Current Affairs Daily Digest – August 16′ 2017

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  1. First woman officer to get gallantry award in Army

Major Mitali Madhumita has became the first woman officer to receive a gallantry award in the Army.

She was honoured along with 21 Army personnel for acts of bravery and distinguished service at the military station here during the South Western Command Investiture Ceremony. Major Madhumita became the first woman officer to get the Sena Medal (Gallantry

Two Yudh Seva medals, nine Sena medals (Gallantry), two Sena medals (Distinguished) and eight Vishisht Seva medals were presented by General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Command, Lieutenant General S. K. Singh.

  1. Sankara Rao to be IFCI Chief Executive

IFCI Ltd, a government company, is set to have a new Managing Director & CEO in E Sankara Rao, who is currently Chief General Managerat India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL).

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has given its nod for the Department of Financial Services (DFS) proposal to appoint Emandi Sankara Rao as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of IFCI Ltd, official sources said.

Rao is also currently a director and chief executive officer at IIFCL Asset Management Company Ltd. Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) Limited established  on 01st July 1948.

IFCI Limited is the first Development Financial Institution in the country to cater to the long-term finance needs of the industrial sector.

  1. Sandhu-Rojon appointed UN deputy representative for West Africa

UN Secretary General Ant nio Guterres has appointed senior UN official Ruby Sandhu-Rojon as his new Deputy Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel.

Sandhu-Rojon succeeds Hiroute Guebre Sellassie, who completed her assignment this month.

Sandhu-Rojon brings to the position extensive experience with the United Nations, including in leadership positions with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and strong strategic planning, coordination, and programmatic skills

  1. Odisha: Special programme to prevent spread of malaria

A special programme would soon be launched to prevent the spread of malaria in remote areas of Odisha’s Ganjam district.

The programme has been christened as “Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakaran” (DAMON).

The health officials have identified over 135 remote villages under the jurisdiction of five community health centres as malaria prone areas.

The community health centres have been identified as Patrapur, Adapada, Badagada, Dharakote and Gallery

  1. Santosh sharma appointed hindustan copper CMD

Santosh Sharma was appointed as chairman and managing director (CMD) of Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL).

He is currently director (operations) in the same company. The appointments committee of the cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment to the post for a period of five years, an order issued by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) said.

  1. India opens first partition museum

India ‘s first museum will open this week in Amritsar Punjab, as India and Pakistan celebrate 70 years as independent nations.

The museum will include photographs, newspaper clippings, donated personal items, and screens showing video interviews with survivors.

It will have ‘The Gallery of Hope’, where visitors can scribble messages of love and peace.

  1. Ravi shankar prasad lauds SC efforts for transparency in court appointments

 Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has lauded the Supreme Court’s initiative to make trial court appointments more transparent and appealed to states, opposing the proposed centralised selection mechanism, to reconsider their stand.

The Supreme Court indicated that it was inclined to go ahead with a proposal for the central government-funded Centralised Selection Mechanism,(CSM) even if there was no amicable consensus among various high courts and the states.

The apex court is examining a proposal for having a singular examination under CSM to select judicial officers to fill up vacancies in subordinate judiciary, which stands at over 20 per cent of the sanctioned strength.             

  1. Maharashtra Launched Namo Yuva Rojgar Kendra

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has launched Namo Yuva Rojgar Kendra, a farmers’ market on wheels, which aims at delivering farm-fresh organic produce at reasonable prices.

A total of 125 farm-to-home delivery vans will tour the city to sell the produce. So far, 10 vehicles with fresh farm produce have been rolled out in the city.

The remaining 115 vehicles to be launched within a month. The vegetables sold in the mobile vans will be priced 25% lower than the average market rate. The initiative aims to generate jobs for uneducated youth and women.

  1. Maha cm inaugurates next gen projection mapping system

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has inaugurated the next generation projection mapping system at the iconic Gateway of India in south Mumbai.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated as the next generation projection mapping system at the iconic Gateway of India in south Mumbai.

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, business tycoon Anand Mahindra, ministers Subhash Desai, Ram Shinde, Jaykumar Rawal were also present on the occasion.

  1. India moves to revive tapi gas pipeline

India will host the next steering committee meetingof the proposed 1,814 kilometre-long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India(TAPI) gas pipeline, senior officials on both sides confirmed.

The decision was came during the sixth joint Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) meeting on trade, economic, scientific and technological cooperation.

The meeting was followed by a meeting between visiting Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov and Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.

The pipeline first proposed in 1995 will transport natural gas from energy rich Caspian Sea (Galkynysh gas-fields) fourth largest in the world.

  1. BSE’s IndiaINX to commence gold options from Aug 30 at GIFT IFSC

The international exchange from BSE, IndiaINX, received an approval from the regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), to commence trading in Gold Options contracts – the first for India at GIFT IFSC.

The underlying asset for the options will be IndiaINX Gold Futures, while the instrument type will be OPTCOM. Current Contract value with Strike price+ Premium will be $ 32, and Contract Size will be One India Inx Gold Futures contract.

  1. NCLT Admits reliance communications’s petition for aircel merger

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) was admitted Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom)’s petition for merging its wireless division with telecom firm Aircel Ltd.

The tribunal has also admitted RCom’s petition for a 51% stake sale in its telecom tower arm to Canada-based Brookfield Infrastructure. The tribunal will issue final orders on 13 September.

The new company will have earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of Rs.15,000 crore based on current trends.

  1. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund launches ‘Plan Your Goal’ website

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has launched a new website ‘PlanYourGoal.com’ to help users plan their investments according to their future financial goals.

The website guides the users to plan their big spends, tax investments as well as the corpus required during retirement.

The website also provides recommendations based on calculations.

  1. Scientists discover the largest volcanic region on earth, and it’s under Antarctica

Scientists have uncovered the largest volcanic region on Earth – consisting of almost 100 volcanoes– two kilometres below the surface of the vast Antarctic ice sheet.

The largest volcanic region on Earth, with nearly 100 volcanoes, has been discovered two km below the surface of the vast ice sheet inWest Antarctica.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh in Britain found a staggering 91 previously unknown volcanoes, adding to the 47 others.

  1. Scientists develop injectable tissue bandage to repair hearts

Scientists have developed an injectable tissue bandage smaller than a postage stamp that can repair damaged hearts.

Scientists from the University of Toronto, Canada have developed an injectable tissue bandage dubbed as AngioChip, smaller than a postage stamp can repair damaged hearts.

The AngioChip is a tiny patch of heart tissue with its own blood vessels and heart cells beating with a regular rhythm.It is made out of the biocompatibility, biodegradable polymer.

The newly developed technique lets researchers inject a repair patch (AngioChip) using a small needle, without the need to open up the chest cavity.

  1. World’s biggest solar thermal power plant just got approved in Australia

Australian state government has approved the world’s biggest single tower solar thermal powerplant, a150-megawatt structure to be built in South Australia by 2020.

Solar thermal technology uses mirrors to concentrate the Sun’s light at the top of a tower.

This heats the stored molten salt and the heat is then used to operate steam turbines.

The Aurora Solar Energy Project will be built and managed by SolarReserve company.

  1. Nepal, china sign three pacts to boost energy, economic ties

Nepal and China have signed three pacts to further boost their ties in power and energy sectors and undertake a feasibility study to excavate natural gas and petroleum in the Himalayan country, including in the southern Terai plains.

The agreements cover three different domains namely economic and technological cooperation, a framework agreement on the promotion of investment and China-aid oil and gas resources survey project.

The agreements signed cover oil and gas resources exploration, economic and technological cooperation and promotion of investment.

These agreements were signed after visiting Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Yangheld discussions with Nepal’s Deputy Prime Ministers Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar and Krishna Bahadur Mahara.

  1. China bans iron, seafood imports from North korea

China halts iron, iron ore and seafood imports from North Korea, following through on new UN sanctions over its ally’s nuclear program.

The United Nations Security Council, including permanent member Beijing, approved tough sanctions against Pyongyang that could cost the country $1 billion a year.

China, which is suspected of failing to enforce past UN measures, accounts for 90% of North Korea’s trade.

  1. Norway has world’s fastest mobile internet

According to global leader in broadband testing Ookla, Norway has the fastest mobile Internet in the world.

The Netherlands and Hungary are ranked number two and three on the list of the world’s fastest mobile networks.

In only 13 months, Norway has jumped from 11th to first place on the list of world best providers of fast Internet connection.

  1. World’s most liveable cities: Melbourne ranked Number 1

Melbourne has once again been named the world’s most liveable city by The Economist, receiving a perfect score for healthcare, education and infrastructure.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Liveability Index ranks 140 cities each year on those topics, as well as stability, culture and environment. Vienna once again came second and Vancouver third.

Adelaide was the next best Australian city finishing in fifth spot, followed by Perth at number seven. Sydney was ranked 11th.

It was a record seventh time in a row in the top spot for Melbourne, which scored 97.5 out of a possible 100.

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