03 September 2017 Current Affairs
CERT-In issues alert on spread of new malware Locky Ransomware
Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) issued an alert on spread of new malware “Locky Ransomware” that can lock computers and demand ransom for unlocking them. The alert, issued on Cyber Swachhta Kendra , is a new wave of spam mails is circulating with common subject lines to spread variants of Locky.
Hockey India sacks chief coach Roelant Oltmans
Hockey India sacked national coach Roelant Oltmans of the Netherlands after a string of unimpressive outings at the international level. High Performance Director David John will be in charge till a suitable replacement is found for a smooth transition of the men’s team. The most notable performance for India under Oltmans was a silver medal at the Champions Trophy last year. He also guided the junior team to World Cup gold as an advisor.
Nirmala Sitharaman: India’s first full time woman Defence Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman (58) became first full time woman Defence Minister of India after she was promoted to the Union Cabinet. She takes charge of the crucial ministry from Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Ms Sitharaman is second woman to become Defence Minister of India. First was former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who was holding additional portfolio as Defence Minister from 1980-82.
Modi Cabinet reshuffled- 9 New Faces as Ministers
Nine new Ministers of state were inducted into the Union Council of Ministers. Four Ministers of state were elevated to the cabinet rank. They are Minister of State for Commerce and Industries Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State For Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines, Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office and secrecy to them at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The portfolios of the Ministers will be announced later.
Cabinet Ministers:
Nirmala Sitharaman: Former Minister of State for Commerce was given the portfolio of Defence Minister. Sitharaman is the first woman after Indira Gandhi to hold the portfolio of Defence Minister. Also, along with Sushma Swaraj, she is the only other woman in Narendra Modi’s cabinet.
Piyush Goyal: He was given the portfolio of Railways Minister and he also retains the Ministry of Coal.
Dharmendra Pradhan: He will continue to have charge of Petroleum and Natural Gas and will also be Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, which Rajiv Pratap Rudy gave up two days ago.
Muqtar Abbas Naqvi: He will continue to handle the charge of Ministry of Minority Affairs but as a Cabinet Minister.
Council of Ministers Reshuffled:
Suresh Prabhu: Former Railways Minister will be handling the charge of Ministry of Commerce.
Nitin Gadkari: Apart from Transport Ministry, he was given the charge of Ministry of Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation.
Uma Bharti: She was moved away from the Water Resources Ministry and was given the charge of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
Vijay Goel: He was moved from Sports Ministry and was given the charge of Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Statistics & Programme Implementation.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore: He was given the charge of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
New Faces in the Council of Ministers:
Hardeep Puri: Former diplomat was given the charge of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs as Independent charge.
RK Singh: Former Home Secretary and first time MP from Arrah in Bihar was given the charge of Ministry of Power and MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) as independent charge.
K J Alphons: Veteran bureaucrat, who led Kottayam to be first 100% literate town in India, was given the charge of Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY).
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat: Lok Sabha MP from Jodhpur (Rajasthan) is the new Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Shiv Pratap Shukla: Lok Sabha MP from Buxar in Bihar, was given the charge Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Satya Pal Singh: Former Mumbai Police Commissioner and first time MP from Baghpt (Uttar Pradesh) was given the charge of Development, and Minister of State in the Ministr of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
Virendra Kumar: Lok Sabha MP from Tikamgarh (Madhya Pradesh) was made Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority affairs.
Anant Kumar Hegde: Lok Sabha MP from Uttara Kannada (Karnataka) was made Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Outgoing Ministers:
The six outgoing ministers from the Cabinet include Kalraj Mishra (MoS MSME), Rajiv Pratap Rudy (MoS Independent Charge of Skill Development), Bandaru Dattatreya (Labour), Faggan Singh Kulaste (MoS Health), Sanjiv Balyan (MoS Water Resources) and Mahendra Nath Pandey (MoS HRD). Pandey was recently named BJP chief of Uttar Pradesh.
Tejasvi Duduka wins women’s singles of US Open Grand Slam Carrom tournament
25-year-old Tejasvi Duduka from Hyderabad won the women’s singles of U.S. Open Grand Slam Carrom tournament. Earlier, she had won the Telangana State Women’s singles title in Nizamabad. In the men’s singles, Vemuri Anil Kumar of India finished runner up for the second year in the U.S Open. It was won by former National Champion Radhakrishnan.
Five banks of BRICS nations sign pact for credit lines
Five banks of the BRICS Bank Cooperation Mechanism have agreed to establish credit lines in the national currencies and cooperate on credit ratings. The agreement to this effect was signed ahead of the BRICS Summit in China’s Xiamen city. Brazilian Development Bank, Vnesheconombank, Export-Import Bank of India, China Development Bank and Development Bank of South Africa signed the agreement in Beijing. Ahead of the BRICS summit, the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries has approved 1.4 billion US dollar loans for sustainable development projects in India, Russia and China.
Astronaut Peggy Whitson returns Earth after 288 days in Space
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut Peggy Whitson finishing a 288-day mission that put her over the top as the American who has spent the most cumulative amount of time in space. The oldest female astronaut in the history of space exploration was the first female International Space Station commander and holds the record for number of spacewalks by a woman.