Daily Current affairs - March 16, 2018 for all competitive exams
PM Modi inaugurated the 105th Indian Science
Congress in Imphal, Manipur.
The theme for ISC 2018 is 'reaching the
unreached through science and technology'.
- This
event is being held in Manipur for the first time and for the
second time in the North-East. Earlier it was held at Shillong in
2009.
- The
104th Indian Science Congress was held in Andhra Pradesh.
The first meeting of the Congress was held from January
15-17, 1914 at the premises of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, with the
Honourable Justice Sir Asutosh Mukherjee, the then Vice-Chancellor of the
Calcutta University, as President.
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India’s GDP will touch 7.3% in next fiscal:
Fitch
Rating agency Fitch has projected India’s economic growth to
rise to 7.3% next fiscal and further to 7.5% in 2019-20.
- The
agency said the disruptions related to the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
rollout in July 2017 has gradually diminished.
- It
added the currency in circulation recovered to its pre-demonetisation
level in mid-2017 and is now increasing steadily.
Union health ministry announced LaQshya programme
The Union
Health Ministry has announced the launch of LaQshya, a programme aimed at improving quality of care in labour room
and maternity operation theatre.
- It
is an initiative to improve the quality of care in the labour rooms,
operation theatres and other mother and child areas in public health
facilities across the country.
- The
programme aims at implementing ‘fast-track’ interventions for achieving
tangible results within 18 months.
- Under
the initiative, a multipronged strategy has been adopted, including
improving infrastructure upgradation, ensuring availability of essential
equipment, providing adequate human resources, capacity building of
healthcare workers and improving quality processes in the labour room.
India has
improved maternal survival as Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) reduced from 301
maternal deaths in 2001-03 to 167 in 2011-13, an impressive decline of 45% in
a decade.
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Social audit of child care initiated by National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights
The exercise
of conducting social audit of Child Care Institutions has been initiated by the
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). This is in pursuance of the
directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the matter of Exploitation
of Children in Orphanages in State of Tamil Nadu vs. UOI & Ors.
- The
Government has enacted the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Act, 2015 in order to further improve and strengthen the
condition of rehabilitation homes.
- Under
the JJ Act, 2015 several provisions have been included to improve the
condition of Child Care Institutions (CCIs) including those housing
children in conflict with law by providing for inspections of these CCIs
by Juvenile Justice Board; prescribing various rehabilitation and
reintegration services including skill development, recreational
facilities, mental health interventions, etc.
A child care
institution as defined under the JJ Act,2015, means Children Home, Open
Shelter, Observation Home, Special Home, Place of Safety, Specialised
Adoption Agency and a Fit Facility recognized under the Act for providing
care and protection to children, who are in need of such services. Children
in conflict with law are provided residential care and protection in
Observation Homes, Special Homes and Places of Safety.
The National
Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is a statutory body established under the
Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act in December 2005.
The commission works under the aegis of Min. of
Women and Child development.
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Haryana Assembly passed death penalty for child
rape
The Haryana Assembly unanimously passed a Bill which provides
for death penalty to those found guilty of raping girls aged 12 years or less.
- The
Criminal Law (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2018, moved by the State’s
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, was passed
- After
Section 376-A of the Penal Code, the following Section shall be inserted,
namely 376-AA
- Under
section 376-AA, in case of rape of a girl up to 12 years of age, there
will be a punishment of death or rigorous imprisonment of not less than 14
years which may extend to imprisonment for life that is for remainder
period of persons natural life, according to the legislation.
- A
provision 376-DA has also been added after section 376-D of the penal
code.
- Under
section--376-DA, if a girl upto 12 years of age is raped by one or more
persons constituting a group, each of those persons shall be deemed to
have committed the offence of rape and will be punished with death or
rigorous imprisonment for a term which will not be less than 20 years, but
which may extend to life along with a fine.
- The
Bill also provides for making the existing criminal laws related to other
sexual offences more stringent.
After Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, Haryana has become the
third State where the Assembly has approved the provision of capital
punishment for such sexual offenders
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TS, Assam highest underspending States
The highest underspending of funds at their disposal was seen
over the years in Telangana and Assam, an analysis of State of State Finances
report of RBI and individual State budget documents has revealed.
- At
the beginning of a year, the States estimate the total expenditure
proposed to be incurred during the year but the actual spending may vary
from the budget estimate.
- On
an average, the States have missed their spending target consistently by
7%. The underspending by Telangana was minus 27% while it was minus 25% in
the case of Assam. The report highlighted that there was some improvement
in spending in Telangana in 2016-17 as the unspent amount was reduced
to Rs.18,000 crore.
On health front, Telangana was expected to
spend the lowest (3%) while Delhi budgeted to spend the highest (13%). The
situation was no better in education where the State budgeted an expenditure
of mere 8.8%, against the lowest in the country in 2017-18, while Delhi
topped with an outlay of 24.9% for the sector.
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Maharashtra cabinet approves the ban on plastic
carry bags
The Maharsthra state cabinet approved the environment
department’s proposal to ban plastic carry bags and certain other items in
Maharashtra.
- The
ban was earlier set to come into effect on Gudi Padwa, but now it looks
like it will be enforced by the month-end with the issue of a
notification.
- The
ban covers disposable plastic cups, plates, spoons and flex, but excludes
garbage bin liners and PET bottles.
- The
highlight of the ban is that both manufacturers and users will be
penalized.
Andhra Pradesh Stands at 51st Position in
Global Multidimensional Poverty Index
Andhra Pradesh stands at equivalent to
51st rank globally in Multidimensional Poverty Index (2017) according to a
recent household survey conducted in the state.
- Andhra
Pradesh becomes the first Indian state to conduct an exclusive household
survey at state and district level to estimate the multidimensional
poverty of the state.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu
launched the Andhra Pradesh Multidimensional Poverty (MPI) Index Report 2017.
As per the report Andhra Pradesh has an index value of 0.0825 whereas
India as at 66th position with an index value of 0.1911.
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Sri Lanka lifts FB ban after it agrees to curb
hate speech
Sri Lanka has lifted its ban on Facebook after the social
media giant agreed to step up efforts to curb hate speech amid the ongoing
emergency in the country.
- A
10-day nation-wide state of emergency was imposed following clashes
between Buddhist and Muslim communities in the country’s Kandy district.
Sri Lanka lifted its ban on WhatsApp.
Flipkart transfers ownership in Flipkart
Logistics to Quickroutes
Flipkart Payments Private Limited, an arm of online retailer
Flipkart, transferred its ownership in Flipkart Logistics Private Limited to
Singapore-based Quickroutes International Private Limited.
- As
many as 4,12,435 equity shares held by Flipkart Payments in Flipkart
Logistics were transferred to Quickroutes in February 2017
Exports in February up 4.5% to $25.8 billion
India’s exports grew by 4.5% in
February-2018 to 25.8 billion dollars.
- It
was 24.7 billion dollar during the same period in February-2017.
- This
announcement was made by the Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia.
- During
April to February period of the current fiscal, exports recorded a growth
of 11% to $273 billion. Imports also rose by 10.4% to $37.8 billion
during the last month.
WEF released energy transition index
World
Economic Forum (WEF) has released the energy transition index as part of the report titled Fostering Effective Energy
Transition.
- The
index ranks 114 countries on how well they are able to balance energy
security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability.
- The
overall list was topped by Sweden, followed by Norway at the 2nd position
and Switzerland at the 3rd rank.
- Other
countries on the top 10 include Finland (4th), Denmark (5th), the
Netherlands (6th), the UK (7th), Austria (8th), France (9th) and Iceland (10th).
- India
has been ranked at 78th, lower than its emerging market peers like Brazil
and China.
- Among
its emerging market peers Brazil stood at the 38th place, Russia at 70th
and China at 76th place.
Annual Krishi Unnati Mela begins in New Delhi
The three-day annual Krishi Unnati Mela has
begun in New Delhi with a focus on doubling farmers’ income.
- The
objective of the event is to create awareness among farmers about the
latest agriculture-related technological developments.
- Lakhs
of farmers and agriculture scientists will participate in the mela.
The main theme pavilion will be based on Doubling of farmers income by
2022.
Fifth Smart City Summit on March 22 would host
in Hyderabad
Hyderabad would play host to another global meet ‘Smart City
Summit - SMART Urbanation’ to commemorate three years of the initiation of
Smart Cities Mission.
It would provide a platform for various stakeholders to
connect, review and consider steps on completing or taking up new projects
- The
event is being organised by the Council in association with several public
and private entities at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC)
at Madhapur on March 22 and 23. At the event, the stakeholders would analyse
the learnings and assess the impact of work taken up thus far under the
Union Government’s Smart Cities Mission.
The summit is expected to attract delegates from within the
country and across the globe, exhibitors and others. Apart from 50 noted speakers,
about 40 start-up smart solution demonstrations have also been lined up
during the two-day event
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8th Theatre Olympics will be held in Jaipur
Jaipur is
all set to be one of the co-hosts of the 8th Theatre Olympics, the largest international theatre festival to be
held for the first time in India.
- The
Jaipur chapter of Theatre Olympics 2018 is organised by the National
School of Drama (NSD) under the aegis of Ministry of Culture, Govt. of
India in collaboration with Ravindra Manch Society and Art & Culture
Department, Government of Rajasthan.
The Theatre
Olympics was established in 1993 in Delphi, Greece, on the initiative of the
famous Greek theatre director, Theodoros Terzopoulos.
It is an
international theatre festival, which is presenting some of the achievements
of the greatest theatre practitioners from around the world.
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Jackie Shroff's 'Shunyata' Wins International
Award in US
Actor Jackie Shroff's short film
'Shunyata' has won an award at Best of India Short Film Festival in
Los Angeles, US.
- The
22-minute fiction film directed by Chintan Sarda was selected to
be in top six from amongst thousands of entries and was played at a theatre
in Los Angeles.
- An
industry based jury then adjudged it the best film. The prize includes a
cash prize of $1,000.
Pranab Mukherjee foundation launched
The Pranab Mukherjee Foundation was formally launched, in the
presence of former President Pranab Mukherjee and a host of dignitaries,
including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, BJP veteran L.K. Advani and
Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
- Union
minister Piyush Goyal, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and
industrialist Ratan Tata were present.
- The
foundation, its brochure says, “will initiate, support and execute
projects that will create and use knowledge, creativity and innovation to
improve the quality of life in rural, semi-urban and urban areas and
contribute to the building of an inclusive India.”
Trump
announces Larry Kudlow as his new chief economic adviser
US President Donald Trump announced that Lawrence Kudlow will
be his new chief economic adviser and chairman of the national economic
council.
- Kudlow,
a prominent Republican economic analyst, will succeed Gary Cohn, who
resigned earlier this month.
- He
had earlier served in the budget office of former president Ronald Reagan
and had advised the Trump campaign informally.
Sangeeta Bahadur appointed next ambassador of
India to Belarus
Sangeeta Bahadur has been appointed as the
next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Belarus.
- She
is an IFS officer of 1987 batch.
- She
is currently Additional Secretary in Ministry of External
Affairs
Slovakia PM Robert Fico Resigns
Slovakia Prime Minister Robert Fico and his
government resigned as a way out of the political crisis triggered by the
slayings of an investigative journalist and his fiancee.
- Slovakia
President Andrej Kiska accepted the resignation.
- The
President has asked Peter Pellegrini, Fico's deputy prime
minister, to form a new government.
German President Steinmeier to visit India from
March 22
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will visit India
from March 22 to 25 with an aim to strengthen bilateral ties.
- It
will be his first visit to India as the German President.
- Apart
from his engagements here, Steinmeier, who will be accompanied by a
delegation of top German businessmen and indologists.
- He
had visited India several times in his former capacity as the Foreign
Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany.
The last German President to visit India was Joachim Gauck
in February 2014.
Germany is India’s largest trading partner in Europe and
the sixth largest trading partner in the world. India was ranked 24th in
Germany’s global trade.
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Deepa Malik Becomes Asian Rank 1 in Javelin
F-53 Category
Indian para-athlete Deepa Malik won a gold
medal in the F-53/54 category javelin event at the World Para
Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai.
- With
this, she became the Asian rank one in the F-53 category.
- With
the win, Deepa has also qualified for the 2018 Asian Para Games in
Indonesia, scheduled to be held in October 2018.
Jaffer 1st Indian aged 40+ to hit 250 in
first-class innings
Wasim Jaffer has become the first Indian over 40 years of age
to slam a 250-plus score in a first-class innings.
Vidarbha’s 40-year-old Jaffer achieved the feat by hitting an
unbeaten 285 in the first innings against Rest of India in the ongoing Irani
Cup.
Jaffer also surpassed 18,000 first-class runs, becoming the
sixth Indian to achieve the feat.
Sanjeevani Jadhav wins bronze in Asian Cross
Country Championship
Sanjeevani Jadhav clocked 28 minutes 19 seconds to clinch the
bronze medal in the Asian Cross Country Championship in Guiyang.
- The
Indian women’s team of Sanjeevani, Swati Gadhave, Jhuma Khatun and Lalita
Babar also won a bronze.
- The
performance of three best finishers of a country in the individual race is
considered for the team medal.
