Daily Current affairs - February 5, 2018 for all competitive exams
The HRD Ministry-appointed panel tasked with
drafting a new National Education Policy will submit its report by March 31.
- Informing
this, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Satyapal
Singh said that the Ministry will deliberate on the report and thereafter
suggestions of the committee will be presented to the Union Cabinet for
its approval.
The HRD Ministry has appointed a new
nine-member panel, headed by space scientist Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, to
work on a New Education Policy (NEP)
|
Green Good Deeds campaign launched by Environment Ministry
Green Good
Deeds campaign has been launched by the Environment Ministry to
sensitize the people and students, in particular, about climate change and
global warming.
- The
objective of the campaign is to restore and return the clean and green
environment to the next generation.
- The
Minister reminded the teachers of their “Green Social Responsibility”
(GSR), similar to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Referring
to the crucial role played by “Polio Sainiks” from municipal corporation
schools in the Pulse Polio campaign, he underlined the need for “Green
Sainiks” to broad-base the Green Good Deeds movement and to take it down
to the grassroots level successfully.
Indian Army launches Joint Training Node in Shillong
Indian Army launched an independent and
fully-integrated Joint Training Node (JTN) at Umroi cantonment in Shillong.
- It
aims at hosting foreign armies in joint military exercises.
- It
is the first of its kind in eastern command and is different from other
joint training centres in Belgaum, Varangte and Bakloh.
JTN has been envisaged keeping in mind the
conducive weather terrain offering optimal training environment, and has been
developed at par with training centres of leading armies of the world.
|
Railways to launch whistleblower
staff website
The 13 lakh Indian Railways employees will soon
get a platform, in the form of a website for “whistleblowers”, to directly
inform top officials, including the Railway Board Chairman.
- With safety being a priority area for the national
transporter, officials said the new anonymous reporting system would turn
every employee into the eyes and ears of the administration.
- The website will be directly monitored by the Railway
Ministry’s safety department, headed by Railway Board Chairman Ashwani
Lohani.
New Project to Control Pollution of River Sal at Navelin, Goa
The Centre has
sanctioned a new project to control pollution in River Sal at Navelim town in
Goa.
- The project was sanctioned by the Ministry of
Environment, Forest & Climate Change under the National River
Conservation Plan. The project would cost of Rs. 61.74 cr. Both the Centre
and State will share the cost on 60:40 basis.
- Under the project, around 32 kms of sewers will be laid
and sewage treatment plant of 3 million litres per day (MLD) constructed.
The project is scheduled for completion by January, 2021.
- The project will help in reduction of pollution load in
the river and improvement in its water quality, besides improving the
environment and sanitation in the town.
The Sal River is a small river in Salcete, Goa in India. The
river opens near Margao and passes through the villages of Benaulim, Navelim,
Varca, Orlim, Carmona, Dramapur, Chinchinim, Assolna, Cavelossim, Mobor and
drains itself into the Arabian Sea at Betul.
|
UP government with UNICEF launches DASTAK campaign
Uttar Pradesh State government in association
with UNICEF has launched massive door to door campaign DASTAK to
eradicate deadly Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanise
Encephalitis (JE) disease in the state.
- The war cry of DASTAK is 'Darwaja Khatkhatao,
AES aur JE ko bhagao'. In DASTAK
campaign, whole state machinery with the help of UNICEF will now literally
go door to door in 38 AES and JE affected districts which mostly fall in
the Tarai region.
Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) is characterized by
an acute onset of fever and clinical neurological manifestation
that includes mental confusion, disorientation, delirium, or coma
|
Japanese
encephalitis (JE) is an infection of the
brain caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). While most infections result in little or no
symptoms, occasional inflammation of the brain occurs. In these cases
symptoms may include headache, vomiting, fever, confusion, and seizures.
|
Pelican bird festival organized at Kolleru lake
Pelican Bird
Festival-2018 was recently organized at Kolleru lake. It was jointly organised
by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA) and Krishna district
administration.
- Kolleru lake is one of the largest fresh water lakes in
the country. It is located between Krishna and Godavari delta.
- It was declared as a wildlife sanctury in 1999. It is a
Ramsar site and is also listed as an Important Bird Area.
Mumbai airport jets into the record books
On January 20, the Mumbai airport created a world
record for single-runway operations by handling 980 arrivals and take-offs in
24 hours, or almost one flight every minute!
- With this, the Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji airport
bettered its own feat of 974 flights in 24 hours, recorded on December 6,
2017.
India has been invited as the Guest of Honour country for the
Janadriyah festival in Saudi Arabia
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will
embark on a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia starting from February 6.
- The Ministry of External Affairs said that during the
visit, Mrs Swaraj will be leading the Indian delegation for the
inauguration of the prestigious National Festival of Saudi Arabia.
- India has been invited as the Guest of Honour country
for the Janadriyah festival.
Al-Jenadriyah is a cultural and heritage festival
held in Jenadriyah near Riyadh in Saudi
Arabia each year, lasting for two weeks. It is organised by
the National Guard, and the first was held in 1985.
|
ISA, EBRD ink pact on solar energy
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) and
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have signed Joint
Financial Partnership Declaration for cooperation on renewable energy projects
around the world.
- The collaboration between the ISA and the EBRD would
also help funding of solar projects both in African and other countries.
The
International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of more than 121 countries,
most of them being sunshine countries, which come either completely or partly
between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
Headquarters:
Gurugram, India
Head:
H.E. Upendra Tripathy
|
UN Development Partnership Fund
India has
contributed an additional $1 million to the India-UN Development Partnership
Fund earmarked for South-South cooperation. The contribution aims to intensify
its partnerships with other developing countries.
- The India-UN Development Partnership Fund was set up as
a partnership between India and the United Nations Office for South-South
Cooperation (UNOSSC).
India-UN Development Partnership Fund Managed by UNOSSC,
the fund will support Southern-owned and led, demand-driven, and
transformational sustainable development projects across the developing
world.
|
Japan Launches Smallest Rocket Ever to Carry
Tiny Satellite into Orbit
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
(JAXA) launched the world’s smallest rocket with the ability to put a
tiny satellite into orbit. The rocket lifted off from the Uchinoura Space
Center.
- It carried a microsatellite TRICOM-1R, a
three-unit CubeSat weighing about 3 kilograms.
- This satellite launch was a re-flight of the TRICOM-1
mission, which was lost in SS-520’s failure in 2017.
IGNCA organizing international conference on Demetrios Galanos
Indira Gandhi
National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) is organizing an International Conference
on, ‘Demetrios Galanos and His Legacy’.
- The convention is being held in Delhi and Varanasi, in
addition to organizing the exhibition and folk music of Greece.
- The conference is being organized by Indira Gandhi
National Center for the Arts (IGNCA) under the Bharat Vidya Prayojana, a
long term academic program of the IGNCA.
- The aim of the conference is to focus on academic and
cultural exchanges between India and Greece made by scholars and artists
both Indian and Greek, in modern times since Demetrios Galanos.
Demetrios
Galanos (1760–1833) has a special place among the European Indologists of the
nineteenth century. He was the only one who stayed in India for 47 years, and
except for the first seven years when he lived in Calcutta, for 40 years he
lived in the city of Varanasi, mastering Sanskrit, Hindi and Persian, from
local scholars.
|
21st World Congress of Mental Health held in New Delhi
The 21st World Congress of Mental Health was
held in New Delhi with theme “Partnerships for Mental Health”.
- It was organised by World Federation for Mental Health
in partnership with Caring Foundation and other institutions. It was
inaugurated by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.
- This is for first time SAARC region hosted this
conference. It witnessed participation of over 1000 delegates from across
world. It held sessions on yoga, meditation and traditional approaches to
mental health.
Theme 2018
|
Partnerships for Mental Health
|
International Kala Mela begins in New Delhi
The First ever
International Kala Mela is being in New Delhi. The International Kala Mela has
been organised by the Lalit Kala Akademi in partnership with IGNCA of the
Ministry of Culture.
- The central objective of Kala Mela is to focus on
direct interaction between the artist and the connoisseur and also
educating and raising awareness about art, which has been the mandate of
Lalit Kala Akademi. This comprehensive outreach shall include the
participation of National, International level Artists/ Art Critics of
repute from all over the Globe.
The Lalit
Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art is India’s National Academy of Fine
Arts. It is an autonomous organization, established at New Delhi in 1954 to
promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, both within and outside
the country. It does so through providing scholarships, a fellow program, and
sponsoring and organizing numerous exhibitions in India and overseas.
|
Sushma Swaraj to visit Saudi Arabia from
February 6
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will
visit Saudi Arabia from February 6-8 during which she will inaugurate a
prestigious festival of the Gulf nation.
- Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh
Kumar said Ms Swaraj will inaugurate the Janadriyah festival on February
7.
- Saudi Arabia is home to more than 3 million Indian
people and ties between the two countries are on an upswing in the last
few years.
- Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest trade partner
after China, the US and the UAE.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades Wins
Re-Election for 2nd Term
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has
won re-election for a second term. The official final result after a
second-round run-off put the conservative incumbent on 55.99% of the vote,
ahead of Communist-backed Stavros Malas on 44%.
- Anastasiades has taken credit for steering the economy
of Cyprus to recovery after it was plunged into crisis in
2013 by its exposure to debt-wracked Greece and fiscal slippage under
a former left-wing administration.
Pressure grows on South African President Zuma
to step down
South African President Jacob Zuma is under
growing pressure to step down following talks with senior members of his ANC
party.
- Zuma, who faces corruption allegations, was replaced as
ANC leader by Cyril Ramaphosa in December.
- Analysts say party chiefs want to avoid a power
struggle that could split the ANC before elections next year.They are
expected to begin the process to remove President Zuma through a formal
recall or by introducing a motion in parliament.
“A Century is not enough”: Autobiography of Sourav Ganguly
Former Team India captain Sourav Ganguly’s
autobiography is soon-to-be-published and it is named “A Century is Not
Enough”.
- The book is co-authored by Gautam Bhattacharya and
published by Juggernaut Books.
- The book covers the ups and downs in more than a decade
long career of the former Indian captain fondly called ‘Dada’.
Jasprit Bumrah, Harmanpreet Kaur in Forbes
India 30 Under 30 List
Indian cricketers Jasprit Bumrah and Harmanpreet
Kaur as well India women’s hockey team goalkeeper Savita Punia and
shooter Heena Sidhu are among Forbes India 30 Under 30 list.
- Bumrah finished the year 2017 as the third highest
wicket-taker in ODIs with 39 scalps in 23 matches, whereas in T20Is he
grabbed 12 wickets in 11 outings.
- In December 2016, Harmanpreet became the first
Indian woman cricketer to play in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL).
Sindhu settles for silver, loses to Zhang in
final
Defending champion PV Sindhu failed to
retain the title as she went down fighting against world No. 11 Beiwen
Zhang of USA in the summit clash of India Open Super 500.
- Sindhu lost the final in three games 18-21, 21-11,
20-22 in one hour and nine minutes. It is the first major title for the
fifth seed American.
- It is the first major title for the fifth seed American
Zhang.
