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Assam Current Affairs – December 22 – 28, 2019

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Current Affairs Assam – December 22 - 28, 2019

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of December 22 – 28, 2019 )

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December 22, 2019

 Tripura tops in good governance initiative and wins 13 awards for rural development scheme
  • Tripura has won 13 awards under various categories for successful implementation of MGNREGA, the flagship programme under the Ministry of Rural Development, for 2018-19.
  • The State secured the first rank for good governance initiative under the hilly states category, while it finished second for work completion rate under the same category.
  • In the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the State got the first rank in the category of number of houses completed in Group-1 (North Eastern States, Union Territories and Himalayan States).
  • TheState Government has been trying to make the MGNREGA a tool of socio-economic development.
  • An average of 44 mandays have already been generated, while an average of 46 mandays had been generated in 2017-18. Theaverage mandays may go up to 65, which could be a record in recent years.
 Railways tests new BOXNS freight wagons
  • The Indian Railways has conducted speed trial — up to 110 kmph of the new BOXNS wagons with the 25-tonne axle load on the newly built 193 km Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) .
  • The Research Design and Standards Organisation of the Railways conducted the trial on the Western DFC — Phulera to Ateli.
  • During the trial, the train attained an average speed of 86 kmph.
  • The BOXNS wagons cleared 100 kmph in both loaded and empty condition on the DFC.
  • The freight wagons normally run at 60 kmph with 22.9-tonne axle load and at 45 kmph with 25-tonne axle load on few routes.
  • The Railways is constructing the DFC equipped for heavy-haul train operation.
  • Passing through nine states and 60 districts, the project is divided in Western and Eastern corridors.
  • The DFC is expected to complement the Indian economy with an increased number of freight trains in eastern and western sectors.
 US President Trump launches US military Space Force
  • US President Donald Trump officially launched US military ‘Space Force’ at an army base near Washington. On the occasion, Mr Trump described space as the world’s newest war-fighting domain.
  • He said the Space Force will help to deter aggression and control the ultimate high ground.
  • The launch of the Space Force, the first in more than 70 years, falls under the US Air Force.
  • It will be funded by an initial 40million Dollar for its first year. 

DECEMBER 23, 2019

 Indian-origin scientist creates new framework for better drugs
  • An Indian-American drug discovery researcher-led team from Purdue University has created a new framework for mining data for training Machine Learning models.
  • The framework called ”Lemon” helps drug researchers better mine the Protein Data Base (PDB) a comprehensive resource with more than 1,40,000 biomolecular structures and with new ones being released every week.
  • The Lemon software platform is a library with Python bindings that mines the PDB within minutes.
  • Loading all traditional files in the PDB takes about 290 minutes, but Lemon does this in about six minutes when applying a simple workflow on an 8-core machine.
  • Lemon allows the user to write custom functions, include it as part of their software suite, and develop custom functions in a standard manner to generate unique benchmarking datasets for the entire scientific community.
 Public registry with skilling information launched
  • The Directorate General of Training (DGT), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has launched a public registry with all relevant skilling information towards ensuring greater accessibility of information to those who need it the most.
  • These newly created digitally-accessible registries, created by DGT, will act as a single source of information of all skilling resources being provided by the government and allied private enterprises.
  • This includes information on training centres, courses, teachers and students in the ecosystem.
  • The aim is to provide accurate information to potential students, trainers and employers on the courses being offered by Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and the like.
  • Through these new electronic registries, third party organisations can easily access the skilling information through application programming interfaces (APIs).
  • The new applications enable easier dissemination of detailed information on the training centres, courses along with the contact details of the authorities concerned.
  • The information will be made available in different languages for easy access and a link has been created for registry on Bharat skills, a central repository for skills providing curriculum, course information and other relevant materials like question banks and mock tests.
 Indigenous Pinaka MK-II missile successfully test-fired
  • Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested indigenously developed Pinaka MK-II guided missile system off the Odisha coast.
  • The Pinaka, an artillery missile system, is capable of striking into enemy territory up to a range of 75 kilometres with high precision.
  • The Pinaka MK-II rocket is modified as a missile by integrating with the navigation, control and guidance system to improve the end accuracy and enhance the range.
  • The Navigation system of the missile is also aided by the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
  • The mission achieved all the objectives including enhancing the range, accuracy and sub-system functionality.
  • The missile was fired from Pinaka launcher system in deployment configuration
  • The missile system has been jointly developed by various DRDO laboratories, Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE), Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE) and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL).

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  DECEMBER 24, 2019

 Assam Govt’s announce schemes to protect Assamese language, rights of indigenous people
  • The Assam cabinet decided that the Assam government will approach the Union government to declare the Assamese language as the state language of Assam excluding Barak Valley, BTAD area and Hill districts by amending Article 345 of Constitution of India.
  • Assam government will bring legislation in the next Assembly session making it mandatory that the Assamese language should be taught as a compulsory subject in all English and other medium schools including Kendriya Vidyalaya up to Class 10. This law will not apply for hilly districts, BTAD, Bodo dominated areas and Barak Valley.
  • State government will bring a new bill in the next session of Assam Legislative Assembly for protection of land rights of indigenous people of Assam, under which, the indigenous people will sell their lands only to the indigenous people.
  • Another bill will be introduced to protect and preserve the heritage of the state. Encroachment lands of Satras, Monestry and other heritage centres will be considered as a criminal offence which will be punishable with imprisonment.
  • The state cabinet also decided that all six tribal autonomous councils — Mising, Rabha, Sonowal Kachari, Thengal Kachari, Deori, Tiwa — may be granted constitutional status so that they can receive fund from both Central and state governments including other rights and privileges. The chief executive member of all tribal autonomous councils will be ex-officio members of sub-divisions land advisory committee of sub-divisions within their territorial jurisdiction.
  • The state cabinet has also decided that a new autonomous council for Koch Rajbongshi community [Kamatapur Autonomous Council] residing in original Goalpara district excluding BTAD and Rabha Hasong area will be constituted. Similarly, two new autonomous councils for Moran and Matak communities will be created.
  • A special package worth Rs 500 crore was announced in the budget for Moran, Matak, Chutiya and Ahom communities. It will be divided equally among them and each community will get Rs 125 crore. In addition, Tai Ahom Development Council, Chutia Development Council and Koch Rajbongshi Development Councils will be restructured with substantial budget allocations.
  • Medical, Engineering, Agriculture and Veterinary Science and PG seats in general universities will be specifically reserved for Tai Ahom, Koch Rajbongshi and Chutia communities. Health and family welfare department, higher education department, agriculture department and animal husbandry and veterinary department will work out the number of seats according to population figures.
  • The state cabinet also decided that Bodo Peace Accord be concluded expeditiously and a request will be made to the government in this regard.
  • The allocation for tea tribe welfare department will be increased substantially and more development programmes will be taken up. For higher education of the community, seats will be reserved for tea tribe students in general colleges.The process for starting 100 new high schools in tea garden areas will be taken up in the next three months.
  • The Assam cabinet has also decided to increase the wages of the labourers of Assam Tea Corporation. The wages of the labourers of Assam Tea Corporation will be increased from Rs 137 to Rs 167 per day in Brahmaputra Valley and from Rs 115 to Rs 145 per day in Barak Valley and it will be implemented from January 1, 2020.
 Harsh Vardhan Shringla India’s new Foreign Secretary
  • Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Indian ambassador to the US and one of the senior-most diplomats, has been appointed as the new Foreign Secretary replacing Vijay Keshav Gokhale.
  • An order issued by the government said that Shringla will take over next month after the completion of Gokhale’s two-year term.
  • A 1984 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and a fluent French speaker, Shringla served as an ambassador to Bangkok from 2014 to 2016 and later as High Commissioner to Dhaka for two years.
Delhi Cabinet approves Electric Vehicle Policy
  • The Delhi Cabinet approved the Electric Vehicle Policy, 2019 with an aim to check vehicular pollution in the national capital.
  • Kejriwal said the goal is to ensure that 25 per cent of the new vehicles that will be registered by 2024 should be Electric Vehicles.
  • With the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy, 2019, 25 per cent of all new vehicle registrations in Delhi to be EVs by 2024.
  • The policy has been made after receiving feedback from several expert bodies.
  • The Chief Minister said vehicles have been a major cause of pollution, “40 per cent of PM 2.5 and 80 per cent of NOx and Carbon Monoxide is due to vehicles”
  • He said the aim of this policy is to make Delhi the Electric Vehicle capital of India.
 DRDO successfully flight-tested indigenously developed Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile
  • The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested indigenously developed Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) system from Chandipur off the Odisha coast.
  • The missile was flight-tested with full configuration in deployment mode intercepting the target mid-air, meeting the mission objectives.
  • The entire event was monitored by Ground Telemetry Systems, Range Radar Systems and Electro Optical Tracking System.
  • The weapon system, which operates on the move, comprises fully automated command and control system, active array battery surveillance radar, active array battery multi-function radar and launcher.
  • Both radars are four-walled having 360-degree coverage with search-on-move and track-on-move capability.
  • The system is compact with a minimum number of vehicles for a firing unit.
  • The single stage solid propelled missile has midcourse inertial navigation system with two-way data link and terminal active seeker developed indigenously by DRDO.

 DECEMBER 25, 2019

 Kumar Sanjay Krishna appointed new Chief Secretary of Assam
  • Kumar Sanjay Krishna, a 1985 batch Indian Administrative Service officer, has been appointed as the next Chief Secretary of Assam.
  • Sanjay Krishna served the Government as Deputy Commissioner in the districts of Kamrup and Sonitpur, Managing Director of the Assam Tea Corporation, Director in the Prime Minister’s Office, Director of the Tea Board in New York, Joint Secretary in the Finance Ministry and Principal Secretary in the Departments of Planning and Development, Education etc. Presently he is serving as the Additional Chief Secretary looking after crucial Departments like Home, Revenue and Disaster Management etc.
  • Jishnu Baruah, a 1988 batch IAS officer, has been posted as additional chief secretary in the home & political departments besides revenue and disaster management.

 FACTFILE – Chief Secretaries of state

  • Chief Secretaries of state are members of the IAS who are the administrative head of state governments.
  • A Chief Secretary functions as the central point of interdepartmental coordination at the departmental level and is classified as being in the Apex Grade.
  • Chief Secretary is considered to be the Chief Executive of the state government and considered to be ‘a linchpin’ in the administration.
  • Chief Secretary of the state also acts as the ex-officio Chairman of the State Civil Service Board, which recommends transfer/postings of officers of All India Services and State Civil Services in the state.
  • Chief Secretaries are assisted by Additional Chief Secretaries or Special Chief Secretaries, depending on the state, and Principal Secretaries, who are the administrative heads of departments they are assigned to.
  • Chief Secretaries are chosen by the state’s Chief Minister.
  • State Chief Secretaries are IAS officers generally equivalent in rank to a Secretary to Government of India and are placed 23rd on Indian Order of Precedence.
  • The post of Chief Secretary of a State Government is equivalent to Vice Chief of the Army Staff/Commanders and officers in the rank of full General and its equivalents in the Indian Armed Forces, and are listed as such in the Order of Precedence.
 Union cabinet approved the 4-star general post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)
  • The Union cabinet approved the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and its charter and duties. The CDS will be a 4-star general who will head the new Department of Military Affairs.
  • He will be drawing a salary equivalent to service chiefs, and will head the Department of Military Affairs to be created under the Ministry of Defence. He will function as its Secretary.
  • He will have all the powers like other secretaries, including financial.
  • The CDS will act as the Principal Military Adviser to the Defence Minister on tri-services matters. The three service chiefs will continue to advise the Defence Minister on matters exclusively concerning their respective forces.
  • The aim is to bring about jointness between the armed forces of the country in training, procurement, staffing and operations, to enhance the quality of military advice given to the political leadership through integration of service inputs, and to develop and foster expertise in military affairs.
 Rajasthan police to give self-defence training to women
  • The Rajasthan police will establish Mahila Shakti Self-Defence Centres in all the districts of the state from January 1 to ensure the safety of women and girls by training them in self-defence.
  • Necessary instructions have been issued by Director General of Police Bhupendra Singh to all the range Inspector Generals and district Superintendents of Police in this regard.
  • The police will open self-defencecentres from January 1 with the objective of ensuring the safety of women and girls in the state, while empowering them for self-defence. It will also make them aware of their rights and laws, and check crime against women.
  • Any working woman, housewife, girl student or any institute which wants the female staff of their organisation to be a part of this drive can enrol at the self-defence training centres.
  • This training programme will be of seven days duration during which training will be imparted by master trainers free of cost.
  • Registrations can be done at these centres before December 31, 2019. However, if someone misses the deadline, the registration can also be done during the training period which shall be looked into by the nodal officer of the district.
 Himachal Pradesh CM launches ‘EkButaBetiKeNaam’to gift saplings to parents of newborn girl
  • As a tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 95th birth anniversary, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched a statewide scheme in which five tree saplings would be presented to the family of a newly born girl child.
  • The Chief Minister formally launched ”EkButaBetiKeNaam” from the premises of Vajpayee”s house in Prini.
  • Under the scheme, five tree saplings would be presented to the family of a newly born girl child along with a kit comprising 20 kg vermi-compost, five tree guards and the name plate of the girl child.
PM Modi launches Atal Jal Yojana
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged farmers to opt for less water intensive crops and irrigation methods that will help conserve water, as he launched the Atal Jal Yojana, aimed at improving groundwater level in seven states.
  • He said by forming the Jal Shakti Ministry, the government has tried to free the subject of water from a compartmentalised approach to a more comprehensive and holistic one.
  • Modi said the Atal Jal Yojana will help improve groundwater level in 78 districts, more than 8,300 villages in the states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
  • He also urged every village to prepare a water action plan, water fund and make use of the funds through different related state and central schemes.
  • To incentivise village panchayats to perform better in water management, Modi said a provision has been made in the Atal Jal Yojana in which better performing village panchayats will be given more allocation.
  • Modi also said that both Union and state governments will spend Rs 3.5 lakh crore on water-related schemes in the next five years.
  • He also urged people of every village to make a water action plan and create a water fund.

 

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 DECEMBER 26, 2019

 Assam CM launches Abhinandanscheme for students’ higher studies
  • Chief Minister SarbanandaSonowal launched the ‘Abhinandan’ scheme with a view to helping students in pursuing higher studies by distributing subsidy sanction letters against education loans availed by them.
  • The Chief Minister distributed one-time subsidy sanction letters under this scheme for an amount of Rs 50,000 each to 1,546 students.
  • Sonowal urged the students to pursue their academic activities seriously to succeed in today’s competitive world.
  • He also urged parents and teachers to inspire and motivate the students to indulge in academic activities with seriousness and sincerity.
  • Sonowal said that the State government has taken up a number of initiatives to maximise academic opportunities for students through scholarships, free admission into educational institutions, distribution of free textbooks, among other things.
 Amitabh Bachchan honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Award
  • The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India’s highest award in cinema. It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
  • The recipient is honoured for their “outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema”.
  • The award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of ₹1,000,000.
  • The first recipient of the award was actress Devika Rani, who was honoured at the 17th National Film Awards.
  • Presented first in 1969, the award was introduced by the Government of India to commemorate Dadasaheb Phalke’s contribution to Indian cinema.

BIOGRAPHY – Dadasaheb Phalke

  • Dadasaheb Phalke (1870–1944), who is popularly known as and often regarded as “the father of Indian cinema”, was an Indian filmmaker who directed India’s first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra (1913).
 RBI to introduce new prepaid payment instrument
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will introduce a new type of prepaid payment instrument (PPI) which could be used only for purchase of goods and services up to a limit of Rs 10,000.
  • Accordingly, the loading of such PPI will be only through a bank account and it could be used for making only digital payments such as bill payments and merchant payments, among others.
  • Such PPIs can be issued on the basis of essential minimum details sourced from the customer. Instructions in this regard will be issued by December 31, 2019.
  • PPIs are financial instruments that facilitate the purchase of goods and services against the value stored on such instruments.
 Union cabinet approved “Signing of Protocol” to amend air services agreement (ASA) with Switzerland
  • The signing of the ”Protocol to amend” the agreement between the Swiss Federal Council and the Government of India related to air services and to exchange ”Diplomatic Notes” with Switzerland for bringing the amendments in the air services agreement into force as per Article 17 thereof.
  • Accordingly, the amendments in the air services agreement between India and Switzerland will bring it in tune with the developments in the civil aviation sector.
  • It will provide enabling environment for enhanced and seamless connectivity while providing commercial opportunities to the carriers of both the sides ensuring greater safety and security.

 DECEMBER 27, 2019

 4th ‘Dwijing Festival’ begins in Chirang district
  • BTC Chief Hagrama Mahilary inaugurated the fourth edition of 12-day ‘Dwijing Festival’ on the banks of the Aie river at Khagrabari in Chirang district today in the presence of dignitaries.
  • This time more arrangements have been done for the recreation of the visitors.
  • This festival will portray the unity and harmonious relationship between the different communities of the locality. Thisfestival will help promote tourism in the district.

 FACTFILE – The Dwijing Festival

  • The Dwijing Festival organized jointly by Assam tourism department, Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) and Bodoland Tourism is an annual river fest that takes place in Chirang, Assam from 27th December to 7th January.
  • The festival was initially started by the Bodo community in the year 2016-2017 with the title of “AIE RIVER WINTER FESTIVAL”.
  • The festival found a new identity and name “Dwijing Festival” originating from the fact that it occurs on the river bed of “AIE” with “Dwi” meaning “River” and “Zing” meaning “Bank”.
  • The magnanimous river “AIE” meaning “MOTHER” starts from the Himalayan Mountains of Bhutan flowing through the Chirang and Bongaigaon districts of Assam joining river Brahmaputra before falling into its final destination, the Bay of Bengal.
5th India-Japan Maritime Affairs Dialogue
  • The 5th Round of India-Japan Maritime Affairs Dialogue was held in Tokyo, India and Japan have vowed to deepen maritime cooperation and also held consultations on disarmament, non-proliferation and export control.
  • The Indian delegation led by Indra Mani Pandey, Additional Secretary (Disarmament and International Security Affairs), Ministry of External Affairs, while Japanese delegation was led by Ambassador Yamanaka A Osamu, Deputy Assistant Minister, Deputy Director-General in Foreign Policy Bureau.
  • The two sides exchanged views on various topics of mutual interest in maritime domain and identified the means for further strengthening their maritime cooperation.
  • Both sides reiterated the importance of the dialogue as an important mechanism between the two countries for consultations on issues of mutual interest in maritime affairs and agreed to hold the next round of talks on a mutually convenient date in India.
Kamareddy District of Telangana has secured the UNICEF-2019 Award
  • Kamareddy district of Telangana has secured the United Nations International Children’s and Education Fund (UNICEF)-2019 Award.
  • The district has won the award for effective implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission in water sanitation and hygiene sectors.
  • Kamareddy district was on top in the country among other districts in construction of individual sanitary lavatories, swachhdarpan wall paintings, swachhsurvekshan, swachhsundarshouchalay and many other activities.
 Bharat Heavy Electricals commissions India’s first lignite based 500 MW thermal unit
  • Bharat Heavy Electricals has successfully commissioned the first Lignite based 500 MW thermal unit of the 2×500 MW Neyveli New Thermal Power Project in Tamil Nadu.
  • The second unit of the project is also in an advanced stage of commissioning.
  • The order for Boiler, Turbine & Generator (BTG) package for two units of 500 MW Lignite based thermal plant at Neyveli was placed on BHEL by NLCIL.

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 DECEMBER 28, 2019

 World’s first experimental plantation of grafted Assam Lemon raised at HRS Kahikuchi
  • The world’s first experimental plantation of grafted Assam Lemon raised at the Horticultural Research Station (HRS) at Kahikuchi in the outskirts of Guwahati.
  • The research on development of Assam Lemon by grafting its scion wood on rough lemon rootstock was started at the HRS under Assam Agricultural University (AAU) for the first time in 2016 with the objectives of getting a proper tree framework with mono-trunk, good canopy architecture and a vigorous root system for better anchorage, water and nutrient uptake.
  • Conventionally, Assam Lemon is propagated through stem cutting, leaf-bud cutting and air layering, but plants developed with these techniques form adventitious root system which is less efficient than the tap root system of Rough Lemon used as rootstock in the grafting process.
  • The grafting technology was standardized by a team of HRS scientists comprising Dr S Saikia, Dr RK Das and Dr KK Deka.
  • In this technology, one-year-old seedling of Rough Lemon having pencil girth was used as rootstock on which the scion wood of Assam Lemon of the current season having equal thickness was grafted during the monsoon season under a protected environment. The grafted plant attained field plantable age in about a year.
  • Steps are being taken to transfer this novel technology to accredited nursery houses of the State for larger generation of Assam Lemon grafts and also to citrus growers with a plan to cover the pockets under Assam Lemon Producers Organisation in Anandabazar area of Baksa district.

 FACTFILE – Assam Lemon

  • Assam Lemon refers to the lemons namely ‘Gol Nemu’ and ‘Kaji Nemu’ which are found and cultivated in the Indian state of Assam. These lemons are an important part of Assamese cuisine. The botanical name of Assam Lemon is Citrus limon.
  • Assam lemon contains high level of Vitamin C and are used for preparing refreshing drinks and pickles as well as garnishing curry and other dishes.
  • Varieties
    • Gol Nemu is a lemon which is similar to the other lemons found in India. It is round in shape but is larger. The taste of the lemon is sweeter than other lemons and Kaji Nemu. When the lemon ripes, its colour changes to yellow and become more sweeter.
    • Kaji Nemu is other variety of this lemon and is elongated and oblong compared to other lemons. This lemon has higher juice content than Gol Nemu. It is a popular lemon in Assam and is associated with Assamese cuisine. This lemon is large as Gol Nemu and also turns yellow during ripening.
 India’s Koneru Humpy has won the FIDE World Rapid Championship 2019
  • She defeated Lei Tingjie of China in the Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship in the tiebreaker series and won the title.
  • Magnus Carlsen of Norway won this title for the third time among men’s championship.

BIOGRAPHY – Koneru Humpy

  • Koneru Humpy was born on 31 March 1987 in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
  • She is India’s youngest woman chess grandmaster player.
  • In January 2010, her FIDE score was 2614 that gave her the second position (after Judget Polgar) in the world female chess player rankings.
  • In 2003, she was awarded Arjuna Award while in 2007, she was awarded Padma Shri.
  • In 2015, she won a bronze medal in Women’s World Team Chess Championship.
  • In 2009-2011, 2011-12, 2013-14, and 2015-16 Koneru Humpy finished runner-up in the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series.
Platform for e-auction of PSB attached assets launched
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a common e-auction platform for assets attached by the public sector banks (PSBs).
  • The platform, equipped with property search features and navigational links to all PSB e-auction sites, provides single-window access to information on properties up for e-auction as well as facility for comparison of properties.
  • It also contains photographs and videos of uploaded properties, according to an official statement.
  • The PSBs have attached Rs 2.3 lakh crore plus assets over the last three financial years and to enable online auction by banks of attached assets for improved realisation, the platform has been launched.
  • The Ministry has also decided that the Department of Revenue (DoR) will notify RuPay and UPI as the prescribed mode of payment for undertaking digital transactions without any charge or merchant discount rates (MDR).
  • All companies with Rs 50 crore or more turnover should be mandated by the DoR to provide the payment facility through RuPay debit card and UPI QR code to customers.

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Assam Current Affairs – December 15 – 21, 2019

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Current Affairs Assam – December 15 - 21, 2019

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of December 15 – 21, 2019 )

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December 15, 2019

  Poor utilization of Nirbhaya fund in four NE states
  • The Nirbhaya fund, set up by the Centre in 2013 to be used towards ensuring women’s safety, has seen a dismal nine per cent utilisation with states such as Maharashtra and Meghalaya not spending a single rupee from it.
  • Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani inform the Parliament that, in total, just Rs 147 crore out Rs 1,649 crore sanctioned by the Centre has been spent by the state and UTs governments.
  • Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, the two states which were in the news recently for horrific incidents of rape and murder, were among the highest recipients of the Nirbhaya fund alongside Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi.
  • While Karnataka used 7 per cent of the fund allocated to it by the Centre (the fund allocated to Karnataka was Rs 191 crore and utilisation Rs 13.62 crore), Tamil Nadu used 3 per cent of the amount allocated to it under the Nirbhaya fund (the fund allocated was Rs 190.68 crore and utilisation Rs 6 crore).
  • Six states and UTs – Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura and Daman & Diu – have not spent a single rupee from the fund allocated by the Centre, according to data shared by the Minister in Parliament in response to a question.
  • The data also showed that Delhi, where the brutal incident took place, saw utilisation of less than 5 per cent of the fund allocated to it.
  • Delhi was allotted Rs 390 crore which was the highest amount among states and UTs but the utilisation certificate of just Rs 19.41 crore has been received from the city-state.
  • The Nirbhaya fund was set up in 2013 by the UPA government to improve the safety and security of women in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya incident.
  • Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi recently appealed to the government to immediately allocate the entire unspent amount from the Nirbhaya fund for the protection of rape victims and witnesses.
 India slips to 112th rank on WEF’s Gender Gap Index
  • India slips to 112th rank on WEF’s gender gap index, in bottom 5 on health, economic fronts
  • While Iceland remains the world’s most gender-neutral country, India has moved down the ladder from its 108thposition last year on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report to rank below countries like China (106th), Sri Lanka (102nd), Nepal (101st), Brazil (92nd), Indonesia (85th) and Bangladesh (50th).
  • The Global Gender Gap Index is an index designed to measure gender equality.
  • The Global Gender Gap Report was first published in 2006 by the World Economic Forum. The 2017 report covers 144 major and emerging economies.

 FACTFILE – Global Gender Gap Report

  • The Global Gender Gap Report was first published in 2006 by the World Economic Forum. The 2017 report covers 144 major and emerging economies. The Global Gender Gap Index is an index designed to measure gender equality.
  • The report examines four overall areas of inequality between men and women in 130 economies around the globe, over 93% of the world’s population:
    • Economic participation and opportunity – outcomes on salaries, participation levels and access to high-skilled employment
    • Educational attainment – outcomes on access to basic and higher level education
    • Political empowerment – outcomes on representation in decision-making structures
    • Health and survival – outcomes on life expectancy and sex ratio. In this case parity is not assumed, there are assumed to be fewer female births than male (944 female for every 1,000 males), and men are assumed to die younger.
 Govt introduced Bill to amend welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act in Lok Sabha
  • The government introduced a Bill to amend a 12-year-old existing law providing the welfare of senior citizens and parents and expand some existing definitions such as maintenance, welfare, children and parents.
  • The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2019 has provisions to arraign sons-in-law and daughters-in-law if they fail to look after their aged in-laws and also removes the cap of Rs 10,000 as maximum maintenance.
  • It provides for the maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens for ensuring their basic needs, safety and security, establishment, management, and regulation of institutions and services, and the rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
  • The Bill, which seeks to amend the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, removes the ceiling of Rs 10,000 as maintenance and includes the preference to dispose of applications of senior citizens above 80 years of age.
  • Those who earn more should pay more to their parents as maintenance and that violators of the law could be punished by a minimum fine of Rs 5,000 or a jail term of three months or both.
  • The Bill includes the appointment of nodal police officers for senior citizens at every police station and district-level special police unit with a helpline for senior citizens.

 DECEMBER 16, 2019

 2nd state-level Barak Festival-2019 at Senapati District
  • The 2nd state-level Barak Festival-2019 concluded at Barak Hall, in Senapati district.
  • Manipur Deputy Chief Minister, Yumnam Joykumar Singh participating in the closing function said that the festival “reminds us” the importance of river system in human existence. The Deputy Chief Minister further said that acknowledging the importance of conserving Barak river, the state government has been trying to make it more popular.
  • The catchment areas of the river should be protected by avoiding deforestation. This festival also gives a chance to showcase the rich cultural heritage and old traditions.
 RIL, British Petroleum enter agreement for new Indian fuels, mobility JV
  • British Petroleum (BP) and Reliance Industries Ltd have entered into a definitive agreement for formation of their new Indian fuels and mobility joint venture.
  • The development follows the initial heads of agreement signed in August.
  • The venture is expected to be formed during the first half of 2020, subject to regulatory and other customary approvals.
  • The joint venture will seek to offer high-quality differentiated fuels, convenience and services.
  • The partners intend to set up a new joint venture company, held 51 per cent by RIL and 49 per cent by BP, that will assume ownership of RIL”s existing Indian fuel retail network and access its aviation fuel business.
 India has 96 universities ranked in QS World University Rankings: Asia 2020
  • India has 96 universities ranked, including 20 brand new entries in QS World University Rankings: Asia 2020
  • The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) leads nationally at overall 34th place, and it is followed by IIT Delhi (IITD) in the 43rd place and by IIT Madras (IITM) in the 50th position.
  • India has 31 institutes among the top 250. Of these, 18 dropped compared to last year, 12 gained ground and one remained stable.
  • Only Mainland China is more prepresented than India, with 118 featured universities, including four in the top 10 this year. By contrast, India does not yet have a university among the top 30. The top national general university in this table, the University of Delhi, is down five places from last year, and now places 67th regionally.

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 DECEMBER 17, 2019

 Orange Festival begins with fanfare in Tamenglong, Manipur
  • The 16thOrange Festival which aims to promote tourism as well as provide an opportunity to orange farmers to display their produce to potential buyers began at Tamenglong, 150 km west of Imphal.
  • Exhibition of oranges and handicraft, as well as presentation of colourful traditional dance and music and songs by choirs representing 28 churches around the hill town, marked the opening day of the three-day festival.
  • Inaugurating the festival, Chief Minister N Biren Singh assured the orange farmers that the government would increase financial help from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000, and hoped that the ‘Tamenglong Komla’ (Tamenglong orange) will get its GI (geographical indication) tag within three months.
  • Biren Singh gave an assurance that the government will buy orange products from Tamenglong and export them in large scale after value addition.
  • Tamenglong, the orange belt of Manipur, produces more than 60 per cent of the state’s total oranges. The region is also known for picturesque locations including the Tharon Cave, the Barak Waterfalls, the Bunning Meadows, and the Zeilad Lake which is flocked by migratory birds.
  • Tasinang Gangmei of Tabanglong village bagged the coveted ‘best orange grower’ prize worth Rs 2 lakh, while Pouchunliu of Sangrungpang and Gaisuakliu Kamei of Nungba were honoured with the second (Rs 1 lakh) and third (Rs 75,000) best orange grower prizes.
 Lt Gen M.M. Naravane to be next Indian Army Chief
  • Indian Army’s Vice Chief, Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane is set to be the force’s next chief after incumbent Gen Bipin Rawat demits office on December 31 on retirement from service.
  • The senior-most Army officer after Gen Rawat, Naravane was commissioned into the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment in June 1980.
  • He has served in numerous command and staff appointments in peace, field and highly active counter-insurgency environments in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast in his 37 years of service.
  • He has also commanded a Rashtriya Rifles Battalion in Jammu and Kashmir and was awarded the Sena Medal (Distinguished Service).
  • Naravane had also served as defenceattache at the Indian Embassy in Myanmar for three years.

 FACTFILE – The Chief of the Army Staff

  • The Chief of the Army Staff is the professional head, commander, and usually the highest-ranking military officer of the Indian Army.
  • The position is always held by a full General.
  • Appointments to the office are made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
  • The COAS reaches superannuation upon three years in the office or at the age of 62, whichever is earlier.

 History of the Chief of the Army Staff

  • The rank of Commander-in-Chief, India was established in 1748 to designate the commander of all forces of East India Company. After 1857 the Commander-in-Chief becomes the supreme commander of British Indian Army. After partition in 1947 the post of Commander-in-Chief was divided into- Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army, Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army and Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in India and Pakistan. In 1955 the post of Commander-in-Chief was abolished and replaced by Chief of Army Staff.
 Tata Power financially supported & helped launch Maharashtra’s first all-women dairy
  • The Tata Power has financially supported and helped launch Maharashtra’s first all-women dairy in Maval, Pune, with its products sold under the brand name of ‘Creyo’.
  • The Maval Dairy Farmer Services Producer Co. Ltd. (MDFSPCL), its operations started in a modest way in 2015 with 334 women members, which have now grown to around 1,200 women farmers.
  • The Tata Power helped finance around 40 per cent of the Rs 20-crore enterprise over the past four years with the women graduating from marginal farmers to agro-entrepreneurs who completely run and manage the project.
  • The MDFSPCL project has set up 15 advanced milk collection centres covering 26 villages which procure around six-tonne milk daily from various partner villages.
  • The dairy farmers receive the actual price realization of their produce and to enhance the plant’s full capacity, the MDFSPCL has added 15 new villages.
 Army celebrated Vijay Diwas
  • The Army celebrated Vijay Diwas in Kashmir by felicitating the widows and families of martyrs of the 1971 war.
  • The ceremony was held at Army 15 Corps Headquarters at BadamiBagh Cantonment in Srinagar.
  • The celebration began with a wreath laying at the war memorial in the cantonment by Lt. General K.J.S. Dhillon.
  • Senior officers and jawans also paid homage to the fallen soldiers of the war that saw the birth of Bangladesh.
  • The corps commander then felicitated the families of the soldiers who laid down their lives for the country.

 DECEMBER 18, 2019

 Central Govt Launches National Broadband Mission
  • The central government launched National Broadband Mission, which envisages an investment of Rs 7 lakh crore in the next 4 years from both government and industry to connect the country digitally at a faster pace.
  • The mission, launched by Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, is part of the National Digital Communications Policy, 2018.
  • The mission envisages Rs 7 lakh crore investments from government and private sector together over the next 3 to 4 years.
  • 10 per cent of the funds will come from USO Fund and the balance to come from the industry in the form of towers and other assets.
  • The mission will secure universal broadband access for the implementation of broadband initiatives.
 Railways deployed Mobile satellite terminals to improve punctuality
  • As part of the plan to improve timings and safety, Indian Railways has deployed over 2,600 Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) terminals deployed on locomotives under Phase I of Real Time Train Information System (RTIS).
  • RTIS is the first of its kind Satellite based train tracking system to track Indian locomotives on real time basis by linking it to ISRO satellites.
  • It is expected that network efficiency, punctuality and data generation to improve operations of Indian Railways.
  • Saankhya Labs is the Satcom Technology partner for BEL in the RTIS project.
  • The RTIS is primarily used for acquisition of train movement data, including that of arrival, departure and run-through timings at the stations enroute.
 Odisha cabinet approves new agriculture policy
  • The Odisha cabinet approved Agriculture Policy 2020 to boost farmer income with focus on providing market linkages and technical support.
  • The policy has been prepared with objectives of ensuring continuous growth in farmers” income, making the growth process inclusive of small and marginal farmers and ensuring sustainable, stable, and scalabe agricultural growth.
  • The agriculture policy named as ”Samridhi” focuses on creating an ecosystem interlining inputs-production-markets, sustainable increase in yields of paddy and diversification to high value agriculture, encouraging efficient and ecologically sensitive use of inputs mainly water, land and soil.
  • It also emphasises on promoting processing which include cleaning, grading etc for better value capture, creating value chains particularly for vegetables and livestocks, reducing wastages by promoting pre and post harvest management, adopting to climate change techniques and technology.
  • The agriculture policy also encompases activities in different sectors of fisheries, livestock, procurement, credit, insurance and irrigation for boosting the overall farmers” income.
  • The cabinet also approved an amendment to the Odisha District Revenue Service (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1983.
  • The government also decided to give one-time relaxation in enhancing the upper age limit from 33 years to 48 years for recruitment of lectures under rule 4(2)(c) of Orissa Education Service (College Branch) Recruitment Rules 1990.

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 DECEMBER 19, 2019

 Sahitya Akademi Award 2019 for Joysree Goswami Mahanta and Phukan Ch. Basumatry and other 21 writters
  • Joysree Goswami Mahanta (Assamese), Dr. Phukan Ch. Basumatry (Bodo) and Chinmoy Guha (Bengali) are among the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2019 winner.
  • ‘An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India’ by Mr. Tharoor, who is a Congress MP, was selected in the English category.
  • The award also honors works by Dr. Nand Kishore Acharya (Hindi) andL. Birmangol Singh (Manipuri).

 FACTFILE – Sahitya Akademi Awards

  • Sahitya Akademi Awards is one of the highest literary awards in India.
  • The Awards are instituted by Sahitya Akademi– India’s National Academy of Letters, to commemorate the exemplary works of literary merit published in any of the major Indian languages i.e. 24 languages of which 22 are listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, along with English and Rajasthani.
  • The Award carries an engraved copper plaque, shawl and Rs 1 lakh, which will be presented to the winners on January 25, 2020 during the Festival of Letters organised by the Akademi.
  • The awards, comprising an engraved copper plaque, a shawl and Rs 100,000 in cash, will be given during the Akademi”s Festival of Letters.
  • They relate to books first published during the five years immediately preceeding the year of Award – in the period January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2017.
  • The complete list of winners in different language and genre categories
Language Title & Genre Author Name
Assamese Chanakya (Novel) JoysreeGoswamiMahanta
Bengali GhumerDarjaThele (Essays) ChinmoyGuha
Bodo AkhaiAthumniphrai (Poetry) Phukan Ch. Basumatary
Dogri BandraltaDarpan (Essays) Om Sharma Jandriari
English An Era of Darkness (Non-Fiction) Shashi Tharoor
Gujarati MojmaRevu Re (Essays) RatilalBorisagar
Hindi Chheelate Hue ApneKo (Potery) Nand Kishore Acharya
Kannada KudiEsaru (Autobiography) Vijaya
Kashmiri AkhYaadAkhQayamat (Short Stories) Abdul AhadHajini
Konkani The Words (Potery) Nilba A Khandekar
Maithili JingikOriaonKariat (Poetry) Kumar Manish Arvind
Malayalam AchanPirannaVeedu (Poetry) V Madhusoodanan Nair
Manipuri EiAmadiAdungeigiEethat (Novel) L Birmangol Singh (Beryl Thanga)
Odia Bhaswati (Short Stories) TarunKanti Mishra
Punjabi Antheen (Short Stories) Kirpal Kazak
Rajasthani BareekBaat (Short Stories) RamswaroopKisan
Sanskrit Prajnachakshusham (Poetry) Penna Madhusudan
Santali Sisirkali (Short Stories) Kali CharanHembram
Sindhi Jeejal (Short Stories) Ishwar Moorjani
Tamil Sool (Novel) Cho Dharman
Telugu Septabhoomi (Novel) Bandi Narayana Swamy
Urdu Sawaneh-E-Sir Syed: EkBazadeed (Biography) ShafeyKidwai
 Centre approves expansion of ”Future Skills” initiative
  • The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology approved the expansion of the ”Future Skills” initiative to industry professionals across different segments, higher education students and government officials.
  • The government would invest Rs 436 crore over a period of three years on this initiative.
  • The expanded digital platform would be called Future Skills PRIME (Programme for Reskilling/Upskilling of IT Manpower for Employability).
  • In the last phase of the initiative, two lakh IT employees were trained, and now its ambit will expand beyond IT professionals to others keen to upskill themselves in areas like AI, cyber security and blockchain.
 Rajasthan Chief Minister Gehlot opens first Janta Clinic in Jaipur
  • Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot inaugurated the first Janta Clinic “to provide good medical facilities to poor near their homes”, at Valmiki Nagar.
  • Patients at these clinics will get free medicines along with free facility of necessary diagnostics.
  • The Chief Minister said more Janta Clinics would be opened with the help and support from philanthropists and CSR activities, MLA-MP fund, voluntary organisations and general public.
  • In the first phase, 12 Janta Clinics would be opened in Jaipur and three in Jodhpur.

 DECEMBER 20, 2019

NLUJA, RGU sign MoU for academic pursuits
  • The Assam Royal Global University (RGU) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Law University & Judicial Academy (NLUJA), Assam for academic collaboration.
  • The MoU was signed by RGU Vice Chancellor Prof SP Singh and NLUJA Vice Chancellor Prof JS Patil.
  • The MoU aims at academic collaboration that will encompass exchange of students and members of faculty between the two parties and facilitate other academic activities, research and publication.
  • In addition, active efforts will be made to develop joint training and research programmes to be pursued in a collaborative spirit.

 FACTFILE – National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam

  • National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam (NLUJA) is an autonomous law school in India located in Guwahati, Assam, India.
  • It was established in 2009 through an Act passed by the State Legislature of Assam (Assam Act XXV of 2009) as a public university dedicated to the field of legal education.
  • The admissions for first batch were made in 2011 which passed out in 2016.
  • The first Vice-Chancellor of the University was Professor (Dr.) Gurjeet Singh, currently the University is managed by the newly appointed Vice Chancellor Professor (Dr.) J.S. Patil who succeeded Professor (Dr.) Vijender Kumar in 2016.
 IIT Madras partners with Ricovr for research on medical device
  • Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) announced that it is going to collaborate with Ricovr Inc. US-based oral diagnostics medical device company, for research on point-of-care medical device development.
  • Point-of-care diagnostics, or near-patient testing, is a type of medical diagnostic test that enables accurate, real-time, laboratory-quality diagnostic test results within minutes.
  • Testing at the point of care in this way increases the efficiency of diagnostic and testing process, and helps to ensure that patients are receiving the highest-quality care by freeing up invaluable time normally occupied by waiting for test results.
  • IIT Madras researchers have discovered a highly sensitive optical sensing phenomenon and developed a plasmonic nanomaterial based sensing platform that can aid in affordable and more efficient diagnostics.
  • Ricovr is currently working on building a cutting-edge medical device for point-of-care testing using saliva.
  • This strategic partnership will bolster cutting-edge research and development by bringing together some of the most talented and experienced professionals in the biosensor industry.
 Wipro to upskill 10,000 students with NASSCOM
  • Wipro partnered with the Indian IT industry apex body Nasscom to upskill 10,000 students from 20 engineering colleges across the country.
  • As part of CSR programme, will train 10,000 engineering students to skill them in disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, cyber security and internet of things
  • The company’s TalentNext prepares faculty and academic leaders to train students through future skills, a new age platform built to bridge the industry-academia skill gap and help the former keep pace with emerging technologies.
  • Future skills is a collaborative platform built on the technology-powered learning resource, being developed by the industry for its benefit
  • The initiative will also create a talent pool of students, certified by the partners (Wipro and Nasscom).
 Indian, Russia tri-services exercise INDRA-2019 concludes
  • The India-Russia tri-services exercise INDRA-2019, focusing on counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations, at Babina, Pune and Goa ended.
  • Important lectures, demonstrations and drills related to counter-terrorism operations were rehearsed and executed jointly. Both the contingent shared their expertise and experience.
  • The exercise included joint training in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations under the United Nations mandate.
  • This is the second edition of bilateral tri-services exercise INDRA between Indian and Russia.
  • As part of validation exercise troops of both countries carried out specialised joint counter-terrorist operations which were witnessed by dignitaries from both countries.
  • The validation exercise was reviewed by Minister of State for Defence Shripad Yesso Naik in presence of Indian Army”s Southern Command chief, Lt Gen S.K. Saini, and other senior officers of both the participating countries.

 

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 DECEMBER 21, 2019

 First International Meitei Pangal Convention held in Imphal
  • The first International Meitei Pangal Convention was held under the aegis of All Manipur Muslim Organisations’ Coordinating Committee (AMMOCOC) at City Convention Centre in Imphal.
  • The Chief Minister released a special souvenir titled ‘Thong’ during the convention.
  • Beside, a two-day Northeast India-Myanmar Business and Education Conclave, 2019 was jointly organised by Manipur University, National Institute of Technology, Manipur, and All Manipur Entrepreneurs’ Association.
 India-China joint training exercise “Hand-in-Hand” 2019
  • The 14-day-long India-China joint training exercise “Hand-in-Hand 2019″ at the joint training node at Meghalaya”sUmroimiitary station ended.
  • Indian Army contingent comprising of one infantry company along with supporting staff, and the People”s Liberation Army (PLA) contingent from the Tibet Military Command took part in the 8th edition of the joint training exercise.
  • The exercise was aimed at the participating infantry contingents practicing joint drills for counter-terrorism operations in a semi-urban terrain under a United Nation mandate.
  • The exercise entailed firing each other”s weapons, tactical lectures and demonstration by both the countries on various aspects of counter-terrorism operations.
  • It also included physical training activities ranging from endurance runs, battle obstacle courses and games.
  • The exercise is testimony of India and China jointly recognising the emerging threat of terrorism and their resolve to stand together in countering this menace.
  • The two armies have gained from each other”s expertise and experience in conduct of counter terrorism and company level operations.
  • The troops of both the contingents departed on healthy note of mutual informal respect and goodwill.
 Centre releases five clauses to acquire Indian citizenship
  • The Union Home Ministry released the five clauses under the Citizenship Act to acquire Indian citizenship.
  • According to the Citizenship Act, 1955, under the first clause, citizenship by birth under Article 5 of the Constitution provides that any person who was domiciled in India on January 26, 1950 or who was born in the territory of India is a citizen of India.
  • Anyone either of whose parents was born in the territory of India, or any person born in India on or after January 26, 1950, but before July 1, 1987 is a citizen of India by birth.
  • Any person born in India between July 1, 1987 and December 3, 2004, and either of whose parents is a citizen of India is also a citizen of India by birth.
  • For persons born after December 3, 2004 Both whose parents are citizens of India or one of them isn”t an illegal immigrant at the time of his birth and the other is a citizen of India shall also be a citizen of India by birth.
  • For the second of citizenship by descent, “a person born outside India on or after January 26, 1950, but before December 10, 1992, shall be citizen of India by descent, if his father was a citizen of India at the time of birth”.
  • The criteria for citizenship by registration states that a person of Indian origin who is ordinarily resident in India for seven years before making an application for registration is eligible to be registered as a citizen of India.
  • Minor children of persons who are citizens of India are eligible to be registered as a citizen of India, and a person of full age and capacity whose parents are registered as citizens of India is eligible to be registered as a citizen of India.
  • If any new territory becomes part of India, the government shall specify the persons who among the people of the territory shall be the citizen of India. Such persons become the citizen of India from the notified date.
  • This happened in the case of Goa, Daman & Diu, Sikkim and many Bangladeshi enclaves which became part of India in 2014.
 First trial shipment of vegetables send to Dubai
  • A trail shipment of vegetables was sent to Dubai from Varanasi under the government’s scheme to promote exports from agriculture produce rich regions of India.
  • The container with 14 metric tonnes of fresh vegetables was exported from Mumbai after being sourced from Ghazipur and Varanasi.
  • To fast-track the activities taken up for the Export Hub at Varanasi, a project office of APEDA is being set up at Varanasi for co-ordination and facilitation of all activities.
  • A committee has also been formed under the chairmanship of the Commissioner, Varanasi Division, with all the stakeholders.

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Assam Current Affairs – December 08 – 14, 2019

Posted on by admin 
Current Affairs Assam – December 08 - 14, 2019

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of December 08 – 14, 2019 )

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December 08, 2019

  Indo-China joint military exercise commences in Meghalaya
  • A joint military exercise between India and China on counterterrorism – Hand-in-Hand-2019 – commenced at the Joint Traning Node at Umroi in India’s Northeastern state of Meghalaya.
  • The eighth edition of the joint military exercise will cover company level Joint Training on counter-terrorism operation in semi-urban terrain under United Nations mandate.
  • The exercise will be aimed at building and promoting positive relations between both the armies.
  • The 14-day long exercise schedule will also be focused upon training on various lectures and drills associated with counter-terrorist handling and firing with each others’ weapons, battle obstacles course, special heliborne operations and case studies of various operations carried out in counter-terrorism environment.
  • Two tactical exercises are scheduled during the training are a counter-terrorism scenario and the other on Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations.
 PM visits ‘Param Brahma’ supercomputer facility at IISER Pune
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with scientists at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) here and visited the supercomputer facility “Param Brahma”.
  • The IISER scientists made a detailed presentation on varied topics ranging from new materials and devices for clean energy application to agricultural biotechnology to natural resource mapping.
  • These presentations also showcased cutting edge technologies in the field of molecular biology, antimicrobial resistance, climate studies and mathematical finance research.
  • Modi also visited the state-of-the-art supercomputer “Param Brahma”, deployed by C-DAC in IISER, which has a peak computing power of 797 Teraflops.
  • The IISER is a group of premier science education and research institutes in India.
 Indian Army won Sudan Polo Cup
  • The Indian Army team lifts Sudan Polo Cup, one the most prestigious polo tournament, beating beats British Army team.
  • The match took place at the Jaipur Polo Grounds in Delhi between both the polo teams.
  • The Indian team won the match by 5-3 following which Vice Chief of Indian Army Lieutenant General ManojMukundNaravane felicitated the teams.
  • The Sudan Cup is one of the most prestigious polo tournament, played between the British Army and the Indian Army alternately in India and UK. It was instituted in 1922.
  • After Independence, this cup could not be played until it was revived in 1971 when an Indian Army polo team visited England and had been regularly contested till 1998.
  • After a lapse of 21 years, the Sudan Polo Cup has been revived and played at Jaipur Polo Ground between visiting British Army Polo team and host Indian Army Polo team.

 DECEMBER 09, 2019

 Asom Natya Sanmilan 2019 awards to be conferred on Sayad Nazim Ahmed
  • The Asom Natya Sanmilan Award-2019 will be conferred on noted actor Sayad Nazim Ahmed of Lakhimpur.
  • Similarly, the Mahendra Borthakur Award will be presented to senior actor and professor Parag Sarma.
  • The other awards will be given to actor Pabin Sarma of Nalbari, playwright Pankaj Jyoti Bhuyan of Sootea, play wright and director Ajit Borthakur of Sipajhar, critic Atul Mazumdar of Guwahati, actress Bina Patangia of Tezpur, playwright Ganesh Das of Tezpur and playwright Nitul Medhi of Pathsala.
  • The awards will be presented at the open meeting of the 58th conference of Asom Natya Sanmilan to be held at Nalbari on January 2020.
 Rohit Sharma named La Liga’s first India brand ambassador
  • Rohit Sharma was named the first-ever India brand ambassador of top Spanish football club Real Madrid. He is the first non-footballer in the history of the league to have become a brand ambassador.
  • Rohit comes on board following a series of major initiatives by La Liga in India since 2017.
  • The current ICC World No. 2, is the only batsman in the history of the game to have scored three double hundreds in the 50-overs format including a world record 264.
  • Jose Antonio Cachaza, managing director, La Liga India said, “India is a very important market for La Liga from a global perspective, we came here in 2017 to get a better understanding of the pulse of the nation.
 Gurugram MDA partners with CISCO to make Gurugram safer, smarter
  • The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has partnered with networking giant Cisco to set up an Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) that leverages digital technologies to enhance citizen safety, optimise public infrastructure and better manage traffic.
  • Powered by Cisco’s Smart City digital solutions, the command centre will be a nodal point for traffic management and city surveillance, and soon bring in other utilities such as waste management, water, lighting, parking, urban mobility, and power distribution.
  • The facility was inaugurated by Haryana Chief Minister M.L. Khattar.
  • The ICCC is designed to simplify control room operation and system integration, while increasing operational efficiency and lowering operating costs.
  • The platform will also allow city administrators to collect and integrate data from multiple sources, enabling them to use data analytics to optimise city operations, improve governance, and accelerate decision making.
  • The solution will also lay the foundation for an integrated video surveillance system that will be deployed across all 115 sectors of Gurugram and Manesar, falling under the GMDA.
  • As part of the ICCC platform, Cisco’s analytics engine will enable safe data exchange across community infrastructures.
 Citizenship Amendment Bill introduced in LS
  • The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, was introduced in Lok Sabha by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
  • Which seeks to give Indian nationality to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan facing religious persecution there.
  • According to the proposed legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, till December 31, 2014 and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

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 DECEMBER 10, 2019

 Two startups from Assam chosen for NIDHI-EIR program
  • Two startups from Assam – Let’s Learn Together and Little Machines – have been selected for the NIDHI-Entrepreneurs-In-Residence programme, under which they are entitled to a monthly grant of up to Rs 30,000 for a year.
  • The NIDHI-Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIR) programme is an initiative by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Government of India, supporting technology business incubators.
  • It aids academic and research institutions to leverage technologies and innovations for venture creation. The programme provides opportunities for innovative entrepreneurs to expand their networks and get critical feedback on their ventures.
  • The selected startups will receive expert guidance, mentorship and crucial networking support from IIM Calcutta Innovation Park along with co-working space at IIM Calcutta campus and a monthly grant of up to Rs 30,000 for a year.
  • Both the startups are currently incubated at Assam Startup–The Nest, in association with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park.
  • Let’s learn together is an app-based startup offering coaching for various competitive exams in regional language in Assam.
  • Little Machines has developed ‘Microcam’ – a smart and portable digital microscope with AI implement across the device for better diagnosis and observation.
 Lok Sabha passes the Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019
  • The Lok Sabha passed a Bill on rationalising and facilitating the licensing procedures for use of firearms by individuals as well as to curb crimes committed by using illegal firearms and to provide effective deterrence against violation of law.
  • The Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which seeks amendment to the Arms Act, 1959, provides for enhancement of period of arms licence from three years to five years and also to issue arms licence in its electronic form.
  • The Bill, which was introduced on November 29, seeks to decrease the number of licenced firearms allowed per person and increase penalties for certain offences under the Act.
  • The Bill proposes to define new offences and prescribing punishment for them, such as for taking away firearms from police or armed forces, involvement in organised crime syndicate, illicit trafficking including smuggled firearms of foreign make or prohibited arms and prohibited ammunition, use of firearms in rash and negligent manner in celebratory gunfire endangering human life.
  • The Bill seeks to enhance the punishment for existing offences such as illegal manufacture, sale, transfer; illegal acquiring, possessing or carrying prohibited arms or prohibited ammunition; and illegal manufacture, sale, transfer, conversion, import, export, of firearms.
 Rajya Sabha passed Recycling of Ships Bill, 2019 for safety in ship recycling activities
  • The Rajya Sabha passed the Recycling of Ships Bill, 2019 that seeks to restrict the use of hazardous materials on ships and provide safety cover to workers.
  • The Bill introduced by the Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya provides for setting up a national authority for monitoring the recycling activities.
  • The Bill provides for setting up a national authority to administer, supervise and monitor all activities relating to ship recycling.
  • As per the Bill, ships should not use prohibited hazardous materials as notified.
  • Further, ship recycling facilities are required to be authorized and ships shall be recycled only in authorized ship recycling facilities.
  • Alang in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat is the recycling hub of the country.
  • Recycling of ships emerged as a major industry in 1983 and has fast emerged as a major leading destination.

 DECEMBER 11, 2019

 IIT Guwahati gets Samsung Innovation Lab
  • Samsung India inaugurated an innovation lab at IIT-Guwahati which will train students in Internet of Things (IoT), embedded systems, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), helping them learn industry-relevant skills.
  • Samsung has so far set up five innovation labs in IIT-Delhi, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Hyderabad, IIT-Kharagpur and IIT-Roorkee as part of its Digital Academy programme and more such labs will come in the near future.
  • The current focus of the labs is on activities such as collaborative research with Samsung and course/training offered by the South Korean giant.
  • The course will be taught over 14 weeks through classroom lectures, assignments and lab room sessions, self-study and mini projects.
  • Extensive tutorials and approach documents will also be provided to students to facilitate practical exercises.
 8th Nupi Lal Day observed in Manipur
  • The 80th Nupi Lal Day was observed across Manipur in remembrance of the women freedom fighters who took part in the first and second Nupi Lal (Women’s War) against the Britishers.
  • Biren Singh stressed the need to have a “collective approach” to resolve issues confronting the State. He also asserted that there is a need for another Nupi Lal to fight against various problems prevailing in the society such as drug menace, alcoholism, etc.
  • Highlighting the unique qualities of women in the State, the Chief Minister said that it is indeed a matter of pride that many Manipuri women are at the forefront in various fields in the country. Manipur topped in women’s ownership of micro, small and medium enterprise businesses in the country, besides holding many top posts in government departments.
  • In the first Nupi Lal in 1904, women rose up in arms against the British Government’s order to use men as “forced labourers” for construction works in Imphal.
  • In the second Nupi Lal in 1939, thousands of women marched to the State Durbar Hall, demanding a ban on export of rice as floods had caused extensive damage to crops that year.
 Data Protection Bill introduced in Lok Sabha
  • The Centre introduced the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, empowering the government to ask companies including Facebook, Google and others for anonymised personal data and non-personal data.
  • Introducing the Bill in the Lower House, Union Electronic and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said by this data protection, they are safeguarding the rights of Indians.
  • As per the architecture of the Bill, if data is taken without consent of the individual, you will suffer a penalty.
  • The second is, if you misuse the data beyond the permissible consent, you will suffer consequences. And we have given penalty of crores of rupees on all the persons.
  • Therefore, by this data protection, they are safeguarding the rights of Indian.
  • The Bill defines personal data as information that can help in the identification of an individual and has characteristics, traits and other features of a person”s identity.
 Union Culture Minister launches Indian Culture web portal
  • Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel launched the Indian Culture web portal.
  • Indian culture portal is the first government authorized portal where knowledge and cultural resources of various organizations of Ministry of Culture are now available in the public domain.
  • The Indian Culture portal was envisioned by the Ministry of Culture and has been developed by a team from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay while the curation of the data has been done by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).
  • The content available on the portal comprises mainly of rare books, e-books, manuscripts, artefacts from museums, virtual galleries, archives, photo archives, gazetteers, Indian National Bibliography, videos, images, cuisine, UNESCO, Musical Instruments of India among others.
  • As envisioned by the Ministry, the portal also will be available in other regional languages in future.
  • The larger aim of the Indian Culture portal is to create awareness among the citizens about the diverse heritage of our country.
Lok Sabha passes Bill to extend SC/ST reservation
  • The Lok Sabha passed a Bill with voice vote to extend the reservation of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) for the next 10 years up to January 25, 2030.
  • Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Amendment) Bill, 2019 amends provisions related to reservation of seats for SCs and STs and that reservation is the right of these under the privileged community.
  • The government brought the Bill in the House for its passage as the reservation provision for SCs and STs in the Constitution is to cease on January 25, 2020.
  • The Bill, however, did not mention about the extension of reservation for the Anglo-Indian community whose reservation will also cease on the same date.
 Andhra Pradesh cabinet clears Bill to punish rapists in 21 days
  • The Andhra Pradesh cabinet approved draft legislation that mandates disposal of cases of atrocities against women within 21 days and handing out the death penalty.
  • The legislation, an amendment to the AP Criminal Law, will be called the “AP Disha Act”, in memory of the veterinary doctor raped and murdered in neighbouring Telangana recently.
  • Another draft legislation has also been approved, which will pave the way for the establishment of special courts to try cases of atrocities against women and children.
  • Under the proposed AP Disha Act, the death penalty has been prescribed for rape.
  • Where cognizable evidence is established in such cases, the amended law prescribes completion of investigation in seven days and court trial in subsequent 14 days so as to award punishment within 21 days.
  • The existing law permits trial in such cases in four months.
  • The Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, also approved the draft ‘AP Special Court for Specified Offences Against Women and Children Act, 2019.
  • Under this act, special courts will be set up in each of the 13 districts to try cases of atrocities against women and children like rape, sexual harassment, acid attacks and harassment through social media.
  • Depending on the gravity of the offence, the punishment will range from 10 years to life imprisonment, including under the POCSO Act.

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 DECEMBER 12, 2019

 ‘Dharitri’ Land Records Computerization Systemintroduced in Kokrajhar Revenue Circle
  • The Land Records Computerization Software system known as ‘Dharitri’ was formally introduced in Kokrajhar Revenue Circle recently. The scheme was successfully implemented at the Kokrajhar Revenue Circle.
  • Dharitri is a completely web-enabled system of the Revenue department meant to do away with drawbacks of the traditional system of keeping land records in registers like Chita and Jamabandi etc.
  • Keeping in view the necessity of e-governance for good administration, the BTC authority introduced the system for the first time in the BTC region.
  • BTC Chief Hagrama Mohilary, inaugurated the system at a function held at Kokrajhar Revenue Circle Office premises.
  • The same scheme would be implemented in all the Revenue Circle Offices of BTC region within a very short period of time.
  • The system eventually will promote faster, accurate and less time consuming official process in this regard.
 Union Cabinet approved to set up Infrastructure Investment Trust(s) (InvIT)
  • The Union Cabinet approved the proposal of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways authorising the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to set up Infrastructure Investment Trust(s) (InvIT).
  • The trust will enable the NHAI to monetise completed national highways with toll collection record of at least one year.
  • The NHAI reserves the right to levy toll on the identified highways.
  • The NHAI”s InvIT will be a Trust established under the Indian Trust Act, 1882, and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014.
  • The InvIT will be formed with an objective of investment primarily in infrastructure projects (as defined by the Ministry of Finance). InvIT might hold assets either directly or through an SPV or a holding.
 Infosys wins UN Global Climate Action Award
  • Infosys was presented with the prestigious United Nations Global Climate Action Award in the ‘Climate Neutral Now’ category at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 25) in Madrid, Spain.
  • Infosys won the award for its carbon neutral program, which delivers scalable, innovative and practical climate actions that address climate change and help drive progress on many other sustainable development goals, such as gender equality, health and well-being and economic opportunity.
  • Every year, the United Nations honours outstanding achievements in combating climate change through the Climate Action Awards.
 Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between Govt of India and Japan for ”India-Japan Steel Dialogue”
  • Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between Government of India and Government of Japan to constitute the ”India-Japan Steel Dialogue” to strengthen cooperation in steel sector.
  • The ”India-Japan Steel Dialogue” envisages enhancement of mutual understanding to secure sustainable growth in the steel sector.
  • The Dialogue aims to examine all aspects of cooperation in steel sector including promotion of investment in high grade steel making and finding new avenues of steel usage in India.
  • The MoC will help in capacity building for high grade steel manufacturing in India.
 India successfully launched radar imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2BR1
  • India successfully placed into orbit its latest radar imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2BR1 and nine foreign satellites from four countries using its PSLV rocket.
  • In the process, India touched 319 foreign satellite launch mark ever since 1999.
  • India’s latest radar imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2BR1 will send sharp clarity images for surveillance, agriculture, forestry and disaster management.
  • The satellite camera can look through the clouds and take pictures.
  • It was the 50th flight of PSLV rocket and 75th rocket mission for the Sriharikota rocket port.
  • The PSLV-QL is a four-stage/engine expendable rocket powered by solid and liquid fuels alternatively. The rocket has four strap-on booster motors to give additional thrust during the initial flight stages.

 DECEMBER 13, 2019

 UN accepted India’s proposal to observe May 21 as International Tea Day
  • The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) has decided to observe May 21 every year as International Tea Day across the globe in response to a proposal moved by India at the FAO Intergovernmental Group meeting on Tea on October 16, 2015. The UN General Assembly accepted the proposal in September 2019.
  • The idea behind observing International Tea Day is to celebrate the goodness of tea and to focus on its benefits for generating awareness on the importance of drinking tea among the younger generation.
  • India, had initially mooted the idea before Santosh Sarangi, Head of the Indian delegation and Joint Secretary, Commerce at Milan in Italy.Sarangi accepted the idea and placed it at the FAO session in Milan. The FAO session unanimously accepted the idea.
  • Theproposal was moved by the Indian Ministry of Commerce through the nodal Agriculture Ministry of the country to the Indian permanent representative to the FAO. China also extended its full support to the proposal.
  • The UN General Assembly selected May as the month for International Tea Day as it is the quality tea manufacturing season in most of the tea-producing countries.
  • The UN General Assembly in its resolution on the issue said, inter alia, that tea production and processing contributes to the fight against hunger, reduction of extreme poverty, empowerment of women and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.
  • Moreover, it said tea can play a significant role in rural development, poverty reduction and ensuring food security in developing countries because of it being one of the most important cash crops.
  • Teaconsumption can bring health benefits and wellness, among others.
  • Observanceof International Tea Day would promote and foster collective action to implement activities in favour of the sustainable production and consumption of tea and raise awareness of its importance in fighting against hunger and poverty.
 Indian, Russian navies conducting joint tri-services exercise
  • Indra-2019, a tri-services exercise being conducted jointly by the Indian and Russian navies off Goa, will further strengthen relations between the two armed forces and enable them to undertake joint operations in a cohesive manner to address common challenges.
  • Russian Federation Navy ships Yaroslav Mudny, Viktor Konetsky and Elyna along with Indian Navy vessels INS Aditya, INS Tarkash, MiG29K fighter aircraft, maritime patrol aircraft and ship-borne helicopters are participating in the 10-day tri-services exercise.
  • Exercise Indra was initiated in 2003, with an aim to enhance interoperability between Indian and Russian navies.
  • India and Russia have shared long standing co-operation in defence equipment, training of personnel, transfer of defence technology and equipment spares.
  • The exercise has been divided into the harbour and the sea phase.
  • The harbour phase of the exercise commenced on December 10, includes formal calls, planning conferences, professional interactions and sports events.
  • The sea phase of the exercise will be held off Goa from December 16-19, in which INS Aditya, INS Tarkash, MiG29K fighter aircraft, maritime patrol aircraft and ship-borne helicopters would be participating from the Indian Navy.
 Central Sanskrit Universities Bill passed in the Lok Sabha
  • A Bill to convert three Sanskrit deemed universities into Central Sanskrit Universities was passed in the Lok Sabha.
  • Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ”Nishank” said the purpose of the universities is to teach students Sanskrit so that they can gain knowledge written in Sanskrit literature of our country and help in the development of the country.
  • The Minister said that the Sanskrit language is taught in 250 universities across 100 countries including 14 universities in Germany.
  • He said that the Bill seeks to convert three Sanskrit deemed universities presently functioning in the country into Central universities.
  • The three Sanskrit deemed universities that will be converted into central universities include the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, the Shri Lal Bahadur ShastriRashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth in New Delhi and Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth in Tirupati.

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 DECEMBER 14, 2019

 Sarifa Khatoon Chowdhury receives Madhabilata Literary Award
  • Assamese poet and former president of TinsukiaZilaSahityasewi Mancha (TZSM), SarifaKhatoon Chowdhury was presented the Madhabilata Literary Award for the year 2017-2018 by the Satradhikar of AuniatiSatraDrPitambar Deva Goswami at a solemn function held in Tinsukia.
  • The award carries a cash prize of Rs 10,000/- , a memento, a selengsador and a gamusa.
  • The award was instituted by renowned writer and literary organiserAtul Chandra Sharma on behalf of Madhabilata Literary Trust in 2003 in memory of his late mother Madhabilata Sharma.
  • The award is presented every two years to a renowned litterateur of Tinsukia district.
 Lok Sabha passes International Financial Services Bill
  • The Lok Sabha passed a Bill for setting up of an authority to develop and regulate the financial services market at the International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) in India.
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said it would allow formation of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) and apply to all IFSCs set up under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.
  • The IFSCA members will include the Chairperson, one member each to be nominated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA); two from among officials of the Ministry of Finance, and two to be appointed on the recommendation of a Search Committee.
  • Members will have three-year term, subject to reappointment.
  • The IFSCA will regulate financial products financial services, and financial institutions which have been approved by any appropriate regulator (such as the RBI or the SEBI), in an IFSC.
  • It will follow all processes that are applicable to such financial products, financial services and financial institutions under their respective laws.
  • As per the bill an IFSCs Authority Fund will be set up and the items credited to the fund will include all grants, fees and charges received by the IFSCA, and all sums received from various sources, as decided by the central government.
  • The Fund will be used for salaries, allowances and other remuneration of members and employees, and expenses incurred by the IFSCA.
  • As per the Bill, all transactions of financial services in IFSCs will be in such foreign currency as specified by the authority, in consultation with the central government.
Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code Bill, 2019
  • The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
  • The Centre introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha with provisions seeking removal of bottlenecks and streamline the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) aimed at protection of last mile funding to boost investment in financially distressed sectors, a move faced sharp objection of the opposition requesting to sent it to the Standing Committee.
  • The Bill was approved by the Union cabinet.

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Assam Current Affairs – December 01 – 07, 2019

Posted on by admin 
Current Affairs Assam – December 1 - 7, 2019

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of December 1 – 7, 2019 )

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December 01, 2019

Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta takes charge as DGP of Assam Police
  • Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, a 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre today took over the charge as Director General (in-charge) of Assam Police from outgoing police chief Kuladhar Saikia.
  • Mahanta said controlling all kinds of crime will be his main priority. Assam Police has a good team of personnel and will work on community-oriented policing.

FACTFILE – Assam Police

  • Assam Police comes under direct control of Department of Home Affairs, Government of Assam.
  • The Assam Police is headed by Director General of Police.
  • Assam Police forces are organized into Police Ranges, headed by an Inspector General of Police (IG) or Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) who control several Police Districts.
  • The Police District is the fulcrum of state police activity and each Police District of the state is headed by a Superintendent of Police (SP).
  • The Police District is divided into Police Sub-Divisions and will be under the command of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) or Subdivision Police Officer (SDPO).
  • The Police Sub-Division is made up of one or more Police Circles, and is under the command of an Inspector of Police, often referred to as the Circle Inspector (CI).
  • Under the Police Circles are the police stations, generally under the control of a Sub-Inspector (SI).
  • Assam state police force also maintains its own Reserve Armed police force, Special Armed Police and Armed Police) which is responsible for emergencies and crowd control issues.
  • Assam Police also have an Elite Commando Group known as Black Panther equipped with Latest weapons and technology for Anti-Terrorist Operations & VVIP protection.
India conducts night trial of Agni-III missile
  • The night trial of the nuclear-capable Agni-III long-range ballistic missile was conducted from the Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast.
  • The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) provided logistic support for the test.
  • The test of the surface-to-surface missile was carried out from a mobile launcher at Compex-IV of the Integrated Test Range.
  • It was the fourth user trial in the Agni-III series carried out to establish the repeatability of the missile’s performance.
  • For the first time the test was conducted during night time.
  • Inducted into the armed forces in June 2011, Agni-III missile has a strike range of over 3,500 km. Indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
  • It is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes.
India Bhutan hold 2nd Annual Development Cooperation dialogue
  • India and close neighbour Bhutan held their 2nd Annual Development Cooperation dialogue here during which the two sides agreed to implement 21 new Project Tied Assistance projects.
  • The Indian delegation was led by T.S. Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations), Ministry of External Affairs and the Bhutanese delegation was led by Kinga Singye, Foreign Secretary of Bhutan.
  • Both sides recalled the successful and productive visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bhutan in August 2019 with several significant outcomes which included inauguration of the Mangdhechu Hydroelectric project and Ground Earth Station for South Asia Satellite and launch of RuPay card in Bhutan.
  • They also recalled the very successful visit to India of Bhutanese Prime Minister LotayTshering in December 2018 and in May 2019.
  • The Annual Development Cooperation Talks is an important bilateral mechanism to review the entire gamut of India”s development partnership with Bhutan.
  • The two sides agreed to hold the next Development Cooperation Talks in 2020 in Thimphu on a mutually agreed date.
  • The Annual India-Bhutan Development Cooperation Talks were held in a friendly atmosphere in keeping with the close and friendly ties between the two countries.
India Japan holds 2+2 defence and foreign minister-level dialogue
  • India and Japan are holding their inaugural 2+2 defence and foreign minister-level dialogue which focus on cooperation in building a free and open Indo-Pacific.
  • Japanese Foreign Minister ToshimitsuMotegi and Defence Minister Taro Kono met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  • Japan is only the second country after the US with which India has such a dialogue format.
  • The two sides already have dialogue formats such as the Annual Defense Ministerial Dialogue, Defense Policy Dialogue and the National Security Advisers’ Dialogue.
  • The two sides also exchanged views on the situation in the Indo-Pacific region and their respective efforts under India’s ‘Act East Policy’ and Japan’s ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific Vision’ for achieving their shared objective of peace, prosperity and progress to realize a better future for the people of the two countries and the region.
DECEMBER 02, 2019
Assam ranks 6th among number of cyber crime
  • Assam ranks sixth among all the states and Union Territories (UTs) of India with regard to the number of cases registered under various cyber-crimes.
  • As per latest official data, a total of 1,120 cyber-crime cases were reported during 2017 in Assam, which is an increase of over 61 per cent compared to the previous year. In 2016, there were 696 such cases in the State.
  • Nationally, Assam’s share of cases reported under cyber-crimes during 2017 was 5.1 per cent of the total 21,796 such cases across India.
  • Altogether 1,261 persons were arrested under various cyber-crimes in Assam during the year under review and 726 persons were charge-sheeted.
  • Uttar Pradesh reported the maximum number of cyber-crime cases (4,971) in 2017, followed by Maharashtra (3,604 cases), Karnataka (3,174 cases), Rajasthan (1,304 cases) and Telangana (1,209 cases), with Assam registering the sixth-highest number of such incidents.
  • Nationally, a total of 21,796 cases of cyber-crimes were reported in 2017 compared to 12,317 in 2016, which is a jump of 77 per cent, as per the latest data.
Parliament passes Prohibition of E-Cigarettes Bill, 2019
  • Parliament has passed the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Bill, 2019, with the Rajya Sabha approving it. The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill.
  • Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan told that the legislation is aimed at ending the menace of e-cigarettes at the beginning itself.
  • The Minister asserted that the ordinance brought earlier on e-cigarettes was with pious intentions to wean away the country’s youth from the harmful substance.
  • A total of 28 members participated in the discussion on the bill in the Rajya Sabha.
  • The Prohibition of the Electronic Cigarettes Bill, 2019 bans production, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisements of e-cigarettes with stringent punishments for any violation. It replaces the ordinance promulgated on the 18th of September this year.
TN signed MoU for Rs 19K crore investments in last 10 months
  • Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami said that the state has signed 63 new Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) in the past 10 months. Speaking at the Investment and Skill Development Conclave.
  • Tamil Nadu government signed nine MoUs with different industries involving an investment of Rs 5,027 crore in the state in Palaniswami’s presence at the conclave.
  • The Indian arm of Chinese group BYD, to set up a phone component manufacturing facility with an investment of Rs 2,800 crore. The new project is expected to provide employment to 11,500 persons.
  • Palaniswami also inaugurated the projects promoted by US companies Kapisoft, ZL Technology and Kloud Learn.
  • The Chief Minister also launched three apex skill development centres involving an investment of Rs 60 crore. Two MoUs for new ITIs at an oulay of Rs 28.43 crore were also signed at the event.
  • The government signed a knowledge partnership with the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), for the defence corridor coming up in the state and to make the state a major aerospace and defence manufacturing hub.

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DECEMBER 03, 2019
India-China military drill to be conducted in Meghalaya
  • The Indian and Chinese militaries will be engaged in a joint military exercise that will involve tactical-level operations in a semi-urban terrain for an international counter-terrorist operation.
  • The annual exercise ”Hand-in-Hand” 2019, with the theme of counter-terrorism under a United Nations mandate, is scheduled to be conducted at the state-of-the-art Joint Training Node at Umroi Cantonment, about 25 km from Shillong.
  • The Chinese contingent, from the Tibet Military command, will comprise 130 personnel and the Indian contingent will be of similar strength in the 14-day-long training exercise.
  • The exercise is planned at the company level with the respective Battalion Headquarters controlling the training.
  • The aim of the exercise is to practice joint planning and conduct of counter- terrorist operation in semi-urban terrain.
India, Sweden launchs project to tackle stubble burning
  • India and Sweden announced the launch of a pilot project to convert paddy stubble into green coal in Mohali, Punjab, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf inaugurated a bilateral high-level policy dialogue on innovation policy.
  • The two leaders launched the Agri-Waste to High Energy Biocoal pilot project, which has been established under the Prime Minister”s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) Waste to Wealth Mission.
  • The office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, in partnership with Bioendev, Sweden, has set up a torrefaction pilot plant for the conversion of agri-waste into biocoal at the National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) in Mohali, Punjab.
  • The India-Sweden Collaborative Industrial Research & Development Programme in the area of ”smart cities and clean technologies” and ”Digitisation and Internet of Things”, co-funded by the Department of Science &Technology (DST), India, and Vinnova.
  • The project aims to develop technologies that can be commercialised after two years through joint cooperation between India and Sweden.
  • Vinnova will provide funding to Swedish side participants up to 2,500,000 SEK as grant.
  • On the Indian side, conditional grant of up to 50 per cent with a limit of Rs 1.5 crore per project to Indian project partners will be provided.
  • The Department of Science & Technology, India, and the Swedish Research Council will fund 20 bilateral projects in the area of computer science and material science under the Indo-Swedish Joint Network Grant Awards.
  • The Swedish Research Council will fund 14 million SEK for 2 years for this programme. The Department of Science and Technology will provide activity matching funding to the Indian counterparts.
  • The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), India, and Vinnova will announce a joint programme in the area of ”digital health”.
  • The programme aims to provide scalable and implementable innovative, sustainable and flexible health solutions in both countries, using artificial intelligence-based technologies as a tool.
  • The India-Swedish Collaborative Industrial Research & Development Programme in the area of ”smart grids” co-funded by the Department of Science & Technology, India, and the Swedish Energy Agency was also announced.
  • The Swedish Energy Agency has allocated 25 million SEK over the next four years for this industry-led call.
  • Also announced the establishment of the new ”Joint Centre of Excellence in Innovation and Entrepreneurship” between KTH Royal Institute of Technology and IIT Madras. The centre in Chennai is the first of four planned centres.
  • The joint centre aims to build an entrepreneurial spirit and cross-border teams creating innovations that could target the markets in both Sweden and India, as well as globally.
  • The Ministry of Earth Sciences, India, and the Ministry of Education and Research, Sweden, signed a MoU on cooperation in polar science.
  • The two ministries are committed to cooperate in the study of polar research by coordinating and sharing resources and data.
Central Govt moves Taxation Bill in Lok Sabha
  • The Govt in the Lok Sabha moved the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill 2019 for its passage, seeking changes in the Income Tax law aimed at lowering tax rate options to domestic companies to promote growth and investment and attract fresh investment in the manufacturing sector.
  • The Bill seeking amendment to the Income-Tax Act, 1961 and to amend the Finance (No.2) Act, 2019 was moved in the House by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
  • The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 was promulgated on September 20 to amend the IT Act and the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019.
  • It provides lower tax rate options to domestic companies to promote growth and investment and attract fresh investment in the manufacturing sector.
  • The Bill provides domestic companies with an option to pay tax at the rate of 22 per cent, provided they do not claim certain deductions under the Income Tax Act.
  • The Bill provides new domestic manufacturing companies with an option to pay income tax at the rate of 15 per cent, provided they do not claim certain deductions.
  • These new domestic manufacturing companies must be set up and registered after September 30, 2019 and start manufacturing before April 1, 2023.
  • A company can choose to opt for the new tax rates in the financial year 2019-20 or in any other financial year in the future. Once a company exercises this option, the chosen provision will apply for all subsequent years.
Ministry of Corporates Affairs launches databank of independent directors
  • The Ministry of Corporates Affairs (MCA) launched the databank of independent directors with an aim to strengthen the institution of independent directors under the Companies Act.
  • The databank, launched by Injeti Srinivas, MCA Secretary, can be accessed at “www.mca.gov.in” or “www.independentdirectorsdatabank.in”.
  • The initiative provides a platform for the registration of existing independent directors as well as individuals aspiring to become independent directors.
  • Companies also may register themselves with the databank to search, select and connect with individuals who possess the right skills and attitude for being considered for appointment as independent directors as the databank is expected to become a comprehensive repository of both existing independent directors as well as individuals eligible and willing to be appointed as independent directors.
  • It also provides for e-learning courses on various topics, including the Companies Act, securities laws, basic accountancy, board practices, board ethics and board effectiveness.
  • As per the notified rules, all existing independent directors are required to register themselves in the databank within three months, from December 1.
  • They are also required to pass a basic online proficiency self-assessment test, which will available from March 2020 within 12 months thereafter.

DECEMBER 04, 2019

Assam’s first CNG-fuelled buses roll out from Dibrugarh
  • Assam’s first compressed natural gas (CNG) fuelled bus was flagged off from Chowkidinghee by the Deputy Commissioner Pallav Gopal Jha.
  • The first CNG bus (converted from diesel) rolled out from the Assam State Transport Corporation’s (ASTC) bus terminus after a ceremonial inauguration by DC.
  • The CNG-fuelled bus will be plying from the city to Mulukgaon via Lahoal, Dikom and Chabua town.
  • Plying of two City Buses was also inaugurated on the same occasion.
  • The City Buses will operate from Assam Medical College to Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) at Lepetkata, via Dibrugarh University on a reciprocal basis and each of them are expected to make five rounds of trips per day per bus.
Mumbai Central certified as India’s 1st ‘Eat Right Station’
  • The Mumbai Central Terminus of the Western Railway (WR) has been certified as India’s first ‘Eat Right Station’ with a 4-Star rating awarded by the FSSAI.
  • The honour came on the basis of compliance of food safety and hygiene, availability of healthy diet, food handling at preparation, transshipment and retail/serving points, food waste management, promotion of local and seasonal foods and creating awareness on food safety and a healthy diet.
  • The WR, food quality regulator FSSAI and Indian Railways Catering Tourism Corporation trained food handlers, both in canteens and base kitchens, inspected catering establishments at the station, certified and rated the standards of food.
  • As part of efforts to help passengers make a healthy and right food choice, the Indian Railways launched the ‘Eat Right Station’ as part of the ‘Eat Right India’ initiative of the FSSAI started in 2018.
  • It focused on improving the health and well-being of the people by ensuring they eat healthy, with the FSSAI making suitable interventions on both the demand and supply side, besides related aspects.
  • ‘Eat Right India’ is built on two broad pillars of Eat Healthy and Eat Safe, and aims to engage, excite and enable people enhance their health and well-being.
AIIMS, Sweden jointly launch healthcare innovation centre
  • India and Sweden announced the launch of a Healthcare Innovation Centre in India for early diagnosis and digital intervention in the management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and cancer.
  • The Swedish Trade Commissioner’s Office, in collaboration with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi and Jodhpur, announced launch of the India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre in India.
  • The announcement was made at the India-Sweden Business Summit in the presence of Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and her Swedish counterpart Ibrahim Baylan.
  • The signing of the Memorandum of Intent took place at the event to mark 10 years of India-Sweden health cooperation.
  • AIIMS Delhi was represented by Director RandeepGuleria, and AIIMS Jodhpur by Director Sanjeev Misra, while Sweden was represented by Swedish Trade Commissioner to India Anders Wickberg.
  • The centre will mainstream digital, scalable and affordable healthcare solutions for early diagnosis and digital intervention in the management of NCDs such as diabetes and cancer.
  • The Centre is envisaged to develop an ecosystem of open innovation that healthcare delivery stakeholders can use to collaborate and address current and future challenges in the healthcare sector in India.
Lok Sabha passes Bill to restrict use of hazardous materials on ships
  • A Bill to enact a law to provide for restrictions or prohibitions on the use of hazardous material on ships and regulate recycling of ships by setting certain standards was passed in the Lok Sabha.
  • The provisions of the Bill shall not apply to any warship, naval auxiliary, or other ships owned or operated and used by the government for non-commercial purposes.
  • Union Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandavia said the Bill has been moved in view of ship recycling activities in India and keeping in view standards for environmental protection and workers” safety.
  • The major purpose of the Bill is environment-centric and for the safety of the labour.
  • The Bill aims to grow such industries and clarified that these are not new industries but already existing ones.
  • The Bill, which was introduced in the House proposes to designate an authority to be called the National Authority to administer, supervise and monitor all activities relating to ship recycling and to designate an authority to be called the Competent Authority to perform the prescribed duties within the geographical areas of expertise.
  • It provides that no ship shall install or use any prohibited hazardous material notified by the Central government and issue a certificate on inventory of hazardous materials and Ready for Recycling certificate which is an essential document for ships designated to be recycled.
  • The Bill seeks to impose an obligation on the Ship Recycler to take measures for the protection of the environment during the process of ship recycling and providing for appeal against the orders of the Competent Authority to the National Authority and from the National Authority to the Central government.
Parliament passed the bill to merge the two Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
  • Parliament passed the bill to merge the two Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu with the Rajya Sabha approving the measure by voice vote.
  • The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Bill, 2019 seeks to provide better delivery of services to the citizens of both the UTs by improving efficiency and reducing paper work.
  • It is aimed at reducing administrative expenditure.
  • Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said that the bill was brought after discussing it with all the stakeholders concerned, including civil society.
  • The merged Union Territories would continue to be under the jurisdiction of Bombay High Court as it is closer (250 km) compared to Ahmedabad which is about 400 km away.
  • There would not be any change in administration, employment conditions, reservation etc following the merger. Further, the service conditions for Class 3 and 4 employees would also remain unchanged.
Punjab CM announces free police help to drop women safely home at night
  • Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced free police help to drop women safely home if they are stranded outside between 9 pm and 6 am.
  • The state-wide facility will be available on DIAL 100, 112 and 181, through which the woman caller will be connected immediately to the Police Control Room (PCR).
  • The Chief Minister has also directed Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta to ensure the implementation of the facility across the state.
  • The pick-up and drop facility will be available to women who do not have access to a safe vehicle, including taxi or 3-wheeler.
  • To give the woman caller a sense of total security, the Chief Minister has directed that at least one lady police officer should accompany her during the transportation.
  • The DSP/ACP (Crime Against Women) will be the Nodal Officer to implement the scheme in each district.
  • Their numbers would be available on the Punjab Government and Punjab Police websites. ADGP Crime, Punjab, GurpreetDeo will be the State Nodal Officer for the facility
IIT Hyderabad develops device to monitor ECG data in real time
  • Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT-H) has developed a low-power device that can monitor electrocardiogram (ECG) and alert patients and doctors in real-time about the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD).
  • CVD tops the list of public health concern compared to other diseases and has almost become the primary cause of human deaths, as per a survey of the World Health Organization (WHO).
  • The main causes include changings trend in lifestyle, unhealthy eating habits, tobacco usage, low fruit and vegetable intake and lack of physical activity and lot of stress.
  • These factors necessitate developing a personalised CVD monitoring device powered by battery backup and with a very low form factor to achieve unobtrusiveness that works under the emerging cyber-physical system setup.
  • A novel System-On-Chip (SoC) architecture is developed in a low complex way by resource sharing concept for the CVD automation.
  • Thus the whole system can cover various ECG abnormalities and finally come up with the prototype board which looks similar to as a smartphone at the patient end.
Odisha CM launches ”Madhu” app to help school students
  • Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched ”Madhu” app, an e-learning mobile phone application for school students to understand their subjects in a better and efficient way.
  • The app named after ”UtkalGourab” Madhusudan Das is developed by Ganjam district administration for school students.
  • It is aimed at helping school students in learning their lessons taught in school classrooms through videos and practicing them.
  • Through the app, the students will have access to video explanation of the topics they are taught in their classroom.
  • The courses have been prepared to make the videos interesting using quality teaching learning material. It also features interactive question answering sessions.

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DECEMBER 05, 2019

Jurismita Puzari and Uday Shankar Borah from Assam gets United Nations award
  • Jurismita Puzari of Guwahati has won the National Karmaveer Chakra Gold Award from REX and United Nations for her commendable work for society. Uday Shankar Borah of Dergaon too has been awarded the National Karmaveer Bronze Award for meritorious service.
  • Both of them are former fellows of the Gandhi Fellowship programme and ZilaSwachh Bharat Prerak of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) and Tata Trust.
  • They are currently district leaders of Piramal Foundation and working in education leadership and water respectively.
  • Earlier in 2014-15, JurismitaPuzari had been recognised by REX and the UN for her contribution towards education and social empowerment and thereby honoured with both bronze and silver awards respectively.
  • The duo received their respective awards in New Delhi at an award function which is part of iCONGO’s REX Conclave in collaboration with United Nations.
  • These awards are presented in order to recognise people who have the courage of conviction to think differently and walk the path less trodden and to act on alternative/innovative ideas which may make a difference in the world.
India gifts patrol vessel “KAAMIYAAB” to Maldives
  • India handed over a patrol vessel to the Maldives and launched the RuPay card, during a video conference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
  • India gifted a ”Made in India” patrol vessel named “KAAMIYAAB” to the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).
  • The vessel will be manned by eight MNDF personnel trained in India and will be a valuable asset for the Maldives in enhancing its maritime security, fostering its blue economy and safeguarding its tourism industry.
  • The two sides exchanged MoUs for three grant projects for setting up neighbourhood fish plants in the southernmost atoll of Addu.
  • These projects are being implemented under the MoU signed during then EAM SushmaSwaraj”s visit to Maldives in 2019 and will help support livelihoods of the island communities in Addu.
  • Both sides exchanged an MoU between the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Bank of Maldives (BML) to launch the RuPay Card in the Maldives.
Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh is New Chief of Personnel of Navy
  • Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh has taken over as Chief of Personnel from Vice Admiral R. Hari Kumar.
  • Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh is a qualified flying instructor with Master Green Instrument Rating.
  • As a Flag Officer he has held appointments as assistant controller carrier project and assistant controller warship production and acquisition at the Ministry of Defence (Navy).
  • He was also Flag Officer Goa Area and Flag Officer Naval Aviation at Goa, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet at Mumbai, Chief of Staff at Headquarters Western Naval Command at Mumbai and Director General Project Seabird at the Ministry of Defence (Navy).
  • As Chief of Personnel he heads the Personnel Branch of the Indian Navy and is responsible for all personnel issues of the Navy”s service and civilian manpower, including induction, training, career management, discipline, pay and allowances.
  • Vice Admiral R. Hari Kumar has been appointed as Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee at the headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff.
Punjab partners with WEF for e-mobility
  • The Punjab government has partnered with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to design a public-private pilot project on shared, clean and electric mobility.
  • The state, which is also formulating its own Electric Vehicle (EV) policy to support the adoption of e-vehicles, has been chosen for the pilot project by the WEF as it is well positioned for the shared EV transition.
  • The project will examine how public and private sectors can interplay to offer the most robust and successful EV ecosystem, as part of the collaboration to be formulated at the WEF annual meeting in Davos on January 2020.
  • The study will form a blueprint for EV implementation across cities and countries worldwide.
  • The collaboration is just one of the initiatives being taken by the state government to promote e-mobility as a way to transform the state’s transport system into a cleaner one.
  • The state has already banned new registrations of diesel and petrol three wheelers in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib districts.
  • It is also encouraging the setting up of EV battery units in the new industrial park located over 380 acres in the Dhanansu village in Ludhiana district.
Parliament passes bill to legalise 1,731 colonies in Delhi
  • The Rajya Sabha passed the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Bill 2019 by voice vote.
  • Properties in these unauthorised colonies are generally held through general power of attorney (GPA), will, agreement to sale, payment and possession documents.
  • The properties in these colonies are not being registered by registration authorities and thereby the residents do not have any title documents in respect of such properties.
  • This bill is aimed at recognizing the power of attorney, will, agreement to sell, purchase and possession documents as a special one-time relaxation.
  • Following the regularisation of the colonies, property holders in these colonies would be able to get loans from banks.
  • They would also be entitled for public facilities like schools, parks, roads, electricity and water.

DECEMBER 06, 2019

India ranked fifth in Climate Risk Index
  • India was ranked fifth vulnerable globally.The Climate Risk Index 2020, an annual report by Germanwatch, ranks countries according to their vulnerability to extreme weather events.
  • It was released in the Spanish capital on the sidelines of the 25th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or COP25 that is being held in the backdrop of climate impact biting globally.
  • India has also been badly affected, ranking fifth in the overall global vulnerability index in 2018, ranked first in terms of fatalities and second in the world in terms of losses in millions of dollars.
  • India’s overall ranking has drastically fallen from 14th in 2017, to fifth in 2018.
  • The results reflect the increasing damage caused by heatwaves, which scientists have found are being worsened by climate change.
  • The report shows that extreme weather, linked with climate change, is affecting not only the poorer countries like Myanmar and Haiti, but also some of the world’s richest countries.
  • Japan is the worst-hit country in 2018, while Germany and Canada were both also in the ‘bottom 10
  • Other countries ranking in the bottom 20 in the overall climate risk categories are the US at 12th, Vietnam at sixth, Bangladesh at seventh and France at 15th.
ONGC opens drinking water project at Dhitaipukhuri HS
  • The ONGC inaugurated a drinking water project at Dhitaipukhuri High School under its CSR initiative.
  • Executive Director (ED) and Asset Manager, ONGC, Assam Asset, Sanjeev Kakran inaugurated the project.
  • Kakran interacted with the students and teachers of the school about various facilities available in the school and how the ONGC can supplement its further infrastructural development.
  • He announced financial support of Rs 20,000 for purchasing musical instruments for the students and assured to extend support towards the existing computer lab of the school for the benefit of the students.
  • Providing clean and safe drinking water in schools in and around ONGC’s operational areas, is a CSR initiative by ONGC Assam Asset.
  • The project in Dhitaipukhuri High School is implemented by ONGC’s All India OBC and MOBC Employees Welfare Association.
Ministry of Home Affairs grants Rs 100 crore for women help desks in police stations
  • For setting up women help desks in police stations across the country, the Union Home Ministry has sanctioned Rs 100 crore from the Nirbhaya fund.
  • Women help desks would focus on making the police stations more women friendly and approachable, as they would be the first and single point of contact for any woman walking into a police station.
  • Essentially, lady police officers would be deployed at these help desks.
  • The scheme would be implemented by the states and Union Territories and officers on these desks would be trained to be sensitive towards women.
  • The officials at the women”s help desks would be trained to be sensitive towards women.
  • These help desks would have enlisted panel of experts like lawyers, psychologists and NGOs to facilitate legal aid, counselling, shelter, rehabilitation and training etc.
Union Cabinet approved the Personal Data Protection Bill
  • The Union Cabinet approved the Personal Data Protection Bill. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) moved the Bill in the Cabinet.
  • Telecom and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had recently informed the Upper House that the work on Data Protection law is in progress and would be introduced in Parliament.

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DECEMBER 07, 2019

Union Mininster announces Food parks in Meghalaya, Sikkim
  • Union Minister of State for Food Processing RameswarTeli announced the setting up of a mega food park in Meghalaya and a mini food park in Sikkim.
  • Teli said the Central government has given special emphasis on setting up food processing industries in the northeast
  • The Centre will provide 75 per cent subsidy to entrepreneurs to set up food-based industries in the region.
  • He also said that the government is planning to set up an IIT like institute in Guwahati for food related research.
Punjab signs pact for setting up Research University
  • The Punjab government and research-based Shoolini University agreed on establishing a research university in the state.
  • Documents pertaining to the expression of interest were exchanged during the Progressive Punjab Investors” Summit here between Secretary (employment generation) Rahul Tiwari and Shoolini University Pro Vice Chancellor Atul Khosla.
  • Punjab had invited the Himachal Pradesh-based Shoolini University to set up a campus keeping in view the research-based focus of the university.
  • It would make an investment of Rs 750 crore in 10 years and would provide direct and indirect employment to about 1500 people, as per the understanding.
India provides $190 million Lines of Credit for drinking water & solar project to Guinea
  • India has signed agreements for providing over $190 million in Lines of Credit for strengthening the drinking water and electricity supply and for solar projects in the West African nation of Guinea.
  • The two countries signed the agreements for providing Lines of Credit for $170 million for strengthening drinking water supply of Grand Conakry, and $20.22 million for two solar projects.
  • And also for supply of electricity and drinking water for seven public universities and solar project for electrification and refrigeration in 200 health centres.
  • The agreements were inked during the meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with his visiting counterpart from Guinea MamadiToure.
  • The discussions between the two sides covered all aspects of bilateral relations including development partnership, capacity building and trade and commerce.
  • Both the ministers underscored the need to further expand and deepen bilateral engagement to realise the true potential, particularly in new areas, such as defence.
  • Both ministers expressed satisfaction about the regular high level political exchanges including the successful visits of President Ram NathKovind to Guinea in August 2019 and Prime Minister of Guinea IbrahimaKassoryFofan to India in March 2019.

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Assam 2020 Yearbook – Assam GK, Current Affairs & important issues (Important for APSC & other exams)

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Assam 2020 Yearbook – Coverage of Assam GK & Current Affairs of 2019 & important issues (Important for APSC & other exams)

Assam Year Book 2020 Cover Assamexam

Click to get Assam 2020 Yearbook PDF

Assam 2020 Yearbook comprehensively covers all the important events/topics of Current affairs of Assam. Varied subjects covered in the Assam 2020 Yearbook are State profile of Assam, Assam’s Governance and Polity & Administration, Judiciary, Geography, History, Culture & Literature. It also covers contemporary issues/topics important for competitive exams point of view.

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS

10 Chapters
  1. Introduction – State Profile of Assam
  2. Important Events of Assam in 2019
  3. Governance and Politics of Assam
  4. Judiciary in Assam
  5. Geography of Assam
  6. Medieval History of Assam
    Special Coverage: Chaolung Sukaphaa & Paik System
  7. Economy of Assam
    Special Coverage: Provisions related to Assam & North East India in the Union Budget 2019-20
  8. Demography of Assam
  9. Culture & Literature of Assam
  10. Union Budget 2019-20
10 Important Topics
  • TOPIC 1. National Register of Citizens (NRC) & National Population Register (NPR)
  • TOPIC 2. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019  
  • TOPIC 3. Assam Accord (1985)
  • TOPIC 4. e-Governance initiatives of Assam Government
  • TOPIC 5. Good Governance Ranking (CGI) of Indian States
  • TOPIC 6. Indian Forest Cover Report 2019 – Important Highlights
  • TOPIC 7. 13th South Asian Games 2019
  • TOPIC 8. SDG India Index Report                
  • TOPIC 9. Nobel Prize 2019 – Full list of Winners
  • Special Article – Assam’s Nobel Prize Connection through Dr Ronald Ross

Total 246 pages (excluding covers)

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Assam Current Affairs – November 29 – 30, 2019

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Current Affairs Assam – November 29 - 30, 2019

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of November 29 – 30, 2019 )

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November 29, 2019

Manoj Kumar takes over as new Tripura Chief Secretary
  • The Tripura government appointed senior IAS officer Manoj Kumar as the new Chief Secretary.
  • A 1990 batch Tripura cadre IAS officer, and currently Additional Chief Secretary, Electricity, Finance and Forest Departments, Manoj Kumar would succeed Usurupati Venkateswarlu, who is retiring from service on November 30.
  • Manoj Kumar would look after the General Administration (Confidential and Cabinet, Personnel and training), Finance and Home (excluding Jail and Fire Service) Departments.

FACTFILE – Chief Secretary in States/UTs

  • The post of Chief Secretary is the senior-most position held in the civil services of the states and union territories of India. The position is a cadre post for the Indian Administrative Service.
  • Chief Secretaries are members of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) who are the administrative head of state governments. A Chief Secretary functions as the central point of interdepartmental coordination at the departmental level and is classified as being in the Apex Grade.
  • Chief Secretary is considered to be the Chief Executive of the state government and considered to be ‘a linchpin’ in the administration.
  • Chief Secretary of the state also acts as the ex-officio Chairman of the State Civil Service Board, which recommends transfer/postings of officers of All India Services and State Civil Services in the state.
  • Chief Secretaries are chosen by the state’s Chief Minister.
  • State Chief Secretaries are IAS officers generally equivalent in rank to a Secretary to Government of India and are placed 23rd on Indian Order of Precedence.
 Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan introduced the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Bill, 2019
  • Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan introduced the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Bill, 2019 in the Rajya Sabha.
  • The Bill, which will replace the ordinance promulgated in September, has already received the Lok Sabha”s approval.
  • Moving the the Health Minister said it would also ban online sales and advertising of e-cigarettes.
  • The Bill is about prohibiting all commercial operations for the trade of e-cigarettes, which includes manufacturing, production, import, export, distribution, sale and advertising including online sales and advertising.
Uddhav Thackeray sworn-in as the CM of Maharashtra
  • Shiv Sena President Uddhav B. Thackeray sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra at a function held in Shivaji Park. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of office and secrecy to Thackeray.
  • Thackeray is the third from the Shiv Sena to be Chief Minister after Manohar Joshi and Narayan Rane in the late 1990s.
Bill to regularise unauthorized colonies in Delhi passed in LS
  • A Bill to regularize Delhi’s 1,731 unauthorised colonies was passed in the Lok Sabha with voice vote to benefit over 40 lakh residents who have been residing in such colonies for years.
  • The Bill will provide special provision for the national capital by recognising the property rights of ownership or transfer or mortgage in favour of residents of such colonies who are possessing properties on the basis of power of attorney, agreement to sale, will, possession letter, or any other documents, including documents evidencing payment of consideration.
  • The Bill seeks to levy stamp duty and registration charges on the amount mentioned in the conveyance deed or authorisation slip issued by the Delhi Development Authority and non-payment of any stamp duty and registration charges on any previous sale transactions made prior to the last transaction.
The Rajya Sabha passed the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019
  • The Rajya Sabha passed the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019 by voice vote. Besides raising the monetary limit in collections, the Bill also provides for increasing commission for the person managing the fund to 7 per cent from 5 per cent.
  • As per the bill, the collection limit for individuals has been raised to Rs 3 lakh, up from the present Rs 1 lakh. For firms, the limit would be 18 lakhs from Rs 6 lakh now.
  • Introducing the bill Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said that the collection limit has been raised in view of inflation rate since 2001.
  • The Chit Fund Act, 1982 was enacted to provide for regulation of chit funds which have conventionally satisfied the financial needs of the low income households.
Industrial Relations Code bill introduced in LS
  • The Central government introduced the Industrial Relations Code Bill 2019 in the Lok Sabha. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier had approved the Industrial Relations Code Bill, which is the third code under labour reforms.
  • The Bill provides for setting up of a two-member tribunal (in place of one-member), thus introducing a concept that some of the important cases will be adjudicated jointly and the rest by a single-member resulting in speedier disposal of cases.
  • It also provides for imparting flexibility to the exit provisions relating to retrenchment and others, for which the threshold for prior approval of appropriate government has been kept unchanged at 100 employees, but added a provision for changing such number of employees through notification.
  • The Bill also provides for definition of Fixed Term Employment and that it would not lead to any notice period and payment of compensation on retrenchment excluded.
  • It also provides for vesting of powers with the government officers for adjudication of disputes involving penalty as fines thereby lessening the burden on tribunals.

November 30, 2019 

 Water conservation projects commissioned in Hailakandi
  • Under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan, water conservation projects will be set up in several schools in Hailakandi district of Barak Valley.
  • Deputy Commissioner, Keerthi Jalli commissioned such projects in two educational institutions under the Katlicherra education block.
  • Inaugurating the first water conservation project at Sahabad ME Madrassa, Deputy Commissioner Jalli called upon the students to conserve water and make judicious use of the precious resource at school and at home.
Biren Singha gets Guruji Adya Sarma award
  • The Guruji Adya Sarma Award 2019 was presented to renowned sculptor Biren Singha at a function held at the Nalbari Harimandir premises.
  • The award comprising Rs 25,000 in cash, a memento, citation, sarai, cheleng sador, japi, etc.was presented by Nalbari Deputy Commissioner Bharat Bhusan Dev Choudhury.
  • Mobile theatre group Brindaban Theatre in collaboration with Nalbari Harimandir Committee presents the award every year.
The Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019 moved in Lok Sabha
  • The government in the Lok Sabha moved a Bill for rationalising and facilitating the licensing procedures for use of firearms by individuals as well as to curb crimes committed by using illegal firearms and provide effective deterrence against violation of law.
  • The Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which seeks amendment to the Arms Act, 1959, provides for enhancement of period of arms licence from three years to five years and also to issue arms licence in electronic form.
  • Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy, while introducing the Bill, said the move is to deal with the future issues as the fire power and sophistication of illegal firearms have increased over the years.
  • The trans-border dimensions of illegal arms trafficking are causing threat to internal security.
  • To prevent the usage of illicit firearms so trafficked has also become a prime concern.
  • To effectively curb crimes related to or committed by using illegal firearms and to provide effective deterrence against violation of law, there is an urgent need to strengthen the existing legislative framework by making appropriate amendments in the Arms Act, 1959.
  • The Bill seeks to enhance punishment for existing offences such as illegal manufacture, sale, transfer; illegal acquiring, possessing or carrying prohibited arms or prohibited ammunition; and illegal manufacture, sale, transfer, conversion, import, export, of firearms.
  • The Arms Act, 1959, which was enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to arms and ammunition, and the rules made thereunder regulate the acquisition, possession, use, manufacture, transfer, sale, transport, export and import of arms and ammunition and punishment for contravention in order to curb illegal weapons and violence stemming from them.
Indian-Origin Researcher turns banana plant into packaging material
  • An Indian-origin researcher-led team at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) announced it has discovered a novel way to turn banana plantation waste into packaging material that is not only biodegradable but also recyclable.
  • Associate Professor Jayashree Arcot and Professor Martina Stenzel looked at ways to convert agricultural waste into something that could value-add to the industry it came from, while potentially solving problems for another.
  • Using a reliable supply of pseudostem material from banana plants grown at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, the duo set to work in extracting cellulose to test its suitability as a packaging alternative.
  • The team brought the pseudostem into the lab and chopped it into pieces, dried it at very low temperatures in a drying oven, and then milled it into a very fine powder.
  • The team then took this powder and washed it with a very soft chemical treatment.
  • When processed, the material has a consistency similar to baking paper.
  • Depending on the intended thickness, the material could be used in a number of different formats in food packaging.
  • The material is also recyclable. Tests with food have proved that it poses no contamination risks.
Toshiba ink EoI with Kerala Govt for making lithium-ion batteries
  • The Toshiba Group signed an Expression of Interest with the Kerala government for technology transfer and manufacturing lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for electric vehicles.
  • The agreement is an outcome of the Japan visit by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the head of a high-level state delegation and was signed in Tokyo at the investment seminar organised in the Japanese capital.
  • Vijayan addressed the Kerala State Investment Promotion Seminar organised with the participation of 150 major Japanese investors at the Indian Embassy, Tokyo.

 

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Assam Current Affairs –November 22 – 28, 2019

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Current Affairs Assam – November 22 - 28, 2019

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of November 22 – 28, 2019 )

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November 22, 2019

Assam CM inaugurated several infrastructure projects in Goalpara
  • CM Sonowal laid foundation stones of community radio station at Goalpara College to be set up by the district administration and also a project under City Infra Development Fund (CIDF). It includes schemes like development of Bihutoli field, construction of approach road of KV, Bhalukdubi and widening and improvement of the road from ASTC Point to Boro Bazar.
  • Construction of swimming pool and multipurpose indoor stadium at the DN Singha Stadium,Golapara and renovation of the Community Centre at Bapujinagar. Inaugurated the new police station at Agia under the Mission for Overall Improvement of Thana for Responsive Image (MOITRI).
  • Angwadi Model Centre at Budhipara which will have all the composite facilities and the first in the state. Smart Class and Hanging Library at Baladmari High School, solarisation of all the health and wellness centres in the district and that of the plastic shredder machine under Goalpara Municipal Board,GOAL-MART.
  • E-commerce website of the district administration, project under RIDF for construction of RCC bridge at 13 locations and then one-stop centre to support women in distress. A guest house for ASHA workers at Lakhipur, and ceremonial distribution of power tillers under Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI).
Bolo App launched in Hailakandi
  • Bolo App, an effective tool for enhancing learning, has been installed and activated on the smart phones of more than 100 teachers in Hailakandi district.
  • Cluster Resource Centre Coordinators (CRCCs) of Mohanpur, West Mohanpur and Mohanpur Burnie Brase 1 launched the campaign ‘Bolo App on every smart phone’ and invited the teachers with smart phones to attend the programme held at Premlochan HS School at Mohanpur.
  • Bolo is speech-based app designed to help elementary grade kids learn to read – anytime, anywhere – just using their voice.
  • Designed for primary and upper primary grade children, Bolo helps to improve their reading skills, by encouraging them to read aloud and giving them instant feedback – even when completely offline.
  • Bolo listens to what your children read, encourages them when they read well and helps them when they get stuck – just like a real reading tutor.
  • Children can also play interesting word games and earn in-app awards, helping reading become both fun and a daily habit.
  • Multiple children can use the same app, and track their progress separately. Over time the difficulty level of recommended stories will adjust to their reading skills.
Odisha signs MoUs to improve urban service delivery system
  • The Odisha government signed three Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) to transform urban service delivery system in the state.
  • The Housing and Urban Development department signed MoUs with e-gov Foundation, Janagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, and Indian Heritage Cities Network Foundation.
  • The E-gov foundation of Nandan Nilekani and Srikanth Nadhamuni will provide a full stack of municipal services applications.
  • These include a feature-rich dashboard portal for all urban local bodies (ULBs), public grievance management system, finance and accounting, property tax management, water and sewerage system, trade licence system, and online building plan approval system.
  • Janagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy of Ramesh and Swathi Ramanathan will undertake a transformative reform of property taxation in ULBs resulting in growth in revenue of ULBs and investment in better service and infrastructure.
  • The Indian Heritage Cities Network foundation entered into an MoU with the Housing and Urban Development and Tourism departments for promotion of heritage-based sustainable development.
Andhra Pradesh Govt has roped in IIM Ahmedabad to work with the ACB
  • Andhra Pradesh has roped in Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad) to work with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
  • IIM (A) professor Sundaravalli Narayana Swamy and ACB chief Viswajit on Thursday signed an agreement to work in coordination to identify corruption in high places.
  • After a detailed study, they will submit a report to the government by February third week next year.
  • The panel will frame guidelines to curb corruption right from the village level to all the government departments. A detailed study of the functioning of government departments, the income and expenditure needed for the governance would be taken up. The lacunae in the present governance would be identified and corrective measures suggested.
  • Similarly, a study would be conducted for the proper utilization of the existing resources, increasing the quality of governance and to achieve positive results.

November 23, 2019

 4th India International Cherry Blossom Festival 2019 at Shillong 
  • The 4th edition of India International Cherry Blossom Festival, 2019 was celebrated in Shillong, Meghalaya from 13 to 16 November 2019. The festival is a great example of how natural resources and sustainable tourism can be utilised in an effective manner and create value of something which already exists.
  • The festival celebrates the unique autumn flowering of Himalayan Cherry Blossoms with several cultural events. With the annual festival the state government seeks to focus on Meghalaya’s natural strength such environment and beautiful landscape to enhance the experience of tourists.
  • It was organized to celebrate the mass flowering of autumn Himalayan Cherry Blossoms with several cultural events in Shillong.
  • This year the Republic of Korea was the partner country in the festival. The festival was thus visited by ambassador of South Korea and also showcased stalls with state’s food, wine and crafts alongside several Korean Cultural events, including K-Pop concert and stalls featuring Korean Cuisine and Educational Opportunities at South Korea.
  • Dinabandhu Sahoo, the brain behind Cherry Blossom Festival however highlighted that with every edition of the festival, the footfall of tourists visiting it has increased.
Central Govt plans rail link with NE state capitals
  • The Centre said it has firmed up plans to connect the capitals of the northeastern states (except Sikkim) with the Indian Railway network.
  • The capitals of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura have been connected by Broad Gauge (BG) network. Emphasis has been laid by the Centre during the last five years on quick execution of rail infrastructure projects.
  • The average annual expenditure in New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling infrastructure projects during 2014-19 was Rs 26,022 crore per year as against Rs 11,527 crore per year during 2009-14, which is around 126 per cent more than during 2009-14.
  • Similarly, the average budget allotment per year for NE States was Rs 2,122 crore per year during 2009-14. However, it increased by 161 per cent to Rs 5,531 crore per year for this region during 2014-19.
  • In Arunachal Pradesh, a BG railway line was commissioned in February 2015 up to Naharlagun and the first Broad Gauge train was started on February 20, 2015, from Naharlagun (Itanagar) to New Delhi.
  • The work of the Bogibeel Bridge on the Brahmaputra river was completed in 2018 leading to further reduction of rail travel distance from Dibrugarh to Naharlagun by 705 km.
  • In some states, the progress of new line projects of capital connectivity has been affected mainly due to delay in land acquisition and law and order issues. All these capital connectivity projects being in hilly terrain of the Himalayas involve a large number of tunnels and major bridges in a very challenging geological environment.
  • Works on new BG lines have been taken up by the Railways through the Government of India fund to connect the remaining capitals of NE states including Meghalaya (Shillong), Manipur (Imphal), Nagaland (Kohima) and Mizoram (Aizawl).
Prabhat Jha moved Bill to make cleanliness a fundamental duty
  • Prabhat Jha moved the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (amendment of article 51A) in the Upper House seeking to make cleanliness a fundamental duty and called for a mass movement to propagate the message of Clean India.
  • Jha demanded that cleanliness be made a fundamental duty under Article 51A of the Constitution. Swachh Bharat mission should be a part of the fundamental duties and for that there is a need to amend the Constitution. It should be made a national campaign.
Defence  Ministry plans product testing facilities for MSMEs
  • The Ministry of Defence plans to set up 6-8 product testing facilities to enable the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) to test their products for defence supplies.
  • The government has allocated about Rs 400 crore for this scheme whereby it would provide a grant-in-aid of up to 75 per cent of the cost of equipment for the product testing facility.
  • The balance 25 per cent has to be brought in by a consortium of private investors. The product test facility will be a special purpose vehicle (SPV).
  • The test facilities are to come up in the two defence corridors planned in the country, one facility outside the defence corridor may come up early in order the meet the demand.
Scientists developed new material that turns toxic air pollutant into industrial chemical
  • An international team of scientists has developed a new material that can capture a toxic pollutant produced by burning fossil fuels and convert it into useful industrial chemicals using only water and air.
  • The technology could lead to air pollution control and help remedy the negative impact nitrogen dioxide has on the environment.
  • The metal-organic framework (MOF) material provides a selective, fully reversible and repeatable capability to capture nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a toxic air pollutant produced particularly by diesel and bio-fuel use.
  • The NO2 can then be easily converted into nitric acid, a multi-billion dollar industry with uses including, agricultural fertiliser for crops; rocket propellant and nylon.
  • MOFs are tiny three-dimensional structures which are porous and can trap gasses inside, acting like cages.
  • The material, named MFM-520, can capture nitrogen dioxide at ambient pressures and temperatures even at low concentrations and during flow in the presence of moisture, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide.
  • The team also used the National Service for Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy at Manchester to study the mechanism of adsorption of nitrogen dioxide in MFM-520.

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November 24, 2019

 Union Cabinet approveds strategic disinvestment in five PSUs
  • Union Cabinet approved strategic disinvestment in five PSUs, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), THDC India Ltd and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO). The government will also give up the management control in these companies.
  • Two of the PSUs under the strategic disinvestment plan, THDC and NEEPCO, will be taken over by another state-run power major, NTPC.
  • The government would lower its stake below 51 per cent in select PSUs while retaining their management control. The decision to bring down Centre”s stake will be taken on a case-to-case basis.

FACTFILE – Disinvestment in PSUs

  • Disinvestment in Public sector units in India, is process of public asset sales by President of India on behalf of Govt of India.
  • There were 331 CPSEs in 2017-18, out of which 257 were in operation. Rest (74) of the CPSEs were under construction.
  • As in need of Economic Liberalism and Infrastructure development, in Union Budget of India Total Expenditure of Government of India increased from ₹ 1,13,422 crore (1991-92) to ₹ 21,46,735 Crore(2017-18). To raise the funds partially for these Expenditures and also to minimize fiscal deficits in union budgets, Indian Government started divestment in public sector undertakings. Conceding to demands of privatization and with tough resistance from labour unions, government of India is slowly divesting from PSUs.
  • Major divestment steps were taken in past by the government when they made four strategic disinvestment’s – in Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) and Hindustan Zinc, Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited and VSNL.
  • In budgetary announcement of financial year 2017-18 The Finance Minister noted that the government initiated strategic disinvestment in 24 PSUs, including Air India, this fiscal.
  • Since financial year 1991-92 to 2017-18 government led by political parties sold total public assets of ₹ 3,47,439 Crore. In past recent years Public sector undertaking units performed well as compared to other private competitors and paid huge dividends to government.
 G20 foreign ministers commit to WTO reforms
  • G20 foreign ministers have pledged to push for reforms in the World Trade Organization (WTO) during a meeting in the Japanese city of Nagoya.
  • The announcement was made by Japan”s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on the agreements reached at the event.
  • The G20 shared the view that the WTO needed to be reformed to be able to address current problems.
  • WTO reforms being contemplated included the possibility of improving mechanisms for resolving trade disputes.
  • Motegi also reflected on the need to conclude negotiations for establishing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership for Asia and Oceania with the agreement of 16 countries that have promoted the initiative since its inception.
  • Motegi said the RCEP was one of the initiatives that should be defended to strengthen global free trade.
  • The G20, a forum initially promoted by finance and central bank officials, brings together the richest countries and the world”s major emerging economies in a common platform.
AIIA has inked a MoU with Western Sydney University
  • The All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Western Sydney University, Australia aimed at promoting collaboration in research and developing guidelines for integrating Ayurveda principles with modern medicine.
  • All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) signed the MoU on Friday during the visit of the delegation led by Dan Tehan, Minister for Education, Australian government.
  • The memorandum was agreed and exchanged on the occasion of the event ”India- Australia International Education and Research Workshop” held at the Ambedkar International Centre.
  • Complementing the traditional Ayurveda medicine with conventional concepts of modern medicine is expected in generating scientific evidences that further help in contributing to the global healthcare.
  • Both institutions are committed to take the collaboration to the next higher level by identifying specific areas for collaboration in education, research and practices of traditional medicine while ensuring the quality standards and also by encouraging investment in traditional medicine related infrastructure.
President of India awarded the President’s Colour to Naval Academy
  • President Ram Nath Kovind awarded the President’s Colour, the highest honour that is bestowed upon a military unit, to the Indian Naval Academy in Ezhimala, Kannur in Kerala.
  • The President mentioned that our Armed forces are completely equipped to face any kind of challenges be it in conventional or in the asymmetric domain.
  • He urged the Naval officers to fully utilize the training and be prepared to deliver in all situations for the country.
  • He complimented the commandants, instructors and officers involved in training for producing multi-faceted officers for Indian Navy.
  • President received the Guard of honour from the Academy Cadets.
  • Kerala Governor Arif Muhammed Khan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, and State Minister, Kadamkampally Surendran graced the occasion.
 Karnataka Govt felicitates 7 Bengaluru-founded Unicorns
  • The Karnataka government awarded seven city-founded Unicorns as part of Bengaluru Impact Awards at the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2019.
  • Bengaluru Impact Award winning Unicorns include Ola, MuSigma, Big Basket, Swiggy, InMobi, Quikr and Flipkart.
  • The awards were presented by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, Additional Chief Secretary, department of IT, BT and S& T E.V. Ramana Reddy and Director of the same department of IT, BT and S& T Prasanth Kumar Mishra.

November 25, 2019

 Assam is the Most Improved state in Economy and Overall category in the India Today State of the States Conclave 2019
  • The annual ‘India Today State of the States Conclave and Awards – 2019’ has adjudged Assam in the ‘Most Improved Big State – Overall’ and ‘Most Improved Big State for Economy’ categories.
  • Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary received both the awards from Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Information and Broadcasting in New Delhi.
  • The India Today ‘State of the States’ study is an attempt to find out which of India’s States offers its citizens the best opportunities, both at work and outside.
  • The categories based on which the States are judged include economy, agriculture, education, healthcare, infrastructure, inclusive development, law and order, governance, entrepreneurship, environment and cleanliness.
India, Afghanistan exchanges treaty over Extradition
  • India and Afghanistan exchanged the instruments of ratification of their bilateral extradition treaty.
  • The instrument of ratification of Extradition Treaty between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Republic of India, approved and ratified by the relevant authorities of the two governments.
  • The agreement was signed by the authorized representatives of the two countries in New Delhi in September 2019.
50th conference of Governors
  • Five groups of Governors submitted their reports to President Ram Nath Kovind on issues related to tribal welfare, water, agriculture, higher education and ease of living, and identified actionable points in which they can play a facilitating role.
  • These reports were submitted during the 50th conference of Governors which concluded at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The conference took keen interest in tribal welfare issue and pointed out that policies for tribal uplift had to be tailored in accordance with local requirements.
  • Kovind said that the discussions held by Governors and Lt. Governors proved to be a fruitful exercise. On observing November 26 as the 70th anniversary of Indian Constitution, he said a campaign will be launched to create awareness about fundamental duties on the occasion.
  • It is the fundamental duty of every citizen to protect the natural environment including water resources like forests, lakes and rivers. It is also a constitutional duty to continuously strive for excellence in all areas for the progress of the country.
  • Individual and collective efforts for excellence in the areas of higher education, agriculture, inclusive growth and governance will give impetus to public welfare.
 India ranked 44th in Nomura’s Food Vulnerability Index
  • According to a new report by Nomura Global Market Research, India is ranked 44 out of 110 countries in Nomura’s Food Vulnerability Index (NFVI). India has been ranked 44 out of 110 countries.
  • Nomura’s Food Vulnerability Index (NFVI) ranks countries on the basis of their exposure to large swings in food prices.
  • NFVI has three components:
    1. country’s GDP per person,
    2. the share of food in household consumption and
    3. the net food imports.
  • Lower per capita GDP, higher share of food in household consumption and high net food imports would make a country more vulnerable to spikes in food prices.
  • The 50 countries most vulnerable to food price surges in the coming months largely belong to the Emerging Market group. The top 50 together account for almost 60 per cent of the global population.
  • Nomura is an Asia-headquartered financial services group with an integrated global network spanning over 30 countries.

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November 26, 2019

 Seng Kut Snem Festival celebrated in Meghalaya
  • The annual festival of the Khasi community, Seng Kut Snem, was celebrated at Shillong with traditional gaiety and fervour.
  • The yearend festival marks the Seng Khasi movement, in which the local people of the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region launched a stir against British atrocities on the indigenous way of life. As part of the movement, 16 young men formed an organisation called the Khasi Young Men’s Association on November 23, 1899 to preserve and safeguard the indigenous way of life, also known as ‘Niam Trai Niam Tre’.
  • To commemorate the first anniversary of the movement in 1900, the Seng Kut Snem was celebrated and this has continued till date to remind the people of the movement and its objectives.
  • The festival is also a form of community prayer for protection of the distinct identity of the Khasi race.
 Commonwealth sign pact to reduce violence against women
  • The Commonwealth has announced a new partnership designed to reduce domestic violence in member countries, including India.
  • Secretary-General Patricia Scotland signed a memorandum of understanding with the NO MORE Foundation, a global movement of 1,400 allied organisations and 40 international chapters working together to stop and prevent domestic violence and sexual assault.
  • The two parties have agreed to work together to implement initiatives that work on the prevention of domestic violence and sexual abuse as part of wider efforts to achieve the 2030 sustainable development goals.
  • The partnership is designed to help member countries record accurate data on the prevalence of violence, deliver grassroots projects, train community leaders, educate bystanders” responses and provide awareness resources.
  • The partnership was announced at an event hosted at Commonwealth headquarters in London, to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
 Andhra Pradesh launches helpline for complaints against corruption
  • Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, launched the Citizens’ Help Centre to register complaints of bribery in government offices and also launched a citizens’ helpline number 14400. Any citizen can call on this toll-free number to make complaints about corruption in government offices.
  • The help centre has been launched in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. It will register complaints and complete the investigation in 15-30 days.
  • The IIM and the ACB signed an agreement to work in coordination to identify corruption in high places. After a detailed study, they will submit a report to the government by February third week.
 70th Constitution Day celebrated on 26 November
  • To commemorate the 70th Constitution Day, President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated a digital exhibition through videoconferencing from the Central Hall of Parliament.
  • The function, organised to commemorate the Constitution Day, attended by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and other dignitaries.
  • The Constitution Day is also celebrated as National Law Day (Samvidhan Diwas) in India. It is celebrated on November 26 every year to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India.
  • On November 26, 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India formally adopted the Constitution of India. It came into force on January 26, 1950.
  • The Government of India declared 26 November as Constitution Day on 19 November 2015 by a gazette notification. PM Narendra Modi made the declaration on 11 October 2015 while laying the foundation stone of the B. R. Ambedkar’s Statue of Equality memorial in Mumbai.
Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry signs MoAs with 6 states on Light House Projects
  • Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri signed the memoranda of agreement (MoAs) for Light House Projects (LHPs) with Gujarat, Jharkhand, MP, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and UP government.
  • Puri also launched a web portal for the CLSS (credit-linked subsidy scheme) Awas Portal (CLAP), saying it would help stakeholders to work in synergy for on-time release of subsidy to beneficiaries.
  • To meet the demand for over 10 million houses by 2022, the central government had launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban in June 2015.
  • For LHPs, the Ministry has introduced a Rs 2 lakh per house technology innovation grant, which is over and above the existing Rs 1.5 lakh per house under PMAY(U).
  • The Ministry developed a web-based real-time monitoring system called CLAP in which all stakeholders, like MoHUA, CNAs, PLIs and beneficiaries, had been integrated.
Special Protection Group (SPG) Amendment Bill introduced in Lok Sabha
  • The Centre introduced the Special Protection Group (SPG) Bill, 2019, in Lok Sabha to change the law that will entitle only the Prime Minister to security services from the elite SPG personnel and former Prime Minister only for a year after he demits office.
  • Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy introduced the Bill which seeks amendment to the Special Protection Group Act, 1988 which provides for the constitution and regulation of an armed force of the Union for providing “proximate security” to the Prime Minister and former Prime Ministers and members of their immediate families and for matters connected therewith.
  • At present, the law allows the SPG to protect former Prime Ministers and their families for a period of 10 years after the end of term. Additionally, it leaves the scope for an extension of the cover beyond ten years in case the perceived threats justify it.

FACTFILE – Special Protection Group (SPG)

  • The Indian Special Protection Group (SPG) is a special force for providing proximate security to the Prime Minister of India and members of their immediate families wherever in the world they are.
  • The SPG was set up in 1985 after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, on the recommendation of the Birbal Nath Committee for raising a Special Protection Unit (SPU).
  • Parliament passed the SPG Act in 1988, dedicating the group to protecting the Prime Minister. At the time, the Act did not include former Prime Ministers. This Act was earlier amended in 1991, 1994 and 1999.
  • Arun Kumar Sinha, IPS is the Director of SPG.
  • 3000 active personnel are active in SPG.

November 27, 2019

 Guwahati to host 65th Filmfare Awards show
  • The Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) inked a memorandum of understanding with the Times Group for organising the 65th Filmfare Awards.
  • The MoU was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Bennett Coleman and Company Limited managing director Vineet Jain.
  • Fifty per cent of the proceeds from sale of tickets for the awards show would be given to the Chief Minister’s relief fund.
  • The awards show is being organised to promote Assam tourism in the world encashing the popularity of Bollywood and a huge global reach of the Filmfare award show to nearly two billion people. This is the first time the main Filmfare awards show is being held outside Mumbai.
India’s PSLV-C47 successfully launched Cartosat-3
  • India’s PSLV-C47 successfully launched Cartosat-3 and 13 commercial nanosatellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. 
  • PSLV-C46 was the 74th launch vehicle mission from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the 21st flight of PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration.
  • Cartosat-3 satellite is a third generation agile advanced satellite having high resolution imaging capability.
  • 13 3U cubesats including twelve SuperDoves by Planet Labs and one Meshbed by Analytical Space of United States from USA were also successfully injected into designated orbit. These satellites were launched under commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
  • India successfully placed into orbit its own earth observation satellite Cartosat-3 and 13 American nano satellites in a text book style.
  • India crossed the milestone of putting into orbit 300 foreign satellites. By putting the 13 American nano satellites into orbit.
IIT-K partners TalentSprint for cybersecurity course
  • IIT-Kanpur has partnered TalentSprint, a Hyderabad-based Ed-Tech firm to undertake an advanced certification programme in cybersecurity and cyber defence.
  • The collaboration has been designed for aspiring professionals who are keen to explore the latest trends in cybersecurity technologies.
  • The IIT-Kanpur(IIT-K) has already taken a lead in cybersecurity by setting up the Interdisciplinary Centre for Cyber Security and Cyber Defence of Critical Infrastructures (C3i).
  • The mission and vision of C3i is to do research, education, training, and to spawn startups to create technological safeguards and to protect critical infrastructure.
  • The centre, which is headed by Prof Sandeep Shukla and Prof Manindra Agarwal, will engage with international partners from Israel and the USA in developing research and technology exchange, student training, as well as hosting conferences, workshops, and cyber security competitions to create awareness.
LS passes bill to declare four NIDs in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, MP and Haryana as Institutions of National Importance
  • The Lok Sabha unanimously passed the National Institute of Design (Amendment) Bill, 2019 which declares the four National Institutes of Design (NID) in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, and Haryana as institutions of national importance.
  • These institutes are currently registered as Societies under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and do not have the power to grant degrees or diplomas. On being declared institutions of national importance, they will be able to grant degrees and diplomas.
  • The Bill, which seeks amendment in the National Institute of Design Act, 2014, will help these four NID institutes to become socially inclusive and address the needs of design in various sectors including agriculture, health care, and transportation.

 FACTFILE – The National Institute of Design (NID)

  • NID is a design schools located in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Gandhinagar. It has 3 active campuses, Main Campus-Ahmedabad, Post Graduate Campus – Gandhinagar and the third one is R&D Campus – Bengaluru.
  • NID is recognised by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research under Ministry of Science and Technology, government of India, as a scientific and industrial design research organisation.
  • NID is accorded as “Institute of National Importance” by Act of Parliament, under the National Institute of Design Act, 2014.
  • Other NIDs are established by Government of India from 2015 onward at Vijayawada, Jorhat, Kurukshetra and Bhopal.

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November 28, 2019

 Assam’s Dr Prerana Keshan awarded ‘Wonder Fogsian’ award
  • Dr Prerana Keshan, a gynaecologist of Tinsukia was awarded with the ‘Wonder Fogsian’ award in recognition of her exemplary efforts towards uplift of women’s health in India.
  • She received the award from former Miss World Diana Heyden at the World Conference on Conception to Delivery held at the St Regis Hotel and Resorts Mumbai.
  • FOGSI is the biggest professional body for gynaecologists in India with Dr Nandita Palshetkar as the president.
Indian Army successfully test fires Spike anti-tank missiles
  • The Indian Army has successfully test fired two Spike long-range anti-tank missiles at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh.
  • Spike is a fourth generation missile which can engage any target with precision at ranges up to 4 km.
  • The Spike missile was the only one to qualify after going through a complex procurement process.
  • To overcome the critical capability void, the Indian Army procured a limited quantity of Spike LR missiles to meet the urgent operational requirement.
Union Cabinet extended term of 15th Finance Commission
  • Its term was scheduled to end on November 30.
  • Post the extension, the Commission will submit two reports, the first for financial year 2020-21 as well as the final report for financial years 2021-22 to 2025-26.
  • The extension of the term will enable the Commission to examine various comparable estimates for financial projections in view of reforms and the new realities, to finalise its recommendations for the period 2020-2026.

FACTFILE – The Fifteenth Finance Commission

  • The Fifteenth Finance Commission is an Indian Finance Commission constituted in November 2017 and is to give recommendations for devolution of taxes and other fiscal matters for five fiscal years, commencing 1 April 2020.
  • The commission’s chairman is N. K. Singh, with its full-time members being Ajay Narayan Jha, Ashok Lahiri and Anoop Singh.
  • In addition, the commission also has Ramesh Chand as part-time member.
Union Cabinet nod to increase authorised capital of FCI to Rs.10,000 crore
  • The Cabinet approved the proposal to increase the authorised capital of Food Corporation of India (FCI) to Rs.10,000 crore from it’s current authorised capital of FCI is Rs 3,500 crore.
  • With the increase of authorised capital, additional equity capital can be infused in FCI through the Union Budget to fund the foodgrains stock perpetually held by FCI.
  • This will reduce the borrowings of the FCI, save its interest cost and reduce food subsidy in consequence.
  • FCI operations require maintaining perpetual stock of foodgrains which needs to be funded by the Centre through equity or long term loans.

FACTFILE – The Food Corporation of India

  • Food Corporation of India is an organization created and run by the Government of India and also run by state Governments. It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Govt. of India.
  • The Food Corporation of India (FCI) was set up on 14 January 1965 having its first District Office at Thanjavur – rice bowl of Tamil Nadu – and headquarters at Chennai, later this was moved to New Delhi. It also has regional centers in the capitals of the states.
IIT-Mandi develops device to screen cervical cancer
  • Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi, have developed an artificial intelligence-powered point-of-care device to screen with high accuracy cervical cancer cases by analysing microscopy images.
  • The project has been taken up in collaboration with Aindra Systems, Bengaluru.
  • The research team comprised Anil Sao and Arnav Bhavsar, Associate Professors, School of Computing and Electrical Engineering, and Srishti Gautam and Krati Gupta.
  • Cervical cancer is among the deadliest forms of cancer, and early detection and treatment are vital for the patient.
  • They have applied for international patent for the device and algorithm in 2016.
  • The prototype of device is undergoing clinical trial at Kidwai Memorial Hospital, Bengaluru; Manipal Hospital, Karnataka; and Raja Rajeswari Medical College and Hospital, Bengaluru.
  • The accuracy of the prototypes has been around 88 per cent.
Scientists develop bacteria which ‘eat’ Carbon Dioxide
  • Israeli researchers have developed bacteria fed only with carbon dioxide, these bacteria, which build the entire biomass of their body from the carbon in the air, may help develop future technologies that reduce greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere and fight global warming.
  • These bacteria were completely weaned off sugar, after a nearly decade-long process.
  • The Israeli scientists have been able to “reprogram” E.coli bacteria, which consume sugars and release carbon dioxide, so they use carbon dioxide from the environment and produce the sugars they need to build their body.
  • The researchers mapped the genes that are essential to this process and added some of them to the bacteria genome in their lab. The researchers believe that the “healthy” habits of these bacteria may prove to be mostly healthy for Earth.

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Assam Current Affairs –November 15 – 21, 2019

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Current Affairs Assam – November 15 - 21, 2019

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of November 15 – 21, 2019 )

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November 15, 2019

Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal Sonowal launches app ‘Shishu Suraksha’ for securing child rights
  • Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched a mobile app ”Shishu Suraksha” of the Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, which is expected to help securing the rights of children.
  • Remembering the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, on his birth anniversary, which is also observed as Children”s Day across the country.
  • Sonowal urged the society to put emphasis on the holistic development of children, who will carry forward the society.
  • Calling on the people to sustain the qualities of humanity, empathy and respect in the society, Sonowal underlined the importance of keeping the children away from superstitions and dogmas by instilling a scientific temperament in them.
Children design postage stamps on child rights
  • Two postage stamps touching of the theme of child rights, designed by Indian children as part of a UNICEF competition, were released on the occasion of Children’s Day in India.
  • The top two winners, who will receive Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively, were selected out of over 14,000 entries and were announced by the Department of Posts and UNICEF.
  • Nidhi Rahul Mhatre, 15, from Maharashtra and Vibhushi Agarwal, 12, from Uttar Pradesh. The winners, along with other runners-up, will be awarded at a national event on November 20, World Children’s Day.
MHA appoints 2 advisors to assist J&K Lt Governor
  • The Ministry of Home Affairs has appointed two advisors to assist the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The two are retired IAS officer K.K. Sharma and former IPS officer Farooq Khan.
  • An IAS officer of 1983 batch, Sharma retired as the Secretary Higher Education in the Union ministry of Human Resources Development in February last year.
  • Farooq Ahmad Khan, an IPS officer of 1994 batch, was appointed as advisor to then J& K Governor Satya Pal Malik after being shifted from Lakshawdeep, where he served as administrator.
  • He was instrumental in creation of the Special Task Force, J& K police”s anti-militancy wing, in 1994-95 when the erstwhile State was under President”s rule.
Andhra Pradesh launches new scheme to upgrade government schools
  • Andhra Pradesh state government launched a new programme to revamp Government schools by providing better infrastructure and amenities at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore.
  • Under the scheme ”Mana Badi Nadu Nedu” (our school then and now), 45,000 government-run schools will undergo a complete makeover in the next three years, bringing them on par with or even better than the ones in private and corporate sectors.
  • The programme, launched by Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at Ongole on Children”s Day, gives a pictorial view of schools showing how they look now and how they will look after implementing the scheme.
  • Taking nine parameters into consideration – provision of lights, fans, blackboards, furniture and compound wall, construction of toilets, repairs and painting of classrooms, providing safe drinking water and provision for English labs.
  • The first phase will cover 15,715 government schools for a period of one year, at a cost of Rs 3,500 crores.
  • This programme in addition to upgrading teaching and learning skills, introducing English as the medium of instruction from class 1 to 6 with Telugu or Urdu as a compulsory subject
  • Improving quality of mid-day meals, supply of textbooks, uniforms and shoes to the students on time and maintaining teacher-student ratio is expected to transform the education sector.
  • The government has also formed a committee to monitor the functioning of private schools.

November 16, 2019

 Union Govt plans to set up NE Industrial Corridor
  • Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the Government is planning to set up a North East Industrial Corridor that will create numerous job opportunities for the people of the region.
  • Singh said the Arunachal corridor would act as a land bridge between India and South East Asia, that will provide employment opportunities and give a fillip to trade and tourism.
  • The Union Defence Minister was speaking at the 11th Maitree Diwas celebrations at Tawang bordering China.
  • The two-day socio-military cultural extravaganza is being jointly organised by the Indian Army, Tawang civil administration and volunteers at the Gyalwa Tsangyang Gyatso High Altitude Stadium, Tawang.
Odisha takes conservative measures for protection of Olive Ridley turtles
  • The Odisha government has geared up the efforts for the protection and conservation of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles during the mass nesting.
  • The government directed the departments of Fishery, Forest and Marine police to operate in close coordination and ensure strict enforcement of the conservation rules.
  • Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy chaired a meeting of the high power committee for protection and conservation of Olive Ridley turtle.
  • The Coast Guard was requested to have realtime intelligence sharing with the departments about any illegal fishing.
  • The state government has already imposed a seven-month ban on fishing from November 1 to March 31 next year.
  • It has decided to pay a compensation amount of Rs 7,500 to around 8,000 fishermen families who will bear a loss for fishing ban.
  • The conservation and protection activities will be carried on in coordination with coast guard, naval wing, Integrated Test Range (ITR), Fisheries and Animal Resource department, police, various port authorities, community based organisations and forest and environment department.

FACTFILE – Olive Ridley Sea Turtle

  • The olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, are the second smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world; this species of sea turtle is found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. They can also be found in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
  • These turtles, along with the related Kemps ridley turtle, are best known for their unique mass nesting called arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
  • Olive ridley turtles are best known for their behavior of synchronized nesting in mass numbers, termed arribadas. Females return to the same beach from where they hatched, to lay their eggs.
  • In the Indian Ocean, the majority of olive ridleys nest in two or three large groups near Gahirmatha in Odisha. The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the olive ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica.
  • The Gahirmatha Beach in Kendrapara district of Odisha (India), which is now a part of the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, is the largest breeding ground for these turtles.
  • Bhitarkanika mangroves were designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in 2002. It is the world’s largest known rookery of olive ridley sea turtles. Apart from Gahirmatha rookery, two other mass nesting beaches have been located, which are on the mouth of rivers Rushikulya and Devi.
TiE Women raises $70,000 during New Delhi summit
  • TiE Women, an initiative launched by not-for-profit organisation TiE Global to promote women entrepreneurs across its 61 chapters globally, raised $70,000 during two days of its global summit.
  • The initiative aims to empower women entrepreneurs globally through sustainable and easy-to-adopt programmes that will track the entire entrepreneurial journey with measurable metrics.
  • Hemalatha Annamalai, Founder, Ampere Vehicles Ltd., and President TiE Coimbatore, will be the Chair for TiE Women.
  • The programme will culminate in an annual mega event where these women will showcase their successes and get access to funds, scholarships, accelerators and more.
  • Hosted by TiE Delhi-NCR, the fourth edition of TiE Global Summit witnessed power-packed conversations by eminent ecosystem stakeholders.

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November 17, 2019

 Mizoram accounts for 14% of bamboo cultivation in India
  • With 32.07 per cent of its total geographical area under bamboo cover (estimated at 6,760.71 square km), Mizoram accounts for 14 per cent of the bamboo cultivation in India.
  • This was highlighted during a seminar ‘Bamboo Composite Materials for Structural Applications’ held in Aizawl. The seminar was co-organised by the Mizoram Science, Technology & Innovation Council (MISTIC), Directorate of Science and Technology and Bhopal-based Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute (CSIR-AMPRI).
  • Mizoram is said to have 36 species of bamboo, of which 24 are indigenous and 12 have been introduced.
  • The dominant species Melocanna baccifera – locally referred to as ‘Mautak’ – constitutes almost 95 per cent of the state’s bamboo forests.
  • Bamboo forests are found mainly along the river banks and abandoned jhumland as a dominant secondary vegetation.
 Dr Jiten Gohain Memorial Green Awarded to Nagaon Govt Boys’ HS School
  • Nagaon Govt Boys’ HS School was presented the ‘Dr Jiten Gohain Memorial Green Award’ for taking up cleanliness drive.
  • The award has been introduced for the first time and will be conferred to a Government-run educational institute every year to encourage for a green and healthy environment.
  • Noted innovator, Dr Uddhab Bharali presented the award to Dipika Laskar, Principal of Nagaon Govt Boys’ HS School. Dr Bharali.
Amit Shah launched winter grade diesel for Ladakh region
  • Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched winter grade diesel for the entire Ladakh region. The Indian Oil Corp”s (IOC) Panipat refinery has come up with a kind of diesel that can withstand the harsh winter conditions.
  • The winter grade diesel produced by Panipat Refinery for the first time has a pour point of – 33 degree C and does not lose its fluidity function even in the extreme winter weather of the region, unlike the normal grade of diesel which becomes exceedingly difficult to utilize.
  • Amit Shah launched the supply of this special grade diesel in Ladakh via video conferencing from the national capital. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and BJP MP from Ladakh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, were present on the occasion.
  • The first tank truck containing winter grade HSD has been flagged off from IOC”s Panipat marketing complex.
  • Subsequent supplies of such diesel would be sent from the Jalandhar Terminal to the Leh and Kargil depots to meet demands of customers in the Leh-Ladakh region during peak winters.
WWF-India’s ‘Ek Prithvi’ programme
  • The WWF-India witnessed coming together of 700 students, principals, teachers and dignitaries at the Panda Fest organised by WWF Assam State Office at Pobitora.
  • WWF-India conceived the ‘Ek Prithvi’ programme in 2016 to build conservation leadership among students through experiential learning.
  • The programme aims to embed the approach of environment education into the schools’ education system through innovative teaching methodologies, which ultimately facilitate awareness generation, skill building and action competence in students for pro-conservation attitudes and sustainable lifestyle choices.
  • Over 2,400 students from eight Government schools in Morigaon district are enrolled in the ‘EK Prithvi’ programme.

 

November 18, 2019

 Justice SA Bobde takes oath as 47th Chief Justice of India
  • Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde took oath as the 47th Chief Justice of India. President Ram Nath Kovind administered him the oath of office at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
  • Justice Bobde succeeds Justice Ranjan Gogoi. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP Veteran L K Advani were present on the occasion among others.
  • Justice Bobde will have a tenure of around 18 months till his retirement on April 23, 2021.
  • Justice Bobde was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on April 12, 2013.

FACTFILE – The chief justice of India (CJI)

  • CJI is the head of the judiciary of India and the Supreme Court of India. The CJI also heads their administrative functions.
  • As head of the Supreme Court, the chief justice is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law.
  • As per Article 145 of the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the Chief Justice allocates all work to the other judges.
  • The Chief Justice also carries out the following functions: maintenance of the roster; appointment of court officials and general and miscellaneous matters relating to the supervision and functioning of the Supreme Court.
  • Once appointed, the chief justice remains in the office until the age of 65 years.
  • He can be removed only through a process of impeachment by Parliament.
Assam Cabinet approved Assam Bamboo and Cane Policy
  • Assam Cabinet also approved the Assam Bamboo and Cane Policy that aims at sustainable development and utilisation of bamboo and cane resources in the state through scientific management and stakeholders participation.
  • Incentives will be provided for establishment of various bamboo-based industries, processing units and development of traditional sectors like handicraft and furniture making.
  • Among other incentives are 50 per cent capital investment subsidy on eligible plant and machinery and internal electrical installations subject to a ceiling limit of Rs 5 crore and for startups in bamboo & cane sector a grant of up to Rs 5 lakh for innovative ideas.
  • The Cabinet made it compulsory for industries and factories to keep sanitary napkins for women employees. The Cabinet also approved the policy for financial autonomy to veterinary farms, pig breeding policy and goat farming policy.
Unio Govt working to set up new tech training centres
  • Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government was working to set up new technology training centres for quality production.
  • The Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and MSME said this while addressing an event to inaugurate the 39th India International Trade Fair (IITF).
  • The theme for the 2019 edition of IITF was revealed as “Ease of Doing Business inspired by the unique achievement of India of rising up to the 63rd rank on the World Bank”s Ease of Doing Business index from 142nd rank in 2014.”
  • Several countries, including Australia, Iran, the UK, Vietnam, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Egypt, Hong Kong and Indonesia are participating in the 14-day trade fair.
  • This year, the status of partner country has been accorded to Afghanistan, while Bihar and Jharkhand are the focus states.

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November 19, 2019

 Meghalaya to ink with Korean tech firm for waste management
  • The Meghalaya government would be seeking the expertise of a South Korean company for solid waste management and an agreement is likely to be inked during Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s visit to Seoul.
  • Ambassador of South Korea to India Shin Bong-Kil said that the Meghalaya government has expressed interest in a Korean company’s expertise in solid waste management.
  • The Meghalaya government gave a presentation on mining highlighting the pollution caused by it over the years.
  • The State government sought access to Korean technology to find ways to purify the rivers and streams.
  • Bong-Kil was the chief guest at the closing ceremony of Cherry Blossom Festival, which was held at the Polo Grounds yesterday. South Korea was the partner country of the festival this year.
Bengaluru-based environment think-tank Ashoka Trust to receive UNESCO prize for eco-conservation
  • Bengaluru-based environment think-tank Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) will be awarded the 2019 UNESCO Sultan Qaboos Prize for environmental conservation.
  • The award is being given in recognition of ATREE”s socially-just environment conservation and sustainable development activities in Sikkim and Darjeeling regions.
  • The prize also recognises its contributions towards the discovery of new species in the Western Ghats, outreach to raise awareness about India”s biodiversity and training environmental leaders.
  • The prize consists of $100,000, a diploma and a medal. The award ceremony will be held in Budapest, Hungary, during the upcoming World Science Forum.

FACTFILE – Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)

  • Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) is a research institution founded by Kamaljit S. Bawa based in Bangalore, India focusing in the areas of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
  • The trust works to generate rigorous interdisciplinary knowledge for achieving environmental conservation and sustainable development in a socially just manner, to enable the use of this knowledge by policy makers and society, and to train the next generation of scholars and leaders.
  • ATREE contributes to the conservation of diverse environments throughout India, including the Eastern Himalayas, the UNESCO Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and the Western Ghats world heritage site, Vembanad lake, Kaziranga and Manas National Parks, the grasslands of Kutch, the wetlands of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and the urban landscapes of Karnataka.
National Green Tribunal (NGT) fine Rs 10 crore penatly on UP Govt
  • The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a penalty of Rs 10 crore on the Uttar Pradesh government for failing to check sewage discharge containing toxic chromium into river Ganga at Rania and Rakhi Mandi in Kanpur. Besides, the NGT has also slapped a fine of Rs 280 crore on 22 tanneries for causing pollution.
  • A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said the problem has not been tackled for the last 43 years and this has resulted in contamination of groundwater affecting the health and life of the inhabitants.
  • The environment compensation of Rs 280.01 crore was also assessed by the state pollution control board.
  • The NGT also held UPPCB liable and directed it to pay Rs 1 crore for ignoring illegal discharge of sewage and other effluent containing toxic chromium directly into Ganga.

FACTFILE – National Green Tribunal Act, 2010

  • National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 is an Act of the Parliament of India which enables creation of a special tribunal to handle the expeditious disposal of the cases pertaining to environmental issues.
  • It draws inspiration from the India’s constitutional provision of Article 48A which assures the citizens of India the right to a healthy environment.
  • On 18 October 2010, Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta became its first Chairman. Retired justice Adarsh Kumar Goel is the incumbent chairman of national green tribunal.
  • The Principal Bench of the NGT is in New Delhi and has regional benches in Pune (West), Bhopal (Central), Chennai (South) and Kolkata (East).
India and Singapore exchanges Letter of Intent in defence sector
  • India and Singapore exchanged a Letter of Intent (LoI) for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) whereby the latter’s defence establishment could use the Chandipur Integrated Test Range in Odisha.
  • The exchange of the Letter of Intent took place in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a two-day trip to the Southeast Asian nation, and his Singaporean counterpart Dr Ng Eng.
  • The Integrated Test Range, a missile testing facility of the Defence Research & Development Organisation, is located on Dr Abdul Kalam Island, formerly known as Wheeler Island, off the eastern coast of India in the Bay of Bengal.
  • Singh co-chaired the 4th Singapore-India Defence Ministers Dialogue. Singh also offered setting up of Joint Test Facilities under the Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme of India following which Dr Ng agreed to explore opportunities for a joint collaboration.
  • The Ministers also agreed to explore cooperation in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Geo-Spatial Data Sharing and Cyber Security.
  • It was also agreed to hold the 5th Defence Ministers Dialogue in India next year on mutually convenient dates.

November 20, 2019

  Arunachal Pradesh gets ‘Best Emerging Green Tourist Destination Award’
  • Arunachal Pradesh has been awarded the ‘Best Emerging Green Tourist Destination Award’ by Travel & Leisure magazine.
  • Arunachal Pradesh is one of the last ‘Truly Unexplored’ destinations in the world which offers an awe-inspiring experience to the discerning tourist.
  • The award is a boost to the efforts of the Tourism department in bringing Arunachal Pradesh prosperity through sustainable tourism.
  • The awards were given to Tourism departments and stakeholders in recognition of their efforts towards promoting green tourism.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met Deputy PM of Singapore
  • Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Heng Swee Keat. Singh is on a two-day visit to Singapore to co-chair the 4th India-Singapore Defence Ministers” Dialogue.
  • The Defence Minister referred to India’s stand on the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region and stressed that the Indo-Pacific for India meant an open, inclusive and stable region, connected through secure seas, integrated by trade and anchored by the unity and centrality of Asean.
  • He said India’s stand on implementation of international laws and norms, freedom of navigation, unimpeded lawful commerce and peaceful settlement of disputes was the only way to ensure a rule-based order in the Indo-Pacific region.
  • Singh conveyed to Keat that India”s vision of a comprehensive agenda of regional cooperation was rooted in ”SAGAR”, that”s ”Security and Growth for All in the Region”.
  • During the meeting, they also agreed upon furthering bilateral defence cooperation.
  • Singh also took a sortie in the Super Puma Helicopter of the Singapore Air Force at the Sembawang Air Base and visited Singapore naval ship RSS Stalwart.
  • He paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his Marker in Singapore and also to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Indian National Army martyrs at their memorial.
Facebook partners with WCD Ministry to boost digital literacy
  • In a bid to make social networking secure and safe for women and children, Facebook made partnership with the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) at Facebook”s “South Asia Safety Summit”.
  • Formation of an ideal “Internet Consortium” to propose recommendations for online child safety and launch of ”We Think Digital”, the company”s global digital literacy programme.
  • The summit was joined by over 100 organisations from Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and India.
  • Facebook is set to launch another campaign called “Thumbstoppers” next year, which will be a series of short creative mobile videos under 10 seconds from India”s advertising community, focusing on empowering and educating people on issues like gender equality, domestic violence and education for the girl child.
  • Facebook said it is committed to support economic growth and social good in India and is working with partners to train more than five million people by 2021.
ISRO to launch Cartosat-3, 13 commercial nano satellites
  • India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C47 will launch Cartosat-3 and 13 commercial nanosatellites into Sun Synchronous orbit from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota.
  • PSLV-C47 is the 21st flight of PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration, that is with 6 solid strap-on motors.
  • This will be the 74th launch vehicle mission from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.
  • Cartosat-3 satellite is a third-generation agile advanced satellite having high-resolution imaging capability.
  • PSLV-C47 will also carry 13 commercial nanosatellites from the United States of America as part of commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), Department of Space.

FACTFILE – Cartosat-3 satellite

  • Cartosat-3 is an advanced Indian Earth Observation satellite built and developed by ISRO, which will replace the IRS series.
  • It has a panchromatic resolution of 0.25 metres making it the imaging satellite with highest resolution in the world and Mx of 1 metre with a high quality resolution which is a major improvement from the previous payloads in the Cartosat series.
  • Potential uses include weather mapping, cartography or army defence, and strategic applications
  • ISRO launched additional satellites in the Cartosat-2 series through 2016, 2017 and 2018.

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November 21, 2019

 Assam State Cabinet approved the Assam Excise (Amendment) Bill 2019
  • The State Cabinet approved the Assam Excise (Amendment) Bill 2019 that seeks to bring molasses in the list of excisable items.
  • The Bill seeks to amend section 2(h) and section 84(2)(d) of the Assam Excise Act, 2000 such that the list of excisable articles will be expanded to include molasses as an excisable item.
  • It also seeks to regulate import, export, transport or possession of molasses. A new section will be inserted to define the term molasses for the purpose of the Assam Excise Act.
  • The amendments in the Excise Act will facilitate the introduction of necessary rules to control and regulate the production, storage, distribution, possession and sale of molasses in the State to deal effectively with the challenges posed by the rampant production, trade and consumption of the spurious liquor.
India, Uzbekistan sign security cooperation agreement
  • India and the central Asian country of Uzbekistan inked an agreement on security cooperation including in the field of counter-terrorism, organized crime and human trafficking.
  • The agreement was signed during a meeting between a delegation from Uzbekistan, led by Minister of Internal Affairs, Pulat Bobojonov, with an Indian delegation, led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.
  • The two sides discussed areas of mutual interest, including counter-terrorism cooperation and training for Uzbek security personnel in Indian institutions, capacity building, border guarding and disaster management.
  • The Agreement on Security Cooperation, signed by the two ministers, will further strengthen cooperation between India-Uzbekistan in the diverse fields including counter-terrorism, organized crime and human trafficking.
  • The Indian delegation included Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai along with other senior officers from the Ministry.
LS passes Bill for transparency in Chit Fund schemes
  • The Lok Sabha passed a Bill that aims at putting in place a mechanism to ensure transparency in chit fund schemes, protect subscribers and regulate the industry.
  • To facilitate orderly growth of the chit fund sector, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur said through the Chit Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2019 the government was making changes in the rules for starting a chit fund.
  • The Minister had moved the Bill, which seeks to amend the Chit Funds Act, 1982.
  • With the amendments, the prescribed ceiling of aggregate chit fund amount for individuals would be raised to Rs 3 lakh from Rs 1 lakh, and Rs 18 lakh from Rs 6 lakh for firms.
  • Besides, words ”gross chit amount”, ”share of discount” and ”net chit amount” would be substituted with ”chit amount”, ”dividend” and ”prize amount”, respectively.
  • The amended Act would confer powers upon the state governments to specify the amount up to which any chit fund shall be exempted under the Act.
India successfully test-fires nuke-capable Prithvi-II
  • India successfully testfired its indigenously developed nuclear capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-2 missile as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range off Odisha coast.
  • The trial of the missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, was carried out from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the ITR.
  • The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activity was carried out by Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the Army and monitored by scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of the training exercise.

FACTFILE – Prithvi-II missile

  • Prithvi-2 is capable of carrying 500-1,000 kg of warheads and is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines.
  • The state-of-the-art missile uses advanced inertial guidance system with maneuvering trajectory to hit its target.
  • Inducted into the armory of Indian defence forces in 2003, nine-metre tall ‘Prithvi’ was the first missile to have been developed by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh holds bilateral meets on ADMM-Plus
  • Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand in Bangkok where they have come to attend the 6th ASEAN Defence Ministers” Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus). He reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral defence relations with his various counterparts and discussed ways to further improve the ties.
  • Rajnath Singh and US Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper expressed satisfaction over the increasing defence engagements between the two countries. The two will be meeting again for the 2+2 meeting in Washington DC later next month.
  • He had a detailed discussion on adding further momentum to India-Japan defence cooperation with Japanese counterpart Taro Konowas.
  • He also met his counterparts from Australia – Linda Reynolds – and New Zealand – Ron Mark – and discussed ongoing defence cooperation and potential areas for enhanced engagement.

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Assam Current Affairs –November 08 – 14, 2019

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Current Affairs Assam – November 8 - 14, 2019

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of November 8 – 14, 2019 )

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November 08, 2019

Assam State Child Scientist Award for class VIII student Raj Sharma
  • A project on an alternative source of fibre, developed from the snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) by Hiranya Raj Sharma, a class VIII student of Dhekiajuli town of Sonitpur district, was awarded the Khagendra Nath Brahma State Child Scientist Award in the lower age group at the 27th State-level National Children’s Science Congress (NCSC) 2019.
  • Hiranya Raj, a student of Polestar Academy of Singri area in Dhekiajuli town conducted research under the guidance of an assistant teacher of Dhekiajuli High School, Sailendra Sharma to understand that the plant which is locally popular as ‘khoru gumoni gos’ has enough utility.
  • The snake plant is a wild evergreen perennial plant locally available and spreads by way of its creeping rhizomes. It is a common weed of the roadsides, abandoned gardens and waste areas. Its leaves are thick and the mature leaves are dark green in colour, usually ranging from 60-160 centimetres in length and 6-10 centimetres in width.
  • The student undertook the project to study the snake plant and to explore its potential to be used as a substitute/supplement to the conventional fibres and also to protect and preserve the traditional knowledge and to scientifically test these ideas.
  • The lack of proper knowledge on possible benefits from the snake plant, has led to a situation where it is uprooted from fields.
  • A survey was conducted about the plant among the farmers where it was found that nearly 97.64 % had no knowledge about its usefulness. But if awareness is created, the snake plant could be used for producing an eco-friendly fibre from which goods of daily use can be made.

 Highlights of the India Justice Report 2019

  • Tata Trusts in collaboration with the Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause, and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has prepared the India Justice Report (2019).
  • This is the first-ever ranking of Indian states on justice delivery.
  • The India Justice Report 2019 is based on publicly available data of different government entities on the four pillars of justice delivery — police, judiciary, prisons, and legal aid.
  • The report has divided states on the basis of the population into two parts: (1) The large-medium states (Population 1 crore and above) and (2) The small states and Union Territories (Population less than 1 crore)
  • Maharashtra has topped the list among large-medium States in delivering justice to people followed by Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Haryana. In this category, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are at the bottom.
  • Among the small states (where the population is less than one crore each), Goa has topped the list followed by Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh.
  • On average, the police have a vacancy of 23% (2017), and the judiciary between 20%-40% across the high courts and lower judiciary.
  • No State/ UT is able to meet all its diversity quotas (ST, SC, and OBC). Karnataka comes closest to achieve diversity quotas (missed its SC reservation target by 4%).
  • Women are poorly represented across the Justice system. They account for 7% of the Police, 10 % of Prison staff and about 26.5 % of all judges in the High Court and subordinate courts.
India expresses commitment to fully implement FATF standards
  • India expressed its commitment to fully implement the standards of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and establish Anti-Money Laundering as well as Countering Financing of Terrorism regimes to dismantle the terror financing networks.
  • Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy Presenting India”s concern over terror financing issues on the second day of the second ”No Money For Terror” conference being attended by 65 countries.
  • FATF is an inter-governmental “policy-making body” which works to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
  • The FATF has developed a series of recommendations that are recognised as the international standard for combating of money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
  • The FATF recommendations form the basis for a co-ordinated response to these threats to the integrity of the financial system and help ensure a level playing field.
  • A First issued in 1990, the FATF recommendations were revised in 1996, 2001, 2003 and most recently in 2012 to ensure that they remain up to date and relevant, and they are intended to be of universal application.

 FACTFILE – The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) (FATF)

  • The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) (FATF) is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering.
  • In 2001 its mandate expanded to include terrorism financing. It monitors progress in implementing the FATF Recommendations through “peer reviews” of member countries.
  • The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris.
  • Since 2000, to fight money laundering and terror financing the FATF maintains the current list of nations: FATF blacklist (formally called the “Call for action”) and the “FATF greylist”.
  • As of 2019 FATF consists of thirty-seven member jurisdictions and two regional organisations.
  • Regional organizations: European Commission & Gulf Cooperation Council
  • Member Nations:
    1. Argentina
    2. Australia
    3. Austria
    4. Belgium
    5. Brazil
    6. Canada
    7. China
    8. Denmark
    9. Finland
    10. France
    11. Germany
    12. Greece
    13. Hong Kong, China
    14. Iceland
    15. India
    16. Ireland
    17. Israel
    18. Italy
    19. Japan
    20. South Korea
    21. Kingdom of the Netherlands
    22. Luxembourg
    23. Malaysia
    24. Mexico
    25. New Zealand
    26. Norway
    27. Portugal
    28. Russian Federation
    29. Saudi Arabia[25]
    30. Singapore
    31. South Africa
    32. Spain
    33. Sweden
    34. Switzerland
    35. Turkey
    36. United Kingdom
    37. United States

November 09, 2019

 Akil Kureshi appointed as Chief Justice of Tripura High Court
  • Centre has appointed Justice Akil Kureshi, the judge of Bombay High Court, as the Chief Justice of Tripura High Court.
  • The Centre’s counsel had told the Supreme Court that nearly all administrative formalities in connection with the appointment had been completed, except the last signature.
  • A senior judge from the Gujarat High Court, Justice Akil Kureshi is serving as a judge of the Bombay High Court at present following a transfer.

FACTFILE – Tripura High Court

  • The Tripura High Court is the High Court of the state of Tripura, established on 23 March 2013, after making suitable amendments in the Constitution of India and North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) Act, 1971.
  • The seat of the High Court is at Agartala, the capital of Tripura. The first Chief Justice is Justice Deepak Gupta.
  • Earlier, the state of Tripura along with the other six states of the North – East of India was under the Gauhati High Court, a permanent bench of the Gauhati High Court was established in Agartala in the year 1992 having territorial jurisdiction of the state of Tripura.
India-Indonesia joint naval exercise Samudra Shakti
  • Anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kamorta is jointly exercising with Indonesian warship KRI Usman Harun, a multi-role corvette, in the Bay of Bengal as part of an ongoing bilateral exercise ’Samudra Shakti’.
  • The joint exercises include, manoeuvres, surface warfare exercises, air defence exercises, weapon firing drills, helicopter operations and boarding operations..
  • KRI Usman Harun arrived at Visakhapatnam to participate in the second edition of Ex ‘’Samudra Shakti’’.
  • The harbour phase concluded with professional interactions in the form of subject matter expert exchanges (SMEE), cross deck visits, simulator drills, planning conferences, sports fixtures and social interactions.

FACTFILE  – Samudra Shakti Exercise

  • Samudra Shakti is a bilateral maritime exercise between India and Indonesia.
  • IT’s objective is to strengthen bilateral relations, expand maritime co-operation, enhance interoperability and exchange best practices between the Navies of India and Indonesia.
  • Garuda Shakti is the joint military exercise between India and Indonesia.
India, UAE discuss boosting trade & investment ties
  • Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan held talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh on further enhancing the countries” trade, investment and tourism ties.
  • Muraleedharan is in Abu Dhabi to attend the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) ministerial meeting.
  • The UAE takes over from South Africa as IORA Chairman for a two year period to 2021.
  • The theme of the meeting is “Promoting a Shared Destiny and Path to Prosperity in the Indian Ocean”.
  • Founded in 1997, the Association, whose headquarters are in Mauritius, is an inter-governmental organisation with 22 member states as well as nine dialogue partners.
  • These partners are countries situated outside the region but who have interests within it. It seeks to promote sustained growth and balanced development within the Indian Ocean region.

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November 10, 2019

 World Bank’s $110 million deal for river transport in Assam
  • A loan negotiation for an amount of $110 million was successfully concluded for the Assam Inland Water Transport Project (AIWTP) to be executed by the Government of Assam and the World Bank.
  • The negotiation was carried out in the presence of the Director, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India at the Country Head office of World Bank in New Delhi.
  • The Indian delegation on behalf of the Government of Assam was represented by Virendra Mittal, State Project Director, AIWTDS; Dhrubajyoti Das, Additional Secretary, Transport Department and Director, IWT, Assam, and Rahul Chandra Das, Deputy State Project Director, AIWTDS.
  • The team representing the Department of Economic Affairs under the Ministry of Finance was led by Bandana Preyashi, Director, DEA. The World Bank team was led by Atul Agarwal, Team Leader, World Bank.
  • The objective of the project is to develop an efficient river transport system which would be safe, secure and comfortable for the large volume of passengers and cargo carried by vessels.
India, France begin counterterrorism Exercise ‘Shakti 2019’
  • Shakti 2019, a 14-day joint military exercise involving India and France, started at the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Bikaner. The joint exercise will facilitate both armies to know each other better, share their operational experience and enhance awareness through information exchange.
  • This will help them in undertaking joint operations at platoon level for countering terrorist threats under the mandate of the United Nations.
  • The ceremony saw the unfurling of the national flags of both countries amidst playing of their respective national anthems.
  • The ceremony also witnessed synchronised marching of troops to martial tunes.
  • This was followed by evocative speeches by the Reviewing Officers of both countries.
New Zealand passes zero carbon bill to combat climate change
  • New Zealand passed a bill to reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2050 and meet its commitments under the Paris climate accord.
  • The law commits New Zealand to keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, as stipulated by the Paris Agreement and marks an important step in the fight against the climate emergency looming over the world according to more than 11,000 scientists worldwide.
  • The zero emissions target excludes methane emissions but the law pledges to reduce them gradually.
  • The law includes the establishment of a green investment fund worth NZ$100 million ($64 million), a carbon trading scheme and inclusion of agriculture in emissions pricing by 2025, and the plantation of one billion trees by 2028.
  • The law also stipulates suspending the release of new permits for hydrocarbon explorations at sea and supports the production of cheaper electric vehicles apart from setting a goal of 100 per cent renewable electricity generation by 2035.
  • The legislation aims to cut biological methane emissions from agriculture by 10 per cent until 2030, and targets 24-47 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050.

November 11, 2019

 Brahmaputra Valley Samaj Hitoishi Award to DN Chakravarty
  • The Dayal Krishna Bora memorial Brahmaputra Valley Samaj Hitoishi Award-2019, under the auspices of Sahai, a socio-cultural organisation, was formally conferred on veteran journalist Dhirendra Nath.
  • The Finance and PWD Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma formally handed over the award to the 93-year-old journalist.
  • DN chakravarty always advocated for the unity and integrity of Bharat and its Sanatani civilisation. Vaishnavite scholar Dayal Krishna Bora was a worthy son of Morigaon district, who sacrificed his whole life for the cause of the society.
  • Speaking on the occasion, DN Chakravarty said that he is still writing for the society and is a senior working journalist of entire Asia by now. Presenting the socio-economic history of Assam and India, Chakravarty said that we have a golden history right from Mahabharat days and we must uphold the century-old historical tradition.
Sanjay Karol is the new Chief Justice of Patna High Court
  • Justice Sanjay Karol took oath as the new Chief Justice of Patna High Court. He was sworn-in by Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan at a ceremony organised at the Raj Bhawan.
  • The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, senior judges and other dignitaries.
  • Justice Karol was the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court. His predessor at the Patna High Court has been transferred to the Madras High Court.

 FACTFILE – Patna High Court

  • The Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar.
  • It was established on 3 February 1916 and later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915. The court is headquartered in Patna, the administrative capital of the state.
  • In 1948, Patna High Court exercised jurisdiction over the territories of the Province of Bihar & Orissa till 26 July 1948, when a separate High Court was constituted for Orissa.
  • In 1972, Patna High Court opened a Circuit Bench at Ranchi and in 1976, the Circuit Bench of Patna High Court at Ranchi became Permanent Bench and in 2000 it became Jharkhand High Court on November 2000, under the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000.
  • Patna High Court celebrated Centenary Celebrations in 2015.
Environment Ministry nod to Indian Oil Corporation’s Panipat ethanol plant
  • The Union Environment Ministry has given its clearance to Indian Oil Corporation for setting up a 2G ethanol plant in Panipat.
  • The ethanol project at the Panipat refinery is being set up a cost of Rs 909 crore.
  • The benefit of the plant is that blending of ethanol with motor spirit leads to reduction of import of crude oil with corresponding savings in foreign exchange.
  • This project envisages production of 100 kl ethanol a day from multi-feedstock lignocelluloses using indigenous technology.
CJI office falls within ambit of RTI Act, says SC
  • Observing that judicial independence and accountability go hand in hand, the Supreme Court on Wednesday held that the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a public authority and falls within the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
  • Pronouncing a landmark verdict, the apex court at the same time said transparency cannot be allowed to run to its absolute and that RTI Act should not be used as a surveillance tool. It also observed there should be a balance between right to privacy and right to information and they have to be treated as “co-equals”
  • A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi unanimously upheld the 2010 Delhi High Court judgement and dismissed three appeals filed by Secretary General of the Supreme Court and the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the top court.
  • The high court on January 10, 2010 held that the CJI office comes within the ambit of the RTI law, saying judicial independence was not a judge’s privilege, but a responsibility cast upon him.
  • Hailing the apex court verdict, RTI activists said “no one is above the law” and it is a great step towards transparency and building the trust of people in the justice system.

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November 12, 2019

 Assam signs pact with Malaysia trade body
  • The Industries and Commerce Department, Assam, signed an MoU with Malaysia India Business Council (MIBC) in the presence of Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary and MIBC president Tan Sri Ir Kuna Sittampalam.
  • Both the parties agreed to explore and improve two-way trade and investment between India and Malaysia in sectors like education, tourism, primary industries, etc.
  • Assistance will be accorded to business or trade missions from India visiting Malaysia and vice versa in seminars, conferences, exhibitions, economic and technical fairs, information bureau, symposia, or similar events taking place in both the countries.
  • It was also decided to accelerate engagement, trade and cultural exchange to unlock the potential sectors between Assam and Malaysia.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hands over Rs 3 crore to two defence start-ups
  • Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handed over Rs 3 crore to two start-ups in the defence sector, to help them build upon their innovative ideas, during the inaugural session of DefConnect 2019, an initiative to showcase innovations in defence excellence.
  • The start-up firms, North Street Cooling Towers and Chipspirit Technologies were handed over cheques of around Rs 1.5 crore each by Singh.
  • The initiative Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) had been launched by the central government in April 2018 to create an ecosystem that will foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace.
  • Under the initiative, the government is also committed to provide grants, funding and other support to carry out research and development that has the potential to cater to the needs of the Indian defence sector.
  • More than 350 start-ups selected by the iDEX, partner incubators, Defence Innovation Organization (DIO), nodal agencies including the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, apart from DRDO, Defence PSUs and Ordnance Factories were part of DefConnect 2019.
Environment Ministry’s launches beach cleanliness drive
  • The Environment Ministry is launching a mass cleanliness drive at 50 beaches under the “Swachh – Nirmal Tat Abhiyaan”.
  • The government”s effort is to clean up the beaches and create awareness among citizens about the importance of coastal ecosystems.
  • Will clean the beaches in 10 coastal states/Union Territories (UTs), namely Gujarat, Daman & Diu, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
  • The beaches have been identified after consultations with the states/UTs.
  • The cleaning drive will involve school/college students who are part of eco-clubs, district administration, institutions, volunteers, local communities and other stakeholders.
  • State nodal agencies for the eco-clubs will be facilitating the week long cleanliness drive.
  • The beach cleaning drive will be of two hours” duration daily, and a minimum of a one kilometre stretch of the beach will be identified.
  • Sand cleaning machines will be deployed at about 15 beaches. The collected waste will be processed as per Waste Management Rules, 2016.
  • The Environment Education Division of the Ministry and the Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM) will be responsible for the overall coordination for the drive.
Himachal Pradesh Govt & Dutch companies sign 14 MoUs
  • The Himachal Pradesh government and Dutch companies have signed 14 memorandum of understanding of Rs 200 crore.
  • The pacts mainly in agriculture, horticulture, sports, water management, waste to energy and ecotourism were signed at Global Investment Summit held in Dharamsala.
  • The Netherlands had the largest overseas delegation led by Vikas Chaturvedi, CEO of Valucent Group and founder Chairman of ASSOCHAM Europe.
Samsung Innovation Award at IIT Indore
  • Samsung India conducted the 9th edition of the ”Samsung Innovation Award” at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indore to recognise and reward innovations that have the potential to revolutionise everyday living.
  • This year, the theme was ”Systems that learn” and students were encouraged to think creatively and propose practical ideas around multi-modal sensing, applications of learning systems, VR, XR, 3D imaging, distributed AI and more.
  • Prizes worth Rs 3.5 lakhs were awarded to the top three winners, while the other three finalists received award of merit from Samsung.
  • The first prize went to Ram S. Mohril for the project ”AR/VR Enhanced Textbook reading and learning experience”.
  • The second Prize was grabbed by Chaitanya Mehta forhis project ”Tree Climbing Quadraped Robot”.
  • The third prize was awarded to Nemath Ahmed, Suraj Polamaina and Shavez Malick for their project ”Immersive Acoustic Spatial Awareness for Visually Impaired”.

November 13, 2019

 Union Govt approves Assam Police’s intelligence sharing project
  • The Centre has approved Assam Police’s plan to create a seamless intelligence sharing online platform among the police forces of all the eight northeastern states that might prove to be a game changer in destabilising the inter-state criminal network.
  • Equipped with geo-tagging, the project, is one of its kind in the country where, for the first time, police forces of eight states would share inputs and facilitate each other’s investigation on request, under an organised technological set-up.
  • The application-based platform would encompass police officers from the rank of the officer-in-charge of a police station to the entire chain of top hierarchy of the respective state police of the region.
  • The much-awaited project envisages creating a proactive network among the neighbouring states when it comes to handling organised crimes with cross-border ramification, including abduction, smuggling of precious items and vehicle theft, among others. There are also plans to share database of criminals among the state police forces.
Justice Rafiq took charge as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court
  • Justice Mohammed Rafiq sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court Governor Tathagata Roy administer the oath of office and secrecy to him at Raj Bhavan.
  • Rafiq, 59, succeeds Ajay Kumar Mittal who is now the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
  • He will be the 8th Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court.
  • Rafiq started his law practice in 1984. He practiced exclusively in the Rajasthan High Court in almost all branches of law. He served as an advocate from 1999 to 2006.
  • In 2008, he was appointed as Justice at the Rajasthan High Court. Rafiq also served as acting Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court twice.

 FACTFILE – Meghalaya High Court

  • The Meghalaya High Court is the High Court of the state of Meghalaya.
  • It was established in March 2013, after making suitable amendments in the Constitution of India and North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) Act of 1971. Earlier, a bench of the Gauhati High Court had jurisdiction over the state of Meghalaya.
  • The seat of the High Court is at Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya.
  • The strength of judges as for this High Court is 3 permanent judges including the Hon’ble Chief Justice and 2 Hon’ble Judges.
India has successfully conducted the night trial of Agni-II
  • India has successfully conducted the night trial of Agni-II, its versatile surface-to-surface medium-range nuclear-capable missile from Dr Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast.
  • Agni-II, an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), has already been inducted into the armed forces.
  • This was the first time that the sophisticated missile was testfired at night.
  • The entire trajectory of the trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry observation stations, electro-optic instruments and two naval ships located near the impact point in the down-range area of Bay of Bengal.
  • The test was carried out by the specially formed Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Army with logistic support from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
  • The two-stage ballistic missile can carry a payload of 1000 kg over a distance of 2000 km. 
India, US tri-services exercise ‘Tiger Triumph’
  • A nine-day tri-services exercise between India and the US on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief will began with the aim of strengthening the bilateral relationship and defence cooperation.
  • In the exercise, named Tiger Triumph, Indian Naval ships Jalashwa, Airavat and Sandhayak, Indian Army troops from 19 Madras and 7 Guards, and Indian Air Force MI-17 helicopters and Rapid Action Medical Team would be participating.
  • The US would be represented by US Navy Ship Germantown with troops from US third marine division. The exercise is aimed at developing inter-operability for conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.
  • The Harbour Phase is scheduled at Visakhapatnam. The opening ceremony along with a joint flag parade would be held onboard INS Jalashwa.
  • Personnel from both the navies would also participate in training visits, subject matter expert exchanges, sports events and social interactions.
  • On completion of the Harbour Phase, the ships, with troops embarked, would sail for the sea phase and undertake maritime, amphibious and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.
  • On reaching the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief area at Kakinada, the landing of relief forces would be undertaken to the exercise scenario.

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November 14, 2019

 IIT Guwahati researchers develop sensor to assess milk freshness
  • The Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT-G) said its researchers have developed a paper-based sensor that can make assessment of the freshness of milk by a simple method and instantaneous.
  • Bacteria and other microbes that can grow in milk can not only affect the taste and freshness, but can also result in health issues.
  • Pasteurisation is commonly used to kill the microbes in milk and various tests are used to ensure the effectiveness of pasteurisation.
  • Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) is a metalloprotein found naturally in raw milk samples and is considered an important biomarker in quality control of milk. It is found in raw milk and is destroyed during pasteurisation.
  • Detection of ALP in milk can thus point to inadequate pasteurisation and perhaps contamination.
  • The researchers have used simple filter paper, chemically modified it, and loaded it with a recognition element anti-ALP, which captures the ALP present in the milk.
  • Upon treatment of the colour forming compound BCIP to the captured complex of ALP forms a blue-green coloured precipitate, that otherwise does not gives any colour in the absence of ALP.
  • The intensity of the colour indicates the amount of ALP present. The team used a smartphone to capture the image of the colour and used the RGB (Red Green Blue) filter in the phone to profile the colour obtained, which could be co-related to the concentration of ALP present in the test sample.
  • The researchers successfully tested milk obtained from villages and commercially available milk samples using their paper-based sensor kit, and found that they could detect down to 0.87 units of ALP per millilitre of milk to about 91-100 per cent accuracy.
  • This detection limit and accuracy make it possible to discriminate raw milk (often contains as high as 191U/mL ALP) from boiled milk which contains ALP in ultra-trace amount.
Indo-France joint military ‘Exercise Shakti-2019’
  • The closing ceremony of the joint military exercise between Indian and French Army, ”Exercise SHAKTI-2019” concluded at Mahajan Field Firing Range, Rajasthan.
  • The ceremony was reviewed by Brigadier General Jean Christophe Bechon, Commandant 6th Light Armoured Brigade, French Army and Major General Inderjit Singh, General Officer Commanding, Gandiv Division of Sapta Shakti Command.
  • An infantry platoon group of The Sikh Regiment part of Sapta Shakti Command and a platoon group of the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment, part of 6th Armoured Brigade, represented India and France respectively in the exercise.
  • Exercise SHAKTI-2019 was a two-phased exercise. In the inter-operability phase, the contingents underwent rigorous combat conditioning and tactical training.
  • The training received by both the armies in inter-operability phase was put into practice in the validation phase.
  • The contingents jointly took part in the validation exercise which included establishment of observation posts, cordon and search operation and house clearing drills.

Defence Exercises between India and France:

  • Varuna – Naval exercise
  • Garuda – Air exercise
  • Shakti – Army exercise
Punjab signs pact for promotion of products of MSMEs
  • A memorandum of understanding was signed by state-run Invest Punjab with startup Pumpkart for e-commerce promotion and selling of products of micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
  • Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC) Managing Director Sibin C. signed the pact on behalf of the state government with Pumpkart Co-Founder and CEO K.S. Bhatia.
  • Additional Chief Secretary (Investment Promotions and Industry and Commerce) Vini Mahajan said the government is committed to promote the MSMEs at a time when there is economic recession in the country.
  • She also said industry in the state attracted more than 50,000 crore investments and these are under implementation stage.
  • Keeping in line with the Make in India programme, state govt have formulated the Make in Punjab policy.
Nilam Sawhney appointed as Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh
  • Senior IAS officer Nilam Sawhney was appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, order was issued by the General Administration Department appointing Sawhney, a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, to the top post.
  • Sawhney is the first woman chief secretary of the truncated state of Andhra Pradesh.
  • The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved repatriation of Sawhney, who was serving as Secretary, Social Justice and Empowerment.

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Assam Current Affairs –November 01 – 07, 2019

Posted on by admin 
Current Affairs Assam – November 1 - 7, 2019

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of November 1 – 7, 2019 )

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November 01, 2019

 Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu to inaugurate NE Book Fair at Guwahati
  • Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate the 21st North East Book Fair, 2019, organised by the All Assam Publishers and Book Sellers Association at the AEI Field in Guwahati.
  • The book fair, scheduled from November 1 to November 12, has this year attracted a total of 75 publishers and book sellers from all over the country, besides one publishing house from Bangladesh.
  • More than 150 Assamese books will be released during the fair that will also see a series of cultural and literary activities.
  • The book fair has been dedicated in the memory of eminent educationist Tabu Ram Taid, who passes in August this year. The main stage of the book fair is dedicated in the memory of social worker GL Agarwala and artist Benu Misra.
  • The cultural programmes of the book fair have been dedicated in the memory of Vaishnavite scholar Purnabrata Deva Goswami, Natya Samrat Chandra Choudhury and freedom fighter Ramesh Chandra Sarma. The main auditorium of the fair is dedicated in the memory of eminent anthropologist Annada Charan Bhagabati. The sabhaghar of the book fair has been dedicated in the memory of Prof Dilip Kumar Dutta.
  • Remembering litterateur Purabi Bormudoi, a special women’s day will be observed during the book fair. Similarly, a senior citizens day in the memory of folk scholar and linguist Pramod Chandra Bhattacharya and a children’s day remembering writer Manik Bora.

BIOGRAPHY – Tabu Ram Taid

  • Tabu Ram Taid was an Indian educationist, linguist, author and administrator.
  • Hailing from the Mising community, a small indigenous tribe of Assam, India, and from an economically challenged and geographically remote village ‘Ghunasuti Ayengia’, tackling various challenges and obstacles, eventually earned a Post Graduate degree from Delhi University, which was quite uncommon in his community at that time.
  • Starting his career as a lecturer of English language in Cotton College, Guwahati, he further proceeded to obtain a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics from the University of Reading, UK, and also successfully completed a course in Distance Teaching at University of London Institute of Education, UK.
  • He served in various senior level posts in various educational arms of the Government of Assam.
  • He was the founder President of the Mising Agom Kebang (Linguistic Society of the Mising, also known as Mising Sahitya Sabha), the apex body of the Mising community aiming for the preservation and development of the Mising language.
  • His body of work includes the ‘Mising Gompir Kumsung’ a dictionary of the Mising language with an introduction to Mising grammar), ‘EkuNki nibondho’, a collection of selected articles written in Assamese, ‘Glimpses’, a collection of articles written in English, research work on the Mising and Assamese language, editorial work on traditional Mising literary artifacts like folk songs, along with lexicographical works like dictionary, grammar and phonology of the Mising language.
  • His work on his mother tongue, Mising, is his invaluable contribution to the Mising community and also to the Assamese people and culture at large.
Punjab CM launches job helpline under ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ programme
  • In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, the Punjab government launched a job helpline for job-seekers. As part of the state government’s flagship ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ programme, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said it would help connect job-seekers and job providers and open up job opportunities for thousands.
  • The helpline aims to reach every household in Punjab and is designed to call 75,000 mobile and landline numbers a day through a 110-seat back-end call centre.
  • The Chief Minister asked the Secretary of the Employment Generation and Training Department, which has come up with the initiative, to popularise it to enable youth, especially in the rural areas, to get the maximum benefit from the helpline.
  • Singh also asked the department to intensify its efforts to provide job opportunities to youth to tap their massive latent potential.
  • He stressed synergy among the Department of Employment Generation and Training, the Technical Education and the industries to create job opportunities for youth.
Pavan Kapoor appointed as Ambassador to UAE
  • Pavan Kapoor, a 1990 batch Indian Foreign Service officer took charge as the new Ambassador to UAE. Ambassador Kapoor replaced Navdeep Singh Suri, who retired last month.
  • During his diplomatic career Pavan Kapoor has served in different capacities at the Indian Missions in Moscow, Kyiv, London and Geneva.
  • Mr Kapoor served as the Ambassador to Israel.
  • He has also served in the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi.
  • Pavan Kapoor was India’s High Commissioner to Mozambique and the Kingdom of Swaziland from January 2014 to February 2016.
  • He has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and also holds a Masters in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics.
Odisha govt signs MoU with J-PAL South Asia
  • The Odisha government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia to engage in a strategic evidence-based approach to policy making.
  • The partnership targets to maximise the impact of anti-poverty programmes of the state across a wide range of sectors.
  • J-PAL is co-founded by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, joint winners of 2019 Nobel Prize in economics for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.
  • Under this partnership, J-PAL South Asia will provide the Odisha government technical assistance for scaling up evidence backed programmes to improve development outcomes across the state.
  • This partnership aims at bringing transformation in the lives of people through research based intervention in policy formulation.
  • The partnership also establishes an overarching collaboration between J-PAL South Asia and the state government under which J-PAL will work with several departments to conduct policy-relevant randomised evaluations of new anti-poverty and development programmes.
  • Additionally, a diagnostic exercise and subsequent workshops will be conducted to build state capacity in the area of monitoring and evaluation.
  • The MoU was signed by Odisha Development Commissioner Suresh Mahapatra and Executive Director of J-PAL South Asia Shobhini Mukerji in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
  • J-PAL and the state government will conduct an annual policy dialogue to identify the government”s top policy priorities, conduct discussions to share evidence, and jointly come up with innovative solutions that can be field-tested through rigorous randomised evaluations.
  • Topics for the policy dialogues include malnutrition, women”s empowerment, distress migration, health-worker performance, and improving agricultural productivity.

FACTFILE – The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)

  • J-PAL is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence.
  • J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty, and builds partnerships with governments, NGOs, donors, and others to generate new research, share knowledge, and scale up effective programs.
  • J-PAL was founded in 2003 as the “Poverty Action Lab” by professors Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Sendhil Mullainathan, to support randomized evaluations measuring interventions against poverty on topics ranging from agriculture and health to governance and education.
  • The Lab was renamed in honor of Sheikh Abdul Latif Jameel when his son, MIT alumnus Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, supported it with three major endowments in 2005.
  • 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded to J-PAL founder Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”.

November 02, 2019

IIT Guwahati, PCBA join hands to tackle air pollution
  • The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati and the Pollution Control Board Assam (PCBA) have joined hands to tackle the problem of air pollution in some major urban centres of the state, including Guwahati.
  • The two have joined hands under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) launched by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
  • IIT-G and PCBA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently in this regard.
  • Under the project, IIT-G and PCBA will work together to deal with air pollution in Guwahati, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar and Silchar.
  • In these urban centres, the particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) levels exceed the annual average ambient air quality standard of 60 microgram per cubic metre.
  • PCBA will work to prepare city-specific interventions and action plans with the target of reducing PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations by at least 20 to 30 per cent by 2024. IIT-G will act as the technical partner.
  • The institute will assist PCBA in carrying out air pollution studies like identifying critical sources, building state-of-the-art air quality monitoring networks, and investigating mitigations in the five identified towns and cities and implementing them with the help of the Board.
  • NCAP was launched in January as part of the government’s agenda to put in place a time-bound national level strategy for pan India implementation to tackle the increasing air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner.
  • The approach for NCAP includes collaborative, multi-scale and cross-sectoral coordination between the relevant Central ministries, state governments and local bodies.
  • NCAP’s objective is to have comprehensive mitigation actions for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution, besides augmenting the air quality monitoring network across the country and strengthening the awareness and capacity building activities.
India-US Economic and Financial Partnership Meeting
  • At the Seventh Meeting of the India-US Economic and Financial Partnership, India and the US on Friday discussed trade issues and also resolved to boost cooperation in tackling money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).
  • India and the US discussed policies to stimulate economic growth and noted the significant steps India has taken to strengthen the financial sector, including Public Sector Bank recapitalization and plans to merge some of the state-owned banks.
  • Both sides also discussed capital flows, investment promotion related issues, and the external economic environment.
  • The Indian delegation was led by Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance, and the US delegation was led by Steven Mnuchin, US Secretary of the Treasury.
  • Both sides had in-depth exchanges of views on a range of issues such as the global, US, and Indian economic outlooks, global debt sustainability, financial sector reforms, leveraging of capital flows and investment, and tackling money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT)
  • Both sides are committed to greater economic cooperation on global economic issues, both bilaterally and multilaterally in the G20 and other fora.
  • Both sides are working together to attract more private sector capital to finance India”s infrastructure needs and further raise growth for both countries.
  • Both sides took note of the importance of having greater attention to transparency and debt sustainability in bilateral development lending.
  • Both sides appreciated the recent signing of an arrangement that enables automatic exchange of Country-by Country Reports for purposes of high level transfer pricing risk assessment.
  • Both sides are encouraged with the developments that have taken place since the last meeting of the Economic and Financial Partnership and look forward to continued engagement to strengthen our bilateral relationship, our economies and our economic security.
D.C. Raina appointed as the first Advocate General of J&K UT
  • Senior advocate D.C. Raina was appointed as the first Advocate General of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
  • The appointment was made by Lt Governor G.C. Murmu a day after the Union Territory came into being.
  • The UT was carved out of the state of Jammu and Kashmir along with abolition of its special status granted under Article 370 of the Constitution of India.
India, Germany inks pacts in various fields & resolved to jointly combat terrorism
  • India and Germany inked over 20 agreements, including in the field of Artificial Intelligence, green urban mobility and agriculture, and resolved to jointly combat terrorism.
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the 5th Inter Governmental Consultations.
  • While strengthening Cooperation in the Field of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation formed a major part of the joint statement, there was also a large section on combating terrorism.
  • Both sides are also focusing on strategic cooperation in the field of new and advanced technology.
  • The two sides have stressed on cooperation in the fields of new and advanced technology, Artificial Intelligence, skills, education, cyber security.
  • The two countries have also agreed to explore cooperation in news areas like e-mobility, fuel cell technology, smart cities, inland water ways, coastal management, cleaning of rivers and climate change.
  • The five Declarations of Intent, were in the field of Consultations for the period 2020-2024, cooperation in strategic projects, in green urban mobility, for joint cooperation in research and development in the field of Artificial and Intelligence and in the field of prevention of marine litter.
  • The 17 MoUs included for Exchange of Personnel between ISRO and German Aerospace Centre, Cooperation in the Field of Civil Aviation, Cooperation within the International Smart Cities Network, Cooperation in Skills Development and Vocational Education and Training, in the field of Start-ups, in Agricultural Market Development, among others.
  • The others included cooperation in Inland, Coastal and Maritime Technology, Setting up of Academic Collaboration in Ayurveda, Yoga and Meditation, in Higher Education, between All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Deutscher FuAYball-Bund e.V (DFB), and on Indo-German Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement.

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November 03, 2019

 French Development Agency (AFD) to provide Rs 400 crore loan to Assam
  • The French Development Agency (AFD) will provide a Rs 400-crore loan to Assam to implement a forest and biodiversity conservation project.
  • The agreement signed in the presence of French ambassador Emmanuel Lenain.
  • The Rs 251.50-crore Assam Project on Forest and Biodiversity Phase I was co-funded by AFD and the State government and it covered the entire State in a phase manner.
  • The Phase I of the project, implemented by 32 territorial divisions, seven wildlife divisions and 13 social forestry divisions, ended in May this year.
  • The project vision is to enable sustainable forest and biodiversity conservation and management in Assam through multi-scale integrative planning and involvement of forest dependent communities in target areas and giving fillip to their livelihood activities through sustainable use of forest and non-forest resources.
  • There are three components of the project – conservation of ecosystems, community engagement and institutional strengthening of forest department – to be implemented over a period of five years.
  • The counterpart funding of Rs 100 crore for the second phase of the project will be done by the State government.

FACTFILE – The French Development Agency

  • AFD is a public financial institution that implements the policy defined by the French Government. It works to fight poverty and promote sustainable development.
  • This public institution is active in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean and the French overseas territories, where it finances and supports projects that improve living conditions for populations, promote economic growth and protect the planet.
  • In 2014, AFD earmarked EUR 8.1bn to finance projects in developing countries and for the French overseas territories, a commitment up by 4% compared to 2013.
  • Its headquarters is located in Paris. Its teams are based in Paris, Marseille and in a network of 72 agencies and representations abroad and in the French overseas territories.
West Bengal, UNICEF jointly set 5-step agenda to fight malnutrition
  • The West Bengal government and UNICEF have come together to implement a five-step agenda laying stress on empowering families and building a healthy food environment to fight the triple burden of malnutrition.
  • The UNICEF”s flagship report – The State of the World’s Children (SOWC) – for this year has focused on food and nutrition, given the importance of healthy diets, especially among children and young people.
  • The report says that poor diet is damaging children’s health, and that poverty, urbanisation, climate change and poor eating choices are driving unhealthy diets.
  • The SOWC report calls for a shift in the way the authorities address and respond to malnutrition.
  • Children across the world are facing a triple burden of malnutrition in the form of undernutrition (stunting and wasting), hidden hunger (deficiencies in micronutrients) and overweight (including obesity).
  • The topmost priority in the five-step agenda is empowering families, children and young people to demand nutritious food, including by improving nutrition education.
  • There is also stress on collecting, analysing and using good-quality data and evidence to guide action and track progress.
PM Modi releases commemorative coin on Guru Nanak and thai translation of ‘Tirukkural’
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a commemorative coin marking the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. Besides releasing a Thai translation of the Tamil classic ”Tirukkural” at the ”Sawasdee PM Modi” community event in Bangkok.
  • Tirukkural is written by poet Thiruvalluvar and has been translated into many languages. The Tamil community in Thailand got it translated into Thai language for the first time.

FACTFILE – The Tirukkural

  • Tirukkural is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 couplets or Kurals. The text is divided into three books, each with aphoristic teachings on virtue, wealth and love.
  • It is considered as one of the great works on ethics and morality, is known for its universality and secular nature.
  • Its authorship is traditionally attributed to Valluvar, also known in full as Thiruvalluvar. The text has been dated variously from 300 BCE to 5th century CE.
  • The traditional accounts describe it as the last work of the third Sangam, but linguistic analysis suggests a later date of 450 to 500 CE and that it was composed after the Sangam period.
  • The Kural is traditionally praised with epithets and alternate titles such as “the Tamil Veda” and “the divine book”. It emphasizes non-violence and moral vegetarianism as virtues for an individual.
  • In addition, it highlights truthfulness, self-restraint, gratitude, hospitality, kindness, goodness of wife, duty, giving, and so forth, besides covering a wide range of social and political topics such as king, ministers, taxes, justice, forts, war, greatness of army and soldier’s honor, death sentence for the wicked, agriculture, education, abstinence from alcohol and intoxicants.
  • The Kural has been widely admired by scholars and has been translated into at least 40 Indian and non-Indian languages.
China launches high-resolution Earth observation satellite ‘Gaofen-11’
  • China launched Gaofen-11, an optical remote sensing satellite, as part of its high-resolution Earth observation project.
  • The Gaofen-11 satellite was launched on a Long March 4B rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in northern Shanxi Province. It was the 282nd flight mission by a Long March carrier rocket.
  • The satellite can be used for land survey, urban planning, road network design, agriculture, and disaster relief. Its data will also be used for the Belt and Road Initiative.
 India, EU launch call on research on developing local energy system
  • The European Commission and India”s Department of Science and Technology (DST) launched an 18 million euros joint call on research and innovation to develop integrated local energy systems.
  • Proposals should develop and demonstrate novel solutions, integrating all energy vectors including possibilities offered by batteries and electric vehicles, interconnect them and optimize joint operation with increased share of renewables and a higher energy efficiency.
  • Cooperation should take the form of a proposal demonstrating a local energy system (or several) in Europe and/or India.
  • The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) will range between 5 and 8.
  • The call text and call deadlines are the same for applicants from Europe and India.
  • This call targets minimum three participants from India as well as from Europe.
  • A total budget of euro 18 million is foreseen. The Indian selected participants will be funded by DST and the European partners by the EU Research and Innovation programme ”Horizon 2020”.

November 04, 2019

Union Govt and UNICEF launch ‘YuWaah’ initiative
  • A national initiative – YuWaah – aimed at imparting skills among the youth and providing employment to more than 300 million young Indians was launched by Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani with an alliance of national and international partners, including UNICEF.
  • India is one of the first countries to launch the YuWaah national initiative linked to the global Generation Unlimited movement which began in New York in September 2018.
  • Supported by Unicef, Generation Unlimited brings young people together with the private sector, governments, international and local organisations to tackle the urgent challenge of investing in their learning and training so that they are prepared for the complex and fast-changing world of work and can be active and engaged citizens.
  • On the occasion, Irani and Fore also launched a special “U-Report” digital survey, aimed at listening to and engaging youth throughout the country to ensure that their voices and solutions shape the actions of YuWaah! Partners.
NASSCOM, SAP India signed an MoU to skill, reskill and upskill workforce across industries
  • NASSCOM and business software solutions major SAP India signed an MoU to skill, reskill and upskill the workforce across industries.
  • The “FutureSkills” programme of IT industry”s apex body, launched in February 2018, aims to reskill 2 million professionals, potential employees as well as students in the industry over a period of next five years.
  • SAP will support NASSCOM”s “FutureSkills” with its skill development initiatives that focus on content, evangelism and industry connects, thus, enabling the skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling imperative for the IT-BPM industry and related stakeholders in the country.
  • SAP would provide content and enable select SAP experts as mentors for this programme while NASSCOM, through its “FutureSkills” platform, would host these content and expose the SAP mentors as experts on these technology domains which would be made available for the end beneficiaries on a zero-cost subscription model.
  • The automotive, textile, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), retail and IT-BPM are set be the most disrupted industry with the inclusion of AI, ML and data analytics, etc.
  • People from the IT, IT-enabled services industry workforce, potential workforce and college-going students are expected to benefit from the programme.
Satya Pal Malik takes oath as Governor of Goa
  • Satya Pal Malik was on Sunday sworn in as the Governor of Goa.
  • Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court Justice Pradeep Nandrajog administered the oath of office to Malik at Raj Bhavan.
  • Malik had earlier served as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
  • Malik, 73, replaced Mridula Sinha who was holding the Goa governor’s post since August 2014.
India and Uzbekistan signs 3 MoUs and initiated first-ever joint exercise ‘Dustlik 2019’
  • India and Uzbekistan inked three Memorandum of Understanding in Tashkent, Uzbekistan during the visit of Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh.
  • Pacts were inked in the field of Military Medicine and Military Education to further strengthen Defence cooperation between both the countries.
  • Rajnath Singh also held discussions with Uzbekistan’s Defence Minister Major Gen Nizamovich.
  • Singh and his Uzbekistan counterpart witnessed the first-ever exchange over a video-link between College of Defence Management in Secunderabad, India and the Armed Forces Academy of Uzbekistan, Tashkent.
  • The two Defence Ministers also presided over a curtain raiser of the first-ever India-Uzbekistan joint exercise Dustlik 2019.
  • Both Defence Ministers expressed satisfaction at the enhanced level of engagement between their respective countries in the defence sphere.
  • The defence ministers agreed that both nations would continue to work together to further raise their level of engagements in the defence sphere in keeping with strategic partnerships.

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November 05, 2019

 Assam gets 15 electric buses under ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles’ (FAME-1)
  • Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off 15 electric buses which were introduced under Assam State Transport Corporation in the city.
  • The new buses procured under ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles’ (FAME-1) and introduced as a pilot project will ply from Panbazar to Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati.
  • The state government is working to transform Guwahati as the gateway to the South East Asian countries, the Chief Minister said that such a vision to materialise requires great deal of support from all sections of society.
  • The state government is likely to introduce 100 additional electric buses under FAME-2 for which necessary process have been started. Out of these buses 50 buses will ply in Guwahati, 25 each will be pressed into service at Jorhat and Silchar.

FACTFILE – The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020

  • The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 is a National Mission document providing the vision and the roadmap for the faster adoption of electric vehicles and their manufacturing in the country.
  • As part of the NEMMP 2020, Department of Heavy Industry formulated a Scheme viz. Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme in the year 2015 to promote manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicle technology and to ensure sustainable growth of the same.
  • The Phase-I of this Scheme was initially launched for a period of 2 years, commencing from 1st April 2015, which was subsequently extended from time to time and the last extension was allowed up to 31st March 2019.
  • The 1st Phase of FAME India Scheme was implemented through four focus areas namely (i) Demand Creation, (ii) Technology Platform, (iii) Pilot Project and (iv) Charging Infrastructure.
  • Market creation through demand incentives was aimed at incentivizing all vehicle segments i.e. 2-Wheelers, 3-Wheelers Auto, Passenger 4-Wheeler vehicles, Light Commercial Vehicles and Buses.
India to launch National Disaster Management Scheme
  • Urging all SCO countries towards joint assistance in dealing with earthquakes, Home Minister Amit Shah said India would soon come up with a national scheme which would not only cover the disaster risk renewal Sendai Framework but also the goals of permanent development and climate related agreement.
  • Shah said India has completed the amendment process in the country’s National Disaster Management Scheme launched in 2016.
  • Shah said that all 28 states, nine Union Territories and 90 per cent districts have completed their disaster management schemes.
  • Shah said will come up with a national scheme which not only would cover disaster risk renewal Sendai framework but also the goals of permanent development and climate related agreement.
  • Sendai Framework is a 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement which recognizes that the state has the primary role in reducing disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders, including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders.
  • The Joint Exercise on Urban Earthquake Search and Rescue 2019 is a four-day exercise, which would help the SCO countries in a situation when they need the support of others to deal with any disaster-like situation.
Odisha Govt inks pacts for youth skill development
  • The Odisha government has signed an MoU and two agreements with TATA Strive and Tech Mahindra for skill development and to create employment opportunities for the youth.
  • The Directorate of Technical Education and Training (DTE&T) and TATA Strive signed an agreement to impart life skills to students in all 49 government ITIs.
  • The Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) signed an agreement with Tech Mahindra to set up a state-of-the-art facility to start its operations for international BPO for global customers.
  • A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Tech Mahindra, Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) and College of Engineering and Technology (CET) to set up a Centre of Excellence in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).
  • The students will get an opportunity to work on proof of concept on real life business problems to keep up with the market demand and to enhance the employability of engineering students. Every year, 30 students will get training in the field of AI and ML for a period of 12 months.
IBM launch ‘SkillsBuild‘ platform for skilling students in collaboration with MSDE
  • IBM announced launch of SkillsBuild platform in collaboration with the Directorate General of Training under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
  • As part of the programme, a two-year advanced diploma in information technology (IT), networking and cloud computing will be offered at the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and the National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs).
  • The platform will also be extended to train ITI and NSTI faculty in artificial intelligence (AI) skills.
  • SkillsBuild offers digital learning content from IBM and partners, like CodeDoor, Coorpacademy and Skillsoft.
  • The digital platform will also provide personal assessment for cognitive capabilities and personality via MyInnerGenius to students. They will then learn basics about digital technologies as well as professional skills, like resume writing, problem solving and communication.
  • Students will also receive recommendations on role-based education for specific jobs, that include technical and professional learning.

November 06, 2019

 Assam CM opens Brahmaputra Pushkar Mahotsav
  • Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the Brahmaputra Pushkar Mahotsav, a mega river festival on the bank of the Brahmaputra in Guwahati highlighting the river’s important role in Assam’s sociocultural life.
  • The Pushkar Mahotsav, to be held for 12 days from November 5 to November 16, is a river festival which is organised on the banks of 12 important rivers in India, including the Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, Kaveri, etc.
  • The festival occurs once in every 12 years for each river. As per mythological beliefs, Pushkar is celebrated on the banks of each river according to the zodiac sign of that river.
  • The Mahotsav has been organised at Sonaram High School Field at Bharalumukh here by the Purva Tirupathi Sri Balaji Samiti, Guwahati in collaboration with the Sri Mahalakshmi Charitable Trust, Chennai.
  • The State tourism department and a number of other departments are assisting the festival, which is supposed to host approximately two lakh devotees, mostly from South India.
Justice Rajendra Menon appointed AFT Chairperson
  • Former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice (Retired) Rajendra Menon was appointed the new Chairperson of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT).
  • The tenure of appointment of Justice (Retired) Menon will be for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or till he attains the age of 70 years, or until further orders, whichever is the earliest
  • The tribunal, established by the government of India, has the power provided for adjudication or trial of disputes and complaints with respect to commission, appointments, enrolments and conditions of service in respect of persons subject to the Army Act, 1950, The Navy Act, 1957 and the Air Force Act, 1950.

FACTFILE – Armed Forces Tribunal

  • Armed Forces Tribunal is a military tribunal in India. It was established under the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007.
  • In 1999, the Law Commission’s 169th report stated that disciplinary and service matters required quick resolutions and proposed a special tribunal for the military and paramilitary forces.
  • Armed forces tribunal bill was steered through Parliament only by the Defence Ministry, leaving paramilitary forces, even the Assam Rifles and Coast Guard, outside the tribunal’s purview.
IIT Madras launches first indigenously designed standing wheelchair
  • Indian Institute of Technology, Madras has launched country’s ‘first indigenously’ designed standing wheelchair- ‘Arise’ for assisting the specially-abled person in day to day activities.
  • These customised wheelchairs enable a differently-abled person to shift from sitting to standing position and vice-versa independently.
  • Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot was also present at the launch of ‘Arise’.
  • Lauding the efforts of IIT Madras, Gehlot said, IIT Madras has done a wonderful job, I have never seen such a standing wheelchair even in a foreign country.
  • He also stated that ministry will be extended the necessary help, if required to extend the benefits of this initiative to more and more specially-able citizens.
P S Sreedharan Pillai sworn-in as the new Governor of Mizoram
  • P S Sreedharan Pillai was sworn-in as the new Governor of Mizoram at the Raj Bhavan.
  • The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court Justice Ajai Lamba.
  • Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthangam his cabinet colleagues, legislators, former chief minister Lal Thanhawla and senior officials attended the swearing-in ceremony.

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November 07, 2019

 Assam Governor adopts Morigaon as model district for agriculture
  • To develop agriculture and to use it for the socio-economic development of the people of the State, Governor Jagadish Mukhi has adopted Morigaon district for development of agriculture and allied activities.
  • Governor Mukhi said that the Morigaon district has enormous potential as most of the people are associated with agriculture, so developing the district in agriculture will lead to capacity building of its people. Moreover, as practising the single-cropping system amounts to inadequate use of land resources, the Governor also advised the farmers to adhere to multi-cropping system.
  • The Governor also distributed power tillers, rickshaws for carrying agriculture goods and electric water pump sets.
  • The Department of Fisheries, Assam has already initiated an effort under ‘Morigaon Special intervention of the Governor of Assam Project: 2019-2022’ to develop supporting infrastructure to achieve sustainable development in fisheries.
India, Russia to expand military technical cooperation
  • India and Russia are working on a programme of military technical cooperation by 2030, Work is underway to agree on a programme of Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation till 2030.
  • The Russian government said after a meeting between Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Moscow
  • During the meeting, Borisov noted that despite of external pressure, Russia and India are successfully implementing joint cooperation in the military-technical sphere, particularly the supply of S-400 air defence systems.
  • The topics of discussion included a wide range of issues related to bilateral military technical cooperation, as well as interaction in the field of science and high-tech.
Nasscom Foundation rewards 7 entities for social impact
  • The Nasscom Foundation, the Indian IT industry body’s social arm, and software firm Mphasis declared Rs 60 lakh in grants to seven entities for innovatively applying technology for social impact.
  • The seven entities recognised as part of the National Association of Software and Services Companies” (Nasscom) Social Innovation Forum include Meraki Foundation, Inali Foundation, Padcare Labs, MHS City Lab, Watsan Envirotech, Bombay Bijlee and Anukai Solutions.
  • Meraki Foundation was awarded for skilling low income parents to act early to unleash a child”s potential, PadCare Labs for sanitary napkin disposal and recycling solution and MHS City Lab for developing digital tools for affordable low-income housing, among others.
  • In addition to the catalytic grants, all the winners are eligible for industry mentorship worth Rs 20 lakh, offering a 12-month ”support to scale” mentoring from experts
  • As many as 15,000 entities applied in the categories of education, accessibility, healthcare, financial inclusion, environment and others.
 PM Modi inaugurated the 5th edition of the India International Science Festival (IISF)
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the fifth edition of the India International Science Festival (IISF) via video conference.
  • The theme of the festival – ‘RISEN: Research, Innovation and Science Empowering the Nation’
  • The function was attended by West Bengal Governor J Dhankar and Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardan.
  • Diplomats from Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, South Korea and the United Kingdom, among others, attended the conclave.

FACTFILE – India International Science Festival (IISF)

  • India International Science Festival (IISF) launched in 2015 is a celebration to promote Science and Technology and demonstrate how science could lead India towards a developed nation within a short span of time.
  • The aim is to engage the public with science and celebrate the joy of science and show the ways how science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) provide us with the solutions to improve our lives.
  • Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences in association with Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA), has created a unique platform of India International Science Festival which intends to inspire curiosity and make learning more rewarding.

 

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