14 August 2017 Current Affairs
Make in India Seminar held in New Delhi
As a step in this direction, second Seminar on ‘MAKE’ projects for Indian Army was held on 12 Aug 17 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi jointly under aegis of Indian Army and Confederation of Indian Industry (Cll). During the course of the seminar, a round table interaction of various Directorates of Integrated Headquarters of MoD (Army) with industry reps was also held at the same venue. The seminar was attended by Senior Officers of the Army as well as from Ministry of Defence.
Ministry of Culture Organizes ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi Program’
To take forward the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a New India movement from 2017-2022, a Sankalp Se Siddhi (Attainment through Resolve) Program was organized at Coimbatore. Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge), Dr. Mahesh Sharma graced the occasion. The New India Movement 2017-2022 envisages an India free of Poverty, Corruption, Terrorism, Communalism, Casteism and Un-cleanliness. The participants took the New India Pledge of “Come, let us together pledge for building a New India by 2022, a Clean India, a Poverty-free India, a Corruption-free India, a Terrorism-free India, a Communalism-free India, and a Casteism-free India”.
T J S George bags first-ever Kesari Media Award
Veteran journalist T J S George has been chosen for the first Kesari Media Award, instituted by the Kesari Memorial Journalist Trust. The award comprises a purse of Rs 50,000, citation and a statuette designed by renowned artist Bhatathiri. A jury, comprising filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Asianet editor M G Radhakrishnan, Media Academy chairman R S Babu and Kesari Memorial Journalist Trust chairman C Rahim as members, selected the award winner.
HUL, Asian Paints in Forbes’ top 10 Innovative Firms List
Three major Indian companies including Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints and Bharti Airtel have been ranked among Forbes’s list of ‘The World’s Most Innovative Companies’. This is a weaker performance compared to last year, when five Indian firms were a part of the list. After two consecutive years in second place, Salesforce finally overtook Tesla Motors (No. 2), regaining the top spot as the world’s most innovative company – a title Salesforce had held from the list’s inception in 2011 to 2015. Amazon vaulted eight spots, emerging as No. 3 this year after 20 years in the public markets. Rounding out the top 5 are Shanghai Raas Blood Products (No. 4) and Netflix (No. 5). While HUL and Asian Paints have moved up in their ranks to seventh and eighth respectively (from 31st and 18th last year), Bharti Airtel has entered the ranking at 78th position.
WHO declares Somalia free of Polio
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Somalia free of polio. The UN Health agency announced that it had not recorded any case of polio disease in Somalia in the last three years. The declaration by WHO keeps Somalia outside the last group of countries which still record cases of polio in the world. Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan are the remaining countries where polio is still being recorded. The WHO stated that Somalia recorded the case of polio in 2014 in the central part of the country. However, since then it has remained free of the disease.Poliomyelitis, often called polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus.
‘Fete de Puducherry’ begins
A three-day annual cultural festival named ‘Fete de Puducherry’ organised by the government of India begins in Puducherry. The festival is held in association with the South Zone Cultural Centre (Tamil Nadu) every year to bring to focus the multi-faceted cultural features of various states. Artistes from Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Haryana,Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry would present programmes during the festival. The Puducherry government has been holding the festival since 1985 as part of celebrating Independence Day and also Liberation Day of Puducherry (August 16).
Gabriel chundan lifts 2017 edition of Nehru trophy
Gabriel Chundan won the 65th edition of the prestigious Nehru Trophy held at the Punnamda Lake in Kerala. The oarsmen of Gabriel Chundan lifted the trophy after a thrilling photo finish. While ‘Mahadevikkad Kattilthekkethil’ came second, ‘Payippad’ and ‘Karichal’, last year’s winner, secured the third and fourth spots respectively. Around 20 snake boats, known as chundan vallam in local parlance, took part in five heats in the event, which is held on the second Saturday of August every year. The members of the Ernakulam-based boat club dipped their oars in unison, leading the majestic Chundan (snake boat) to the finishing point, pushing fellow competitors behind.
Iran responds to US sanctions by voting to boost military defence
Iran’s parliament has voted in favor of boosting investment in its missile defence and foreign operations programmes by more than $500 million. The bill was passed with an overwhelming majority. Among 244 parliamentarians present, 240 voted in favour of passing the bill. The move is in response to the latest round of sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States of America. The US had imposed sanctions on the country after it conducted ballistic missile test in January 2017.
India’s First Online Course on Infusion Therapy launched
The Infusion Nurses Society (INS)-India in its 6th National conference launched country’s first online course on Infusion Therapy for nurses. INS is global authority in infusion therapy. Under the online course, the INS aims to train over 3000 nurses in the vital medical procedure. The course will enable members to access the various infusion therapy modules and presentations through its website.
Scientists discover 91 volcanoes underneath Antarctica
A group of scientists have uncovered the largest volcanic region on earth, only two kilometres underneath the surface of the vast ice sheet that covers west Antarctica. A paper published by a research team from Edinburgh University revealed that there are 91 volcanoes under the ice sheets in the west of Antarctica. These are in addition to the 47 already known in the region. The largest volcano stands at almost 4000 metres, which is taller than Aoraki Mount Cook (3724 metres tall), Which is New Zealand’s highest peak.
Coast Guard inducts new ship Shaurya
Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) ‘Shaurya’, the fifth in the series of six 105-metre Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), was commissioned in Vasco, Goa by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan. ICGS Shaurya is an offshore patrol vessel designed and built indigenously by Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL). It will be based at Chennai under administrative and operational control of Commander Coast Guard Region (East).
Prasar Bharati CEO given additional charge of Rajya Sabha TV
Shashi Shekhar Vempati, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has been appointed as the chief of Rajya Sabha TV. Rajya Sabha TV is owned and operated by Rajya Sabha and covers the proceedings of the upper house of the Parliament. Prasar Bharati runs Doordarshan television and All India Radio. Vempati will replace Gurdeep Singh Sappal who has been serving as the CEO and editor-in-chief of Rajya Sabha TV since 2011. Sappal, also the officer on special duty to the vice-president of India, resigned earlier in July.
Scientists develop world’s first plant-based Zika vaccine
Scientists from US have developed the world’s first plant-based Zika vaccine that may be more effective, safer and cheaper than other vaccines against the mosquito-borne Zika virus. The vaccine was developed using proteins derived from Tobacco plant. Currently, there are no licensed vaccines or therapeutics available to combat Zika.
Maharashtra CM launches ‘Namo Yuva Rojgar Kendra’
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launched Namo Yuva Rojgar Kendra an initiative on the part of the state government providing job opportunities to unemployed youth in Mumbai. Under this programme, there will be various schemes including farmers weekly market, farmers mobile market and mother’s tiffin, enabling the people living in Mumbai to procure fresh and healthy food as well as farm produce directly from the farmers. These products will be made available with the help of mobile vans all over Mumbai and the information about the location of the vans is made available through an app.
Mairaj-Rashmmi pair bags gold at Asian Shotgun Championship
The Indian duo of Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Rashmmi Rathore eked out a narrow 28-27 win over the Chinese pair of Liu Jiangchi and Gao Jianmei. The host combination of Vladislav Mukhamediyev and Olga Panarina settled for the bronze. India finished the championship with a total of eight medals. Ankur Mittal had earlier won a gold in the men’s double trap and had also helped India bag the team gold in the event. Kynan Chenai won a bronze in the men’s trap and also partnered Shreyasi Singh to claim the trap mixed team bronze. Maheshwari Chauhan clinched a bronze in the women’s skeet, along with a team silver in the event before the men’s skeet team picked up another bronze.
India-ASEAN Youth Summit Begins in Bhopal
The India-ASEAN Youth Summit begins in Bhopal. The event is being organised by Foreign Ministry, Madhya Pradesh government and India Foundation. Minister of State for External Affairs General VK Singh (in picture), and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated the five day Summit. The exercise will mark the 25th anniversary of the ASEAN-India dialogue partnership in the ongoing year and also the commemorative year’s theme of “Shared Values, Common Destiny”.