Current affairs : August 19, 2016
New steps to enhance transparency in Power Sector
In a bid to enhance transparency in power transmission sector of the country, the government has launched
the‘TARANG’ Mobile App, ‘e-Trans’ & ‘DEEP’ e-bidding web portals. These are developed by Rural Electrification Corporation
Transmission Projects Company Limited (RECTPCL), a subsidiary of REC Ltd.
- These measures are aimed at enhancing ease, accountability & transparency and would boost confidence of investors in power transmission sector. Better price discovery shall ultimately benefit the power consumers in India.
BARC develops portable kit for detection of
Chromium contamination of water
BARC has developed a simple, user friendly, quick and cost
effective kit for onsite determination of Hexavalent Chromium Cr(VI), which meets IS10500 as well as EPA criterion.
- It provides the much needed solution to measure the level of Chromium contamination in drinking water and tap water, lakes, rivers as well as ground water.
Web Portal for Star Rating of Major Mineral Mines
The Ministry of Mines through Indian Bureau of Mines has developed a
template for Scheme of Star Rating of Mines.
- The main objective of this system is to bring all mines to a minimum standard of Star Rating in the shortest possible time frame to adopt sustainable practices.
BRO Launches Ambitious Tree Plantation Drive
The Border Roads
Organisation (BRO), under Ministry of Defence, has launched a
massive tree plantation drive in the Northern & Eastern states of India.
- This is one of the biggest ever tree plantation drive undertaken by the BRO, organised with the aim to protect the ecology and increase the green cover along the border areas of the Country.
Sunshine, seaweed help to break down dye waste
The researchers have developed a photocatalyst using titanium dioxide doped with red seaweed polymer carrageenan to degrade the dyes. With this photocatalyst, scientists
have been able to completely degrade three industrial dyes — methyl orange,
methylene blue and reactive black-5 — in the presence of sunlight.
U.S. set to hand over Internet’s naming system to ICANN
The U.S. is set to cede power of the Internet’s naming system to a
non-profit organisation on October 1, ending the almost 20-year process to hand
over a crucial part of the Internet’s governance.
- The U.S. will give up its power fully to Los Angeles-based ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), a non-profit organisation.
- The terms of the change were agreed upon in 2014, but it was not until now that the U.S. said it was finally satisfied that ICANN was ready to make the change.
Global Innovation Index: India moves up to 66th rank this year
Global Innovation Index for the year 2016 has been released. The
annual index — released by WIPO, Cornell University, and the multi-nation
business graduate school INSEAD.
- India scored a major improvement in its Global Innovation Index ranking this year, moving up to the 66th place from 81 in 2015.
- India’s better performance in the latest index readings was due to its strengths in tertiary education, software exports, corporate R&D and market sophistication.
Airlander 10:
It is the world’s largest and longest
aircraft. It recently embarked on its maiden flight in central England.
- It is a hybrid airship made by Hybrid Air Vehicles in United Kingdom. Airlander 10 is a partly plane and partly airship filled with helium gas.
- It can stay airborne for more than two weeks unmanned.
MoU between India and Bangladesh:
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and the
Roads and Highways Department of People’s Republic of Bangladesh have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding.
- The MoU enables IOCL to send its trucks carrying Motor Spirit, High Speed Diesel, Superior Kerosene Oil & Liquefied Petroleum Gas from Meghalaya to Tripura via territory of Bangladesh.
- The validity of this facility is till end September, 2016. Both sides have also agreed to extend the transit facility for a further short period on need basis.
SBI
approves merger with associates
The board of country's
largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) has approved share swap ratio to
merge 5 associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) with itself. In the swap ratio an
acquiring company will offer its own shares in exchange for the target
company's shares during a merger or acquisition.
- SBI will give 28 of its shares for every 10 shares held of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur.
- It will give 22 of its shares for every 10 shares held of State Bank of Mysore.
- The lender will give 22 of its own shares for every 10 shares held of State Bank of Travancore.
- SBI will give 4,42,31,510 shares with face value of Re. 1 for every 100 crore equity shares of Bhartiya Mahila Bank.
7 Indian companies among top 200 carbon
clean firms
Seven Indian companies
have made it to a carbon-clean list of 200 largest companies worldwide ranked
by their total clean-energy revenues.
- The list is topped by Japan's Toyota Motor.
- Indian companies are: 1. Suzlon Energy at 68 rank for its wind farms. 2. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd at 106 for its wind electric generators and solar cells. 3. Tata Chemicals at 114 for chemicals for biodiesel, solar energy, and fuel cells. 4. Thermax Ltd is at 139. 5. Exide Indus at 153 for electric storage batteries. 6. IDFC Ltd is at 155 for its green infrastructure financing. 7. Havells India at 166 for energy meters.
Hindi
author Sunita Jain conferred Vyas Samman award:
Hindi scholar and writer
Sunita Jain was awarded the prestigious 25th Vyas Samman 2015 for her poetry
collection "Kshama".
- West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi conferred the award on the scholar.
- The award instituted by the K K Birla Foundation carries a cash prize of Rs 2.50 lakh. It is given annually to outstanding literary work in Hindi authored by an Indian citizen.
Doha Bank opens first branch in Kerala
Doha Bank QSC, one of
the prominent banks in Qatar, is formally inaugurating its first branch in
Kerala on August 27.
- The branch offers all banking products to corporate and retail customers. It will be formally inaugurated by the State Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Federal
Bank to use Chillr app
Federal Bank has
partnered with Chillr, a mobile banking application that connects directly to a
person’s bank account and enables instant money transfers, bill payments, phone
recharge and e-commerce payments in a very secure environment.
- As India’s first and only multi-bank mobile application, Chillr allows users to connect seamlessly with multiple bank accounts and manage all their banking needs on a single platform, making money transfer between bank accounts easier, faster and safer than sending a text message.
Alibaba
Group launches ‘million books’ donation drive
The Alibaba Group, along
with Crossword and Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust has launched ‘Mission Million
Books’, a pan-India initiative inviting Indian citizens to donate textbooks and
educational material for the underprivileged.
- Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a Chinese e-commerce company that provides consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and business-to-business sales services via web portals.
