Current Affairs Assam – February 2018 e-Magazine
February 25
India to host first International Solar Alliance summit
India is going to host first International Solar Alliance (ISA) summit in March 2018 in New Delhi. It will be hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by leaders from over 50 member countries.
It will include French President Emmanuel Macron, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid. During the summit, two new programmes on scaling solar e-mobility are to be inaugurated.
NERs 1st Regional Centre for Agriculture With Israeli collaboration to be inaugurated in Mizoram
Israeli Ambassador to India, Mr. Daniel Carmon stated that a Centre for Agriculture, with the collaboration of Israeli expertise, is going to be inaugurated in Mizoram in March 2018.
This will be the first such center in the North East region (NER) of India that is being established with Israeli collaboration. It has been set up at a cost of Rs 8-10 crore. This Centre has been set up with the tripartite collaboration of India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of Israel and State Government of Mizoram and is exclusively for the processing of citrus fruits.
RBI Sets Up Committee Under YH Malegam To Monitor Bad Loans
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constituted an expert committee under the chairmanship of YH Malegam to look into a range of issues relating to classification of bad loans, rising incidents of frauds and effectiveness of audits. Y H Malegam is a former member of the Central Board of Directors of RBI. A K Misra – Executive Director of RBI will be the Member-Secretary of the committee.
Amma 2 Wheeler Scheme launched by PM Modi in Tamil Nadu
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Launched ‘Amma’, subsidised 2 Wheeler Scheme for working women in Tamil Nadu. This scheme was launched to mark 70th birth anniversary of Jayalalithaa , the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
Under ‘Amma’ 2 Wheeler Scheme, every year, one lakh working women in Tamil Nadu will be given 50% of the cost of a two- wheeler or a grant of Rs. 25000.
February 26
Aruna Budda Reddy becomes 1st Indian to win individual medal at Gymnastics World Cup
Aruna Budda Reddy became the first Indian gymnast to win an individual medal at the Gymnastics World Cup by bagging a bronze medal in the women’s vault event, in Melbourne, Australia.
Aruna Budda Reddy scored 13.649 in the women’s vault event and finished in the third position. She won the bronze medal in the women’s vault event. Slovania’s Tjasa Kysslef won gold medal and Australia’s Emily Whitehead won silver medal. Another Indian woman Pranati Nayak scored 13.416 and finished in the sixth position.
Assam will mark September 22 as Rhino Day
The Assam government will be observing September 22 as Rhino Day to generate public awareness on protection of one-horned rhinoceros (pachyderm) — the pride of the state.
It was announced at the 10th meeting of State Board for Wildlife chaired by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. The day will be dedicated to approximately 2,500 rhino population in state. State government is also launch State Rhino Project in line with National Rhino Project for protecting them from threats of poaching.
FACTIFLE – Indian Rhinoceros
- The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), is a rhinoceros native to the Indian subcontinent.
- It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as populations are fragmented and restricted to less than 20,000 km2 (7,700 sq mi).
- The Indian rhinoceros once ranged throughout the entire stretch of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, but excessive hunting and agricultural development reduced their range drastically to 11 sites in northern India and southern Nepal.
In the early 1990s, between 1,870 and 1,895 rhinos were estimated to have been alive. In 2015, a total of 3,555 Indian rhinoceros are estimated to live in the wild.
February 27
Andaman & Nicobar Command to host ‘Milan 2018’
Indian Navy’s Andaman & Nicobar Command will be hosting a multinational mega event ‘MILAN 2018’ from 6th – 13th March, 2018 at Port Blair.
MILAN is a congregation of navies of several countries, organised biennially by Indian Navy at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, under the aegis of the Andaman and Nicobar Command.
Objective behind this event is to foster co-operation through naval exercises and professional interactions.
Theme of ‘MILAN 2018’ will be ‘Friendship Across the Seas’.
Countries that will participate for first time: Brunei, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, Oman, South Africa, Timor Leste and Vietnam.
Other participants are India, Australia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Thailand, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, Philippines and Cambodia.
Chilika Lake is the Largest habitat of Irrawaddy dolphins globally
Chilika Lake in Odisha has become the single largest habitat of Irrawaddy dolphins in the world. A Chilika Development Authority (CDA) official said that, 155 Irrawaddy dolphins have been identified in the Chilika Lake.
This information has been provided based on the preliminary report of the first ‘Annual Monitoring’ of the Chilika Lake conducted recently.The ‘Annual Monitoring’ was performed to count the number of marine mammals and to analyse the hydrological impacts of removal of pen culture.
