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11th February 2017 – Current Affairs Today

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NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

Government Mandates Aadhaar for Receiving subsidised foodgrains from PDS Shops

  • The central government has made the Aadhaar mandatory for receiving the subsidised foodgrains from the ration shops in a bid to better achieve the target of  1.4 crore subsidy under the food security law.
  • The notification will be effective from February 8 in all States and Union Territories (UTs) except Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir. This will also be applicable to all the new beneficiaries.
  • Besides, the government will install digital payment system at ration shops by June to promote digital payment.

Andhra Pradesh Government constitutes 33 member committee for Sagarmala Project

  • A 33 member committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister for the speedy implementation of the Sagarmala Project.
  • Sagarmala project aims to improve the state’s coastline and inland waterways.
  • The committee will be responsible for overseeing the entire project and will bring together all the concerned departments and review their work on a daily basis for timely completion of the project.
  • During the first meeting, Chandrababu Naidu stressed on the opportunities that Andhra Pradesh has to develop a coast-led industrial economy.
  • He also stressed on the need for an action plan and requested all the officials concerned to create one for their respective projects.

Ananth Kumar Inaugurates Orientation Programme for Launching of 1000 PMBJKs

  • The Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs inaugurated the Orientation Programme for the district heads of National Yuva Cooperative Society (NYCS) in New Delhi to launch the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs) in the country.
  • The workshop was organized based upon the MoU signed earlier between Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) and NYCS for establishing 1000 PMBJKs in the country.

Government to Open 56 More Post Office Passport Seva Kendras across India

  • With the successful operationalization of the two pilot projects of utilizing Head Post Offices as the Passport Seva Kendra, the government has now decided to further launch the programmes in 56 more facilities across India.
  • The Ministry of External Affairs and Department of Posts are working to start the operation of the new centers as early as possible in various states including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
  • The Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) would enable the applicants who apply for the passports online to schedule their appointments to complete the formalities.

India-UK sign MoU to allow more flights to boost tourism and trade

  • Union Minister of Civil Aviation andLord Ahmad from U.K. have signed a MoU to ease restrictions on the number of scheduled flights between the two countries to trade and tourism.
  • Limits on flights from Chennai and Kolkata have been scrapped, allowing for a greater range of flights for passengers while providing a boost to trade and tourism for the UK and India
  • This will pave the way to new export markets and creating jobs and economic growth
  • The agreement also opened all destinations in the UK for Indian carriers for code share flights, and reciprocally the UK carriers can also operate code share flights to any International Airport in India, through domestic code share arrangements.

INTERNATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

India Proposes Global Services Accord Pact to WTO Chief Azevedo

  • India presented the proposed Trade Facilitation in Services (TFS) Agreement to the WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo and India Inc.
  • The global pact proposed by India to boost services trade at the WTO-level aims to ease norms including those relating to movement of foreign skilled workers and professionals across borders for short-term work.
  • The pact also aims to ensure portability of social security contributions.
  • Make fees for immigration or visas are reasonable, transparent, and non-restrictive in nature.
  • It also aims to pave the way for a single window mechanism for foreign investment approvals.
  • The proposal is about making market access effective and commercially meaningful.
  • Besides, the proposal will also ensure cross-border insurance coverage to boost medical tourism, publication of measures impacting services trade and timely availability of relevant information in all the WTO official languages

China releases theme for BRICS Summit 2017

  • 2017 BRICS association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to be held in Xiamen, China in September 2017.
  • The summit will be held under the theme “BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future “
  • 5 key priorities:
    1.Deepening cooperation
    2.Strengthening global governance
    3.Carrying out people-to-people exchanges
    4.Making institutional improvements and
    5.Building broader partnerships.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Government Sells 2% stake in ITC to Raise Rs. 6,690 Crore

  • As a part of its disinvestment plan for 2016-17, the central government sold 2 percent of its stake in ITC to LIC of India and earned Rs 6,690 crore.
  • Held under the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI), the stake was sold at Rs 275.85 per share through block deals.
  • Presently the government holds Rs 53,445 crore shares through SUUTI in ITC, Axis Bank and L&T, which it plans to divest over three years.

Nokia to acquire Finnish telecom software company Comptel for $371 million

  • Nokia announced to buy telecoms software firm Comptel for 347 million euros.
  • The aim of the acquisition to help phone carriers manage their networks as mobiles rely on software to improve their networks.
  • It is part of Nokia’s strategy to build a standalone software business at scale by expanding and strengthening its software portfolio and go-to-market capabilities with additional sales capacity and a strategic partner network.

PEOPLE IN NEWS

UNO ropes in Satinder Sartaaj for campaign against trafficking

  • Folk singer from Punjab Satinder Sartaaj(34) has been selected for the awareness project against human trafficking “Blue Heart Campaign” by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
  • Sartaaj will works with Indian musicians like AR Rahman and Sonu Nigam to spread awareness about the illegal practice through Music to Inspire album.

Hemant Bhargava appointed as LIC’s Managing Director

  • Hemant Bhargava has been appointed as one of the three managing director of Mumbai based Life Insurance Corporation(LIC) of India till July 31, 2019 by the Cabinet Appointments Committee.
  • Prior to this, Bhargava was working as the zonal manager (I/C) Delhi.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Piyush Goyal Launches TAMRA Portal and Mobile Application for Transparency in Statutory Clearances for Mining Operations

  • The Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines launched the TAMRA (Transparency, Auction Monitoring and Resource Augmentation) portal and Mobile Application in New Delhi.
  • TAMRA Portal and Mobile Application aims to enhance the transparency and accountability in the mining sector as a part of the Ease of Doing Business.
  • The initiative will speed up mining activity in India and enable all the stakeholders to track the status of the statutory clearances associated with mining blocks for getting mines to reach till operationalization for the same.
  • TAMRA provides block-wise, state-wise and mineral-wise information of the blocks to be auctioned; monitors various statutory clearance.
  • Also highlights the additional resources generated through e-Auction.
  • The portal also enables bidders to give useful suggestions or inputs.

SPORTS

Virat Kohli Breaks Record to Become First Indian Captain to score Four Double Centuries in 4 straight series

  • Virat Kohli became the first player to score double century in four consecutive Test series while playing against Bangladesh in Hyderabad.
  • He also became the second captain to score four double centuries for his country.
  • Kohli began the trend while playing against West Indies in June 2016 to score his first double century where he scored exactly 200.
  • Second with New Zealand in November 2016.
  • The third record came against England where he scored his third double century and the latest against Bangladesh.

Official Mascot for FIFA Under 17 World Cup India 2017 Unveiled

  • The official Mascot for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup India tournament was revealed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The mascot was unveiled during the launch of Mission XI Million programme.
  • A clouded leopard named Kheleo with young and charismatic face has been launched as the Mascot.
  • The clouded leopard is a rare and vulnerable wild cat which can be found in the Himalayan foothills to mainland Southeast Asia.
  • Kheleo will be going across the country to promote the tournament and to inspire kids and adults and motivate them to take up football.

Sports Ministry Launches Mission XI Million in New Delhi

  • The Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goyal launched the Mission XI Million, the biggest school sport outreach programme.
  • The programme has been launched with an aim to make football a sport of choice in India and encourage children to play the football games on regular basis.
  • t also involves school principals and sports teachers to encourage and incentivize students to opt for football.
  • The Mission XI Million has an objective to instill the passion for football in 11 million children from every part of the country.
  • The program will be rolled out in every state of the country rangingfrom Kashmir to Kanyakumari from Kutch to Imphal.
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