Current Affairs 27th August 2018

Current Affairs 27th August 2018 - Important Points

• Delhi-Mumbai Expressway work to begin from December 2018, announced by - Nitin Gadkari
• Defence Ministry clears procurement of 111 naval helicopters at cost of Rs 21000 crore on - 25th August 2018
• Dutee Chand clinches India's first medal in 20 years in women's 100m in - Asian Games 2018

Current Affairs 27th August 2018 - Highlights

Delhi-Mumbai Expressway work to begin from December 2018, announced by - Nitin Gadkari

Nitin Gadkari , Union Minister for Road Transport, Shipping and Highways announced on 24th August, 2018  that the National Highway Authority of India  (NHAI) will be starting the construction of the proposed Mumbai-Delhi Expressway by December 2018.

The announcement was made during Gadkari's address to media at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai. By 2021, The highway will be ready for use.

Key Highlights of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project

• The first project tender of Rs 44,000 crore between Mumbai and Vadodara has already been floated. Recently, the second tender for the  stretch between Delhi-Amritsar was also floated.
• The actual groundwork will be starting by 10th December, 2018.
• Commuters using the expressway would be able to reach Mumbai from Delhi or vice-versa within just 12 hours,( for now it takes 24 hours at present).
• The expressway which is to be built at a cost of approximately Rs 1 lakh crore, will be connecting India’s two most backward districts, Mewat in Haryana and Dahod in Gujarat.
• The expressway is expected to start from Gurugram on the Delhi outskirts and run parallel to the existing highway up to Jaipur, from where it will be turning  eastwards to Rajasthan's Alwar and Ratlam in western Madhya Pradesh and then move westwards to Baroda.
• The expressway will be developing the locality in Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh and foster growth in these regions.
• The compete route will be: Delhi-Gurugram-Mewat-Kota-Ratlam-Godhra-Vadodara-Surat-Dahisar-Mumbai.
• As the expressway will be passing through regions which are unexplored regions, land acquisition cost will also be reduced.

Defence Ministry clears procurement of 111 naval helicopters at cost of Rs 21000 crore on - 25th August 2018

The Union Defence Ministry has given its approval for the acquisition of 111 utility helicopters for Navy at an estimated cost of approximately Rs 21,000 crore on 25th August 2018. The Ministry also approved separate procurement proposals which are worth nearly Rs 25,000 crore.

The proposals were cleared during the meeting of the DAC which is the ministry's highest decision-making body on procurement.

Important Highlights

• The procurement of the naval utility helicopters will be the first project under the ambitious strategic partnership (SP) model providing for roping in private firm to build select military platforms in India alongwith the partnership with foreign defence manufacturers.
• The utility helicopters will also be used in attack missions and also for search and rescue and surveillance operations.
• The DAC also granted approval to other procurement proposals costing Rs 24,879.16 crore, that
  include one on buying 150 indigenously designed and developed 155 mm advanced towed artillery gun systems for the Indian Army at an approximate cost of Rs 3364.78 crore.
• These gun systems have been indigenously designed and developed by DRDO and will be manufactured by production agencies nominated by DRDO.
• The DAC also approved a proposal to procure 24 naval multi-role helicopters which will be having the capability to engage in anti-submarine warfare.
• The helicopters are an integral part of frontline warships such as aircraft carriers, frigates,destroyers and corvettes.
• Other than this, the DAC also approved procurement of 14 vertically launched short-range missile systems,out of them 10 will be indigenously developed.
• The systems will be helping to boost the self-defence capability of ships against anti-ship missiles.

Dutee Chand clinches India's first medal in 20 years in women's 100m in - Asian Games 2018

The day ended on a high note for India with four Indian athletes - Hima Das, Muhammed Anas, Dutee Chand and Fouaad Mirza claiming the silver medal in their respective events  at the 18th Asian Games on 26th August 2018.

India's Muhammed Anas and Hima Das bagged the silver medal in the men's and women's 400 metres races respectively.  While Anas completed the race in just 45.69 seconds and ranked second, Hima clocked record-breaking 50.79 seconds to take the second place in the women's race.

Another force of reckoning was Dutee Chand, who grabbed the spotlight by winning silver in the women's 100 m event. After this, she won the country's first medal in 20 years in a women's 100 m event. Before this, Rachita Mitsry bagged bronze medal in this event back in 1998.

In another first, Fouaad Mirza became the first Indian to win an Asian Games individual equestrian medal since 1982. He finished second with a score of 26.40 in the individual equestrian jumping event behind Japan’s Oiwa Yoshiaki. Further, he along with his teammates Rakesh Kumar, Ashish Malik and Jitender Singh guided India to a second-place in the equestrian team event. Before that on Day 7 at the Asian Games, India's 23-year-old Tajinder Pal Singh also clinched the gold medal in men’s shot put with an Asian Games record.