Daily Current affairs - February 2, 2018 for all competitive exams
February 2 - World Wetlands Day
World Wetlands Day is celebrated every year on
2 February.
- It marks the adoption of the Ramsar Convention on
Wetlandsin 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar.
- The Standing Committee of the Ramsar Convention on
Wetlands approved the theme for World Wetlands Day in 2018 as “Wetlands
for a Sustainable Urban Future”.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of
International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an
international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use
of wetlands. It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It is
named after the city of Ramsarin Iran, where the Convention was
signed in 1971.
|
Govt makes PAN mandatory for all transactions over Rs.2.5
lakh
The government has made Permanent Account
Number (PAN) mandatory for those entity conducting financial transactions of
RS.5 lakh or more.
- Adding that an Aadhaar-like identity number is being
developed for enterprises, the government stated that PAN will also be
used as a Unique Entity Number for non-individuals from April 1.
Cover page of Modi’s Book ‘Exam Warriors’ was unveiled
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written a book
for students who are battling stress and anxiety during the examination season. The cover photo of the book was released on February 3rd
- The book titled ‘Exam Warriors’ mentions various means
such as yoga as a mean to fight examination stress.
PM launched Khelo India School Games
Khelo India
School Games as a part of the Khelo India Programme has been launched. The
mission aims to develop a sporting culture in the country, identify talents
from grassroots and groom them for international success.
- The Khelo India Games will witness athletes fight it
out in 16 disciplines at various venues in the Capital.
The Khelo
India programme has been introduced to revive the sports culture in India at
the grass-root level by building a strong framework for all sports played in
our country and establish India as a great sporting nation.
|
India joined Ashgabat agreement
India has been
admitted to Agreement on the Establishment of an International Transport and
Transit Corridor” between Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan signed on
April 25, 2011, known as the Ashgabat Agreement.
- All the four founding members have consented to the
accession of India and India’s accession to the Agreement will enter into
force on February 3, 2018.
- Accession to the Agreement would diversify India’s
connectivity options with Central Asia and have a positive influence on
India’s trade and commercial ties with the region.
The Ashgabat
Agreement aims to develop a shortest trade route between Central Asian
countries and Iranian and Omani ports. The Ashgabat Agreement has Oman, Iran,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as founding members. Kazakhstan has also joined
this arrangement subsequently. In October 2016, Pakistan also formally joined
the Ashgabat Agreement.
|
Bill to amend the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002
Government has
introduced Bill to amend the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 through
Finance Act, 2018. The Amendments aim at further enhancing the effectiveness of
the Act, widen its scope and take care of certain procedural difficulties faced
by the Enforcement Directorate in prosecution of PMLA cases.
- Amendment in definition of “proceeds of crime”: A key
proposed change is in the definition of “proceeds of crime”, which now
also allows the ED to proceed against assets of equivalent value located even
outside the country.
- In a move to de-link PMLA proceedings from those in
scheduled offences pursued by other agencies, an amended Section 45(1)
proposes uniform applicability of bail conditions, instead of only those
crimes listed in its schedule that attract more than three years’
imprisonment.
Prevention
of Money Laundering Act, 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to
prevent money-laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived
from money-laundering. PMLA and the Rules notified there under came into
force with effect from July 1, 2005.
|
Bhutan becomes second country to open consulate in Guwahati
Bhutan became the second country after
Bangladesh to open a consulate in Guwahati, the principal city of a state
trying to shake off the militancy tag.
Bhutan has already had a consulate in Kolkata
for years.
- The event coincided with the 50th anniversary of the
Bhutan-India relationship.
- Bhutanese foreign minister Damcho Dorji and
Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal opened the consulate in the presence
of Bhutanese PM Tshering Tobgay.
Bhutan
|
|
Capital
|
Thimphu
|
Currency
|
Indian rupee, Bhutanese ngultrum
|
Prime Minister
|
Tshering Tobgay
|
Maharastra approved New wildlife sanctuary at Ghodazari
The
Maharashtra government has approved Ghodazari in Chandrapur district as a new
wildlife sanctuary in the state.
- The sanctuary, in the North East of Tadoba, will
include 159 sq km of Brahmapuri forest.
Cochin Shipyard Limited Signs MoU with Russian
Firm USC
Cochin Shipyard Limited
(CSL) and Joint Stock Company United Shipbuilding Corporation
(USC), Russia have signed an MoU to collaborate and engage in Design,
Development and Execution of contemporary, State-of-Art vessels for Inland and
Coastal Waterways.
- The MoU will give a push to the Government’s
Make-in-India programme, as also its plans to develop eco-friendly and
economic transportation along India’s inland waterways and coastal
shipping routes under SAGARMALA.
UAE Launches World's Longest Zip Line
The United Arab Emirates has made a record
by opening the world's longest zip line, measuring 2.83 km in length.
Guinness World Records officials certified the zip line in Ras al-Khaimah.
- The Jebel Jais Flight takes thrill-seekers atop the
country's largest mountain peak, from a launch pad 1,680 meters
(5,512 feet) above sea level.
UAE
|
|
Capital
|
Abu Dhabi
|
Currency
|
UAE Dirham
|
King
|
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
|
Canada has modified its national anthem to make it
gender-neutral
Canada’s Upper House of Parliament has passed a
bill to modify the country’s national anthem in a bid to make it
gender-neutral.
- The words “thy sons command” in the second line of the
anthem will be replaced with “all of us command”.
Canada
|
|
Capital
|
Ottawa
|
Currency
|
Canadian dollar
|
Prime minister
|
Justin Trudeau
|
Rwanda Becomes 1st Poor Country to Provide Eye
Care For All
Rwanda has become the first low-income
country to provide universal eye care for its 12 million population.
- The government has partnered with the
organisation Vision for a Nation (VFAN) to train more than 3,000
eye care nurses based in 502 local health centres, prescribing glasses and
referring those with serious eye problems to national clinics.
Rwanda
|
|
Capital
|
Kigali
|
Currency
|
Rwandan Franc
|
Prime minister
|
Paul kagame
|
NGO allowed to receive foreign funds
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which
cancelled the FCRA licence of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), the
country’s largest public health advocacy group last year, has now allowed the
NGO to receive foreign funds by “prior permission.”
- Its notification said the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare has contributed Rs. 65 crore towards the corpus fund of the
foundation for setting up Indian Institutes of Public Health from its
budget.
- The notification also said that PHFI should utilise
such foreign contributions lying unused in its bank accounts strictly in
accordance with the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010.
- The NGO was barred from receiving foreign funds on the
ground, among others, that it used foreign contributions to lobby
parliamentarians, the media and the government on tobacco control issues,
which “is prohibited under the FCRA.”
- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is a major
contributor to the NGO.
Nepal gets a high Rs. 650 crore outlay
India’s annual financial allocation to Nepal for
2018-19 has nearly doubled under the Union Budget.
The External Affairs Ministry has been allocated
a total Rs. 15,011 crore, which indicates a marginal increase of Rs. 1,321
crore over the previous year’s grant.
- For India’s development and diplomatic engagement under
the ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, the Budget has allocated Rs. 5545 crore.
Bhutan is traditionally the largest recipient of Ministry’s allocation.
- However, the giant leap in allocation was for Nepal,
which received Rs. 650 crore from the Ministry. This year’s allocation is
the third consecutive and the largest increase.
- In 2016-17, Nepal received Rs. 332.72 crore, which was
increased to Rs. 375 crore last year. At Rs. 280 crore, Myanmar’s
allocation too has improved from Rs. 220 crore of last year.
32nd Surajkund International Crafts Mela Begins
The 32nd Surajkund International Crafts
Mela has begun in Faridabad, Haryana. The Mela is organized by
the Surajkund Mela Authority and Haryana Tourism. This fair was first started in 1987
- The 17-day cultural extravaganza will see a spectacular
showcase of regional and international crafts, handlooms, traditions along
with some mouth-watering multi-cuisine food for the visitors. This
year Uttar Pradesh is the theme state and Kyrgyzstan is the
Partner Nation.
Odisha won Geospatial world excellence award
Odisha has
bagged Geospatial World Excellence Award-2018 for successful IT application on
tracking of mineral production, dispatch and value accrued on real time basis
through its i3MS website based software.
- Geospatial World Excellence Awards initiated in 2007,
Geospatial World Awards is an internationally-acclaimed private award
recognizing exemplary innovations and practices in the global geospatial
industry. With the ceremony taking place at Geospatial World Forum every
year, Geospatial World Awards have recognized over 150+ individuals and
organizations till date.
Shesh Anand
Madhukar honoured with Sahitya Akademi Bhasha Samman award
Magahi writer
Shesh Anand Madhukar, who has been working extensively for the development of
the language, has been honoured with this year’s Sahitya Akademi Bhasha Samman
award.
- He is the second writer of Magahi language to be given
the award.
Sahitya
Akademi currently honours writers from 24 regional languages, but Bhasha
Samman identifies those languages which are equally spoken in different parts
of the country. The award is an attempt to make the writers of other
languages feel equally important. The award comprises a Rs 1 lakh cheque and
a memento.
|
IOA Joint Secretary Vikram Singh Sisodia Named
Chef-de-Mission for CWG
The Indian Olympic Association
(IOA) appointed its joint secretary Vikram Singh Sisodia as
the Chef-de-Mission for the upcoming Commonwealth Games to be held in Gold
Coast, Australia.
- The IOA also appointed three team managers to accompany
Sisodia and help him in the day-to-day duties during the Games. Sisodia is
also currently the president of Chhattisgarh State Tennis
Association.
Neelam Kapur Appointed DG of Sports Authority
of India
Senior-most Indian Information Service (IIS)
officer Neelam Kapur was appointed Director-General of Sports
Authority of India (SAI).
- She is at present the Principal Director General of the
Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP). It is for the first time that
an IIS officer has been appointed as SAI chief. The post is usually
held by an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.
India Open Boxing: Mary Kom Clinches Gold,
India Bag 10 Medals
The five-time World Champion MC Mary
Kom claimed the gold medal in the India Open International Boxing
tournament at Thyagraj Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.
- She defeated Josie Gabuco from the
Philippines in a split 4-1 decision to grab the gold in the women's
48kg weight category.
