Current Affairs 31st March 2018

Current Affairs 31st March 2018 - Important Points

• Continuation of Credit Guarantee Fund for Education Loans Scheme approved by - CCEA
• April declared  as Sikh Awareness Month by - New Jersey
• Madhya Pradesh’s Kadaknath chicken gets - Geographical Indication tag
• A new organ Interstitium in the human body discovered by - Scientists
• Crime branch of state police to be set up by - Tripura Government

Current Affairs 31st March 2018 - Details

Continuation of Credit Guarantee Fund for Education Loans Scheme approved by - CCEA

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has sanctioned continuation of Credit Guarantee Fund for
Education Loans Scheme. It also sanctioned continuation and alteration of Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme for period from 2017-2020. This will give education loans to ten lakh students during
this time period. The rearrangement of scheme is in agreement with policy of Government to make good quality education inexpensive to all.
Alterations

• Ceiling on loan value has been fixed again at Rupees 7.5 lakhs, taking into the consideration the average loan magnitude only of Rupees four lakhs in order to permit more students to access the advantages.
• The suspension period will be course period in addition to 1 year.
• The plan will now cover loans for getting professional and technical courses from NAAC and NBA
  accredited Institutions and Central Funded Technical Institutions to promote quality education. But this situation will be appropriate with prospective effect and will not be applicable to present loans.
  Coverage
• Under the reviewed scheme, the numbers of loans/year are believed to be minimum 3.3 lakhs which
  means 20 per cent rise over past plan.
• The plan which ran since 2009, normal educational loans/year were only 2.78 lakhs.

April declared  as Sikh Awareness Month by - New Jersey

The United States of America’s State Assembly of New Jersey has acknowledged April as ‘Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month’, in awaken of rising and intolerable levels of anti-Sikh racism.
Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month 

• During the month of April, actions will be furnished to promote public awareness of the Sikh community, that recognise the significant contributions of the Sikh majority and fight anti-Sikh racism.
• According to United States Government information, approximately 60% of Americans are not aware of anything about Sikh religion or its followers.
• After 9/11 terrorist attacks in United States, rates of anti-Sikh racism increased intensely as Sikhs in America are often disorganized as Muslims.

Madhya Pradesh’s Kadaknath chicken gets - Geographical Indication tag

Madhya Pradesh has got Geographical Indications label for a chicken breed Kadaknath, whose black meat is in much demand in various areas of the state.
Kadaknath chicken:
The meat content of Kadaknath chicken is protein-rich black meat and which is traded at a much higher price than other varieties of chicken. It is a native to Jhabua, Alirajpur and parts of Dhar district of MP. 
The application for Geographical Indications registration of Kadaknath Chicken was forwarded by Gramik Vikas Trust, Jhabua, in 2012.
More About Geographical Indications tag:

• Geographical Indications label is a name given to certain products which resemble to a specific geographical location or their source.
• Geographical Indications label permits exclusivity for using the name to the manufacturer in the resembling location and therefore, testifies the origin, superiority and status of the product.

A new organ Interstitium in the human body discovered by - Scientists

Researchers have revealed a new organ Interstitium in the human body. This finding that could benefit the researchers understand the escalate of cancer in the human body. The conclusions of the finding were printed in the Nature Scientific Reports journal on March 27th , 2018. 
The Study 

• Researchers utilised a special live-imaging technique known as Probe-based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy to trace the interstitium in numerous parts of the human body such as lungs and digestive region.
• The finding was directed by David Carr-Locke and Petros Benias, doctors of Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Centre, while examining patient's bile-duct for tumor. 
• The research team gathered tissue of bile-ducts during 12 cancer surgeries that elaborated removal of pancreas and the bile-duct.
  The Findings 
• The finding reveals that layers of body & Connective Tissues coating the digestive tract, lungs, urinary track systems, surrounding arteries and veins are as an alternative interrelated and fluid-filled compartments.
• These sections have been named as Interstitium by the researchers.
• After a thorough finding, researchers determined that the interstitium can compress or swell in size, signifying it could assist as shock absorber for other organs and parts of the human body.
• Previously, no one observed these spaces due to the medical field's necessity on the inspection of fixed tissue on microscope slides to attain the most precise view of biological reality.

Crime branch of state police to be set up by - Tripura Government

The Tripura government has finalised to form a well-prepared crime branch under the state police to tackle illegal activities in the state including drug and narcotics marketing. The conclusion was granted during the state’s cabinet meeting. Talking on the same, the state’s Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath informed that the new section will be modelled after Delhi Police's crime branch.
Key Highlights

• The state would be looking forward professional opinion from Delhi and Mumbai’s crime branch to shape the unit.
• The crime branch would look forward to penalize any miscreant or anybody having connections with drug peddlers or drug gangs.