Daily Current affairs - November 12&13, 2017 for all competitive exams
World Pneumonia Day was observed on November 12 with an aim to raise awareness about the disease and encourage concerted efforts to combat it.
Theme: Keep the Promise. Stop Pneumonia Now.
This day was first hosted in 2009 when over 100 organisations joined to form the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia. It's marked every year on 12 November to:
Theme: Keep the Promise. Stop Pneumonia Now.
This day was first hosted in 2009 when over 100 organisations joined to form the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia. It's marked every year on 12 November to:
- Raise awareness about pneumonia, the world’s leading killer of children under the age of five;
- Promote interventions to protect against, prevent and treat pneumonia; and
- Generate action to combat pneumonia.
November 13 - World Kindness Day
World Kindness Day is an international observance on 13 November. It was introduced in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement a coalition of nations kindness NGOs.
- It is observed in many countries, including Canada, Japan, Australia, Nigeria and United Arab Emirates.
- In 2009, Singapore observed the day for the first time. Italy and India also observed the day.
November 13 - Public Service Broadcasting Day
Public Service Broadcasting Day is being observed on November 13.
- The day is observed every year to commemorate the first and last visit of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi to the studio of All India Radio, Delhi in 1947.
Hausala 2017 celebrated by MoWCD
Hausala 2017 is the Child Rights Week celebrated by the Ministry of Women and Child Development from 16th to 20th November, 2017.
- The country celebrates the Children’s Day on 14th November and the International Child Rights Day is celebrated on 20th November every year. The period between the two important events will be celebrated as Child Rights Week by WCD Ministry by hosting an Inter CCI Festival for the children who reside in Child Care Institutions (CCIs).
- The commemoration of the festival “Hausala 2017” will provide an occasion to showcase the talents of children from CCIs from various child care institutions across the country and provide them with a space to express their dreams and aspiration.
Government launched its Second and last phase of BharatNet project
The Government will launch its second and final phase of BharatNet project to provide high-speed broadband service in all Gram Panchayats by March 2019. It will be implemented at an outlay of around 34 thousand crore rupees. Department of Telecommunications is organizing a National Conference in New Delhi in which it will sign MoUs with states for the implementation of the second phase of BharatNet.
- BharatNet shall be a project of national importance to establish, by 2017, a highly scalable network infrastructure accessible on a non-discriminatory basis, to provide on demand, affordable broadband connectivity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps for all households and on demand capacity to all institutions, to realise the vision of Digital India, in partnership with States and the private sector.
- The entire project is being funded by Universal service Obligation Fund (USOF), which was set up for improving telecom services in rural and remote areas of the country. The objective is to facilitate the delivery of e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking, Internet and other services to the rural India.
- The project is a Centre-State collaborative project, with the States contributing free Rights of Way for establishing the Optical Fibre Network. The three-phase implementation of the BharatNet project is as follows
- The first phase envisages providing one lakh gram panchayats with broadband connectivity by laying underground optic fibre cable (OFC) lines by March 2017.
- The second phase will provide connectivity to all 2,50,500 gram panchayats in the country using an optimal mix of underground fiber, fiber over power lines, radio and satellite media. It is to be completed by December 2018.
Project Saksham
Project Saksham is the country’s largest time-bound “upskilling” exercise for government employees launched by the Indian Railways.
- It aims to upgrade the skillsets of its 13 lakh-strong workforce with a single drive spanning nine months.
- The nature of the short-duration training will range from refresher courses, with an eye on evolved global practices in the respective areas, to skills in the existing lining of functioning.
Varanasi tops the List of Country’s Most Polluted City
When National Capital is hitting the headlines over alarming levels of pollution, a report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has found that the air quality of holy city Varanasi is most polluted among the 42 cities monitored recently.
- Varanasi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was at an alarming 491, followed by Gurugram at 480, Delhi at 468, Lucknow at 462 and Kanpur at 461.
- The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), statutory organisation, was constituted in September, 1974 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Further, CPCB was entrusted with the powers and functions under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
- It serves as a field formation and also provides technical services to the Ministry of Environment and Forests of the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
- Air Quality Monitoring is an important part of the air quality management. The National Air Monitoring Programme (NAMP) has been established with objectives to determine the present air quality status and trends and to control and regulate pollution from industries and other source to meet the air quality standards. It also provides background air quality data needed for industrial siting and towns planning.
HQ- New Delhi
Chairman - S.P. Singh Parihar, IAS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends ASEAN Summit in Philippines
Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the opening ceremony of the 31st ASEAN Summit in the Philippines’ capital Manila.
ASEAN Summit 2017 Theme: Partnering for Change, Engaging the World
- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
- Brunei Darussalam, Viet Nam, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Cambodia later joined.
Member Countries- 10
Head - President Rodrigo Duterte
ASEAN +3 : China, Japan and South Korea
East Asia Summit: Australia, India, Newzealand, Russia and US
State soon to have e-policing kiosks
The Kerala Police have mooted a project that might soon spare the public the trouble of trudging to a police station to file a pressing complaint such as the theft of their mobile phone, passport or automobiles.
- They plan to set up “virtual police stations or e-policing kiosks” at railway stations, airports, bus terminals, parks, public places, tourist spots, weekend destinations, and festival areas across the State.
China to build police station powered by AI, not humans
The Chinese government has announced that it will build an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered police station without any human personnel.
- The station will be open to the public 24/7 and will feature face-scanning technology to replace ID Cards.
- It will offer services specifically focused on issues with tests for drivers using a simulator, managing records and paperwork, among other activities.
China: Capital – Beijing, Currency –Renminbi ; President – Xi Jinping
Twitter expands display names limit
Twitter has more than doubled its count for users’ display names from 20 to 50 characters, days after the social media giant ended the iconic 140-character tweet limit.
- The change comes as a relief to many users who have bigger names or want to add colour to their names.
- Twitter is an online news and social networking service where users post and interact with messages, called "tweets.
Head- Jack Dorsey
Borut Pahor won President Election in Slovenia
Slovenia’s internet-savvy President Borut Pahor won the second term in a runoff vote that was marred by an abysmally low turnout.
- Centre-left ex-premier Pahor, 54, had been touted to win in October, but a record low 44-percent turnout triggered a repeat vote, with 1.7 million people called back to the ballot box.
Capital – Ljubljana
Currency - Euro
Bangladesh Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha resigns
Bangladesh’s first Hindu Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha has resigned after facing financial irregularities and money laundering allegations.
- Surendra Kumar Sinha led the Supreme Court to a landmark verdict which scrapped Parliament’s power to remove judges on grounds of misconduct and incapacity, in August 2017. This went against the government.
Indian Chef Vikas Khanna to open India’s first culinary museum in Karnataka
Indian Chef Vikas Khanna will launch India’s first living culinary museum at his alma mater, Karnataka’s Manipal University.
- The Rs.26-crore venture, which would formally open in April 2018, is aimed at preserving India’s rich culinary heritage.
- The living museum will keep on adding to its collection over the years and is expected to eventually display 10,000 objects.
Former Nepal PM Kirti Nidhi Bista passes away
Former Prime Minister of Nepal Kirti Nidhi Bista passed away at Kathmandu.
- He served as prime minister of Nepal from 1969 to 1970, 1971 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979.
Youth and Sports Minister released the India Youth Development Index and Report 2017
Youth and Sports Minister Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore released the India Youth Development Index and Report 2017 in New Delhi.
- The Index enables recognizing the high and low performing states, identifies the weak domains and informs the policy makers the priority areas of intervention for youth development in the states.
- The Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, an Institute of National Importance has come out with Youth Development Index and Report 2017.
- The objective of constructing the index is to track the trends in youth development across the States.
Dhoni inaugurates academy in UAE
World Cup-winning captain M.S. Dhoni inaugurated his first global cricket academy in the bustling metropolis.
- The academy, jointly launched by Dubai-based Pacific Sports Club and Aarka Sports Club, has been in operation for a couple of months at the Springdales School in Al Quoz.
- The facility named the M.S. Dhoni Cricket Academy (MSDCA) will have coaches from India.
Mithali Raj named Sportswoman of the Year
Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj bagged the Indian Sportswoman of the Year (Team Sports) award at the Indian Sports Honours (ISH) event held in Mumbai.
- Further, Mithali-led Indian team, which ended as runners-up in the World Cup, won the Team of the Year award.
Sebastian Vettel won the Brazilian Grand Prix title
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel overtook Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas on the first turn of the circuit to go on and win his fifth race of the season in the form of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who had clinched his fourth world title two weeks ago in Mexico City, began last but managed to finish fourth.
Pankaj Advani wins 17th World Billiards Championship title
Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani clinched his 17th world title after he thrashed his arch-rival Mike Russell of England in the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Doha.
- Advani beat Russell 6-2 to defend the 150-up format title he had won in Bengaluru last year.
