Current Affairs 18th January 2018

Current Affairs 18th January 2018 - Important Points

• MoU signed between Department of Commerce and CII for  - Development of Logistics sector
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for 2016 conferred by - President of India
• 10th Global Forum for Food & Agriculture held Berlin starting from - 18th January 2018

Current Affairs 18th January 2018 - Details

MoU signed between Department of Commerce and CII for  - Development of Logistics sector

The Department of Commerce has signed MoU with Confederation of Indian Industry for building
institutional mechanism for the progress of Logistics sector in the nation. Both will work in a cooperation for taking logistics section to global levels in terms of efficiency and price.
They will go behind Commerce Ministry’s roadmap for modernizing logistics section and bring it at the
level of the global best.
Important Highlights

• The road map objects to foster focused contract with the industry and coordinate with the related
  agencies including state Government’s and other concerned agencies.
• It will also undertake mutually accorded focused observations on logistics and encourage Government’s strategies on logistics.
  Did you know?
• The Union Government has finalized to decrease Logistics charges in nation from the current 14 percent of GDP to less than 10 percent by 2022.
• For this, a concerted attempt in coordination with Central Ministries as well as State Governments has been started for simplifying the regulatory actions in both domestic and EXIM logistics.
• Government also has approved infrastructure status to various logistics activities, which will allow them to get cheaper and long term commercial credits.

Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for 2016 conferred by - President of India

The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, distributed the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Fellowships and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for the year 2016 at an event organized at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 17th January 2018. Talking on the occasion, the President said that art attaches people with culture and the artists should utilize this energy of art in the interest of the society and nation.
Further, the President acknowledged the Sangeet Natak Akademi for admiring artists who are in the field of dance, theatre, tribal music and traditional folk arts. He informed that these folk arts have kept the culture of the nation alive.
Sangeet Natak Awards-

• The Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Fellowships and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards are  more likely identified as among the most desired national honours bestowed on performing artists, teachers and scholars of performing arts.
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards are presented in groups of theatre, music, dance, other traditional arts and puppetry, and for benefaction and scholarship in executed arts. The award since 2003 contains of tamrapatra, Rs. 50,000, an angavastram and a citation.

10th Global Forum for Food & Agriculture held Berlin starting from - 18th January 2018

The tenth edition of Global Forum for Food and Agriculture was organized in Berlin, Germany from 18 th to 20th January 2018. The subject of this year’s event is “Shaping the future of livestock – sustainably, responsibly, efficiently”.
Indian commission to the program is headed by Union Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
Important Points

• The event was held by Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Consumer Protection in coordination with GFFA Berlin e.V., Senate of Berlin and Messe Berlin GmbH.
• It also contained tenth Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference. The talks during the conference concentrated on sustainable and fertile animal production among other topics.
  Global Forum for Food and Agriculture
• The GFFA is international conference that aims on central questions relating to future of global agri-food industry. It is world’s biggest conference of agriculture politicians.
• It is organized during International Green Week.
• It gives common platform to deligates across the worlds of business, politics, science and civil society chance to share views and enhance understanding on chosen topic of present agricultural policy.