Current Affairs 25th April 2019

Current Affairs 25th April 2019 - Important Points

• US sanctions on Iran won’t impact Chabahar Port Project  on - 23rd April 2019
• 29th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair began on - 24th April 2019
• International Day of Multilateralism and  Diplomacy for Peace 2019 celebrated on - 24th April 2019
• Dentists to be allowed to practice as - General Physicians
• StartupBlink Ranking of Nations for  - Startup Environment
  Current Affairs 25th April 2019 - Details

US sanctions on Iran won’t impact Chabahar Port Project  on - 23rd April 2019

The United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo on April 23rd, 2019 declared that the sanction waivers that it had approved to some nations still purchasing oil from Iran will end on May 2nd, 2019. 
With this declarations, 5 nations including, India, China, Japan, South Korea and Turkey will no longer be
exempted from the United States sanctions, if they remain to import Iranian oil after their waivers terminate on May 2nd. There will be no grace period for these 5 economies to comply with the decision.
The USA on April 23rd, 2019 elucidated that the Chabahar Port Project would not be obstructed by
sanctions on Iran. The Chabahar Port Project is being developed by India in Iran. 
The US State Department also mentioned that the re-construction assistance and economic development for Afghanistan, which comprises the development and operation of Chabahar Port, is a separate exception.
Chabahar Port deal

• India begun interacting with Iran on Chabahar Port around the year 2003; however, the key push was received in the 2nd half of 2014, leading to the inking of an agreement between Iran and India for the development of Chabahar Port in May 2015. 
• This agreement translated into a formal 10 years pact for Equipping and Operating the Chabahar Port, which was implemented on May 23rd, 2016, during PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Tehran. 
• A trilateral transit MoU was also inked on May 23rd, 2016 between India, Iran and Afghanistan on
  Establishment of International Transport and Transit Corridor.
• India on October 29th, 2017 transported its 1st consignment of wheat to Afghanistan via Iran’s Chabahar port.
• Since there were trials in activation of the 10 years pact, the foundation of an interim period agreement was laid during the visit of President of Islamic Republic of Iran, Hassan Rouhani to New Delhi in February 2018.

29th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair began on - 24th April 2019

The 29th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair started on April 24th, 2019. India is joining the fair as the “Guest of Honour” nation, reflecting the robust ties between the leadership and the people of the United Arab Emirates and India. 
The fair will have more over 1000 applicants from above 50 nations, who will display 500000 books. The fair intends to highlight the United Arab Emirates’ rich heritage, and demonstrate its authenticity, cultural and  literary output.

Indian representation at the  ADIBF 2019

• 30 publishing houses from India are participating in the fair. A 3-member team from the Publications Division is taking part in the Fair.
• Books on the life and struggle of Mahatma Gandhi will be on exhibit as part of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations.
• The Publications Division will do a special presentation on the 100-volume series of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi with an intention to reach out to the global audience. 
• Among the Indian authors present at the fair will be Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Suri who will be releasing his book, ‘Inked in Blood and Spirit of Freedom’, which is the English translation of poem ‘Khooni Baisakhi’ based on Jallianwala Bagh extermination.
• Best-selling author Preeti Shenoy will talk about her new book ‘Wake Up, Life Is Calling’.
  Abu Dhabi-based writer Deepak Unnikrishnan will debate his book ‘To Remember, I Invented People’ that rotates around the people who raised him.

International Day of Multilateralism and  Diplomacy for Peace 2019 celebrated on - 24th April 2019

The 1st ever authorized “International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace” was celebrated by the UN on April 24th, 2019. The United Nations General Assembly assembled a 1-day high-level plenary meeting to honour and promote the day.
Reason behind this Day
The International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace was formally declared to be celebrated ever year  on 24th April by the United Nations General Assembly on December 12th, 2018 via resolution A/RES/73/127.
The Assembly announced the day while considering that preserving the values of multilateralism and
International co-operation is fundamental to promote and backing the 3 pillars of the United Nations, Peace and  Security, Development and Human Rights.
The Day is a restatement of the United Nations Charter and its principles of resolving disputes among nations through peaceful ways.

Dentists to be allowed to practice as - General Physicians

Government’s Niti Ayog has approved the proposal of the Dental Council of India which had pursued to
permit dentists to exercise as General Physicians after a bridge course.
The proposal was in the background of the call by the PM’s office to explore unconventional methods to
address the shortage of doctors in the nation, mainly in rural areas.
Proposal of Dental Council of India
The Dental Council of India had forwarded a same proposal to the Medical Council of India last year. The proposal sought a bridge course of Three years after Bachelor of Dental Science.
The admission would be either via a common entrance exam/cumulative marks secured in the Bachelor
of Dental Science course, or even a combination of both.
The syllabus curriculum, scheme of examination, technique of evaluation, degrees and registration all these criteria will be the same as recommended for MBBS.
IMA opposes the Proposal
Indian Medical Association has vehemently contrasting the proposal. Stating the figures, the Indian
Medical Association has argued that 63250 MBBS graduates come out of 494 medical colleges every
year and India has only 23729 Post-Graduate seats. Unemployment among medical graduates is a cause for concern, thus, the Indian Medical Association has called the policy has flawed.

StartupBlink Ranking of Nations for  - Startup Environment

StartupBlink has graded 100 nations for start-up environment of nations internationally. The gradings were based on the information from more than 61000 start-ups, above 500 accelerators, and more than 1400 coworking spaces registered on its platform along with information collected from its international partners including Crunchbase, SimilarWeb etc.
The gradings were grounded on the impact start-ups have been able to make in the nation, how many
start-ups and support groups are there such as accelerators, coworking spaces, start-up events along with technology infrastructure, red tape, bureaucracy, and many more.
Findings of the Report
The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, and Australia have been graded in Top 5 in the
gradings.
India was placed 17th in the rankings and has climbed 20 spots from the previous 37th ranking.
China was ranked 27 th Estonia 13th, Ireland 14th, and Germany 9th were ranked ahead of India for their start-up ecosystems.
The challenge before India is to progress the overall quality of start-ups and upsurge the number of
unicorns than presently exist.
In the ranking of cities, Bengaluru placed at 11th, New Delhi at 18th and Mumbai at 29 th place. San
Francisco Bay, New York, London, Los Angeles, and Boston topped the ranking among the cities.