current affairs for tnpsc - shanmugamiasacademy.in · october 20, 2018 - current affairs 2...

1 SHANMUGAM IAS ACADEMY- 46/1, Gokhale St, Opp Senthil Kumaran Theatre, Ram

Nagar, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641009. WEBSITE: iasipstnpsc.in

OCTOBER 20, 2018

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR TNPSC

SHANMUGAM IAS ACADEMY

www.shanmugamiasacademy.in www.iasipstnpsc.in

Email : [email protected]

OCTOBER 20, 2018 - CURRENT AFFAIRS

2 SHANMUGAM IAS ACADEMY: 46/1, Gokhale St, Opp Senthil Kumaran

Theatre, Ram Nagar, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641009 WEBSITE: iasipstnpsc.in

1) PM NARENDRA MODI CHAIRS 6TH MEETING OF NDMA

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi recently chaired the sixth meeting of

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) at New Delhi.

Prime Minister emphasized on the need for better coordination between the

various stakeholders and undertake more joint exercises to bring about

effective response to save life and property. He stressed upon the need to bring in

global expertise in the field of disaster management.

About NDMA:

On 23 December 2005, the Government of India enacted the Disaster

Management Act, which envisaged the creation of National Disaster

Management Authority (NDMA), headed by the Prime Minister, and State

Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) headed by respective Chief

Ministers, to spearhead and implement a holistic and integrated approach to

Disaster Management in India.

NDMA, as the apex body, is mandated to lay down the policies, plans and

guidelines for Disaster Management to ensure timely and effective response to

disasters.




2)CURRENCY MONITORING LIST

In its latest report, the US has said that it could remove India from its currency

monitoring list of major trading partners citing certain developments and steps

taken by New Delhi, which address some of its major concerns.

Background:

India was for the first time, in April, placed by the US in its currency

monitoring list of countries with potentially questionable foreign exchange

policies along with five other countries — China, Germany, Japan, South

Korea and Switzerland.

Recent developments:

India’s circumstances have shifted markedly, as the central bank’s net sales

of foreign exchange over the first six months of 2018 led net purchases

over the four quarters through June 2018 to fall to $4 billion, or 0.2% of

GDP.

This represented a notable change from 2017, when purchases over the first

three quarters of the year pushed net purchases of foreign exchange above

2% of GDP. Recent sales came amid a turnaround in foreign portfolio




inflows, as foreign investors pulled portfolio capital out of India (and

many other emerging markets) over the first half of the year.

The rupee depreciated by around 7% against the dollar and by more than

4% on a real effective basis in the first half of 2018. India has a significant

bilateral goods trade surplus with the US, totalling $23 billion over the four

quarters through June 2018, but India’s current account is in deficit at 1.9%

of GDP.

3) CHINA’S ARTIFICIAL MOON PROJECT

China is in the process of creating an “artificial moon” that would be bright

enough to replace the streetlights in the south-western city of Chengdu by 2020.

Key facts:

Chinese scientists plan to send three artificial moons into space in the next

four years, and the moons — made from reflective material like a mirror —




are expected to orbit at 500 kilometres above the Earth and light up an

area with a diameter of 10 to 80 kilometres.

The artificial moon will have a reflective coating that can deflect sunlight

back to Earth, similar to how the moon shines.

The illuminated satellite is said to be eight times brighter than the real

moon. The satellites’ brightness and service time are both adjustable, and

the accuracy of the lighting can be controlled within tens of metres.

Background:

The idea for the man-made moon originated from a French artist who imagined

hanging a necklace made of mirrors in the sky to light up the streets of Paris at

night. Russia attempted to launch a 25-metre “space mirror” but the project

was put off in 1999.

4)NASA’S DAWN MISSION IS DRAWING TO A CLOSE AFTER 11

YEARS




NASA’s Dawn mission is drawing to a close after 11 years of breaking new

ground in planetary science, gathering breathtaking imagery, and performing

unprecedented feats of spacecraft engineering.

Dawn’s mission was extended several times, outperforming scientists’ expectations

in its exploration of two planet-like bodies, Ceres and Vesta, that make up 45

percent of the mass of the main asteroid belt. Now the spacecraft is about to run

out of a key fuel, hydrazine. When that happens, most likely between mid-

September and mid-October, Dawn will lose its ability to communicate with Earth.

It will remain in a silent orbit around Ceres for decades.

Dawn mission:

NASA’s Dawn mission was aimed at studying the asteroid Vesta and

dwarf planet Ceres, celestial bodies believed to have accreted early in the

history of the solar system. The mission characterized the early solar system

and the processes that dominated its formation.

Dawn is the only mission ever to orbit two extra terrestrial targets. It

orbited giant asteroid Vesta for 14 months from 2011 to 2012, then

continued on to Ceres, where it has been in orbit since March 2015.

5)NCW LAUNCHES DEDICATED E-MAIL ADDRESS TO REPORT

INSTANCES OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT




The National Commission for Women (NCW) has come out with dedicated e-

mail address ([email protected]) to report instances of sexual harassment

at workplace. On receiving complaint mail, NCW will take forward complaints of

sexual harassment at workplace received so that appropriate action may be taken,

as per law.

Key Facts

The launch of dedicated e-mail address comes after several such

complaints were made by women from various fields to NCW by women

who have narrated their ordeal under the ‘#Metoo’ movement on social

media.

It is also pursuance of NCW’s objective of zero tolerance of sexual

harassment of women at all workplaces and commitment to ensure safety

and dignity of women including at all workplaces.

Recently NCW had received many formal written complaints from various

women about instances of sexual harassment at their workplace.

National Commission for Women (NCW)

NCW get good decision it is better choice to girls who are facing harassment

in their working place.

Is first step to solve harassment NCW is a statutory body established

under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990.

It was established in January 1992 to review the constitutional and legal

safeguards for women.

It recommends remedial legislative measures, advise Government on all

policy matters affecting women and facilitate redressal of grievances related

to women.




6)NCR RASTA AND YATRI RASTA: NORTH CENTRAL RAILWAYS

LAUNCHES TWO MOBILE APPS

The North Central Railways (NCR) launched two mobile apps, NCR RASTA

(Railway assets Summerised Tracking Application) and Yatri RASTA

(Railway Approach to Station Tracking Application) for its employees and

passengers, respectively, for locating assets and stations.

Key Facts

Both these apps are aimed at helping to full twin objectives of better passenger

service and asset maintenance by using cutting-edge technology and for handling

emergencies.




NCR RASTA app: It is for use of railway officers and staff and has exact

mapping of all railway assets. It will enable railway staff to reach desired asset

using Google Navigation in case of any emergency.

Yatri RASTA app: It will allow general public to locate railway stations easily.

It is already available for smartphones running on Android and can be downloaded

free of cost from Google Play Store.

North Central Railway (NCR)

NCR is one of the seventeen railway zones in India. It is headquartered at

Allahabad and comprises three divisions Allahabad, Jhansi and Agra .It is

known as Workhorse of Indian Railways and is also referred as heartbeat of

Indian Railways. It spans over parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and

Madhya Pradesh with about 3062 route km. of Broad Gauge comprising

predominately, double line-electried sections dening sides and diagonals of Golden

Quadrilateral. The largest railway station in NCR is Kanpur Central.

7)UNION HRD MINISTRY RELEASES REVISED CBSE AFFILIATION

BYE-LAWS FOR SMOOTH FUNCTIONING

The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar on

October 18, 2018 released the revised CBSE Affiliation Bye Laws to ensure

speed, transparency, hassle-free procedures and ease of doing business with

the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

The revised affiliation byelaws indicate a major shift from the highly complex

procedures to a simplified system based on preventing duplication of processes.

Earlier this year, the HRD Ministry had directed the Board to completely revisit

its affiliation bye laws to make the system more robust and quality driven.

Note

CBSE is a national level Board conducting examinations for Classes X and

XII. It affiliates schools across India and abroad upon fulfilment of various

conditions as prescribed in its Affiliation Bye Laws.




At present, 20783 schools are affiliated with the Board. The Affiliation Byelaws

were first made in the year 1988 and were last modified in the year 2012.

Objective: To prevent duplication of affiliation process

For issuing recognition under RTE Act and NOC, the state education

administration verifies various certificates to be obtained from local

bodies, revenue department, cooperatives department, etc.

The CBSE re-verifies them after applications are received. This is very

long process. Therefore, to prevent this duplication, schools will now be

required to submit only two documents at the time of applying for affiliation,

instead of 12-14 documents being submitted earlier.

One document would be vetted by the head of district education

administration validating all aspects such as building safety, sanitation, land

ownership, etc; and another document would be a self-affidavit where the

school would certify its adherence to fee norms, infrastructure norms, etc.

Key highlights of the revised affiliation byelaws

The Board shall not revisit any of the aspects evaluated by the state during

inspection; and the delay due to scrutiny and non-compliance of deficiencies

in these documents shall be drastically curtailed.

Inspection of schools will now be outcome-based and more academic and

quality oriented, rather than focussing only on school infrastructure.

The inspection will focus on academic excellence and progress of

students over time, innovations and quality of pedagogy, capacity of

teachers and teacher training, inclusive practises in school, quality of co-

scholastic activities, whether curricular load is as per norms.

This will not only help the Board and the school to track students’ progress

over time, but will also identify areas that would need further efforts.

Regarding fee, the provisions include full fee disclosure to be made and no

hidden charges to be levied by schools in the garb of fees.

The byelaws clearly state that fee is to be charged as per the regulation of

the appropriate government and fee revision shall be subject to laws,

regulations and directions of the appropriate government.

Also, for the first time, the byelaws encourage schools to promote

environmental conservation through harnessing solar energy, rain




water harvesting, greening of campus, recycling and segregation of

waste, Swachhata on campus, etc.

The Process

In the new byelaws, the school inspection will be done as soon as

applications are received.

On satisfactory inspection report, the Board will issue a Letter of Intent to

the school, indicating its intention to affiliate the school.

The school will then be expected to fulfil all the conditions laid down under

the Post-Affiliation process, such as recruitment of qualified teachers,

special educator, wellness counsellor, salaries through digital payment, etc.

On complying with all these conditions, the school will submit an online

commencement certificate latest by 31 March of the given year.

Based on the certificate, the Board shall confirm affiliation of the school.

Only then, the schools will be able to start new academic session under

CBSE.

Significance The new affiliation bye laws aim on achieving academic excellence through

mandatory teacher training. Even the Principals and Vice Principals of every

school are expected to undergo two days mandatory training.

The revised bye laws will positively impact the existing and future schools by

easing procedures and redirecting their focus towards improving the quality of

education.

8)SAJJAN JINDAL ELECTED AS TREASURER OF WORLD STEEL

ASSOCIATION

JSW Steel CMD Sajjan Jindal was on October 18, 2018 elected as the

Treasurer of the World Steel Association (worldsteel). The association has also

appointed Tata Steel MD TV Narendran and ArcelorMittal Chief LN Mittal as its

members.




The appointments were made during the worldsteel General Assembly in Toyko,

Japan during which the Board of Directors elected new officers for 2018-19 at the.

The new officers were elected for a one-year period.

About World Steel Association

The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is a non-profit organisation

with headquarters in Brussels, Belgium and its second office in Beijing,

China.

It was founded as the International Iron and Steel Institute in July 1967.

It changed its name to the World Steel Association in October 2008.

It represents over 160 steel producers (including 9 of the world's 10

largest steel companies), national and regional steel industry associations,

and steel research institutes.

The worldsteel members cover around 85 percent of world steel

production.

The association celebrated its 50th year anniversary in 2017.

9)INDIA IMPOSES ANTI-DUMPING DUTY ON CERTAIN STEEL

PRODUCTS FROM CHINA

India has imposed anti-dumping duties of up to 185.51 US dollars per tonne for 5

years on some varieties of Chinese steel to protect domestic players from cheap

imports from China.

Key Points:

The revenue department has imposed the duty based on the

recommendations of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR).

A joint application was filed by domestic steel industries like JSW Steel Ltd,

Sunflag Iron & Steel Co, Usha Martin, Gerdau Steel India, Vardhman

Special Steels and Jayaswal Neco Industries before DGTR to initiate

investigation on this issue.

The DGTR performed investigations and made recommendations on anti-

dumping duties on some steel products.




The goods have been exported to India from China below normal value and

the domestic industry has been affected due to this.

The anti-dumping duty has been imposed in the range of $ 44.89 to 185.51

per tonne on import of alloy bars and rods.

About China:

♦ Capital – Beijing

♦ Currency – Renminbi

♦ Official language – Standard Chinese

♦ President – Xi Jinping

10)KATI BIHU FESTIVAL CELEBRATED ACROSS ASSAM

On October 18, 2018, Assam celebrated its 3rd Bihu festival known as the ‘Kati

Bihu’ festival across the state.

The name of the other 2 Bihu festivals are: Rongali and Bohagi Bihu.

The festival derives its name from the Assamese month of Kati.

The festival is held at this time of the year since the granaries of the farmers

usually remain empty and therefore it is known as Kongali (poor) Bihu.

On the occasion of Kati Bihu, women, both in urban and rural areas, try to

ward off evil and pray for a rich harvest by lighting earthen lamps.

As a part of the festival, farmers also tie a special kind of lamp, known as

Akash Bati, to poles and the poles are placed in the paddy fields.

Assam:

♦ Capital: Dispur.

♦ Chief Minister: Sarbananda Sonowal.

♦ Governor: Jagdish Mukhi.

♦ National Parks: Kaziranga National Park, Manas National Park (UNESCO

Natural World Herigate Site), Orang National Park, Dibru-Saikhowa National

Park.

♦ Airports: Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Dibrugarh Airport,

Jorhat Airport, Tezpur Airport, Silchar Airport.




11)INDIA’S 1ST CRYPTOCURRENCY ATM INSTALLED IN

BENGALURU: UNOCOIN

On October 19, 2018, virtual currency exchange Unocoin set up a first of its kind

kiosk — Bitcoin ATM at Kemp Fort mall in Bengaluru.

This will be followed by 2 more kiosks in Mumbai and Delhi.

According to Unocoin, users can withdraw Indian rupee obtained on selling

the cryptocurrencies on its platform.

Following this, a 12- digit reference number will be sent to the user to

withdraw the INR.

While, for deposits, the user id of the customer and OTP (one-time

password) sent on registered mobile number would be required and the

amount will get deposited upon confirmation of respective account details.

Unocoin:

♦ CEO & Co-Founder: Sathvik Vishwanath.

♦ President & Co-founder: Sunny Ray.

♦ Headquarters: Bengaluru.

current affairs for tnpsc - shanmugamiasacademy.in · october 20, 2018 - current affairs 2...

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