Daily Current affairs - November 22nd, 2017 for all competitive exams
Dalveer Bhandari re-elected to International Court of Justice (ICJ)
India’s nominee to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Dalveer Bhandari has been re-elected to the fifth and the last seat of the world court after Britain withdrew its candidate from the election.
- This is the first time since the ICJ was established in 1945 that there will be no British judge in the ICJ. Bhandari received 183-193 votes in the General Assembly and secured all the 15 votes in the Security Council.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial body of the UN. Established in 1946 to replace the Permanent Court of International Justice, the ICJ mainly operates under the statute of its predecessor, which is included in the UN Charter.
The 15 judges of the Court are distributed as per the regions:
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ICJ
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Headquarters - The Hague, Netherlands
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Head - Hisashi Owada
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M-STRiPES app to get tiger numbers right
In the forthcoming All-India Tiger Estimation, to be taken up in December-January, the authorities are planning to use an app named M-STRiPES (Monitoring System For Tigers-Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) developed by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. Though the app has already been in place in some national parks, its usage and application has been made mandatory only now, for the fourth All-India Tiger Estimation.
- All these years, data pertaining to carnivore signs, pellets and status of habitat was manually recorded in the prescribed format on a paper by the field staff, but this exercise was prone to errors. With the availability of M-STRiPES, human error will be eliminated.
- The national tiger estimates are conducted once in four years, with the first conducted in 2006. That exercise pegged the tiger count at 1,411, with the statistical lower limit pegged at 1,165 and the upper limit, 1,657. In 2010, the count changed to 1,706, with 1,520 being the lower limit and 1,909 the upper limit.
- The Western Ghat landscape, comprising Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa, accounted for 776 tigers in 2014, with the Bandipur-Nagarahole-Mudumalai-Wayanad complex harbouring 570 tigers — reckoned to be the world’s single largest tiger population in a landscape.
- The last nationwide assessment, held in 2014, pegged the tiger figures across the country at 2,226. Karnataka alone was home to 400 tigers, a bulk of them in Bandipur and Nagarahole.
India, World Bank sign Rs.98cr loan pact for renewable energy
India and the World Bank signed a $98 million loan pact, and a $2 million grant agreement to help the country increase power generation capacity through cleaner, renewable energy sources.
- The Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks Project will finance Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA), to provide sub-loans to states to invest in various solar parks.
- The solar parks will be mostly under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s (MNRE) Solar Park Scheme. The first two solar parks are in the Rewa and Mandsaur districts of Madhya Pradesh, with targeted installed capacities of 750 MW and 250 MW respectively.
- Other states where potential solar parks could be supported under this project are in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana.
World Bank
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Headquarters
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Washington, D.C., United States
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President
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Jim Yong Kim
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CEO
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Kristalina Georgieva
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Meghalaya Governor seeks EC opinion
Meghalaya Governor Ganga Prasad has sought the Election Commission’s opinion on the disqualification of 17 legislators, who were holding charge as Parliamentary Secretaries, following the orders of the High Court.
- The matter was referred to the Election Commission of India as required under Article 192(2) of the Constitution of India on November 16 last.
- The High Court had on November 9 held invalid the Meghalaya Parliamentary Secretaries (Appointment, Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2005 for want of legislative competence of the State Legislature. The Act was struck down and the disqualifications were left at the hands of the Governor.
Imphal newspapers run blank editorials in support of 'Poknapham'
Prominent Imphal-based newspapers, including the daily that was burned down by alleged members of BJP’s youth wing, left their editorial columns blank on Monday in protest.
- Copies of vernacular newspaper Poknapham were set on fire by unidentified miscreants in front of the BJP’s party office at Nityapat Chuthek here on Saturday over allegedly disparaging content against the Prime Minister.
Shia Board submits ‘settlement’ before SC
Shia Waqf Board chairman Syed Waseem Rizvi has moved the Supreme Court for permission to place on record a “settlement” worked out by the Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board with a majority of non-Muslim stakeholders in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute.
- The application comes ahead of the scheduled hearing of the dispute in the Supreme Court on December 5.
- Under the settlement, the Ram temple could be built on the Ayodhya site while a mosque would be constructed in Lucknow.
India climbs 3 steps to 51 on IMD talent rankings
India has improved its ranking by three notches to 51 globally in terms of ability to attract, develop and retain talent while Switzerland topped the list compiled by leading global business school IMD.
- Globally, Europe continues to dominate the rankings, with Switzerland, Denmark, and Belgium being the most competitive countries.
- Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, Sweden and Luxembourg made up the top 10.
- The annual IMD World Talent Ranking covered 63 countries and assessed the methods the countries adopted to attract and retain talent.
- The rankings are based on a country’s performance in three main categories – investment and development, appeal, and readiness – and India was ranked 62nd, 43rd and 29th on these terms.
- From the BRICS bloc, China stayed in the lead with a ranking of 40, followed by Russia at 43 and South Africa at 48. Brazil was ranked just after India at the 52nd slot.
GoI signed MoU on Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY)
The Government of India has signed four Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the UDAY Scheme with the State of Nagaland and with Union Territories (UTs) of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu for operational improvements.
- These State/UTs have joined only for operational improvement and shall not undergo financial restructuring/issue of bonds under the scheme. With the above, UDAY club has now grown to 27 states and 4 UTs.
- An overall net benefit of approximately Rs. 551 crores, Rs. 18 crores, Rs. 13 crores and Rs. 10 crores respectively would accrue to the State of Nagaland & UTs of Andaman & Nicobar, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu by opting to participate in UDAY, by way of cheaper funds for capex, reduction in AT&C and Transmission losses, interventions in energy efficiency, etc. during the period of turnaround.
UDAY or Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojna was launched in November 2015 to help loss-making discoms turn around financially, with support from their State governments.
The UDAY scheme is aimed at bringing ailing power distribution companies (discoms) to a state of operational efficiency, with state governments taking over up to 75% of their respective discoms’ debt and issuing sovereign bonds to pay back the lenders.
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IIT Kharagpur alumnus among World’s Top 50 Thinkers in 2017
The Thinkers50, a global ranking of management thinkers, has named quality guru Subir Chowdhury among the world’s top 50 thinkers for the year 2017.
- IIT Kharagpur alumnus Chowdhury is currently the chairman and CEO of ASI Consulting Group, LLC.
- The Thinkers50 will publish the list for every two years, the ranking is a guide to which thinkers and which ideas matter now.
First Indo-Myanmar joint military exercise begins in Meghalaya
A group of 15 officers from the Myanmarese army started a six-day bilateral military exercise with their counterparts from the Indian Army in Meghalaya.
- This is the first ever joint training of the troops from the two neighbouring countries.
- The India-Myanmar Bilateral Military Exercise 2017 (IMBAX-2017) will take place at the recently created Joint Training Node of the Indian Army at Umroi, 30km away from Meghalaya capital’s Shillong.
- The exercise aims to train officers of Myanmar Army in various United Nations peacekeeping roles and task.
Sri Lankan prime minister to meet PM Modi
The Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe will be in New Delhi this week for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- Sri Lanka has become an important partner for India both in the neighbourhood and in the Indian Ocean region.
- Wickremesinghe will sign a MoU with India regarding developing energy and infrastructure projects in the eastern port district of Trincomalee.
- Ahead of his visit, Wickremesinghe had said that he hopes to boost economic ties with India.
India drops a plan to buy Israeli Spike anti-tank missiles
India drops the plans to buy Spike anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) systems worth Rs 3,200 crore from Israel.
- Instead of buying India asked the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to develop the ATGMs for the army’s infantry and mechanised infantry units to provide impetus to the Make in India plan.
- India was negotiating the purchase of 321 launchers and 8,356 fire-and-forget missiles with Israeli firm Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd.
China to mediate on Rohingyas between Myanmar and Bangladesh
China is positioning itself as a mediator in the dispute between Bangladesh and Myanmar over the Rohingya refugee crisis and recently announced a three-stage solution to the humanitarian calamity.
- First stage: Myanmar should impose a ceasefire and stop the persecuted Rohingyas from fleeing into Bangladesh.
- Second stage: Bangladesh and Myanmar should strengthen exchanges and find a solution “on the basis of equality”.
- The third stage involves asking the international community to help develop the backward Rakhine state in Myanmar, which is the home of Rohingyas.
- The Rohingya people are a Muslim minority group residing in the Rakhine state, formerly known as Arakan and are considered to be a variation of the Sunni religion. The Rohingya people are considered “stateless entities”, as the Myanmar government has been refusing to recognise them as one of the ethnic groups of the country.
New long-range missile likely to be introduced into China’s PLA next year
China’s next-generation ballistic missile with a proclaimed ability to hit targets anywhere in the world may be inducted into the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) early next year.
- The new missile the Dongfeng-41 also has a speed of more than Mach 10 and can use decoy devices.
- The missile which underwent another test the eighth since it was first announced in 2012 could be in the People Liberation Army’s line-up as early as the first half of 2018.
Tesla launches power bank for Android and iOS devices
Electric car maker Tesla introduced a power bank for Android phones and iPhones.
- Priced at $45 (Rs 3,000 approximately), the Tesla power bank features USB, micro USB and Apple lightning ports.
- The Tesla Powerbank looks similar to Intex IT-PB 2.5 k Power bank and various other portable chargers.
Nilekani joins Bill Gates at philanthropy high table
Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani and wife Rohini have signed the Giving Pledge pioneered by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
- They signed the Giving Pledge in the reflection of the growing enlightenment about philanthropy among India’s rising tribe of billionaires.
- Signatories to the initial commit to give away at least half of their wealth either in their lifetime or through their will.
- The only other Indians to have signed the Giving Pledge are Azim Premji of Wipro, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon and PNC Menon of Sobha Developers.
Ira Joshi appointed director general of Doordarshan News
Ira Joshi was appointed as the Director General of Doordarshan News following the retirement of Veena Jain, according to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- Earlier, Joshi was the Press Information Bureau director general.
- PIB DG Ghanshyam Goel has been made the new DG of Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), replacing Esther Kar, who was put on “compulsory wait”.
- Jain, who was appointed as the Doordarshan News DG in May 2015, had retired in August this year and All India Radio’s News Services Division DG Sitanshu Kar was given the additional charge of the post.
Trisha becomes UNICEF celebrity advocate
Actor Trisha Krishnan is the first actor from South India to be bestowed with the UNICEF celebrity advocate status.
- She will voice the rights of young people, especially girls.
- The actor will support the efforts to address problems faced by children in Tamil Nadu and Kerala such as anaemia, early marriage, labour and child abuse.
NDTV group CEO Narayan Rao passes away
V. L. Narayan Rao, group chief executive officer and executive vice chairperson at New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV), passed away.
- Rao, who played a fundamental role in the growth of NDTV, which runs a clutch of news and lifestyle channels, was associated with the company for close to 22 years.
- He joined the organization in January 1995 to look after human resources, administration and operations of NDTV and later joined the company board as executive director in 1998.
Rahul Rawail takes the appointment as IFFI jury chief
Director Rahul Rawail takes the appointment as head of a jury for the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which took off in Goa.
- Last week, Sujoy Ghosh made resign from the post of jury head of the Indian Panorama Section of the Goa film festival.
Ira Joshi takes the appointment as Doordarshan News director general
Press Information Bureau director-general Ira Joshi takes the appointment as the director general of Doordarshan News following the retirement of Veena Jain.
- PIB director general Ghanshyam Goel got a new role of director general of Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity.
- Jain, who was appointed as the Doordarshan News DG in May 2015, had retired in August this year.
Shiva Keshavan qualifies for 2018 Winter Olympics
Indian luger Shiva Keshavan qualified for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018 after earning the necessary five points at the ongoing Viessmann Luge World Cup 2017-18.
- The three-time Asian Cup gold medalist will make his sixth Winter Olympics appearance.
- Keshavan, who is also the President of the Olympians’ Association of India, is the first Indian to have qualified for PyeongChang 2018 in Luge.
Shreyasi wins women’s double trap gold at Shotgun Nationals
Shreyasi Singh bagged a gold, her second individual medal at the 61st National Shotgun Championship.
- Representing Bihar, Singh defeated Varsha Varman of Madhya Pradesh 92-87 to finish on the top of the podium.
- Singh had earlier won the bronze medal in women’s trap event.
