30 June 2017 - Current Affairs

Govt. appoints Rajesh Shah as NIFT Chairperson

  • The Union Government (Ministry of Textiles) has appointed ‘Shri Rajesh V. Shah’ as Chairperson on the Board of Governors of the National Institute of Fashion Technology(NIFT).
  • He has replaced Shri Chetan Chauhan, who resigned from the post after being made the Sports Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Note: National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) set up in 1986 under the aegis of Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, is a Statutory Institute Governed by the NIFT Act 2006.

Rajiv Kumar appointed as Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh

  • The Uttar Pradesh Govt. has appointed ‘Rajiv Kumar’ (1981 batch- IAS Officer) as the Chief Secretary of the state.
  • He succeeds Rahul Prasad Bhatnagar, will now serve as the Chairman of the Greater Noida Authority and also as the Investment Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh in New Delhi.
  • Earlier, Kumar was a Secretary in the Union Shipping Ministry.

Note: Chief Secretaries are members of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) who are the administrative head of the State Secretariat in every state government.

European leaders vow to defend Paris climate pact at upcoming G-20 summit

  • European leaders have vowed to defend the landmark Paris climate pact at a G-20 summit on 7-8th July in the city of Hamburg, Germany.
  • Earlier, US President Donald Trump has strongly defended his decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord, declaring himself proud of the move.
  • The United States is the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China.

Note:  
  • The G20 is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies.
  • The members include 19 individual countries along with the European Union (EU).

UNSC approves resolution reducing joint UN-AU peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur

  • The UN Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution sharply reducing the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.
  • The British-drafted resolution will reduce the number of peacekeepers by 44% and international police by about 27% in the Darfur mission.
  • The govt in Khartoum was accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes and unleashing them on civilian populations.

Note:
  • The UN-AU force was established in 2007 with a mandate to help protect civilians in Darfur.
  • A recent review of the force found that over the past three years the conflict in Darfur has markedly changed.

PM Modi inaugurates filling of Aji Dam at Rajkot by Narmada water

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 'Sauni Yojna', a project which will fill the Aji dam near Rajkot with Narmada waters in Gujrat.
  • He also launched Smart Rajkot Hackathon where the urban local body will engage with young students to find innovative solutions to improve the efficiency of various government departments.


Govt. to clear all FDI proposals in 8-10 weeks

  • The union government will clear all FDI proposals within a maximum of 10 weeks after the receipt of an application as per the Standard Operation Procedure(SOP) released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
  • The new mechanism will replace the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to improve investment climate of the country.
  • Now, the security clearance will be cleared in eight weeks and applications that require security nod would take a cumulative time-period of ten weeks.
  • The FDI proposals requiring government's nod will have to be vetted by the concerned ministries or departments.

Note: Proposals for foreign investment in sectors requiring government approval will be filed online on the revamped FIPB portal which has been renamed as Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal (FIFP).

'NALSA' launches web application for free legal services to prisoners

  • The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has launched a web application for free legal services to prisoners and the Legal Services Management System.
  • Now, the State Legal Services Authorities and District Legal Services Authorities can feed the data for each individual prison inmate in the jails within their authority through this web application.

Note: The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 to provide free Legal Services to the weaker sections of the society and to organize Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes.

Dr. Jitendra Singh launches new program ‘COMMIT’ for State Government officials

  • The Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh has launched a new training program Comprehensive Online Modified Modules on Induction Training (COMMIT) for State Government officials.
  • This training program will improve the public service delivery mechanism and provide citizen-centric administration through capacity building of officials who interact with the citizens on a day-to-day basis.
  • In the current financial year 2017-18, COMMIT will be launched in six states of Assam, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal initially on the pilot basis.

Note: The COMMIT program, developed by DoPT in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Indian-origin boy in the UK scores 162 on Mensa IQ, two points higher Einstein & Hawking

  • An Indian-origin boy in the UK Arnav Sharma (11-year) has secured the top possible score of 162 on a Mensa IQ test, two points higher than geniuses Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, making him one of the brainiest children in the country.
  • His mark in the exam (primarily measures verbal reasoning ability) puts him in the top one percent of the nation in terms of IQ level.
  • Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world.

Note:
  • Roland Berrill (an Australian barrister) and Dr. Lancelot Ware (British scientist and lawyer) founded Mensa at Lincoln College, in Oxford, England, in 1946.
  • They had the idea of forming a society for very intelligent people, the only qualification for membership being a high IQ.

Uttarakhand gets award of excellence at international meet

  • Uttarakhand state has conferred with the award of excellence at the 2nd Global Skill Development Summit held in Paris for innovations and extensive use of IT for skilling the state's youth.
  • Pankaj Kumar Pandey (Project Director of Uttarakhand Skill Development Committee) has received the honor on behalf of the state govt.


ADB commits USD 10 billion to support development of States in India

  • According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) president Takehiko Nakao, the bank is ready to meet immediate critical infrastructure needs of less developed states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh over a period of five years.
  • The President ADB has also accepted India’s suggestion of setting up a regional hub in New Delhi to cater to the needs of the South.
  • India is expected to grow by 7.4% in the current financial year and 7.6% in 2018-19.

Note: Asian Development Bank (ADB) is multilateral lending agency established on 19th Dec 1996 in Manila, Philippines.

ISL gets recognition from AFC; two national leagues now

  • The Indian Super League (ISL) has been granted official recognition by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
  • Now, there will be two national leagues in the country from 2017-18 and the winner of the I-league will participate in the AFC Champions League qualifiers.
  • The champions of the 10-team ISL that will run for five months beginning November will get an AFC Cup qualifying slot.

Note: The Indian Super League (ISL) is a men's professional football league in India, officially named the Hero Indian Super League for sponsorship reasons.

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