Daily Current affairs - August 16th, 2017 for all competitive exams
India will host the next steering committee meeting
of the proposed 1,814 kilometre-long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India
(TAPI) gas pipeline. With this, India has reaffirmed its strong commitment to
TAPI — first proposed in 1995.
- The
Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Natural Gas Pipeline (TAPI)
Project is a natural gas pipeline being developed by the Asian
Development Bank.
- The TAPI pipeline will
have a capacity to carry 90 million standard cubic metres a day (mscmd)
gas for a 30-year period and be operational in 2018.
Centre’s eBiz initiative stutters
Even after 4 years of its launch, the centre’s eBiz
is struggling to become fully operational. eBiz project was unveiled in
2013 to serve as online, single-point entry for investors looking to set up a
business anywhere in the country.
- Many State governments
have not come on board for critical components of the project.
- Technical
glitches have arisen in the plan to integrate all clearances onto a
single system owing to government departments opting for different
technology platforms.
- eBiz is one of the
integrated services projects and part of the 27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs)
under the National E-Governance Plan (NEGP) of the Government of
India.
Assam, Manipur can now decide on AFSPA
The Union Home Ministry is set to give up its power
to impose the ‘disturbed areas’ tag on Assam and Manipur. The move effectively
means it will be the States’ decision to either continue the Armed Forces
(Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) or revoke it.
- It would be the first
time since 1990 — when the AFSPA was first invoked in Assam — that the
Centre would give up its power to continue or discontinue it.
- AFSPA, enacted in 1958,
gives powers to the army and state and central police forces to shoot to
kill, search houses and destroy any property that is “likely” to be used
by insurgents in areas declared as “disturbed” by the home ministry.
KCR
unveils comprehensive land survey programme
Chief
Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao chose the 71st Independence Day celebrations to
make a significant announcement — a comprehensive land survey programme.
- The Government was taking
up the massive exercise after a gap of 81 years. No land survey had been
ever taken up in the State after it was done way back in 1936 under the
Nizam.
Trump, Modi review
progress of June initiatives
President
Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of a series
of bilateral initiatives kicked off during the latter’s visit to the U.S.
capital in the last week of June. The appraisal came during a call from Mr.
Trump on the occasion of India’s 70th independence.
- Crude and natural gas
shipments to India from the U.S. are a new thrust area of bilateral
cooperation, and the first shipment of American crude for India will leave
from Texas this week.
Aeroplanes may be affecting ozone, monsoon
According to a study by researchers, Aeroplanes may be
ejecting significant amounts of black carbon (BC) and this may be depleting the
ozone layer. Researchers now have evidence of these particles existing up to 18
km into the stratosphere and there are about 10,000 of them in every cubic
centimetre.
- Given the shape and
location of these particles, Black Carbon could only derive from emissions
from aviation fuel and they pose a problem because these black carbon
particles can linger long enough to provide a fertile ground for other
chemical reactions that can deplete the ozone layer.
- The stratosphere is a
stable region of the atmosphere and because BC particles absorb heat, they
warm the surrounding air, become lighter and rise to greater heights by a
process called ‘self lift’ and persist in the air. The sheer volume of air
travel means that the black carbon count only continues to increase.
Three millennia-old
tombs found in Egypt
Egypt
archaeologists have discovered three ancient tombs containing sarcophagi in the
south of the country in a cemetery dating back about 2,000 years.
- The tombs excavated in
the Al-Kamin al-Sahrawi area in Minya province south of Cairo were in
burial grounds constructed some time between the 27th Dynasty and the
Greco-Roman period.
Iran threatens to
restart n-programme
Iran’s
President Hassan Rouhani issued a direct threat to the West, claiming his
country is capable of revitalising its nuclear programme within hours and
quickly bringing it to even more advanced levels than when Iran reached a deal
with world powers that limited its ability to produce nuclear weapons.
- Mr. Rouhani’s comments
are seen as a direct response to the new U.S. legislation earlier this
month that imposed mandatory penalties on people involved in Iran’s
ballistic missile programme and anyone who does business with them.
U.K. to seek ‘temporary customs union’
As UK leaves the EU and therefore the customs
union, it has sought a new customs arrangement that facilitates the freest and
most frictionless trade possible in goods between the U.K. and the EU, and
allows to forge new trade relationships with India and other partners in Europe
and around the world.
- The UK has said it is
leaving the EU’s customs union because as a member it is unable to strike
trade deals with other countries.
- Countries in the customs
union don’t impose tariffs – taxes on imports – on each other’s goods.
Every country inside the union levies the same tariffs on imports from
abroad.
ONGC to double gas
output
State-owned
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) planned to double gas production to more
than 100 million standard cubic meters per day in the next 5-6 years.
- Despite tumbling oil
prices in the last three years, it not only sustained production from
existing fields through incremental inputs but has also taken large,
meaningful and calculated investment decisions to ensure sustained volumes
and financial growth.
- The government is
targeting an increase in the share of gas in the energy basket from 6.5%
to 15% in the next few years.
MasterCard mulls using blockchain tech
Mastercard is working on a network that can
incorporate the benefits of blockchain technology while meeting the
requirements of a globally distributed financial network. In this regard, it
has asked for a clear regulatory framework in India that lays down what
blockchain can be used for.
- This platform will
support a wide range of use cases, including but not exclusive to B2B
inter-bank payments, tracking trade finance obligations along the value
chain, exchanging KYC (Know Your Customer) or AML (Anti Money Laundering)
data between trusted parties, and more.
- Blockchain is an emerging
technology. Blockchain is the technology behind crypto-currency such as
Bitcoin, which is a purely electronic currency that can also be traded on
exchanges.
Marapana is Sri Lanka’s
Foreign Minister
Tilak Marapana of
the United National Party (UNP) assumed charge as Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister,
following his predecessor Ravi Karunanayake’s resignation last week.
- Mr. Karunanayake stepped
down on Thursday, after being linked to a controversial businessman who
has been accused of a key role in a bond scam at the country’s Central
Bank.
Nadal delighted at
return to No. 1
Rafael
Nadal was thrilled to learn he would return to World No.1 for the first time in
three years.
- Federer, this year’s Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, was the only player who could have denied second-ranked French Open champion Nadal the top spot in next Monday’s rankings.
