23-24 June 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

23-24 June 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Hardeep Puri inaugurates Central ATFM Complex

• Shri Hardeep Singh Puri (Minister of State (I/c) for Civil Aviation) has inaugurated the Air Traffic Flow Management - Central Command Centre at Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.
• The C-ATFM system is primarily meant to address the balancing of capacity against the demand to achieve optimum utilization of the major resources viz., airport, airspace and aircraft at every Indian airport where there is a capacity constraint.
• The C-ATFM system integrates flight data from various subsystems like ATC Automation System, flight updates and flight update messages.
• The system processes the demand and capacity information and provides decision-making tools to the ATFM Flow Manager for collaborative decision making and to ensure regulated flow of traffic at each airport in India.

Note:

• After successfully implementing the Air Traffic Flow Management System, India has become the seventh country after the US, Europe, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Brazil.
• The C-ATFM system is supported by 36 Flow Management Positions (FMP) at various airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad among others.
• Eight defence airports are also part of the ATFM network which is provided with FMPs.

Source: PIB

2. Govt. set up 713 Krishi Vigyan Kendras to double farmers' income by 2022

• The Union Government has set up 713 Krishi Vigyan Kendras and 684 Agricultural Technology Management Agencies at the district level in the country for dissemination of technologies among the farming community.
• This is aimed at meeting the target of doubling the farmers' income by 2022.
• An inter-ministerial committee for the purpose has recommended the use of digital technology to transform and modernize agricultural activities.
• The technologies include Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data Analytics and Block Chair Technology.
• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has also compiled over one hundred mobile Apps to help farmers with a specific purpose.

Source: AIR News

3. Govt. develops a National Strategic Plan to eradicate TB by 2025

• The Union Government has developed a National Strategic Plan with the goal of ending Tuberculosis (TB) by 2025.
• India accounts for 27.4 lakh estimated new TB cases annually, which is the highest in terms of absolute numbers.
• As per the last year's Global TB report, the estimated cases of TB in the country is 204 per lakh population for the year 2017.
• However, India ranks 35th in the world in terms of TB cases per lakh population.
• Over 5 lakh 62 thousand patients were cured of TB last year.

Source: AIR News

4. NTPC & PGCIL sign MoU to enter Power Distribution Business

• The National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC Ltd) and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) have signed an agreement to set up National Electricity Distribution Company Limited (NEDCL).
• As per the agreement NEDCL, it will be a joint venture of NTPC and PGCIL on 50:50 equity basis.
• The National Electricity Distribution Company Limited (NEDCL) will undertake the business for distribution of electricity in distribution circles in various states/ Union Territories (UTs) and other related activities.
• This would make the power distribution sector more competitive as separating content and carriage will bring more competition with more than one power supply.

Source: Hindu Business Line

5. J&K: Vaishno Devi shrine to get dedicated in-house disaster response force

• According to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Mata Vaishno Devi shrine (In Jammu and Kashmir) will get a dedicated in-house disaster response force by September next year.
• Training of the board staffs who will be the first respondents in case of any eventuality has already begun at the headquarters of 7th battalion of National Disaster Response Force in Punjab.
• The shrine board is also planning to train 180 employees by September next year to prepare a dedicated disaster response force for the shrine.
• The shrine board is also planning to set up an emergency operation centre as part of its disaster preparedness.

Note:

• Mata Vaishno Devi shrine is a religious pilgrimage atop the Trikuta hills in Reasi district of Jammu region that attracted 86 lakh pilgrims from across the world last year.

Source: AIR news

Obituaries

6. Former Pakistan Foreign Minister passes away

• Pakistan's former Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar (88-years) passed away.
• Mr. Sattar served as the Foreign minister under then-president Pervez Musharraf government (from 1999 to 2002).
• He was the part of Mussaraf delegation who visited India for the historic Agra Summit in 2001.
• Sattar also served as the foreign secretary from 1986-88.
• Sattar was also a writer and authored a book of the foreign policy of Pakistan.

Source: Business Standard

Appointment

7. RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya resigns

• RBI Deputy Governor Viral V Acharya has resigned from his post, six months before the scheduled end of his term.
• Mr. Acharya joined the Reserve Bank in January 2017 and was RBI’s youngest deputy governor, post-economic liberalisation.
• Acharya will be returning to New York University as CV Starr Professor of Economics.
• With Acharya’s resignation, the RBI is now left with three Deputy Governors N.S. Vishwanathan, B.P. Kanungo and M.K. Jain.

Note:

• Viral Acharya has co-authored research papers with former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and has called him a “source of inspiration.”

Source: Indian Express

8. Mohamed Ould Ghazouani elected as the president of Mauritania

• Mohamed Ould Ghazouani (62-years) has won Mauritania's presidential election with an absolute majority (52%- votes).
• His nearest rival, anti-slavery campaigner Biram Dah Abeid, came second with 18.58%.
• It was the first time Mauritanians voted to elect a successor to a democratically elected president in the West African state.
• Mohamed Ghazouani is the former general director of the national security and army's former chief of staff (2008–2018).
• He has been Defence Minister for Mauritania from November 2018 to March 2019.

Note:

• Mauritania is a country in Northwest Africa, the capital and largest city is Nouakchott.
• Approximately 90% of Mauritania's land is within the Sahara; consequently, the population is concentrated in the south, where precipitation is slightly higher.

Important Days

9. 23rd June: International Olympic Day

• The International Olympic Day (IOD) is observed every year on 23rd June to promote participation in sport across the globe regardless of age, gender or athletic ability.
• The three pillars of Olympic Day are ‘move’, ‘learn’ and ‘discover’.
• Move: Can refer to all sorts of physical activity for people of all ages and abilities.
• Learn: Olympic Day is a wonderful opportunity to look at the contribution of sport to global social issues that can affect your community
• Discover: All about inviting and encouraging people to try new sports and activities that they have never done before.

Note:

• The ‘Olympic Day’ was introduced in 1948 to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games on 23rd June 1894 at the Sorbonne in Paris.
• The goal was to promote participation in sport across the globe regardless of age, gender or athletic ability.

Source: UN.Org

10. 23 June: International Widows’ Day

• The International Widows day (IWD) is observed every year on 23rd June to raise awareness of the issue of widowhood.
• The day addresses the poverty and injustice faced by millions of widows and their dependents in many countries.
• International Widows Day was established by The Loomba Foundation.

Source: UN.Org

11. 23rd June: United Nations Public Service Day

• The United Nations Public Service Day is observed on 23rd June every year to recognize the work of public servants and to encourage young people to pursue careers in the public sector.
• The day seeks to mark the invaluable contributions of public servants and administrators to build a better world for all.

Source: UN.Org

Banking and Finance

12. Foreign investors pump in Rs 10312 crore in June so far

• Overseas investors have infused more than 10,000 crore rupees in the domestic capital markets this month so far, with debt segment accounting for the lion's share.
• Equity investments have slowed down on account of rising geopolitical tensions in West Asia as well as US-India trade conflict.
• As per the latest depositories data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pumped in around 552 crore rupees into equities and around 9,761 crores into the debt market during Jun 3 to 21, taking the cumulative net investment to 10,313 crore rupees.
• FPIs have been net buyers for the previous four consecutive months.
• They invested around 9,031 crore rupees in May, 16,093 crore rupees in April, 45,981 crore rupees in March and 11,182 crore rupees in February into the Indian capital markets-both equity and debt.   

Sports

13. Indian women’s Hockey team wins FIH Series finals

• India Hockey team clinched the women’s FIH Series Finals Hockey Tournament by beating Japan 3-1 in the summit clash at the Hiroshima Hockey Stadium in Japan.
• By entering final of FIH Series Indian women’s team have already secured its place in the final round of 2020 FIH Olympics qualifiers.
• Women’s FIH Series is the 2nd stage of 2018–19 editions of Hockey Series participation of 24 teams (from 5 confederations).
• The top two teams from each event qualified for 2019 FIH Olympic Qualifiers.
• Indian men had won the FIH Series Finals in Bhubaneswar recently.

Source: AIR News

14. Lewis Hamilton wins French Grand Prix 2019

• Defending World Drivers' Champion, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) continued his run of form as he won the 2019 French Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard.
• British racing driver Hamilton defeated his teammate Valtteri Bottas.
• Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel (5th) was outgunned by colleague Charles Leclerc (3rd), while Red Bull star Max Verstappen just missed the podium in fourth.
• The win also marked Hamilton's sixth triumph in eight races this season.

Note:

• The 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship is an ongoing motor racing championship for Formula One cars which marks the 70th running of the Formula One World Championship.

Source: Fox Sports