Current affairs : April 6th, 2017 for all competitive exams
April 6 was declared as
the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) by
the UN General Assembly.
- On the occasion of the 2017 International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP), the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) launches the digital campaign #WePlayTogether to encourage organizations and individuals.
PM to lay foundation stone of a multi-modal
terminal on River Ganga in Jharkhand
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the
foundation stone of a multi-modal terminal on River Ganga at
Sahebganj in Jharkhand.
- The state of the art terminal, to be constructed at an estimated cost of 280 crore rupees, is an important component of the development of the National Waterway-1 from Varanasi to Haldia.
Cabinet approved
MoU between India and Bangladesh for fairway agreement
The Union
Cabinet has approved MoU between India and Bangladesh for fairway development of Ashuganj-Zakiganj stretch of
Kushiyara river and Sirajganj-Daikhawa stretch of Jamuna river in the Indo-Bangladesh protocol route by
undertaking necessary dredging jointly by the two countries.
- The MoU will considerably reduce the logistics cost of cargo movement to North Eastern India. It will also reduce the congestion through the Siliguri Chicken’s Neck corridor.
Cabinet approves
agreement on Audio Visual Co-Production between India and Bangladesh
The Union
Cabinet has approved the agreement on Audio Visual Co-Production India and
Bangladesh.
- The
Agreement would cover co-production of films, documentaries, and
animations films.
- An audio-visual co-production made in accordance with the proposed Agreement shall be entitled to all the benefits which may be accorded to any national audio-visual work by both countries in accordance with their respective laws and regulations.
Cabinet approves
extension of implementation of Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems
Project by one year
The Cabinet
Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home
Affairs for extension of the implementation phase of the Crime and Criminals Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS)
Project for another year beyond 31st March 2017.
- The
extension would help in achieving the remaining objectives of the project
comprehensively.
- Citizen portals in all states and Centre that will facilitate transparency and speed in police service delivery, online registration of complaints and reporting and search of missing persons and stolen goods in self-service mode.
Cabinet approves
closure of Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana
The Union
Cabinet has approved closure of the Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana
(MGPSY) which was set up in 2012 to address the social
security-related issues of the Emigration Check Required (ECR)-category workers
going abroad for employment to ECR countries.
- The
subscription under the MGPSY was very low and no new subscription was
received for more than a year. Closure of the scheme will, therefore,
obviate the avoidable recurring administrative and record-keeping
expenditure.
- Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana is a special social security scheme which includes Pension and Life Insurance, introduced by Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs for the overseas Indian workers in possession of Emigration Check Required (ECR) passports.
Cabinet approves Collaboration
Agreement to support the Belmont Forum Secretariat
The Union
Cabinet has given its approval for signing of the Collaborative Agreement with
French National Research Agency (ANR), France for supporting the Belmont Forum Secretariat
from January, 2015 to December, 2017 at a total estimated expenditure of Euro
40,000.
- The
Cabinet also approved continued financial support to Belmont Forum
Secretariat beyond 2017.
- The Belmont Forum, created in 2009, is a high level group of the world’s major and emerging funders of global environmental change research and international science councils.
Centre cleared
Rail regulator gets green light
The Centre has
cleared the decks for setting up an independent rail regulator, named Rail Development Authority (RDA).
- The
need for a regulator has been emphasised by various committees, including
the Dr. Bibek Debroy Committee on Mobilisation of Resources for Major
Railway Projects and Restructuring of Railway Ministry in 2015, the
National Transport Development Policy Committee (NTDPC) in 2014 and Expert
Group under the Chairmanship of Dr. Rakesh Mohan in 2001.
- RDA
will be based in Delhi with an initial corpus of Rs. 50 crore and will be
set up through an executive order.
- The RDA will act within the parameters of the Railway Act, 1989 and only make recommendations to the Ministry which will take a final call on passenger and freight fares.
Cabinet approved MoU
between India and Bangladesh on passenger cruise services
The Union
Cabinet has approved MoU on passenger cruise services on the coastal and
protocol routes between India and Bangladesh for starting regular movement of
passengers and tourists in water crafts between the two countries.
- The operationalization of this MoU will promote people to people contact and cooperation between the two countries in respect of economic, social and cultural advancement.
India and the UK
announce joint UK-India Fund
India and the
UK have announced the launch of an Early Market Engagement for the joint
UK-India Fund, namely a Green Growth Equity Fund which aims
to leverage private sector investment from the City
of London to invest in green infrastructure projects in India.
- Both
governments have reaffirmed their commitment to anchor invest up to £120
million each (i.e. totally £ 240 million) in the joint fund which
will be established under the NIIF framework.
- To begin with, the fund aims to raise around £500 million, with the potential to unlock much more in future.
Geotagging of
assets created under RKVY
The government
has proposed to prepare inventory of the assets created in the last one decade
(2007-2017) under RKVY through Geotagging technique.
- National
Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), wing of Indian Space
Research Organisation is providing technical support to RKVY division and
has come up with a detailed procedure for the same.
- The institute is involved in preparation of the required app, imparting training to the states etc.
Haryana government to provide Rs 21,000 to families
for third girl child
Haryana government has decided to provide a
one-time grant of Rs 21,000 to all those families whose third girl
child was born after August 24, 2015, under the 'Aapki Beti,
Hamari Beti' scheme.
- Under the scheme, the eligible families will receive the amount irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, income and number of sons.
India, UK to set up 240 mn pound fund for green
energy
India and the UK decided to set up
a 240 million pound fund to finance clean energy projects.
- The
Green Growth Equity Fund will be a sub-fund of NIIF. India had in 2015 set
up the Rs 40,000 crore National Infrastructure and Investment Fund (NIIF)
to finance greenfield as well as brownfield projects.
- The fund will focus initial investments in India’s rapidly growing energy and renewables market.
India
allows duty-free imports of 500,000 tonnes of raw sugar
India, the world’s biggest sugar consumer, will allow imports of 500,000 tonnes of duty-free raw sugar, as a drought has cut output below consumption levels for the first time in seven years.
India, the world’s biggest sugar consumer, will allow imports of 500,000 tonnes of duty-free raw sugar, as a drought has cut output below consumption levels for the first time in seven years.
- Duty-free imports would be allowed until 12 June, 2017.
Mexico to put
endangered vaquita porpoises in refuge
In a bid to save the world’s smallest species of porpoise from extinction, the Mexican government has
announced plans to place some of them in a temporary refuge.
- The
plan would be carried out with the help of international organisations.
- Scientists warned in February that there are only 30 vaquita remaining, saying the species faced extinction by 2022.
Japan Officially Recognises Bitcoin as
Currency
Bitcoin has finally gained the recognition
of a mainstream currency along the lines of other fiat currencies.
- The privilege follows the implementation of a new law in Japan which categorizes Bitcoin as a legal payment option within the country.
Aditya Birla Group gets RBI licence to start
payments bank
Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Ltd becomes the seventh
entity to receive a final licence from the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) to set up a payments bank.
- Except Vodafone
M-Pesa Ltd, all payment bank licence holders have received the
final approval.
- Among
payment bank licence holders, two entities namely Airtel
Payments Bank and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) have started operations
so far.
- While Airtel is offering 7.25% interest on its savings account, IPPB is offering three types of accounts where interest rates will vary from 4.5-5.5%.
India’s ranks 7th in world’s largest tourism
economy in terms of GDP
India's travel and tourism
sector ranks 7th in the world in terms of its total contribution
to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a new
report of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC),
2016.
- The USA topped the list followed by China and Germany at the second and third positions, respectively.
ADB lends $175 m loan to Power Grid Corporation
The Manila-headquartered Asian Development
Bank (ADB) lends a $175 million loan to the Power Grid
Corporation of India Ltd.
- The project will improve the capacity and efficiency of interstate transmission networks, particularly in transmitting the electricity generated from the new solar parks to the national grid.
Raman Roy is new Nasscom chairman
The National Association of Software and Services
Companies (Nasscom) appointed Raman Roy (Managing Director
of Quatrro Global Services) as its chairman for 2017-2018.
- Rishad Premji (Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), Wipro Limited) has been appointed Vice Chairman. Raman Roy has replaced Mr. CP Gurnani.
NTPC appoints head for Kudgi project
NTPC has appointed Sanjeev Kishore as
Group General Manager at Kudgi Super thermal Power Project, Karnataka.
- Kishore joined the services of NTPC in 1984 and has served in various capacities of NTPC projects.
Virat Kohli crowned Wisden’s ‘king of the willow’
for 2016
India’s Virat Kohli was
named Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the World for 2016.
- Kohli
had also won the prestigious ‘Polly Umrigar award’ presented to the
‘International Cricketer of the Year’ at the BCCI Annual Awards.
- Kohli
was additionally declared Wisden India Almanack’s Cricketer of the
Year for the second time in its 2017 edition.
