Current Affairs 19th August 2017

Current Affairs 19th August 2017 - Important Points

• Mobile App MyFASTag and FASTag Partner launched by - NHAI
• Proposal to procure 6 Apache attack helicopters for Army cleared by - Defence Ministry
• Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali Campaign launched by - Union Environment Ministry
• Veteran photographer S Paul died on - 16th August 2017
•  Who has taken the charge as Executive Director of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board?- Mamta Suri
• Asteroid Florence to pass safely by Earth : NASA
• Who has been appointed as President and MD of General Motors India? - Sanjiv Gupta
• National Safety Awards (Mines) for the years 2013 & 2014 given by - President
• World Humanitarian Day observed globally on - 19th August 2017

Current Affairs 19th August 2017 - Details

Mobile App MyFASTag and FASTag Partner launched by - NHAI

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) launched two mobile apps MyFASTag and FASTag Partner to facilitate the availability of FASTags for Electronic Toll Collection on 17th August 2017.

These apps will be easing the process of purchase and recharge of FASTags just at the click of a mobile button. 

More about the MyFASTag App
It is a consumer app that can be downloaded from the App Store for both IOS systems and Android.
A consumer can purchase or recharge FASTags through this App.
The App also helps keeping track of transactions and providing for online grievance redressal.

FASTag Partner App
The RFID tags that came built in with around 74 lakh cars in the country can be activated using this App.

Proposal to procure 6 Apache attack helicopters for Army cleared by - Defence Ministry

Defence Ministry cleared a proposal to procure 6 Apache attack helicopters for Army on 17th August 2017. The acquisition of the helicopters, equipment and training will be costing around four thousand 168 crore rupees. This time the approved proposal is different from India’s purchase of 22 Apache and 15 Chinook helicopters from Boeing in 2015 for Rs 13,952 crores for the Air Force.

 As per reports, the decision to procure 6 Apache attack helicopters was taken in Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting chaired by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi.
Reports also suggested that the helicopters are being bought under an option clause of 50 percent repeat order in the previous deal under which 22 Apache attack choppers were bought for the Indian Air Force. The deadline to use the option clause is going to end on 28th September 2017.
These Apache AH-64E choppers will be coming with associated equipment which will be including spares, training, weapons and ammunition. The Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter is the most advanced multi-role heavy attack helicopter in the world and they carry advanced weapon systems and night-fighting features.

The DAC has also approved a proposal to procure two gas turbine engines for Admiral Grigorovich class naval ships at the cost of Rs 490 crore. The gas turbines will be procured from Ukraine and the ships are being made for India in Russia. India and Russia, signed an inter-governmental agreement for four frigates through a partnership between Indian and Russian shipyards in October 2016. This MoU was signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India.
As per the agreement, the two frigates will be coming from Russia while the other two will going to be constructed at an Indian shipyard with Russian cooperation.

Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali Campaign launched by - Union Environment Ministry

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr Harsh Vardhan launched the “Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali” campaign on 17th August 2017. The Ministry also administered a Pledge for a Green and Healthy Diwali to the students gathering. The Pledge will be widely circulated to the colleges, schools and other educational institutions. The ministry has launched the campaign while addressing a gathering of about 800 children from schools of Delhi and NCR.
Important Highlights

• The campaign is aiming to enlighten the children about harmful fire crackers.
• It will be motivating children to buy a gift, food items, or sweets for the poor and underprivileged children living in their locality instead of fire crackers .
• As a part of the campaign, the Environment Ministry will undertake various activities to create awareness among various stakeholders and encourage people to participate in combating air pollution.
• Some of the activities to promote Green Diwali among school children include poster competition,
  stickers/logo distribution, public appeal using Radio and advertisement on public transport systems.
• As a part of the social media campaign, an online competition will be conducted, where people are enociuraged to make a video or audio clip on the theme ‘Pollution Free Diwali’.
• The campaign was launched aiming to negate the chances of adverse environmental conditions in the country.
• Diwali 2016 witnessed extreme pollution levels after the Diwali celebrations due to excessive bursting of crackers, which contributes significantly to air and noise pollution. The pollution reached such levels that Government had to declare an emergency situation, which led to closing down of schools, construction sites and power stations.
• This year, India will be hosting FIFA U-17 World Cup that is scheduled to be held in October 2017, the Diwali month.
• Thus, the Government is working to ensure that there is no inconvenience caused in the conduct of the event and the national image stays protected.

Veteran photographer S Paul died on - 16th August 2017

The veteran, S Paul photographer who was described as 'The Henry Cartier-Bresson of India' by B&W Magazine of US was died in New Delhi on 16th August 2017.
He died after undergoing a surgery a few days ago at a private hospital.

Important Points

• He was a self-taught photographer, and discovered his passion for the art as a teenager. He gave his services to The Indian Express in the 1960s and retired from the newspaper in 1989.
• Paul also received recognition and fame as a professional photographer when his pictures were selected for the publication in three renowned British publications naming Miniature Camera, Amateur Photographer and Miniature Camera World.
• The British Journal of Photography profiled Paul in 1967 and he was the first Indian to get that recognition.
• Paul was born on 19th August 1929 in Jhang, Pakistan and His birthday also coincides with the World Photography Day.
• He moved to India after Partition and there his family shifted to Shimla. Raghu Rai, his younger brother is also a renowned photographer.

Do you know?

S Paul was the first Indian who won the Nikon International Photo Contest in 1971.

 Who has taken the charge as Executive Director of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board?- Mamta Suri

Mamta Suri took charge as the Executive Director of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) on 16th August 2017. Suri was serving as the Chief General Manager of the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India before joining these services.

Suri is a graduate in Law and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) from the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India.  She has obtained her M.Sc. degree in Insurance Risk and Management from City University, London and Ph.D. degree in Finance from Delhi University and She was also awarded with Honorary membership for High Scholastic Achievement from USA.

Asteroid Florence to pass safely by Earth : NASA

Asteroid Florence, which is one of the largest near-Earth asteroids, will be passing safely by Earth on 1st September 2017 at a distance of seven million kilometers. According to the measurements taken from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and NEOWISE mission, the asteroid is about 4.4 kilometers in size.
Important Highlights

• The asteroid is the largest one to pass by our planet this close since the beginning of the NASA program to detect and track near-Earth asteroids.
• While many known asteroids have passed by closer to Earth than Florence will but still they all were estimated to be smaller.
• The close encounter will be providing an opportunity to the scientists to study the terrestrial body up close.
• For ground-based radar observations the asteroid is expected to be an excellent target.
• The resulting radar images will also show the real size of Florence and it could also reveal surface details which are as small as about 10 meters.

Who has been appointed as President and MD of General Motors India? - Sanjiv Gupta

Sanjiv Gupta was appointed as the President and Managing Director (MD) of General Motors India on 17th August 2017. He will be joining the office on 1st September 2017. Gupta will be succeeding Kaher Kazem, who has been appointed as the President and CEO of General Motors Korea. Gupta will also be continuing to serve as Chief Financial Officer.

More about Sanjiv Gupta

• Gupta joined General Motors in 2003 and since then, he has served various critical roles in Business Planning, VSSM, Corporate Finance, Auto Financing and Financial Planning in the Canada and US.
• He was promoted as the Director of North America Financial Planning and Analysis of General Motors in Feb 2012.
• He was appointed as Director of US Sales Operations Finance in September 2013.
• He joined General Motors India as the Chief Financial Officer in May 2016.

National Safety Awards (Mines) for the years 2013 & 2014 given by - President

President Ram Nath Kovind presented the National Safety Awards (Mines) for the years 2013 and 2014 on 17th August 2017 in a function held at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. There were 37 Winner and 34 Runner-up prizes overall that were given to the mines during the award function. Different organisations were given awards under different categories.
Few of them includes Coal Mines – Belowground with difficult mining conditions where the winner was
Jamadoba Tata Steel Ltd., Coal Mines – Belowground (others), (winner Parbelia Colliery Eastern Coalfields Ltd.) and Metal Mines – Mechanised Opencast (winner Bhimtanagar Sukinda Chromite Mine Tata Steel Ltd) among others.

During the occassion President Kovind stated that India is endowed with an impressive mineral wealth and presently, the mineral sector contributes 2.6 percent of our national GDP. He also added that this sector provides direct employment to more than a million people on a daily average basis and helps the lives of their families. In addition to that the President added that in recent decades, the Indian mining industry has progressed appreciably in production and productivity through intensive mechanism and adoption of new technology.

The President said that he was confident that the National Safety Awards in Mines will be continued to be an excellent motivator to uphold safety and welfare standards in the mines of our country. The safety practices of the award winning mines from today’s event should be taken as case studies for students of mining engineering and management.  Students should also visit such mines as part of their familiarisation programs.

More about National Safety Awards (Mines)

• The Union Ministry of Labour launched The National Safety Awards (Mines) in the year 1982-83.
• The awards were launched to recognize and encourage any notable and exemplary performance for prevention of accidents in mines.
• These awards were given away for the first time in the year 1984 for the contest years 1982 & 1983 and thereafter, regularly every year.
• For the contest purpose for National Safety Awards (Mines), all mines were divided into 7 different groups depending upon the type of mineral and nature of workings. The indicators of safety performance for determining the eligibility of these awards are:

-  LAFP (Longest accident-free period ) in terms of man shifts worked during three consecutive years    ending with the contest year.
 -LIFR (Lowest injury frequency rate) during three consecutive years ending with the contest year

World Humanitarian Day observed globally on - 19th August 2017

World Humanitarian Day (WHD) was observed globally on 19th August 2017 with the theme #NotATarget.

Important Highlights

• The day is marked every year to pay tribute to help workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service and also to rally support for people who are affected by crisis around the world.
• This campaign is followed by a report from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, which called for the protection of civilians.
• Millions of innocent civilians are forced to hide or flee due to conflicts and wars across the world.
• Countless families are displaced from their homes, children are taken out from schools, communities are torn apart and the world is not doing enough to ban all this.
• In fact, even health and aid workers, who risk their lives every single day to serve and care for people are being affected by violence.
• The WHD 2017 witnessed several humanitarian partners coming together to reaffirm the fact that civilians caught in conflict are #NotATarget.
• In an innovative partnership with Facebook live, the day saw the launch of an online campaign to advocate this.
• Other than this, several events were held across the world to protest against those most vulnerable in war zones and to request world leaders do everything their power to protect the civilians in times of conflict.