Current Affairs 23rd August 2017

Current Affairs 23rd August 2017 - Important Points

• World’s smallest surgical robot named Versius created by - British scientists
• National Sports Awards 2017 announced on - 22nd August 2017
• O Panneerselvam sworn in as Deputy CM of Tamil Nadu on - 21st August 2017
• Digital Police Portal under CCTNS project launched by - Union Government
• ICMR signs Deal signed between IVI for vaccine research and development on - 21st August 2017
• Second ship of Landing Craft Utility MK-IV inducted by - Indian Navy
•  Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat Program on - 21st August 2017
• Supreme Court strikes Triple Talaq by 3:2 majority on -22nd August 2017
• Work on Asian Trilateral Highway to begin shortly as part of India’s Act East Policy announced on - 21st August 2017

Current Affairs 23rd August 2017 - Details

World’s smallest surgical robot named Versius created by - British scientists

British scientists have developed the world’s smallest surgical robot named Versius, which could transform everyday operations for millions of patients. A team of 100 scientists and engineers using low-cost technology originally developed for mobile phones and space industries have developed the robot.

Important Highlights

• The robot mimics the human arm and can be used to carry out a wide range of laparoscopic procedures that includes colorectal operations, hernia repairs, and prostate and ear, nose and throat surgery.
• The laparoscopic procedures are those procedures in which a series of small incisions are made to circumvent the need for traditional open surgery.
• This has reduced complications and pain after surgery and speedy recovery times for patients.
• In the operating theatre, Versius is controlled by a surgeon at a console guided by a 3D screen.
• The robot is much easier to use as compared to other surgical robots. Versius takes up about a third of the space of current machines and will be not expensive anymore than non-robotic keyhole surgery.
• One of the major benefits of Versius is that it works like a human arm and containing technology to detect resistance to make sure the right amount of force is used when the instruments are inside the patient under observation.
• The scientists looked at the joints within the human arm, particularly in the wrist, mapping how they conduct a role to allow the hand to move so flexibly and precisely.
• These movements in the robot were replicated by them.

National Sports Awards 2017 announced on - 22nd August 2017

 The Union Government announced the National Sports Awards on 22nd August 2017.
Hockey player Sardar Singh and Para athlete Devendra will be honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
Cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara and football player Oinam Bembem Devi have also been selected for the top national sports award. National Sports Awards are given yearly to reward and recognize excellence in sports.
President of India will be giving the awards at a specially organized function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on 29th August 2017.

O Panneerselvam sworn in as Deputy CM of Tamil Nadu on - 21st August 2017

O Panneerselvam was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister (CM) of Tamil Nadu on 21st August 2017, following the much speculated merger of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) factions. Governor Vidyasagar Rao at Raj Bhavan administered his oath. Meanwhile, Edapaddi Palaniswamy will be continuing to stay on as the Chief Minister of the state.

Panneerselvam is tasked to give his services for Finance of the state besides Housing, Rural Housing and Housing Development, Slum Clearance Board and Accommodation Control, Town Planning, Urban Development and CMDA.

Digital Police Portal under CCTNS project launched by - Union Government

Rajnath Singh, the Union Home Minister launched the Digital Police Portal under the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) on 21st August 2017.
While launching the system, he announced that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs will be undertaking the steps to integrate the various organs of the Criminal Justice System such as the Police, Courts,
Prisons, Prosecution, Forensic Laboratories, Finger Prints and Juvenile Homes with the CCTNS database. The minister went on to state that the Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) will going to be a very useful resource for all stakeholders including the policy makers.
Important highlights

• The Digital Police Portal will be enabling citizens to register FIRs online.
• The portal will also be initially offering seven Public Delivery Services in 34 States and Union Territories, like Person and Address Verification of employees, tenants, nurses etc., along with permission to host Public Events, Lost & Found Articles and vehicle theft, and so on.
• On the other hand, the portal will be enabling restricted access to law enforcement agencies on topics such as Antecedent Verification and make assessment of FIRs.
• At present, out of 15398 Police Stations under the CCTNS project, 14284 Police Stations are using CCTNS software. Out of these 14284 Police Stations, 100 percent FIRs are being generated under this software in 13775 Police Stations.
• Out of 15398 Police Stations across country, connectivity is enabled at 13439 Police Stations.
• Out of 36 States/UTs, 35 States/UTs are sharing CCTNS database containing seven crore records having the data of 2.5 crore FIRs.

ICMR signs Deal signed between IVI for vaccine research and development on - 21st August 2017

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) along with the Union Health Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in South Korea on 21st August 2017 to collaborate on vaccine research and development.
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Director General of ICMR and Secretary, Department of Health Research, Manoj Jhalani, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Dr. Jerome H Kim, Director General of IVI signed the pact.
Important Highlights

• Long history of scientific collaboration with the International Vaccine Institute has been shared by India.
• India officially became a signatory to the treaty of the South Korea-based organisation in 2012 also The IVI has 35 signatory countries in total.

Second ship of Landing Craft Utility MK-IV inducted by - Indian Navy

Jagdish Mukhi, Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands inducted IN LCU L52 ship (GRSE Yard 2093) into the Indian Navy at Port Blair on 21st August 2017. IN LCU L52 is going to be the second Landing Craft Utility (LCU) Mk-IV class ship to be inducted into the Indian Navy.

Important Highlights

• Commander Kaushik Chatterjee commanded the ship and has a complement of 5 officers, 46 sailors and is capable to carry 160 troops in addition.
• It will going to be deployed for the multirole activities such as search and rescue, beaching operations, disaster relief operations, supply and replenishment and evacuation from the distant islands and based in  Andaman and Nicobar Command.
• Armoured Vehicles, Main Battle Tanks, troops and equipment from ship to shore can be transported and deployed by LCU MK-IV.
• The ship is capable enough to transport various kinds of combating equipment such as T72, Main Battle Tanks Arjun and other vehicles.
• It is fitted with modern equipment and advanced systems like IBS (Integrated Bridge System) and IPMS (Integrated Platform Management System).
• The Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata has indigenously designed and built the ship.

 Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat Program on - 21st August 2017

Union Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) Prakash Javadekar launched the ‘Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat’ Program on 21st August 2017. Javadekar also launched the Health and Fitness Profile Card along with the program at a function held at Kendriya Vidyalaya of Aluva in Kochi.

Important Highlights

• Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan under this initiative is aiming to get a physical Health and Fitness Profile Card for more than 12 lakhs of Kendriya Vidyalaya students.
• It will be providing a comprehensive and inclusive report card for children covering all age groups and children of different abilities.
• It will be making students, teachers and parents aware about the importance of good health and fitness and will also be encouraging 1 hour play each day.
• It is intended to take values of Olympics and Paralympics amongst students.
• It is expected to bring back the childhood amongst children by making physical activity and recreational games an integral part of learning process.
• It will be motivating potentially outstanding performers in various games and sports of excellence.
• It will be enabling them to use technology for data capture and analytics and will also give access to schools, parents and teachers.

Supreme Court strikes Triple Talaq by 3:2 majority on -22nd August 2017

With its trial to give an end to the issue of the Triple Talaq in Muslim community, the five judges of five faith of the Supreme Court of India in its judgement struck down the validity of triple talaq by a majority of 3:2 on 22nd August 2017.
The court in its verdict stated that the practice of instant triple talaq was violation of Article 14 and Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. It also goes against the basic tenets of the Quran and Shariat. The bench said that the practice violates the fundamental right of Muslim women as it ends the marriage irrevocably without any chance to reconcile.
Justice Rohinton Nariman and Justice Uday Lalit and Justice Kurien Joseph struck down the practice by calling it as unconstitutional. They stated that the practice was against the teachings of Quran and hence it couldn't be considered as a practice to be protected under the right to religion. While CJI JS Khehar and Justice Abdul Nazeer upheld the validity of triple talaq. Besides, the CJI Khehar also directed the union government to bring law to govern marriage and divorce in the Muslim community and that too within six months.

 The judges of the bench were Justice Kurian Joseph (Christian), Chief Justice JS Khehar (Sikh), Justice UU Lalit (Hindu), Justice RF Nariman (Parsi), and Justice Abdul Nazeer (Muslim).
The decision was made by the constitution bench of the highest court of India while hearing seven petitions filed by Muslim women to challenge a 1400-year-old practice, including by one  who was divorced on WhatsApp claiming the practice was unconstitutional.
They challenged the Constitutionality of Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 in so far as it seeks to recognize and validates Triple Talaq.
Ishrat Jahan, Shayara Bano, Aafreen Rehman, Gulshan Parween and Atiya Sabri along with the  Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) were the seven petitioners in the triple talaq.

Do you know?
Earlier on 18th May 2017, the verdict on the triple talaq case was reserved by the five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar.

Work on Asian Trilateral Highway to begin shortly as part of India’s Act East Policy announced on - 21st August 2017

Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industries announced that the construction work of Asian Trilateral Highway will be commencing shortly to catalyze the Act East policy on 21st August 2017. Speaking at the one-day lecture on New India Manthan- Sankalp Se Siddhi at Imphal, Sitharaman went on to state that Manipur will be the gateway for the entire South-East Asia.

More about Asian Trilateral Highway

• It is a highway under construction that will be connecting India with Mae Sot, Moreh, Thailand via Myanmar.
• The length of the four-lane highway is 1360 kilometers approximately.
• The road is expected to boost trade and commerce in the ASEAN–India Free Trade Area, and with the rest of Southeast Asia.
• India has also proposed to extend the highway to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The proposed route from India to Vietnam is known as the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) and is approximately 3200 kilometres.
• In April 2002, A highway connecting Moreh to Mae Sot via Myanmar was first proposed at a trilateral ministerial meeting on transport linkages in Yangon.
• NITI Aayog of India has proposed establishing a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) owned by all three countries to monitor and implement the project in May 2017.