Current Affairs 25th September 2017

Current Affairs 25th September 2017 - Important Points

• East Bengal wins 8th consecutive Calcutta Football League title on - 24th September 2017
•  Rajiv Mehrishi sworn in as new CAG of India on - 25th September 2017
• Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana launched by - Union Government
• 'Saubhagya' scheme launched by - PM Narendra Modi
• Mary Kom to be AIBA representative at IOC Athletes’ Forum in - September 2017
• Multi-agency exercise Pralay Sahayam held in Hyderabad on - 23rd September 2017
• New underground water treatment plant inaugurated in Tripura on - 23rd September 2017
• C N R Rao chosen for 2017 Von Hippel Award in - September 2017

Current Affairs 25th September 2017 - Details

East Bengal wins 8th consecutive Calcutta Football League title on - 24th September 2017

East Bengal registered a record-extending eighth consecutive Calcutta Football League (CFL) title on 24th September 2017. The team held Mohun Bagan to a 2-2 draw in this thrilling match held at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri, West Bengal. Since 2010, East Bengal is winning all the CFL titles.So far, they have a total of 39 CFL titles.
More about East Bengal F.C. 

• It is a professional football club, based in Kolkata, West Bengal.
• It currently competes in the I-League which is at the top tier of Indian football.
• The club has won three National Football League titles, 8 Federation Cups, and 3 Indian Super Cups, among others.
• The club has a long-standing rivalry with the other major Kolkata club Mohun Bagan, with whom it competes in the Kolkata derby.

 Rajiv Mehrishi sworn in as new CAG of India on - 25th September 2017

Rajiv Mehrishi took over as the 13th Comptroller and Auditor General of India on 25th September 2017, succeeding Shashi Kant Sharma, who left office on 22nd September. Mehrishi was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind in a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Delhi. Several dignitaries including Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were present at the occasion.
Shashi Kant Sharma who was his predecessor had taken over as the CAG on 23rd May 2013. Sharma was serving as the defence secretary before his appointment.

CAG Roles and Terms

• The CAG is appointed for a term of six years or till the incumbent attains the age of 65 years, whichever comes earlier. Since Mehrishi is 62 years old at present, he would be in office until 7th August 2020.
• As a constitutional functionary, the CAG is primarily responsible to audit the Union government accounts, state governments, the bodies and authorities substantially financed by the government.
• The CAG enjoys the same status as a judge of Indian Supreme Court in Indian order of precedence.
• The CAG reports are taken into consideration by the Public Accounts Committees and Committees on Public Undertakings, which are special committees in the state legislatures and Indian Parliament.
•  The CAG is also the head of the Accounts Department and Indian Audit.
  More about Rajiv Mehrishi
• Mehrishi, 1978 batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, completed his two-year fixed tenure as the Home Secretary last month.
• He served several posts in both of his state cadre Rajasthan and in the Centre previously.
• He worked as the economic affairs secretary and chief secretary of Rajasthan before his appointment as the home secretary.
• Mehrishi has also worked in departments of chemicals & fertilisers, and Overseas Indian Affairs as a secretary.

 Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana launched by - Union Government

Dr. Harshvardhan, the Union Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest & Climate Change launched the Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana on 22nd September 2017. This Project is aiming towards formulating and implementing appropriate Science and Technology interventions for sustainable development through cluster approach in Uttarakhand.

Important highlights

• This project is inspired by teachings and ideals of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay whose birth centenary falls in the year 2017.
• The Department of Science and Technology conceived to adopt a few clusters of villages
  in Uttarakhand and transform them to become self-sustainable in a time bound manner through the S&T tools.
• In this approach, the key deliverable is to utilise local resources and locally available skill sets and convert them in a manner using science and technology, that substantial value addition takes place in their local produce and services which can further sustain the rural population locally.
• Under the project, the local communities are not compelled to migrate from their native places to search livelihoods and jobs.
• Once this concept is validated in the few selected clusters, it can be replicated among the large number of village clusters in India.
• Four clusters at Gaindikhata, Bazeera, Bhigun (in Garhwal) and Kausani (in Kumaon) have been first selected for the intervention through a series of dialogues held among officials of DST and UCOST (Uttarakhand State Council of Science and Technology), Gramodaya Network, Surabhi Foundation and Uttarakhand Utthan Parishad, and couple of other experts.
• About a lakh of people would be benefitted directly or indirectly through this project in four identified clusters of 60 villages in Uttarakhand for the pilot phase, which are located at different altitudes.

'Saubhagya' scheme launched by - PM Narendra Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana-Saubhagya’ on 25th September 2017 in New Delhi to mark the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya.
Listed on the agenda of the Cabinet meeting held in the last week only, the scheme is expecting to cover all rural families after expected electrification of all villages by the end of 2017.
Key Highlights on Yojana

• It aims to provide last mile power connectivity to all urban and rural households.
• The scheme would also be providing subsidy on electrical equipments such as meters, transformers and wires.
• The Yojana focuses to reinforce the center's target of achieving power for all.

Mary Kom to be AIBA representative at IOC Athletes’ Forum in - September 2017

Five-time world champion and Olympic bronze-medallist M C Mary Kom became the first Indian to be picked as representative of  the International Boxing Association (AIBA) for the IOC Athletes’ Forum in September 2017.
The 33-year-old athlete has been invited to attend the 8th International Olympic Committee’s Athletes Forum in Lausanne from 11th November to 13th November 2017. However, the event overlaps with the Asian Championship in Vietnam, which is scheduled from 2nd November to 12th November 2017.
If Mary Kom is selected for the tournament after trials at the end of September 2017, her participation at the IOC event would be becoming uncertain.

More about Mary Kom

• Born on 24th November 1982, Chungneijang Mery Kom Hmangte is an Olympic Indian boxer and hails from the Kom in Manipur.
• She is a 5 times World Amateur Boxing champion, and the only woman boxer who have won a medal in each of the six world championships.
• She is the only Indian woman boxer to have qualified for the Summer Olympics in 2012, competing in the flyweight category and won the bronze medal.
• She became the first Indian woman boxer to get a Gold Medal in the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea in 2014.
• She has also been ranked as No. 4 AIBA World Women's Ranking Flyweight category.

Multi-agency exercise Pralay Sahayam held in Hyderabad on - 23rd September 2017

A multi-agency exercise Pralay Sahayam was conducted on the banks of Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad, Telangana on 23rd September 2017. The event demonstrated efforts of all central and state agencies, NDRF (National Disaster Relief Force) and the Armed Forces towards tackling an urban flooding scenario jointly in Hyderabad.

Important highlights

• Hussain Sagar Lake was transformed into urban colonies partly submerged under water, post heavy showers in the city,for the purpose of the multi-agency exercise.
• A large number of dummy structures that depict multi-storied buildings, power stations, houses with stranded people, educational institutes etc., were erected in an inundated condition in the lake.
  The hapless stranded occupants of these dwellings were rescued carried out by the State Government agencies, Police, State Fire & Emergency Services, CISF, NDRF and the Armed Forces in joint operations.
• The Indian Air Force and the Army Aviation employed the Mi-17 helicopters, Advanced Light Helicopter and Chetak Helicopter for aerial evacuation, demonstrating special skills in winching and hovering.
• The massive Mi-17 lowered a Gemini class inflatable boat of the Indian Navy to rescue the trapped citizens.
• The agile ALH and Chetak Helicopters virtually hovered over the roof tops and winched in people trapped in stranded and inaccessible buildings.
• The Army and Marine Commandos from the Indian Navy carried out a highly synchronized Search and Rescue operation in the flooded colonies.
• Dog Squad of Telangana State police and NDRF were pressed into action to search for trapped personnel.
• Relief activities such as evacuation of rescued people, medical care provisioning and essential supplies distribution was carried out by multiple agencies in an efficient and coordinated manner.
• The exercise culminated with a static display which demonstrated the functional and efficient layout of a rehabilitation and relief camp for the displaced persons.
• The camp catered for emergency medical assistance and other important services for the needy ones.

New underground water treatment plant inaugurated in Tripura on - 23rd September 2017

A new underground water treatment plant was inaugurated on 23rd September 2017 at Sadhutilla in southern part of Agartala with the support of the state Urban Development department in Tripura.
The plant mainly focuses to fulfil the people's long cherished aspiration of drinking water that is free from iron and any other type of contamination.

Important Highlights

• This water treatment plant has been designed to treat surface water as well as deep tube wells.
  The plant will be starting by treating underground water collected through six deep tube wells of the Sadhutilla locality.
• It has treatment capacity of 4.8 million litres daily and will be supplying potable water to 2500 connections at households, schools, markets and institutions of 13 small residential settlements.
• It also has two Over Head Storage Reservoirs with capacities of 1,130 kilolitre and 450 kilolitre.
• The plant will be supplying treated water to 565 households through pipe line initially.
• The main speciality of the plant is to treat water at higher standards with minimizing turbidity and iron in water much below the permissible level.
• The plant also has the provisions to recycle sludge water and rain water harvesting.

C N R Rao chosen for 2017 Von Hippel Award in - September 2017

Renowned scientist C N R Rao became the first Asian to be chosen for the Von Hippel Award in September 2017. Rao is chosen for the award for his huge contribution in materials research.
The award citation noted Rao’s immense work on novel functional materials, including nanomaterials , superconductivity, graphene and 2D materials and colossal magnetoresistance.
The award is the US-based Materials Research Society’s highest honour.
Rao will be presented with the award on 29th November 2017 in Boston during an MRS meeting.

More about C N R Rao

• Born on 30th June 1934, Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao is an Indian chemist who has worked mainly in structural chemistry and solid-state.
• He serves as the Head of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India at present.
• He has honorary doctorates from 60 universities around the world.
• He has authored around 1500 research papers and 45 scientific books so far.
• He was honoured with the Bharat Ratna making him the third scientist after C.V. Raman and A. P. J. Abdul Kalam to receive the award in 2014.

More about Von Hippel Award

• This award recognizes those qualities most prized by materials scientists, engineers, brilliance and originality of intellect, combined with vision that transcends the conventional scientific disciplines boundaries.
• The Award is named after Arthur von Hippel, who was a pioneer in the study of semiconductors,dielectrics, ferromagnetics and ferroelectrics.
• The Award includes USD 10 thousand cash prize, honorary membership in MRS, and a trophy.
• The award is presented every year at the MRS Fall Meeting where the recipient is invited to speak at the Awards Ceremony.