Daily Current affairs - September 6th, 2017 for all competitive exams
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
pitched for a coordinated action on counter-terrorism, cybersecurity and
disaster management, as he suggested 10 “noble commitments” through which BRICS
could achieve leadership in global transformation.
10 noble commitments
suggested by Mr. Modi were:
creating a safer world,
creating a greener world, creating an enabled world, creating an inclusive
world, creating a digital world, creating a skilled world, creating a healthier
world, creating an equitable world, creating a connected world and creating a
harmonious world.
Govt. launched Diksha Portal
The government has launched Diksha Portal “diksha.gov.in” – National
Digital Infrastructure for Teachers. Through this portal, all teachers across
the nation will be equipped with advanced digital technology.
DIKSHA Portal is an initiative of HRD
ministry for providing a digital platform to teacher to make their
lifestyle more digital.
Diksha portal launched with a tagline “National Digital Infrastructures for Our Teacher Our Teacher”.
UJALA scheme launched in Melaka, Malaysia
India’s zero-subsidy UJALA programme has paved the way for a brighter
future and has now travelled to Malaysia. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), under Ministry
of Power, Government of India has launched UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable
Lighting for All) Scheme in the State of Melaka, Malaysia. The scheme has seen successful implementation in the UK.
- With a fairly large switch to LED bulbs, Melaka will
also be able to reduce carbon emissions by around 19,000 tonnes per year.
- Under the scheme, each household in Melaka will get
10 high quality 9-watt LED bulbs at a cost of only RM 10 (10 Malaysian
Ringgit), which is a special price and is almost half of what in being
offered in the market.
- The main objective of the scheme is to promote
efficient lighting, enhance awareness on using efficient equipment which reduce electricity bills and help preserve
environment.
Modi in Myanmar on first
bilateral visit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
arrived on his first bilateral visit to Myanmar.
Mr. Modi had said India and
Myanmar would look at strengthening cooperation in security and
counter-terrorism, trade and investment, infrastructure and energy and culture.
he was looking forward to his visit to the heritage city of Bagan.
List of MoUs/Agreements
signed during State visit of Prime Minister to Myanmar:
- Maritime Security Cooperation.
- Cultural Exchange Programme for the year 2017-2020.
- Enhancing the Cooperation of the Upgradation of the
Women's Police Training Centre at Yamethin, Myanmar.
- Sharing White Shipping Information between the
Indian Navy and Myanmar Navy
- Providing Coastal Surveillance System
- Cooperation in Medical Products Regulation.
No move to fix national minimum wage at Rs. 18,000/month:
Govt
Seeking to clear the air, the labour ministry has clarified that the Centre
has not fixed Rs 18,000 as national minimum monthly wage under the Code on
Wages Bill. It also denied any move to revise the formula of fixing wages by
increasing the number of family members from three to six, as demanded by trade
unions.
- The statement comes as a big relief to employers who
have been “apprehensive” about the move, saying it would affect their
competitiveness, but deals a blow to trade unions, who have been demanding
higher minimum wages and a revised unit-based formula for fixing wages
from three members of a family to six, including dependent parents.
National Nutrition Strategy
With a renewed focus on nutrition, NITI Aayog has launched the National Nutrition Strategy.
- The recently published NFHS-4 results reflect some
progress, with a decline in the overall levels of under nutrition in both
women and children. However, the pace of decline is far below what
numerous countries with similar growth trajectories to India have
achieved.
- The nutrition strategy envisages a
framework wherein the four proximate determinants of nutrition– uptake of health services, food, drinking water &
sanitation and income & livelihoods – work togetherto accelerate
decline of under nutrition in India. Currently, there is also a lack of
real time measurement of these determinants, which reduces our capacity
for targeted action among the most vulnerable mothers and children.
Joint secretaries vested with
financial powers
In a first, the Home
Ministry has given financial powers to joint secretaries. They can now spend up
to Rs. 50 crore for executing works and purchasing land.
- Joint secretaries have also been allowed to make
procurement through open or limited tender of up to Rs. 20 crore and
procurement through negotiated or single tender or proprietary contract of
up to Rs. 5 crore
- Such financial powers have been given to bring
greater flexibility in operations, reduce delays and facilitate quick
decision on matters involving financial expenditure. The decision has been
taken by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, who assumed charge on August
31.
TRAI recommends delicensing of some spectrum for M2M
services
In order to facilitate the smooth roll-out of machine-to-machine (M2M)
communications utilising licence exempt airwaves, sectoral regulator
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recommended delicensing of a
chunk of spectrum in a few bands.
- M2M is the basis for automated information exchange
between machines and can impact various industry verticals like smart
city, smart grid, smart water, smart transportation, smart health
etc. The government has also recognized the potential of M2M and
emphasized the same in National Telecom Policy 2012.
U.S. ends amnesty scheme for
young immigrants
The Donald Trump
administration discontinued an Obama-era immigration reform measure that
protected from deportation people who had entered the U.S. illegally as
children.
- The former President had introduced the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as an interim relief even as a debate
on a comprehensive immigration reform to address the status of 11 million
undocumented residents in America was caught in a political logjam for
years.
Undersea line from Iran to port cheap gas
A 1,300-km undersea pipeline from Iran, avoiding Pakistani waters, has been
proposed to port cheap gas. It is said that this pipeline can bring natural gas
from the Persian Gulf to India at rates less than the price of LNG available in
the spot market.
- As per the proposal, the pipeline can first travel
to Oman, and then onwards to Porbandar in the state of Gujarat.
- The pipeline is planned to carry 31.5 million
standard cubic meters gas per day and will be built in two years from the
date of necessary approvals and a gas sale and purchase agreement (GSPA)
being signed.
India to flag worry on pace of services talks at RCEP
At the forthcoming ministerial-level meeting on the proposed Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) involving 16 Asia-Pacific nations, India has decided to raise
concerns regarding the ‘slow’ pace of negotiations on services trade
liberalisation as opposed to ‘higher priority’ being accorded to commitments to
open up goods trade in the region.
- India is upset that other RCEP nations seem to be
focused more on “extracting as much (binding commitments) as possible on
eliminating tariffs to open up goods trade”, instead of sticking to the
RCEP ‘Guiding Principles and Objectives’ which state that the
“negotiations on trade in goods, trade in services, investment and other
areas will be conducted in parallel to ensure a comprehensive and balanced
outcome.”
- RCEP is between the ten member states of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Burma (Myanmar),
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
Vietnam) and the six states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs (Australia,
China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).
- RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.
