It is a rarest of rare plant species that grows in Western Ghats and does not grow in any other part of the world has been categorized as an endangered species.
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