Current Affairs 2nd September 2017

Current Affairs 2nd September 2017 - Important Points

• CSIR ranked 9th public research institution of the world in - August 2017
•  Rajiv Pratap Rudy resigns from Union Cabinet- 31st August 2017
• U Kamachi Mudali appointed as Chief of Heavy Water Board on - 31st August 2017
•  Joseph Yuvaraj Pillay appointed as Interim President of Singapore on - 1st September 2017
• Ahmedabad gets India’s first 'World Heritage City’ tag on - 1st September 2017
• Swedish defence giant collaborates with Adani group for defence manufacturing on - 1st September 2017

Current Affairs 2nd September 2017 - Details

CSIR ranked 9th public research institution of the world in - August 2017

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India's largest autonomous public research and development organisation was ranked 9th best government organisation in the world in August 2017.
As per the Scimago Institutions ranking World Report 2017, the CSIR has been ranked ninth amongst a total of 1207 government institutions.
With this ranking, CSIR joins the ranks of the globally renowned organisations namely Chinese Academy of Sciences, France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Germany’s Helmholtz Gemeinschaft and Max Planck Gesellschaft, Russian Academy of Sciences, Japan Science and Technology Agency, and many more.
The ranking (Government Institutions) was topped by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Helmholtz Gemeinschaft, respectively.
CSIR is on the 75th position amongst 5250 institutions world-wide in overall gobal ranking, the only Indian organisation amongst the top 100 Global Institutions.
The overall global ranking was topped by Chinese Academy of Sciences, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Harvard University respectively.
The ranking is based on a composite indicator that takes innovation outputs, research performance and societal impact measured by their web visibility together, so as to reflect economic, scientific and social characteristics of institutions.

 More about Council of Scientific and Industrial Research

• It is an autonomous body established by the Government of India in 1942, that has emerged as the largest research and development organisation in India.
• It runs thirty-seven laboratories and thirty-nine field stations or extension centres across the country, with a collective staff of more than 17000 workers.
• Although Union Ministry of Science and Technology mainly funds it, the CSIR operates as an autonomous body through the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• Dr. Girish Sahni was appointed as Director General of CSIR on 24th August 2015.

 Rajiv Pratap Rudy resigns from Union Cabinet- 31st August 2017

Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship announced his resignation from the position on 31st August 2017, ahead of a likely reshuffling of the Union Cabinet.

Other ministers have been reported to quit late in the night on 31st August including water resources and Ganga rejuvenation minister Uma Bharti, Small and medium enterprises minister Kalraj Mishra, Minister of state for human resource development Mahendra Nath Pandey and minister of state for water resources Sanjiv Baliyan. As per the reports, more Ministers are expected to follow his suit, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is looking to induct new faces, including those from the JD(U) and AIADMK, into his ministers council.

The decision regarding the same is expected to be announced before Modi leaves to attend the BRICS Summit in China on 3rd September. Some reports suggested that Rudy is expected to be given an organisational assignment in BJP. HRD Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey has already been appointed as Uttar Pradesh BJP president after replacing Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
This major reshuffle would possibly be the last before upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

U Kamachi Mudali appointed as Chief of Heavy Water Board on - 31st August 2017

U Kamachi Mudali, Nuclear scientist was appointed the Chief Executive of the Heavy Water Board, one of the industrial units under the Department of Atomic Energy in August 2017.
The appointment was announced by the IGCAR (Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research) on 31st August 2017. Mudali assumed the charge of the Board on 1st September 2017.
Before this he was a Group Director of the IGCAR at Kalpakkam.
An M.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, Mudali specialised in advanced materials, coating technology, corrosion and reprocessing research and development at the IGCAR. He did his Applied Science degrees at Coimbatore Institute of Technology and PSG College of Technology.
More about Heavy Water Board

• It is a constituent unit under the Department of Atomic Energy in the Government of India.
• The organisation is mainly responsible to generate Heavy Water (D2O) used as a 'moderator' and 'Coolant' in nuclear power as well as research reactors.
• Apart from Heavy Water, the Board is also engaged with extraction of rare materials and production of different types of nuclear grade solvents.
• India is one of the largest manufacturers of heavy water in the globe.
• The Board has plants at Hazira, Vadodara, Kota, Thal, Talcher, Manuguru and Tuticorin.
• The plants also develop other materials relevant to the Department of Atomic Energy and others, like Sodium, Oxygen-18, Boron, Potassium and organic solvents.

 Joseph Yuvaraj Pillay appointed as Interim President of Singapore on - 1st September 2017

Indian-origin civil servant Joseph Yuvaraj Pillay was appointed as Interim President of Singapore until the new President is sworn-in on 1st September 2017.

Pillay succeeded Tony Tan Keng Yam who completed a six-year term on 31st August 2017. Currently, Pillay is serving as the Chairman of the CPA(Council of Presidential Advisers).

It is for the first time that the office of President of Singapore has fallen vacant since the elected presidency was introduced in 1991.

Ahmedabad gets India’s first 'World Heritage City’ tag on - 1st September 2017

The city of Ahmedabad, known as the commercial hub of Gujarat, was formally accorded the status of India’s first ‘World Heritage City’ by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation on 1st September 2017.
The UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova handed over the certificate of the same to the state’s Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani.
Rupani stated that it was a proud moment for more than 6.5 Crore people of Gujarat. Speaking on the occasion, he added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had put in a lot of hard work to get the heritage tag for this city.
Important Details

• On 8th July 2017, India secured the nomination for the city on UNESCO's World Heritage list during the 41st Session of WHC (World Heritage Committee).
• The honour makes this Ahmadabad city the first one in India and the third in Asia to feature on the esteemed list.
• Ahmadabad was selected for the coveted status out of 250 cities.
• India has a total of 36 World Heritage Inscriptions now, which include 28 cultural, 7 natural and 1 mixed site.
• India is the second in terms of number of world heritage properties in ASPAC (Asia and Pacific) region, first is the China in ASPAC and 7th overall.
• UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova stated in her speech that it was indeed a great experience to visit India's first UNESCO World Heritage city which is a symbol of intercultural dialogue and unity in diversity.”

Swedish defence giant collaborates with Adani group for defence manufacturing on - 1st September 2017

Swedish defence giant Saab and Indian conglomerate Adani group announced a collaboration in defence manufacturing on 1st September 2017.
The collaboration involves billions of dollars of investment, mainly eyes a contract for single- engine fighter jets for the Indian Air Force.
Important Highlights

• The project would be including design, development and production of Gripen jets for India, keeping the Make in India initiative in line.
• It would also be including sharing of technologies of national importance with India.
• The Union government is set to acquire a fleet of single-engine fighters for the Indian Air Force.
• The US defence firm Lockheed Martin is considered to be a major competitor for Saab for the deal.