Daily Current affairs - September 2nd, 2017 for all competitive exams
The government has released the Guidelines of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi had announced the
pan-India implementation of this scheme w.e.f. 01st January, 2017.
- Guidelines inter-alia provide Aadhaar linkage,
Direct Benefit Transfer, antenatal check-up and registration of child
birth & first cycle of immunisation of the child.
- PMMVY is implemented by the Ministry of Women &
Child Development in collaboration with State Governments.
- Pradhan Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojana (PMMVY),
previously Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY), is a maternity benefit program run by the
government of India.
- In 2013, the scheme was brought under the National
Food Security Act, 2013 to implement the provision of cash maternity
benefit of Rs.6,000 stated in the
Act.
Assam issues AFSPA order for
State
For the first time since
1990, the Assam government issued orders declaring the State a “disturbed
area”, imposing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) for six months.
- Such orders were earlier issued by the Union Home
Ministry, which recently gave up its power and asked the State government
to decide on continuing the enforcement of the AFSPA in the State.
- Under Section 3 of the Act, it can be invoked in
places “where the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is
necessary”.
- Except in the case of Tripura and Manipur, the
Centre had been issuing such notifications for Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal
Pradesh and Meghalaya.
Rohingya children to get UNHCR cards in Bengal
The West Bengal government will distribute identity cards issued by the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to Rohigya children
lodged in the juvenile justice homes of the State.
- The move comes at a time when there are reports that
the Union government is planning to deport Rohingyas refugees.
- The UNHCR issues ID cards to registered refugees and
documents to asylum-seekers which help to prevent arbitrary arrests,
detention and deportation.
Rajasthan seeks nod to shift 2
tigers
Two tigers may soon be
relocated from the renowned Ranthambhore National Park to the Mukundara Hills
tiger reserve in Rajasthan, which has been waiting for the big cats since its
establishment in 2013.
- The State government has sought the Centre’s nod for
the shifting exercise.
- The Mukundara Hills, located in the Hadoti region of
south-eastern Rajasthan, is the third notified tiger habitat in the State,
after Ranthambhore and Sariska.
SC to hear Rohingya plea for help
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an urgent plea made by two Rohingya
Muslim immigrants against the government’s proposed move to deport their
40,000-strong refugee community back to their native Myanmar, where
discrimination and possibly summary executions await them.
- A plea was filed in the supreme court by Rohingyas
for protection of the life and liberty of their community. Petitioners
say, the Centre’s move to deport them violated the constitutional
guarantee that the Indian state should “protect the life and liberty of
every human being, whether citizen or not.”
HC freezes Jat quota law till
March 2018
The Punjab and Haryana High
Court kept in abeyance till March next year the implementation of a Haryana law
providing reservation to Jats and five other communities.
- It also directed the State Backward Classes
Commission to determine the quota in government jobs and education
institutions to be given to these communities after studying relevant data
and submit a report by March 2018.
- Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services
and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, 2016 was passed unanimously by the State
Assembly on March 29, 2016, and was notified in the official gazette on
May 12, 2016 by the State government.
- The new Act provided reservation under BC (C)
category to Jats, Jat Sikh, Mulla Jat/Muslim Jat, Bishnoi, Ror and Tyagi.
India-European FTA talks this month
India and the European Free
Trade Association (EFTA) are planning to shortly conclude their long pending
negotiations on FTA. So far, 16 rounds of negotiations have taken place, talks
for which started in 2008. EFTA members include
Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.
- The proposed agreement covers trade in goods
and services, investments, trade facilitation, Customs cooperation,
protection of intellectual property and public procurement.
- Under an FTA, trading partners give market access to
each other with a view to promoting bilateral trade in goods and services,
besides investments.
- India is negotiating similar pacts with several
other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Canada. It
has implemented FTAs with Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Asean, among
others.
Multi-mission aircraft hangar
inaugurated
Indian Coast Guard
Director-General Rajendra Singh inaugurated a multi-mission aircraft hangar at
the Coast Guard Air Enclave, giving a boost to the futuristic expansion of
ICG’s air operation.
- The ICG’s air assets, including two Dornier
aircraft, at Bhubaneswar will swiftly respond to maritime contingencies at
extended ranges, ensuring the safety and security off the coast of Odisha
- According to ICG, the Centre has approved a Rs.
32,000-crore plan that will give more teeth to the security agency. The
Coast Guard aims to improve its force level to 175 ships and 110 aircraft
by 2022.
APEDA developed Hortinet
To harness the potential of mobile technology, APEDA has developed a mobile app- Hortinet- to allow farmers to apply on-line to facilitate their farm
registration, tracking the status of application & approvals by State
Government and Lab sampling by authorized Laboratories.
- This mobile app initiative is expected to increase
the accessibility and reach of the Traceability software system among the
farmers and other stakeholders.
Kenya’s presidential vote
annulled
Kenya’s Supreme Court
nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta’s election win citing irregularities and
ordered a new poll within 60 days.
- A rare move in Africa where judicial power is often
seen as an extension of government.
- The ruling, broadcast to a stunned nation on
national television, sets up a new race for the presidency between
Kenyatta, 55, and veteran opponent Raila Odinga, 72.
- For the first time in history of African
democratisation a ruling has been made by a court nullifying irregular
elections for the President.
Sri Lanka bans plastic after
garbage crisis
Sri Lanka banned plastic
bags and other disposable products after the collapse of the island’s biggest
dump led to a rubbish disposal crisis.
- Many blamed the haphazard use of plastic, which was
also cited in flash flooding in the capital after storm water drains
became clogged.
Scientists spot ‘spiders’ on
Mars
As many as 10,000 citizen
scientists have helped discover landforms known as ‘spiders’ on parts of Mars
where they were previously thought not to exist.
- The ‘spiders’ are named for their arachnid-like
appearance and are a type of land erosion where networks of cracks form on
martian soil, completely different to anything on Earth, researchers at
Oxford University in the U.K. said.
- The discovery was made by volunteers working on
behalf of Planet Four: Terrains, an online project hosted by Zooniverse,
the world’s largest and most popular people-powered research platform.
- Araneiforms — the scientific name for these features
— occur at the planet’s South Pole and form when carbon dioxide turns to
ice during the martian winter.
Instagram adds Stories feature
to mobile web
Facebook-owned Instagram
will now allow users to view its most popular feature stories, both on mobile
web and desktop.
- Initially, the feature will allow web users to view
Instagram stories posted by their friends and others they follow. Later,
the web version will allow you to post to stories too.
Pillay chosen as acting
Singapore President
J.Y. Pillay, an
Indian-origin veteran civil servant, appointed as Singapore’s acting President
until a new head of state is sworn in later this month.
- Mr. Pillay, 83, took over from Tony Tan Keng Yam who
completed a six-year term
Chargesheet in Agusta case
names Tyagi
The Central Bureau of
Investigation filed a chargesheet against retired Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi,
former Air Marshal J.S. Gujral and 10 others in the Rs. 3,700 crore
AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter case.
- Italian company Finmeccanica, its subsidiary
AgustaWestland and IDS Tunisia have also been named.
- The chargesheet alleged that the deal caused a loss
of €398.21 million (about Rs. 2,666 crore) to the exchequer. The agency
has invoked Sections 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the
IPC, read with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, against the
accused.
Adani, SAAB tie up to build
fighter jets
As the Indian Air Force
(IAF) gears up to issue a multibillion dollar tender for over a 100 single
engine fighter jets, the Adani group announced a collaboration with Swedish
defence major SAAB to manufacture Gripen fighter jets in India, if selected.
- However, the partnership would be contingent upon
Adani being shortlisted in the evaluation process.
- So far, Adani has no presence in the defence sector and no experience in the manufacturing space either. However SAAB and Adani officials drew attention to the latter’s experience in industrial engineering, system integration and mega project execution capabilities.
