08 February 2017 - Daily Current Affairs
National Affairs
National Meet on Grassroot Informatics: VIVID 2018
- Today, the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has organized a three-day National Meet on Grassroot Informatics- VIVID 2018 in New Delhi.
- The event has been inaugurated by Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad at India Habitat Centre.
- The theme for VIVID 2018 is ‘Cyber Security and Innovation’.
- The Meet is aimed at showcasing the various initiatives of NIC in creating and enhancing the security of Digital Infrastructure in the country.
Note: VIVID would be an extensive platform for knowledge sharing which would empower 240 NIC district officials from across the country to interact and leverage each other’s experience and best practices.
Defence Ministry constitutes advisory committee to expedite capital acquisition for Armed Forces modernization
- The Defence minister Nirmala Sitharamn has constituted a 13-member advisory committee headed by Vinay Sheel Oberoi to monitor and expedite capital acquisition projects for the modernization of the armed forces.
- The committee will undertake an independent review and check the status of ongoing critical projects worth more than 500 crore rupees.
- The panel will also suggest measures to improve the capital acquisition process.
- The committee will have to present an initial status report on identified projects to the Defence Minister by 31st March.
Maharashtra to become the first state to have Transgender Welfare Board
- According to Maharashtra’s Minister of State for Social Justice ‘Dilip Kamble’, Maharashtra state will be the first state to have Transgender Welfare Board (TWB).
- The state government will construct TWB within one month and a provision of Rs. 5 crores for the welfare of the transgender community.
- The board for transgenders will be working for welfare for transgenders in various areas like education, employment, housing, and health scheme.
- It will also take care of Constitutional and human rights of transgenders.
All coaches of Shatabdi, Rajdhani, Duronto trains to have 4 CCTV cameras each
- According to the General Manager, Northern Railway Vishwesh Chaube, all coaches of the Shatabdi, Rajdhani and Duronto trains will soon have four CCTV (closed-circuit television) cameras each to ensure passenger safety.
- Twenty-three pairs of Rajdhani, 26 pairs of Shatabdi and 18 pairs of Duronto trains would have the facility.
- Around Rs. 3,000 crores were allocated in the 2018-19 Union Budget to install CCTV cameras in more than 11,000 trains.
- The project would eventually extend to cover all the premier and suburban services and the 8,500 stations in the railway network.
Note:
- CCTV (closed-circuit television) is a TV system in which signals are not publicly distributed but are monitored, primarily for surveillance and security purposes.
- CCTV relies on strategic placement of cameras and private observation of the camera's input on monitors.
Arunachal Pradesh CM lays foundation stone of Rhodendron Park in Tawang
- The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh ‘Pema Khandu’ laid the foundation stone for Rhodendron Park in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
- The 'Rhodendron Park' will be built in an area of 1.15 hectares and partly funded under Border Area Development Programme (BADP).
- Around 30 species of rhododendrons will be planted in the park and conserved.
- The park will also contain modern nursery, information center on rhododendron, resting sheds, vehicle parking facility, public toilet facility, signage and lightings and iron security gate.
Google & NCERT partner for internet safety training in schools
- Google and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) signed an agreement to integrate ‘Digital Citizenship and Safety’ course in information and communication technology curriculum.
- The NCERT contains a curriculum on IT and communication technologies in its teacher's training programme.
- Students from class I to XII will be trained using the curriculum developed jointly by NCERT and Google.
- This curriculum has four themes (being smart, being safe, being a digital citizen and being future ready).
- No fee is charged by Google for this training.
Banking & Finance
RBI to link base rate with MCLR
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will link the base rate with the MCLR from 1st of April this year to ensure expeditious transmission of its policy rate to borrowers.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had introduced the Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rates (MCLR) system with effect from 1st April 2016.
- RBI observed that large proportion of bank loans continue to be linked to Base Rate.
- RBI has been decided to harmonize the methodology of determining benchmark rates by linking base rate to MCLR as it is more sensitive to policy rate signals.
Books & Authors
Sourav Ganguly’s autobiography “A century is not Enough”
- India most famous captain Sourav Ganguly (Prince of Kolkata) unveiled the first look of his autobiography titled “A Century is Not Enough”.
- The book co-authored by Gautam Bhattacharya and published by Juggernaut Books.
- The contents of the book shall draw from all the highs Ganguly enjoyed in his career as well as the lows.
- The book will be released by the end of February 2018.
Note: Currently, Ganguly is the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and also one of the four members of the Indian Premier League's Governing Council.
Sports
India’s Jhulan Goswami becomes first woman cricketer to take 200 wickets
- Indian fast bowler Jhulan Goswami (35-year) has become the first woman cricketer to claim 200 wickets in one-day internationals(ODI).
- Goswami achieved this feat when she bagged the wicket of South African opener Laura Wolvaardt during the second one-day game of the three-match series at Kimberley.
- Cathryn Fitzpatrick (Australia) occupies the second spot with 180 wickets followed by compatriot Lisa Sthalekar on 146 wickets.
- Goswami has taken just 166 one-day games to get 200 wickets with an economy of 3.23.
