Current Affairs 10th March 2017

Current Affairs 10th March 2017 - Important Points

• Cultural festival 'India by the Nile' started in - Egypt
• South Korean President Park Geun-hye removed from office by - South Korea’s Constitutional Court
• Helpline number 181 launched by Odisha Government for - distressed women
• INS Tillanchang, (WJFAC) commissioned at - Karwar
• Commonwealth trade meet begins - in the UK
• Who has been re-elected as President of European Council - Donald Tusk
• Maternity benefit bill passed by - Parliament

Current Affairs 10th March 2017 - Details

Cultural festival 'India by the Nile' started in - Egypt

The fifth edition of the mega cultural festival ‘India by the Nile’ began in Cairo, Egypt on 8th March 2017.  The festival aims to strengthen the Egypt-India union and to showcase the diversity in India’s culture, art and cuisine.

Important Highlights

• The festival will be held in Cairo as well as several other cities and continue till 27th April 2017.
• Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, Khaled Al-Anani and other prominent dignitaries attended the inaugural ceremony.
• It started with a Crafts Mela, which will run from 8 to 14 March. The mela showcases a joint handicraft exhibition of India and Egypt.
• Indian Embassy is organising it in collaboration with the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, 
• Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (India), the Ministry of Social Solidarity (Egypt) and the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI).
• Overall, the festival is the largest foreign festival in Egypt, showcasing at least 70 events across the country.
• According to Bhattacharyya, India’s Ambassador to Egypt the event will provide an opportunity to several craftsmen to demonstrate their skills, share their experience and relive the ties shared by the two ancient civilisations.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye removed from office by - South Korea’s Constitutional Court

South Korea’s Constitutional Court voted unanimously to remove the country’s President, Park Geun-hye, from office on 10th March 2017. Park is the first South Korean President to be removed from office. As per the law of the country, next president must be elected within 60 days. At present, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn is serving as the acting President of the country.

Important Highlights

• Park was accused of allegedly pressurising companies to donate money in return for government favours with the support of her friend, Choi Soon-il.
• She was suspended from official duties in December 2016 after these allegations. However, both of them denied the accusations. 
• By far the biggest corporate head on the block in the scandal is Samsung chief and heir to its USD 316 billion empire, Jay Y Lee. Up to USD 50 million from Samsung were allegedly paid into entities overseen by Choi in return for help cementing Lee’s control of Samsung.
• Lee has been sent to jail since February 2017. 
• Born on 2nd February 1952, Park Geun-hye was the 11th President of South Korea. She was the first woman to be elected as President of the country.
• She is also the first president to be challenged.
• She was the first female president of a Northeast Asian nation and the first female elected as head of state in East Asia.
• She served as the chairwoman of the conservative Grand National Party (now Saenuri Party) from 2004 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2012 prior to her presidency.
• She was ranked 11th in the Forbes list of the world's 100 most powerful women and the most powerful woman in East Asia in 2013 and 2014.
• She was ranked 46th on the Forbes list of the world's most powerful people in 2014.
• She was impeached by the National Assembly on charges related to influence peddling by a top aide On 9th December 2016. 
• The impeachment was upheld by the Constitutional Court on 10th March 2017, ending her presidency and forcing her out of office.

Helpline number 181 launched by Odisha Government for - distressed women

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched a helpline number 181 for women in distress on the occasion of International Women's Day 2017. This toll free helpline number will be available for 24 hours in all the 30 districts of the state.The helpline will extend prompt response to women affected by violence. It will provide information about women-related government programmes and schemes and a range of other services.

Key Highlights

• Around 50 lakh women have been able to raise their socio-economic condition by becoming part of the women self help groups in Odisha.
• Mamata Yojana, a pregnancy related welfare scheme of the state government benefitted around 25 lakh women with Rs 1100 crore.
• State government has instituted 50 per cent reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions and government jobs to encourage their participation.
• Biju Kanya Ratna and Mission Shakti have also been instrumental for welfare of women and girls in the state.

Did you know?

The Union Government launched the 181 helpline number in 2013 after the Nirbhaya case in December 2012 and asked all states to start the helpline. In addition to that, 1091 helpline number by the police and 10920 helpline number by the State Commission for Women were also launched.

INS Tillanchang, (WJFAC) commissioned at - Karwar

INS Tillanchang, a Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) was commissioned by Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command into the Indian Navy, at Karwar on 9th March 2017. 

Key Highlights

• INS Tillanchang, about 50m long, is the third ship of four follow-on WJFAC built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Kolkata.
• The ship is an upgrade from the Chetlat class of Fast Attack Craft that the Indian Navy possesses.
• The first two ships of the class, INS Tihayu and INS Tarmugli, were commissioned in 2016 at Visakhapatnam.
• INS Tillanchang was able to achieve the fastest speeds among all WJFACs during the speed trail.
• It is powered by three water jet propulsion system giving the speed of over 35 knots.
• The ship is equipped with 30-mm main gun and a number of light, medium and heavy machine guns to undertake operations at sea.
• The ship is commanded by Commander Adit Patnaik and manned by 50 personnel at present.

Commonwealth trade meet begins - in the UK

The inaugural commonwealth summit focused on stimulating trade within the group started in London on 9th March 2017. This two-day summit, which was planned before last year’s Brexit referendum has gained new significance following the result,  especially since Britain is pushing for trade deals beyond European Union borders.

Key Highlights

• The event will involve a series of round table discussions between ministers and chief executives from over 30 countries.
• The Commonwealth Heads of Government summit are expected to bring together leaders as well as over 2000 businesses across the commonwealth nations.
• The leadership of the commonwealth nations is targeting to increase the intra-Commonwealth trade to $1 trillion from $750 billion by 2020.
• Rita A Teotia, the Commerce Secretary is the Indian representative at the event.
• She took part in the panel discussion held on 9th March on the ease of doing business and creating an export economy.
• India along with the UK is one of the few commonwealth nations that have established good trade relations with countries across the globe.
• Hence, India is considered to be well placed when it comes to take a lead role in driving forward the growth of the commonwealth trade.
• The summit would also provide India with the opportunity to discuss trade with partners like Africa and smaller island states.

Who has been re-elected as President of European Council - Donald Tusk

Donald Tusk was appointed to a second term as President of the European Council, one of the European Union’s governing bodies on 9th March 2017. Tusk won these elections despite objections from the government of his own country, Poland. However, Poland was overruled by leaders of the 27 other European Union member countries as they gathered for their spring summit meeting. It is the first time that such a decision was made without agreement since the position was created in 2009.

Interesting Highlights

• Donald Franciszek Tusk, a Polish politician and historian was born on 22nd April 1957.
• He has been serving as the President of the European Council since 1st December 2014.
• Before that, he was the Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014. He was the first Prime Minister to be re-elected after the fall of Communism in Poland.
• He is also a co-founder and chairman of the Civic Platform party.

Did you know?

European Council was established as an informal summit in 1975. However, it was formalised as an institution in 2009 upon the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon.

 Maternity benefit bill passed by - Parliament

Maternity benefit bill ( amendment), 2016 was  passed by Parliament on 9th March 2017. Rajya Sabha had already passed the bill in August 2016, Now Lok Sabha also approved the same.

Important Highlights On Bill

• It benefitted female employees to extend their maternity leaves from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children. After second child , it will remain 12 weeks only.
• This applies to mothers those mothers also who adopt the child below the age of 3 months.
• Employers with staff more than 50 have to provide creche facility for the working women and such mothers are permitted to take 4 breaks during the working hours to feed and look after the kid in the creche.
• If possible, emplyer may permit work from home option too to the mother.
• This amendment bill will be applicable to all the establishments with 10 or more employees.