04 August 2017 Current Affairs
Santosh Mohan Dev, former Union minister, dies at 83
Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Santosh Mohan Dev has passed away in Silchar, Assam. He was the son of freedom fighter Satindra Mohan Dev. Santosh served as the Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises under the UPA-1 government led by Manmohan Singh. He was the Minister of State for Communications from 1986-1988 and Minister of State for Home from 1988 to 1989. The seven-time Congress MP is survived by his wife and four daughters, including Sushmita. Dev was first elected to the Parliament in 1980. Out of the seven term as the Lok Sabha MP, he represented Silchar, Assam, five times and twice from Tripura.
Devendra Chawla appointed EVP and COO of Walmart India
Wal-Mart India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., has appointed Devendra Chawla as chief operating officer and executive vice president. Chawla had last month resigned from Future Consumer, a part of Kishore Biyani-led Future Group, where he was the CEO. Devendra will lead merchandising, marketing, and omni channel functions for Walmart India’s cash and carry business.
MCX inks MoU with Mahindra Agri for data on farm pricing
Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX) and Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mahindra and Mahindra, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide agriculture related price information. This information would be available on their recently launched mobile application- ‘MyAgriGuru’, which is available for free on Google play store. This MoU would enhance the decision-making ability of the farmers further. To start with, MCX will be providing price information, open interest information, spot price, future price and derived data (analytics) for all the agri commodities namely – CPO (crude palm oil), cotton, cardamom and mentha oil.
Patanjali Teams Up With FB, Google for Digital Push
Patanjali Ayurved Ltd., the herbal products manufacturer founded by yoga guru Baba Ramdev collaborates with Google and Facebook, Patanjali is for the first time investing in advertisements tailored for online audiences. By June, views for Patanjali on YouTube climbed to 15 crore from 30 lakh, according to the official. Searches for Patanjali products on Google have gone up 11 times in the past four years and three-fold over the past three years. The live interactions, promotional campaigns, and reducing the 30-second ad duration to six seconds for the Facebook audience paid off for the company as it received more than 80 per cent favourable response from the youths in Karnataka, Odisha, and Punjab.
Karnataka Bank to offer 5% for savings bank deposits over Rs 1 cr
Karnataka Bank has raised interest rates on savings bank account for large balance above Rs 1 crore to 5% while for small balances below Rs 1 lakh, the bank has reduced it to 3%. Earlier the private bank was charging 4% irrespective of the amount in the account. Karnataka Bank has said that the bank will offer 4% on deposits in savings account between Rs 50 lakhs and Rs 1 crore. For deposits between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50 lakhs, the bank will offer 3.5%. The reduction in rate will be with immediate effect.
WCD Ministry launches contest for logo design for ‘Women of India Festival’
The Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched a contest for designing a logo for the ‘Women of India Festival’, which is scheduled to be held at Dilli Haat in New Delhi in October 2017. The festival is being organised and fully funded by the Ministry as a part of their major initiative of economic empowerment of women. The festival lays a platform for designers who aspire to see their creation displayed on a National platform. Details of the contest have been made available on the official social media accounts (Facebook and Twitter) of the Women and Child Development Ministry. The last date to submit entries is 21 August 2017.
Non-Performing Teachers will be forced to Retire in Bihar
The Bihar government has informed that it has decided to compulsory retirement to the non-performing head masters, teachers and education department officials above the age of 50 years. The decision was taken after the review of the Education department by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. According to the Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar the state government is in process of identifying non-performing institutions and all those responsible for the poor show will be given compulsory retirement. He informed that those teachers having failed thrice in assessment test would be removed or will be given compulsory retirement, as per government norms.
Mohammad Mustafa appointed as CMD of SIDBI
Senior bureaucrat Mohammad Mustafa was appointed as Chairman and Managing Ditrector (CMD) of the Small Industries Developent Bank of India (SIDBI). His appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) for a period of three years. Prior to this appointment, Mustafa was working as a Joint Secretary in Department of Financial services. Mustafa is 1995 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.
Aadi Perukku Festival Celebrated in Tamilnadu
Aadi Perukku is celebrated for the birth of the Tamil month of Aadi. This is the beginning of all the festivals during the festival seasons. The Aadiperukku festival was celebrated with religious fervour in the towns of Mettur, Poolampatti etc situated on the banks of River Cauvery. During the month of Thai and Aadi the sun changes directions so it is celebrated Aadi Perukku festival celebrated in Tamilnaduin that way. The 18th day of Aadi is observed as ‘ Aadiperukku’, a day of offerings and prayers to the water bodies like rivers and lakes.
Govt inks MoA to set up IRRI’s regional centre in Varanasi
The Agriculture Ministry signed a Memorandum of Association (MoA) for setting up a regional centre of the global rice research institute IRRI in Varanasi to develop high- yielding rice varieties. The Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which has offices in 17 countries, is known for its work in developing rice varieties that contributed to the green revolution in 1960s. IRRI’s South Asia Regional Centre will be set up at the campus of National Seed Research and Training Centre (NSRTC) in Varanasi. The MoA was signed between Agriculture Secretary Shobhana K Patnaik and IRRI Director General Matthew Morell.
USISPF set up to deepen Indo-US ties
A new representative body US- India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) is being set up to enhance business relations between India and US. The body will work with businesses and government leaders to achieve its goals of driving economic growth, job creation, innovation, inclusion and entrepreneurship. Mukesh Aghi will serve as a USISPF President while GauravVerma will serve as Chief Operating officer. USISPF’s board of directors will include Chairman John Chambers (Executive Chairman, Cisco), Vice-Chairs Punit Renjen (Global CEO, Deloitte LLP) and Edward Monser (President, Emerson Electric), and board members Indra Nooyi (Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo), and Ajay Banga (President and CEO, MasterCard).
Airtel-Telenor receive NCLT nod for proposed merger
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the proposed merger between Bharti Airtel and Telenor India. Bharti Airtel in June received nod from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi), BSE and the National Stock Exchange of India. Airtel would take over its spectrum in all seven circles – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam. It would also acquire its licences and operations, including its employees and customer base of 44 million. It will also enable Airtel to bolster its spectrum footprint in the seven circles, with the addition of 43.4 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz band.
Hemant Narayan Bhagwat appointed Air Officer-in-charge Administration of IAF
Air Marshal Hemant Narayan Bhagwat took over as Air Officer-in-Charge Administration (AOA) of Indian Air Force at Air Headquarters in New Delhi. Air Marshal Bhagwat, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) and Vayu Sena Medal (VM) awardee, was commissioned in Administrative branch of the Indian Air force in June 1981. Prior to assuming the appointment of AOA, he served as the Director General (Works & Ceremonials) at Air HQ. He was commissioned by Chief of Air Staff in 1999 and was awarded Vayu Sena Medal by the President of India in 2005 for his contribution to paratrooping field.
Book Tatkal Train tickets now & Pay later: Indian Railways
Indian Railways has announced that people can book now & pay later for tickets booked under the tatkal quota on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) website. Till now, this service was available only for general reservations. The book now and pay later mode enables customers to book tatkal e-ticket and pay the fare within a period of 15 days. While booking an e-ticket, the customer will be provided with an ‘ePaylater’ scheme and a service charge of 3.5 per cent will be levied on the transaction amount along with other taxes.
2nd Agri UDAAN accelerator program launched in New Delhi
In an attempt to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture, Government launched the 2nd AGRI-UDAAN program in New Delhi. It will mentor start-ups and help them connect with potential investors. The program focuses on catalyzing scale-up stage food and agribusiness start-ups through rigorous mentoring, industry networking and investor pitching. This 6-month program is a unique platform for scale up stage innovators, entrepreneurs and startups in the Food and Agribusiness sectors. Top 40 startups will be shortlisted and allowed to pitch in front of the panel of evaluators during cohort finalization program.
Neymar becomes world’s most expensive footballer at Rs 1,680 crore
Brazil’s Neymar has become the world’s most expensive footballer, with Paris Saint-Germain signing him for a five-year deal from Barcelona for a fee of Rs1,680 crore (€222 million). The 25-year-old, who scored 105 goals in 186 Barcelona appearances, will earn Rs6.5 crore-a-week before tax. His transfer fee is more than double that of Paul Pogba’s record move to Manchester United.
ISRO, NASA working towards completion of NISAR mission by 2021
The Indian Space Research Organistaion (ISRO) is working along with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to co-develop and launch a dual frequency synthetic aperture radar satellite in the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission 2021. The satellite will be the first radar imaging satellite to use dual frequency and it is planned to be used for remote sensing purposes, to observe and understand natural processes of the Earth. In the joint mission, NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory will be responsible for the design & development of L-band SAR, a 12m unfurlable antenna & its deployment elements, GPS system and data recorder. ISRO will be responsible for the design & development of S-ban SAR, Spacecraft Bus, data transmission system, Spacecraft integration & testing, launch using GSLV and on-orbit operations.
Japan-India Coordination Forum held in New Delhi
The first meeting of the Japan-India Coordination Forum (JICF) for Development of North-Eastern Region was held in New Delhi. Secretary, Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), Shri Naveen Verma led the Indian side while the Japanese delegation was led by the Japanese Ambassador to India, Mr. Kenji Hiramatsu. Priority areas of cooperation identified by Indian side including Connectivity and Road Network Development, especially inter-State roads & major district roads; Disaster Management; Food Processing; Organic Farming and Tourism were discussed in the meeting.
Govt to develop green airports in Andhra Pradesh
As a part of Government of India’s initiative to develop green airports, two airports in Andhra Pradesh-Tirupati and Vijayawada are going to go completely green. The work on the same has already begun with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) commencing the process of intalling 1 Mega Watt solar power plant at both the airports. The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) in Kerala is the first airport in the world to be completely powered by solar energy.
US Senate confirms appointment of three Indian Americans
Three Indian-Americans picked by President Donald Trump have been cnfirmed by the US Senate to key governmental posts. While Neil Chatterjee was confirmed as the member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a body that oversees electricity, natural gas and oil at the national level, Vishal Amin got confirmed as the Intellectual Property (IP) Enforcement Coordination in the Trump administration. The third Indian- American to get confirmed to a key governmental position was Krishna R Urs, who was confirmed as the US Ambassador to Peru.
Telangana govt to use Artificial Intelligence for eye screening
Microsoft is tying up with the state of Telangana to use its artificial intelligence-based MINE platform to screen children for eye problems and prevent avoidable blindness. The government of Telangana and Microsoft had signed an MoU in November 2016 to use Microsoft’s cloud technology to drive citizen services and digital inclusion. The latest tie up is the result of an initial pilot to understand the health screening programme conducted under the National Health Mission. MINE -Microsoft Intelligent Network for Eyecare -is a global consortium of eyecare providers, research and academic institutions that will apply artificial intelligence to help in eyecare delivery.
Bengaluru Airport first to be first in India to get HeliTaxi service
Thumby Aviation, a private helicopter service provider, and Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) have partnered to launch HeliTaxi services from Bengaluru Airport. The helicopter service will initially be launched from Bengaluru Airport to Electronic City and gradually expanded to other parts of the city.