13 October 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

13 October 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

1. First India-Israel Innovation Centre opens in Bengaluru

• The country’s first India-Israel Innovation Centre (IIIC), an entrepreneurial technology hub, was launched in Bengaluru.
• The IIIC is a significant step towards facilitating penetration of Israeli companies in India and aims to forge local partnerships and joint ventures between companies from the two countries.
• It will provide an ecosystem to support entrepreneurship, a partnership with vendors, mentoring and non-formal community development that will assist the growth of the companies in different verticals and covers business, technology, investors and customers.
• Start-ups that are part of IIIC will be given mentorship and guidance and opportunities to participate at all IIIC’s global events and experience networking avenues with potential customers.

2. Textile Ministry to release Rs 7.8 Cr for construction of textile tourism complex in Meghalaya

• Minister of State for Textiles, Ajay Tamta has said that the Ministry will release 7.8 crore rupees for the construction of a textile tourism complex in Nongpoh, Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya.
• He added that the Textile Ministry will provide all necessary infrastructure and machinery to the apparel centers so that local garments can be exported throughout the world.

3. Liberty to acquire European assets of ArcelorMittal

• Liberty is set to acquire European assets of ArcelorMittal, as it pushes for expansion on the European mainland following a rapid build-up in the U.K.
• The assets include integrated steelworks in Romania and the Czech Republic as well as rolling mills in Macedonia and Italy and will take Liberty’s steel rolling capacity in Europe to about 10.5 million tonnes a year.
• The deal — currently subject to a conditional agreement following a binding offer from Liberty — would also be an important step for ArcelorMittal.

4. EESL inks MoU with DoP for distribution of energy-efficient appliances

• Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has signed an agreement with the Department of Posts (DoP) for distribution of energy-efficient appliances under the Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) programme.
• EESL will distribute the LED lights (bulbs and tube lights) and BEE 5-star rated fans through DoP's network of post offices across India, a statement said.
• It added that the distribution of these energy-efficient appliances will be conducted in a phased manner across states through select post offices.
• "Under this initiative, the post office centres will provide the additional facility of replacement of non-functional LED bulbs, tube lights, and fans that are within their technical warranty period under the UJALA programme,".
• Currently, under the UJALA Scheme, over 310 million LED bulbs, 6.6 million LED tube lights and around 20 lakh energy-efficient fans have been distributed in the country.

5. India's cooling energy consumption to grow around 2.2 times by 2027: Report

• The country's cooling energy demand will rise to 2 times the existing level by 2027 and interventions can help cut it down by 17 percent in the next decade, a report said.
• The report, commissioned by the Indo-German Energy Forum, on behalf of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, was prepared by the Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE).
• India, which currently has one of the lowest access to cooling across the world, is poised for rapid and significant growth in cooling demand.
• The report suggested that known interventions can help cut down cooling energy consumption by 17 percent, help avoid around 50 medium-sized power plants dedicated to cooling and reduce cooling-related carbon emission by 20 percent in the next decade.
• It said that space cooling in buildings will continue to dominate India's cooling energy demand at around 60 percent share and room AC stock-in-use will reach 170 million units in 2027.

6. Govt to form national trade portal to cut logistics cost: Commerce Joint Secretary

• The union ministry of commerce and industry is in the process of forming a national trade portal to lower logistics cost and link all stakeholders in domestic and import trade, joint secretary to the ministry Keshawva Chandra has said.
• At a workshop on 'Indian textile sector-competitive analysis and way forward for free trade agreements (FTAs),', he said the portal would include online certificate system since there were 88 government entities delaying the process of certification.

7. Maneka Gandhi proposes a panel of legal experts to probe #MeToo cases

• Women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi propose setting up a committee with senior judicial and legal persons as members to look into all issues emanating from the #MeToo campaign.
• The committee will look into the legal and institutional framework in place for handling complaints of sexual harassment, including some of the complaints if required, and advise the ministry on how to strengthen these.

Honors & Awards

8.  Maryse Conde wins alternative Nobel Literature Prize

• Maryse Conde, one of the Caribbean's most renowned authors, has won an award created to replace this year's Nobel Prize for Literature.
• The prestigious literature prize was suspended this year after a scandal at the Swedish Academy, which awards it.
• The Guadeloupian author, 81, said she was "very happy and proud" to win the alternative version.
• She was selected from 47 authors who were nominated by Swedish librarians and voted on by nearly 33,000 people from around the world.
• Conde is an author of some 20 novels, including Desirada, Segu and Crossing the Mangrove. She is considered as a grand storyteller who belongs to world literature.

Note: The Nobel Prize for Literature was suspended after a crisis over its handling of allegations against Frenchman Jean-Claude Arnault, the husband of one of the academy's members.

Important Dates

9.  International Day for Disaster Reduction observed today

• International Day for Disaster Reduction, held annually on 13th October, celebrates the way that people and communities around the world reduce their exposure to disasters and raise awareness about the risks that they face.
• This includes disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness.
• The International Day for Disaster Reduction was started in 1989, after a call by the United Nations General Assembly for a day to promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction.
• The 2018 theme is - Reducing Disaster Economic Losses. 
• The 2018 theme continues as part of the "Sendai Seven" campaign, centered on the seven targets of the Sendai Framework. This year focuses on Target C of the Sendai Framework, reducing disaster economic losses in relation to global GDP by 2030.

Conference & Meeting 

10. 13th Convention of Central Information Commission held in New Delhi

• The 13th Convention of Central Information Commission was held in New Delhi. It was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind.
• It was attended by Chief Information Commissioner, Information Commissioners, State Information Commissioners, former information Commissioners, Central Public information officer, NGOs, and other stakeholders.

The Convention was based on three specific subjects:

• Data privacy and Right to Information
• Amendment in the RTI Act and
• Implementation of the RTI Act.

Note:

• The Central Information Commission (CIC) set up under the Right to Information Act is the authorized body, established in 2005, under the Government of India to act upon complaints from those individuals who have not been able to submit information requests to a Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer.
• The Chief Information Commissioner of India: Radha Krishna Mathur.

Sports

11. With 72 medals, India placed at 9^th place in Asian Para Games

• India recorded its best-ever showing by adding two more gold as the 2018 Asian Para Games drew to a close in Jakarta today.
• With 15 gold, 24 silver and 33 bronze medals, India is placed 9th in the overall tally.
• In men's singles SL3 class Badminton, India's Pramod Bhagat defeated Ukun Rukaendi of Indonesia 21-19, 15-21, 21-14 to clinch the gold medal.
• Para shuttler Tarun added another gold for India on the final day of the event by beating Yuyang Gao of China 21-16, 21-6 in the men's singles SL4 class.

Note:

• China is at the top with 172 gold, 88 silver and 59 bronze followed by South Korea 53 gold, 25 silver & 47 bronze and Iran 51 gold, 42 silver and 43 bronze.
• In the last edition in 2014, India won 33 medals - 3 gold, 14 silver and 16 bronze

 Obituaries 

12. Renowned Hindustani classical musician Annapurna Devi passes away

• Renowned Hindustani musician Annapurna Devi passed away at the Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai today. She was 91.
• She was suffering from age-related issues for the last few years.
• Annapurna Devi was an Indian Surbahar player of Hindustani classical music and she was the daughter and disciple of Allauddin Khan.
• She was married to sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar.

International Affairs 

13. India wins election to UN Human Rights Council

• India was elected to the United Nations’ top human rights body for a period of three years beginning January 1, 2019.
• India got total188 votes, the highest number of votes among all candidates in the Asia-Pacific category.
• The 193-member UN General Assembly held elections here for new members to the UN Human Rights Council.
• The 18 new members were elected by the absolute majority through a secret ballot. Countries needed a minimum of 97 votes to get elected to the Council.
• In the Asia Pacific category, India got 188 votes followed by Fiji with 187 votes, Bangladesh 178, Bahrain and Philippines 165 each.
• India had previously been elected to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council for the 2011-2014 and 2014-2017 terms.

14. Alibaba's Jack Ma to open an institute for tech entrepreneurs in Indonesia

• Jack Ma, executive chairman of China's Alibaba Group Holding, he plans to open an institute to train thousands of tech entrepreneurs in Indonesia, where he is already an adviser to the government on e-commerce.
• The co-founder of Alibaba, China's biggest e-commerce firm, said it is important for Indonesia to invest in human capital because "only when people improve, when people's minds change, when people's skills improve, then we can enter the digital period".
• Indonesia has a shortage of trained engineers in technology and the institute will also train hundreds of developers and engineers in cloud computing to help make Indonesian businesses more digital-savvy.

Banking & Finance 

 15. State Bank of Mauritius India cyber attack loss set at ₹19 crore

• The Mumbai branch of the State Bank of Mauritius India, which faced a cyber attack earlier this month, has been able to recover almost all of it, barring ₹19 crore.
• The cyber attack took place on October 2 through a fraudulent SWIFT payment at the bank’s branch at Nariman Point, Mumbai.
• “Necessary measures have been taken to prevent any further damage. Based on proactive and prompt measures, we have managed to recover most of the lost amount,” said an SBM India spokesperson, adding that the loss amount is limited to ₹19 crore.