Assam Affairs Assam June 15 - 21, 2018
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of June 15- 21, 2018 )
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June 15
Mars to shine the brightest in July 2018
In July 2018, Mars is slated to come the closest to Earth in the last 15 years, which will make the Red Planet appear the brightest since 2003, as Earth will comes between the Sun and the Mars planet.
Mars will appear the brightest on the morning of July 31. In 2003, the distance between Earth and Mars was 34.9 million miles, the closest in the last 60,000 years.
This July, the Red Planet at its closest will be in the range of 35.8 million miles of Earth. The next time Mars would come this close to our planet would be in 2035.
FACTFILE – Mars Planet
- Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System after Mercury.
- It is often referred to as the “Red Planet” because the reddish iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance that is distinctive among the astronomical bodies visible to the naked eye.
- Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth.
- Mars is the site of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and second-highest known mountain in the Solar System, and of Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the Solar System.
- Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos.
- There are ongoing investigations assessing the past habitability potential of Mars, as well as the possibility of extant life. Future astrobiology missions are planned, including the Mars 2020 and ExoMars rovers.
- November 2016, NASA reported finding a large amount of underground ice in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars.
PSU banks’ NPA write-offs surge 140% over their losses in FY18
Public sector banks have written off Non-Performing Assets worth Rs1.20 trillion, an amount that is nearly one-and-a-half times more than their total losses posted in 2017-18. This is the first time in a decade that banks have made huge write-offs on bad loans while booking hefty losses.
A write-off means that the bank has made 100% provision from its earning against that account. This NPA is no longer part of the bank’s balance sheet.
The country largest lender State Bank of India alone has written off bad loans of Rs40,196 crore, nearly 25% of the total write-offs during 2017-18, followed by Canara Bank (Rs 8,310 crore), Punjab National Bank (Rs 7,407 crore) and Bank of Baroda (Rs 4,948 crore).
Niti Aayog report says India facing worst water crisis
Niti Aayog’s Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) has highlighted that water shortage could explode into a full-blown crisis in India, in the coming years. The report predicts that country’s major cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad could run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 million people and that the country’s water demand could double by 2030. If matters are to continue, there will be a 6% loss in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2050.
States have been ranked on the basis of work done with regards to water management, restoration of groundwater, restoration of water bodies, irrigation and drinking water policies – among several others.
While states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have fared reasonably well, populous states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana are especially vulnerable.
Water scarcity is likely to have a direct as well as indirect impact on lives and livelihood with more than 52 per cent of India’s agricultural sector reportedly dependent on monsoons.
Critical groundwater resources, which accounted for 40% of India’s water supply, are being depleted at “unsustainable” rates and up to 70% of India’s water supply is “contaminated”.
NITI Aayog’s Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) will evaluate all the states and comprises 9 broad sectors with 28 different indicators covering various aspects of groundwater, restoration of water bodies, irrigation, farm practices, drinking water, policy and governance.
Eight more states sign MoUs to implement Ayushman Bharat
Eight more states signed MoUs with the Union Health Ministry, taking the no. of state to 20 who have agreed to implement the government’s ambitious national health protection mission, aiming to provide a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family annually to 10 crore vulnerable families.
FACTFILE – Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission
- It will have a defined benefit cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year.
- Benefits of the scheme are portable across the country and a beneficiary covered under the scheme will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/private empanelled hospitals across the country.
- The beneficiaries can avail benefits in both public and empanelled private facilities.
- To control costs, the payments for treatment will be done on package rate basis.
- One of the core principles of Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission is to co-operative federalism and flexibility to states.
- It has two goals, one, creating a network of health and wellness infrastructure across the nation to deliver comprehensive primary healthcare services, and another is to providing insurance cover to at least 40 per cent of India’s population which is majorly deprived of secondary and tertiary care services.
- Indu Bhushan appointed as a Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
June 16
India’s forex reserves up by $879.5 million to $413 billion
India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $879.5 million to $413.109 billion in the week to 8 June, helped by rise in foreign currency assets. The reserves had touched a record high of $426.028 billion in the week to 13 April, 2018.
Gold reserves remained unchanged at $21.189 billion. The special drawing right with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is $1.499 billion. The country’s reserve position with the IMF is $2.029 billion.
It had crossed the $400-billion mark for the first time in the week to 8 September, 2017.
FACTFILE – Foreign-exchange reserves
- Forex is called the reserve assets in the balance of payments and are located in the capital account.
- They are usually an important part of the international investment position of a country.
- In terms of financial assets classifications, the reserve assets can be classified as Gold bullion, Unallocated gold accounts, Special drawing rights, currency, Reserve position in the IMF, interbank position, other transferable deposits, other deposits, debt securities, loans, equity (listed and unlisted), investment fund shares and financial derivatives, such as forward contracts and options.
- The reserves are managed by the Reserve Bank of India for the Indian government and the main component is foreign currency assets.
Point2Remember
- Among the countries with the biggest Forex Reserves, India currently ranks
- China holds the number one position in Forex reserve, with approximately $3125 billion
Peggy Whitson, World’s most experienced female space-walker retires
NASA’s record-breaking astronaut, Peggy Whitson, retired less than a year after returning from her last and longest spaceflight. She’s spent more time off the planet than any other American, 665 days over three space station missions. She’s also the world’s most experienced female spacewalker, with 10 under her spacesuit belt.
FACTFILE – Peggy Whitson
- Whitson was the first woman to command the International Space Station, holding the position twice, and the oldest woman ever to fly in space. She was also the only woman to have served as chief of NASA’s male-dominated astronaut corps.
- The 58-year-old biochemist, who grew up on an Iowa hog farm, joined NASA as a researcher in 1986 and became an astronaut in 1996.
- Her last spaceflight, spanning 2016 and 2017.
Point2Remember – Gennady Padalka have spent more time in space, 879 days over five missions.
Millionaires now own half of world’s personal wealth says BCG Report
The rich are getting a lot richer and doing so a lot faster. Personal wealth around the globe reached $201.9 trillion last year, a 12% gain from 2016 and the strongest annual pace in the past five years, Boston Consulting Group said in a report.
Highlights of the Report
- The growing ranks of millionaires and billionaires now hold almost half of global personal wealth, up from slightly less than 45% in 2012.
- In North America, which had $86.1 trillion of total wealth, 42% of investable capital is held by people with more than $5 million in assets.
- Last year’s big winner was China, which now ranks second globally in terms of financial wealth after overtaking Japan in the past five years.
- While China trails only the US in the number of millionaires and billionaires, the biggest driver of growth in the Asian country was its so-called affluent segment, or those with $250,000 to $1 million of investable assets.
- Eastern Europe and Central Asia had the greatest concentration of wealth at the top, with billionaires alone holding almost a quarter of investable assets.
- The 28 Eastern Europeans in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index have a total net worth of $294 billion, which includes a gain of$3.4 billion so far in 2018.
- Wealth is also highly concentrated in Hong Kong, where individuals with more than $20 million hold 47% of investable riches.
Third AIIB annual meet to be held in Mumbai
The 3rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) would be held in Mumbai at the end of June month.
Many leaders from all types of organizations and levels of government will converge to share ideas and experiences for creating a sustainable future through sound infrastructure investment.
Ministers from AIIB members, as well as participants from partner institutions, the private sector, civil society organisations and leading experts from a range of fields, will discuss and share recommendations on how to address Asia’s infrastructure gap in an environmentally and socially friendly way.
FACTFILE – Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
- AIIB commenced operations in January 2016, with authorised capital of $100 billion, equivalent to 2⁄3 of the capital of the Asian Development Bank and about half that of the World Bank.
- It has 86 approved members from around the world.
- Headquartered in Beijing
- India is a founding member and the second largest shareholder in AIIB.
- Major economies that are not members include Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, and the United States.
- The United Nations has addressed the launch of AIIB as having potential for “scaling up financing for sustainable development” for the concern of global economic governance.
- It received the highest credit ratings from the three biggest rating agencies in the world, and is seen as a potential rival to World Bank and IMF.
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