Daily Current affairs - September 15th, 2017 for all competitive exams
India has marked September
15 as the National Engineer’s Day. This is because to appreciate the
contributions of Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya who was born on September 15, 1861.
- Visvesvaraya was not only known for his
contributions in the field of engineering but was also called the “
precursor of economic planning in India”
- Engineer’s day in different Countries: Russia
celebrates it on December 22, Mexico on July 1 and Italy on June 15
September 15 -
International Day of Democracy
The International Day of
Democracy provides an opportunity to review the state of democracy in the
world. Democracy is as much a process as a goal, and only with the full
participation of and support by the international community, national governing
bodies, civil society and individuals, can the ideal of democracy be made into
a reality to be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere.
- The values of freedom, respect for human rights and
the principle of holding periodic and genuine elections by universal
suffrage are essential elements of democracy.
- This year's theme of democracy
and conflict prevention focuses on the critical need to
strengthen democratic institutions to promote peace and stability.
Swachhta Hi Seva campaign will be launched in Kanpur
The Centre is all set to launch a nation-wide, fortnight-long sanitation
campaign from September 15 to October 2 to highlight the government’s flagship
cleanliness initiative Swachh Bharat Mission. The campaign, named ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’
(cleanliness is service) will be launched by President Ram Nath
Kovind from Ishworiganj village in Kanpur.
- The campaign is being coordinated by the
Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the convening Ministry
for the Swachh Bharat Mission.
- The objective of the campaign is to mobilise
people and reinforce the “Jan Aandolan” for sanitation to contribute to
Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a Clean India.
Humanitarian Assistance to Bangladesh on Account of
Influx of Refugees
Operation Insaaniyat has been launched by the government of
India to assist Bangladesh in managing crisis caused due to heavy influx of
refugees from neighbouring Bangladesh.
- As part of this programme, the Indian government is
sending relief material. The Indian Air Force has been tasked to airlift
the relief material from India to Bangladesh. This aircraft will be loaded
with relief material consisting of critical daily necessities viz., rice,
pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil, ready to eat meals, mosquito nets etc.
India’s first bullet train project
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe
recently laid the foundation stone for India’s first bullet train project in
Ahmedabad.
- The 508km-long Mumbai to Ahmedabad High Speed
Rail (MAHSR) is scheduled for completion in December 2023.
- The train will have a top speeds of 320-350 km per
hour and it is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities to
around 2 hours from the existing 7-8 hours.
- The much-touted rail project, which will connect
Ahmedabad to Mumbai in just two hours, promises to transform railways and
‘create new India’.
India-Japan sign open sky agreement, fares may come down
India and Japan have agreed to an open sky arrangement under which the
airlines of both countries can operate an unlimited number of flights. The
agreement was signed after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan
PM Shino Abe.
- The agreement will not only encourage connectivity
and passenger travel between the two countries, but will also result in
reduction in airfares on these routes.
- The agreement was signed in accordance with
the National Civil Aviation Policy (NACP), 2016. The NACP permits
the government to enter into an ‘open sky’ air services
agreement on a reciprocal basis with SAARC nations as well as countries
with territory located entirely beyond a 5,000 kilometre radius from New
Delhi.
Scientists map lunar water with data from Chandrayaan-1
Scientists, using data from an instrument which flew aboard India’s
Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, have created the first map of water trapped in the uppermost layer of the moon’s soil. The study builds on the initial discovery in 2009 of water and a
related molecule — hydroxyl, which consists of one atom each of hydrogen and
oxygen — in the lunar soil.
- Scientists used a new calibration of data taken from
NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper, which flew aboard Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft
in 2008, to quantify how much water is present on a global scale.
- The signature of water is present nearly everywhere
on the lunar surface, not limited to the polar regions as previously
reported.
- The amount of water increases toward the poles and
does not show significant difference among distinct compositional
terrains.
Bangladesh Parliament adopts
resolution challenging verdict
Bangladesh’s Parliament has
passed a unanimous resolution to take “proper legal steps” over a Supreme Court
verdict on the Constitution’s 16th Amendment.
- In a rare motion adopted after discussion,
Parliament sought to expunge what it called some “unconstitutional,
objectionable and irrelevant” observations made by the country’s Chief
Justice S.K. Sinha.
- According to the 16th Amendment, The power of
Parliament to disqualify top court judges on grounds of “misconduct or
incompetency”.
- In 2014, Parliament had passed the 16th Amendment,
which abolished the Supreme Judicial Council. In May last year, the High
Court had ruled that the amendment was “illegal and unconstitutional”. On
July 3 this year an appellate division led by Mr. Sinha upheld the
annulment of amendment.
BookMyShow features in WhatsApp pilot
BookMyShow, an online
entertainment ticketing platform had become the first Indian online ticketing
brand to participate in the WhatsApp business pilot.
- BookMyShow has now made WhatsApp a default ticket
confirmation channel for all its users. Users, who book tickets on
BookMyShow, will receive a message on WhatsApp with confirmation text or
an M-ticket (mobile ticket) QR Code, along with an email.
Self-drive car rental service
now on Yatra app
Online travel portal
Yatra.com had partnered Revv Cars to offer travellers self-drive car rental
service as part of efforts to diversify product offerings. This alliance allows
travellers to book their local and inter-city self-driven transport on Yatra’s
mobile app.
- Currently, the facility is available in nine cities
viz Delhi/NCR, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai,
Hyderabad and Vizag.
CBSE issues new safety
guidelines
Central Board of Secondary
Education (CBSE) has issued new safety and security guidelines for all schools.
The schools will face de-recognition if they don’t follow the guidelines.
- Safety audits of schools done by their respective
local police stations, installation of CCTV cameras at all vulnerable
areas inside schools and limiting the entry of outsiders.
- Verification and evaluation for non-teaching staff
such as, bus drivers, conductors, peon and other support staff may be done
very carefully and in a detailed manner.
- Schools were also asked to constitute separate
committees for redressal of grievances of the public, staff, parents and
students.
- Schools to constitute an internal complaints
committee for complaints regarding sexual harassment and committees under
Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act, 2012.
Centre seeks advisers for AI
disinvestment
The Union government floated
an expression of interest (EOI) to appoint two financial advisers and one legal
adviser for strategic disinvestment of Air India, taking forward the process to
shed a stake in the ailing national carrier.
- The Government of India has in-principle decided to
consider the disinvestment of the AI Group as a whole or its constituents
fully or part thereof through strategic sale with transfer of management
control.
- The Union Cabinet on June 28 gave an in-principle nod to go for strategic disinvestment of Air India and its subsidiaries and formed a Group of Ministers (GoM) led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to draw the roadmap. The decision to appoint advisers to steer forward the disinvestment process was taken by the GoM.
Singapore swears in first female
president
Singapore inaugurated
its first female president amid stinging criticism that she is taking office
without a vote.
- Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of
parliament from the Malay Muslim minority, won the presidency.
