Current Affairs Assam – November 2017 e-Magazine
November 13
Country’s Most Polluted City- Varanasi
A report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has found that the air quality of holy city Varanasi is most polluted among the 42 cities monitored recently.
Varanasi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was at an alarming 491, followed by Gurugram at 480, Delhi at 468, Lucknow at 462 and Kanpur at 461. Notably, pollution level is categorized as ‘severe’ when the AQI ranges between 401 and 500.
Union Government to launch BharatNet Phase 2 project
The Union government will launch its second and final phase of the BharatNet project to provide high-speed broadband service in all Gram Panchayats by March 2019. It will be implemented at an outlay of around 34 thousand crore rupees.
Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is organizing a National Conference in New Delhi in which it will sign MoUs with states for the implementation of the second phase of BharatNet.
Under this phase, broadband connectivity will be provided in remaining 1.5 lakh Gram Panchayats in the country. Almost 90 thousand installations have been completed and broadband services are expected to commence in 80 thousand Gram Panchayats soon.
India Sixth Most Vulnerable Country Facing Extreme Weather Events
India is the sixth most vulnerable country in the world in terms of facing extreme weather events, according to the report released by the Germanwatch. The Germanwatch is an independent Berlin-based development and environmental organization and it has released its latest global climate risk index (CRI).
The top 5 countries on the list are- 1. Haiti 2. Zimbabwe 3. Fiji 4. Sri Lanka and 5. Vietnam.
The Index put the United States (US) at 10th position.
November 14
World Diabetes Day observed on 14 November
The theme for 2017 World Diabetes Day (WDD) is ‘Women and diabetes – Our right to a healthy future’. Diabetes is the ninth leading cause of death in women globally, causing 2.1 million deaths each year.
China launched World’s First All-Electric Ship
China has launched world’s first all-electric ship that can travel up to 80 km with 2000-tonnes cargo after a two-hour charge. The 70.5-metre-long ship, which weighs about 600 tonnes, was launched in Guangzhou in South China’s Guangdong Province. The vessel, manufactured by the Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Ltd, is powered by a 26-tonne lithium battery. It can cruise at the top speed of 12.8 km per hour.
First Satellite ‘Asgardia-1’ into Space- Launched by Virtual Nation Asgardia
The Space Kingdom of Asgardia has launched its first satellite. This so-called ‘virtual nation’ is the pet project of Russian scientist and billionaire Igor Ashurbeyli.
The Asgardia-1 satellite, which is about the size of a loaf of bread, and contains half a terabyte of data. It was launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia aboard a Cygnus spacecraft on an Orbital ATK Antares rocket.
November 15
Tenth South Asia Economic Summit Begins in Nepal
The 10th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES) has begun in Kathmandu, Nepal. The theme of the 3-day summit is “Deepening Economic Integration for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in South Asia”. The summit is being organized by National Planning Commission and Ministry of Commerce of Nepal and South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics, and Environment, Nepal.
North East to get India’s first ever Air Dispensary
Northeast is set to get India’s first-ever “Air Dispensary” based in a helicopter and the Union Ministry of Development of Northeast (DONER) already contributed Rs. 25 crores as part of the initial funding.
As per the plan, the helicopter will be based at two locations, namely Imphal in Manipur and Meghalaya in Shillong. From these two locations, specialist doctors, paramedical staff, and necessary equipment would move into the helicopter and hold a dispensary in different locations across the eight States of North Eastern Region.
Dantewada hosts India 1st Tribal Entrepreneurship Summit
To inspire, nurture and promote the spirit of entrepreneurship in tribal youth, the NITI Aayog in partnership with the US government organized India’s first Tribal Entrepreneurship Summit at Dantewada. The summit is inaugurated by MoS Science and Technology YS Chowdhary held at Dantewada in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. This event is an 8th Global Entrepreneurship Summit, being held in India which ensures yet another step towards tribal-centric sustainable and inclusive development.
India will overtake Japan and Germany in nominal GDP by 2028
India will overtake Japan and Germany in nominal GDP and is likely to achieve strong growth by 2028. India will also emerge as the world’s third-largest economy stated the Bank of America Merrill Lynch in a report titled, India 2028.
According to the report, India has already emerged as the second largest BRIC economy after China by overtaking Brazil and Russia. By 2019, India will also overtake France and Britain to emerge as the world’s fifth largest economy. This assumes that the Indian economy witnesses a 10 percent (in nominal US GDP) growth in the next decade which is well ahead of Japan’s 1.6 percent. The Bank of America Merrill Lynch has reported the country’s real GDP growth at the potential of 7 percent.
