Current Affairs 13th September 2017

Current Affairs 13th September 2017 - Important Points

• MoU between India and Morocco in the field of health approved on - 12th September 2017
• 10 pacts to expand cooperation signed by India and - Belarus
• Harry Potter's Hogwarts letter auctioned off on - 12th September 2017
•  BAI to confer first Lifetime Achievement award to - Prakash Padukone
• First compendium of animal diversity in Indian Sundarbans released by - Zoological Survey of India
• 1 percent Dearness Allowance to Government employees approved by - Union Cabinet
•  Conference on Women Prison Officers to be inaugurated by - Minister of State for Home Affairs
• India to step up cooperation with Egypt into - textiles sector
• India’s first advanced Homoeopathy Virology lab inaugurated on - 12th September 2017

Current Affairs 13th September 2017 - Details

 MoU between India and Morocco in the field of health approved on - 12th September 2017

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12th September 2017 approved the signing of a MoU between India and Morocco on cooperation in the field of health. Below are the areas of cooperation to be covered under the MoU:

• Communicable Diseases
• Non-communicable diseases including cancer and child cardiovascular diseases.
• Pharmaceutical quality control and Drug Regulation.
• Neonatal, child and Maternal health.
• Hospital twinning to exchange good practices.
• Training in administration and management of Hospitals and health services.
• Other than this, the MoU would be covering any other area of cooperation that is decided upon mutually by both the nations.
• In addition to that, a working group will be set up to further elaborate the details of cooperation and to oversee the agreement implementation.

10 pacts to expand cooperation signed by India and - Belarus

India and Belarus signed 10 MoUs on 12th September 2017 to expand cooperation in a range of areas including oil and gas, skill development and entrepreneurship, youth affairs and sports,scientific and technical cooperation, agricultural research and education and culture.
The pacts were signed after the delegation level talks between Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and visiting Belarus President Aleksander Grigoryevich Lukashenko in New Delhi.
In a given joint statement, the two leaders reviewed the architecture of India-Belarus partnership and exchanged ideas to expand it further. The two leaders  further agreed to scale up the partnership and diversify economic linkage with the focus on natural complementarities between both the nations and released a commemorative postage stamp to mark the 25th anniversary of India-Belarus diplomatic relationships.
Other than this, Modi also added that India will be encouraging joint development and manufacturing with Belarus in Defence sector under Make in India program and added that technology development centers will be opened in India to showcase Belarus technology.

Below is the list of 10 MoUs signed by both the nations:

•  MoU between the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus.
•  MoU between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of the Government of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Education of the Government of the Republic of Belarus to Cooperate in the Field of Training and Vocational Education.
• Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and Indian National Science Academy (INSA).
•  MoU between Indian Council of Agricultural Research in New Delhi and Belarusian State Agricultural Academy, Gorki, Belarus for Cooperation in Agricultural Research and Education.
• Protocol making changes in the Agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Belarus signed on 16th April 2007.
• Program of cooperation between the Government of Republic of India and the Government of Republic of Belarus in the field of culture between 2018 to 2020.
•  MoU between M/o Petroleum & Natural Gas of the Republic of India and Belarusian State Concern of Oil and Chemistry in the Oil and Gas Sector.
• MoUs between JSV "Belzarubezhstroy” and National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd.
•  MoUs between Indian Potash Ltd (IPL) and JSC Belarusian Potash Company (BPC).
•  Agreement on the implementation of MoU signed between Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd. India in Pune and OJSC Minsk Tractor Works.

Harry Potter's Hogwarts letter auctioned off on - 12th September 2017

A sealed envelope used in the first Harry Potter movie 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' was sold for 7000 pounds at an auction by the Prop Store in the United States on 12th September 2017. This 13x8x0.5 cm envelope is added by a letter of donation from Warner Brothers.

The prop envelope was used in the scene in 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' where the owl posts letter to Dursley household to inform Harry Potter of his acceptance into Hogwarts. The sealed Hogwarts acceptance letter has the seal and logo of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is addressed to Harry Potter. The letter made from marble-effect paper, features a real red wax Hogwarts seal and this seal sets this particular letter apart from the others used on the movie sets.

 BAI to confer first Lifetime Achievement award to - Prakash Padukone

Prakash Padukone, the renowned Indian Badminton legend and the only Indian male to be ranked as the world no. 1 in Badminton, is selected for the first life time award by Badminton Association of India.
The award carrying a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh with a citation will be presented to him in New Delhi very soon.
While announcing the award at Kochi, the Association President Himantha Biswa Sarma said, Prakash Padukone has been selected for the award for his contributions to Badminton. BAI announced this award at the sidelines of the Manorma BWF World Senior Championships.

More about Prakash Padukone

• Born on 10th June 1955 in Karnataka, the former Indian badminton player had won many laurels for the country in the field of badminton.
• He had won the 1980 All England,other than bagging a bronze at the 1983 World Championship in Copenhagen.
• At the 1978 Commonwealth Games, he won a gold medal.
• He was awarded with the Arjuna award in 1972 and the Padma Shri in 1982.
• He is also one of the co-founders of Olympic Gold Quest which is a foundation dedicated to the promotion of Olympic sports in India.
• He is the father of two daughters - Deepika Padukone, a Bollywood actress, and Anisha Padukone, a golfer.
• Prakash Padukone's life story has been chronicled by Dev S. Sukumar in the biography 'Touch Play'.

First compendium of animal diversity in Indian Sundarbansf released by - Zoological Survey of India

Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) published a first ever exhaustive compendium of animal species in the Indian Sundarban and the threats it faces in September 2017. The compendium is titled as Fauna of SundarbanBiosphere Reserve.
As stated in the publication, the ZSI estimates that there are 2626 of the animal species in the fragile island ecosystem. The listing includes a diverse 25 phyla, as they are biologically classified.

Important highlights

• The compendium is the first ever consolidated and updated information of the faunal diversity of the Sundarbans.
• It lists more than 2600 species, including the new species described from the mangrove ecosystem also the threats faced by them due to change in climate.
• In its scope, The publication is encyclopaedic.
• The publication catalogs the entire faunal diversity of Sundarban Biosphere Reserve covering 9630 square kilometers spread in more than 19 blocks in North 24 Parganas of West Bengal and South 24 Parganas .
• The compendium features famous tigers of these islands, which have adapted to aquatic conditions all around, the human-tiger conflict and big cat behaviour.
• It features 50 mammalian species that includes the Asian small-clawed Otter, Gangetic Dolphin, Marsh and Grey Mongoose and the wild Rhesus Monkey, the only primate in the Sundarbans.
• As per the publication, two Rhinos, Swamp deer, Hog deer, Barking deer and Asiatic Wild Water Buffalo are not found in Sundarbans anymore.
• It features 356 species of birds, the most spectacular being raptors, or birds of prey occupying the highest canopies of the forest.
• There are 11 turtles that includes the famous Olive Ridley and Hawskbill sea turtles and the most threatened freshwater species known as the River Terrapin.
• A crocodile, 13 lizards including three species of Monitor Lizards and five Geckos are also found in the Sundarbans.
• The creeks channels, rivers and the islands together harbour about 30 snake species, led by the King Cobra are considered vulnerable by IUCN.
• Others documented in the publication are the Monocellate/monocled cobra, Russell’s viper, common and banded kraits.
• The mangrove ecosystem covers about 350 species of fish. Cartilaginous fish, which have cartilage skeletons instead of bone, make up 10.3 percent of the fish population.
• There are 173 molluscs also. In another indication of its richness, 753 insect species are encountered in the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve.Out of them, 210 are butterflies and moths.

More about Zoological Survey of India

•  In zoological research and studies it is the premier Indian Organization.
• On 1st July 1916, it was established to promote the exploration, survey and research of the fauna in the region.

1 percent Dearness Allowance to Government employees approved by - Union Cabinet

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval on 12th September 2017 to release additional 1 percent Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees
and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners with effect from 1st July 2017.

The release of the additional 1 percent instalment of DA over the existing rate of 4 percent of the Basic Pay or Pension has been done to compensate against the price rise. This increase is in accordance with the accepted formula based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.

With this, the combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief will be amounting to be Rs 3068.26 crore per annum and Rs 2045.50 crore respectively in the current financial year of 2017-18. This additional allowance will be benefitting about 49.26 lakh Central Government employees and 61.17 lakh pensioners.

 Conference on Women Prison Officers to be inaugurated by - Minister of State for Home Affairs

The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju will be inaugurating a two-day National Conference on ‘Uniformed Women in Prison Administration’ starting on 14th September 2017.
The conference will be organised for women officers of the rank of Jailors to Deputy Superintendents of Prisons and would be including panel discussions, deliberations and syndicate discussions.

The discussions is expected to be on four main themes:

• Are Woman Prison Officers getting mainstream duties?
• Difficulties to balance family and work environment of Women Prison Officers.
• Training requirements of Woman Prison Officers and Correctional Staff
• Is there a need for a uniform change for Woman Prison Officers?

Key Highlights

• All the syndicates would be making presentations based on their interactive session with different state prison officers, academicians, and different representatives from NGOs and students.
• The presentations would be followed by an open house discussion, in which participants will be encouraged to interact and share their problems, ideas and experiences in connection with their day-to- day work in prisons and their dealing with prison inmates.
• The conference is expected to benefit the participants being in their impressionable stage of service, by the implementation of the knowledge gained through the Conference.
• It will be helping to acquire the latest technology to provide citizen-centric services in a time bound manner.
• The Uniformed Woman Officers will be navigating towards gender equality in the working environment. It will also be helping to bridge the gap between theory and practice through an exchange of ideas.

India to step up cooperation with Egypt into - textiles sector

India vowed to step up its collaboration with Egypt in the textiles sector on 12th September 2017.
Indian Ambassador to Egypt, Sanjay Bhattacharyya just ahead of the Fashion and Tex Exhibition, which opened in Cairo the same day shared the same information.

Bhattacharyya stated that India and Egypt both share a long tradition of exchanges in the textile sector. He added that talks were on to enhance textile machinery supplies to the Arab nation, as Indian machinery is very good in quality and it would be very suitable for the Egyptian market as like India,
Egypt too has a large population and labour force. Further, he stated that India stands ready to work with Egypt towards attainment of its new textile policy goals in production and in trade and investments.

More about the Fashion and Tex Exhibition

• It is going to be organised at the Cairo International Convention Centre. It will be running till 16th September 2017.
• 37 Indian textile companies would be participating in the exhibition.
• The Indian firms are part of a delegation from the Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council, an apex body of manufacturers and exporters of man-made fibre textiles, in coordination with the Federation of Indian Export Organization and the Indian Embassy there.
• The companies will be showcasing a wide range of products including yarns and fabrics.
• The exhibition will be hosting an India Pavilion.
• The main objective behind the Indian companies participation at the exhibition is to boost cooperation with their Egyptian counterparts and to forge a win-win partnership between the Egyptian and Indian companies.
• The main aim is to strengthen the trade between both the countries, especially in the fast-growing area of MMF (Man-Made Fibre) textiles.

India’s first advanced Homoeopathy Virology lab inaugurated on - 12th September 2017

Shripad Yesso Naik, Union Minister of State for AYUSH inaugurated India’s first State of art virology laboratory at Dr. Anjali Chatterjee Regional Research Institute for Homoeopathy in Kolkata, West Bengal on 12th September 2017. The laboratory has been established to develop new technologies and drugs in homoeopathy to stop emerging challenges of viral diseases.

Important highlights

• The laboratory is established at a cost of Rs. 8 crore is the only one in India in order to conduct basic and fundamental research in Homoeopathy for viral diseases like Japanese encephalitis, influenza, dengue, swine flu and chikungunya. 
• New drugs and technologies will develop at the laboratory to combat emerging challenges of viral diseases.

More about Ministry of AYUSH

• It is a governmental body in India.
• Its aim is developing, education and research in Ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, unani, siddha,homoeopathy and other indigenous medicine systems.
• In March 1995, The department was created as the Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy (ISM & H).
• The department was renamed to AYUSH in March 2003.
• The Ministry of AYUSH was formed on 9th November 2014 by elevation of the Department of AYUSH.