Current Affairs 4th August 2017

Current Affairs 4th August 2017 - Important Points

• Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project sanctioned on - 2nd August 2017
• Status on Indus Waters Treaty between India and - Pakistan
• Who has been appointed Air Officer-in-charge Administration of Indian Air Force ? - Air Marshal
• Mohammad Mustafa appointed as CMD of SIDBI on - 3rd August 2017
• Compulsory retirement for non-performing teachers & officials above 50 declared by - Bihar Government
• NABARD (Amendment) Bill, 2017 passed by - Lok Sabha
•  Appointment of three Indian Americans confirmed by - US Senate
• Government to develop green airports in - Andhra Pradesh
• NASA working towards completion of NISAR mission by 2021 with - ISRO
•  Book Tatkal Train Tickets now and Pay Later announced by : Indian Railways

Current Affairs 4th August 2017 - Details

Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project sanctioned on - 2nd August 2017

Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu informed the Lok Sabha on 2nd August 2017 during Question Hour session that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project (MAHSR), has been sanctioned to implement with the technical and financial assistance of the Japan government.
Prabhu stated that MoU has been signed between India and Japan to train 4000 Indian Railway officials in 2015 out of which only 137 have been trained so far.
He informed the lower house of the Parliament that procurement of high speed rolling stocks is an integral part of the MAHSR project and that the government desirable future event promotes make in India of high speed rolling stock in a phased manner.

More about MAHSR

• This project is a proposed high-speed rail line that would connect Mumbai in Maharashtra with Ahmedabad in Gujarat in Western India.
• The line, called the bullet train, would be India’s first high-speed rail line.
• The corridor construction is expected to be started by the end of 2018 and reach completion by 2023.
• The entire rail corridor would be elevated, fully fenced and would have a fully integrated networking signals.
• This project is a part of Modi’s key promises, which he made ahead of the general elections in 2014.
• The technology that is going to be used on the MAHSR is the same as that used in the Shinkashen bullet train in Japan, which plies from Tokyo to Kobe.
• Almost over 85 percent of the funding of the project will be coming from Japan, which is the best term that Japan has ever offered to any country in the world under Overseas Development Assistance (ODA).
• The approximate estimation cost of the project is to be around Rs 1 lakh Crore.
• Other than this, as far as the working of the train is concerned, the train is expected to run at a top speed of 350 km per hour.
• A training school will also be soon set up in Ahmedabad to further train the Railway officials.

Status on Indus Waters Treaty between India and - Pakistan

The World Bank allowed India to construct hydroelectric power plants Kishanganga and Ratle on the Jhelum and Chenab Rivers after secretary-level discussions between India and Pakistan on the technical issues over the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) on 2nd August 2017.
Prior to this, Pakistan was opposing the construction of the Kishanganga (330 megawatts) and Ratle (850 megawatts) hydroelectric power plants being built by India.

This treaty was signed after more than 9 years of negotiations between both the nations in 1960 with the help of the World Bank, which is also a signatory.
The treaty was signed on 19th September 1960 in Karachi by then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru and President of Pakistan Ayub Khan.
The Treaty describes the methods of cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding rivers use.
Permanent Indus Commission, responsible for cooperation and information exchange between both the countries, has a commissioner from each country.
World Bank’s role is limited to the designation of people to fulfill certain roles as and when requested.
As per the Treaty Jhelum, Chenab and Indus are given the unrestricted use to Pakistan also called the “Western Rivers”.
While, India was given the control over three rivers namely Beas, Ravi and Sutlej called "Eastern Rivers".
India is permitted to construct hydroelectric power facilities on these rivers which are subject to constraints specified in Annexure given in the treaty.

Who has been appointed Air Officer-in-charge Administration of Indian Air Force ? - Air Marshal

Hemant Narayan Bhagwat Air Marshal Hemant Narayan Bhagwat took over as Air Officer-in-Charge Administration (AOA) of Indian Air Force at Air Headquarters in New Delhi on 1st August 2017.
The appointment was announced on 3rd August 2017.
More about Air Marshal Hemant Narayan Bhagwat

• He was commissioned in Administrative branch of the Indian Air Force in June 1981.
• He was the awardee of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) and Vayu Sena Medal (VM).
• After giving service for seven years as an Air Traffic control Officer in three different operational bases of the IAF, he qualified as Parachute Jump Instructor and served in an instructional capacity for 15 years.
• During his para trooping career, he undertook more than 2400 live parachute jumps in combat as well as sport profile from twenty different types of air crafts.
• He has also served as Chief Instructor of Paratroopers’ Training School, Agra for five years and was leader of prestigious IAF Skydiving Team, Akashganga for several years.
• Besides para jumps in all parts of India, he also participated in several international para exercises including in South Africa, USA,Sri Lanka and Seychelles.
• Graduating from Defense Services Staff College, Wellington and has undergone Higher Air Command Course at College of Air Warfare, Hyderabad and Senior Defense Management Course at College of Defense Management, Secunderabad, he is the senior most active parachute jump instructor of the IAF.
• He completed his MSc in Strategic Studies from Madras University and then his MPhil from Osmania University.

Mohammad Mustafa appointed as CMD of SIDBI on - 3rd August 2017

Senior bureaucrat Mohammad Mustafa was appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) on 3rd August 2017. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved his appointment for a period of three years.
More about Mohammad Mustafa

• Mustafa was working as a Joint Secretary in Department of Financial Services prior to this appointment.
• He is 1995 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.
• Mohammad served as the Chairman of the Board of National Housing Bank between 2014 and 2015.
• He has been a Non Executive Nominee Director of Bank of Baroda from November 2014 and Government Nominee Director of The New India Assurance Co Ltd since 2015.

Compulsory retirement for non-performing teachers & officials above 50 declared by - Bihar Government

On 3rd August 2017, Government informed that it has decided to compulsory retirement to the non-performing head masters, teachers and education department officials having age 50 years. Education department by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar reviewed the decision and announced it.

Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, education minister Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma, chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, development commissioner Shishir Kumar Sinha and principal secretary, department of education, RK Mahajan attended the review meeting among others.

The Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh stated that the state government is in process to identify non-performing institutions and all those responsible for the poor show will be given compulsory retirement. He informed that those teachers having failed thrice in assessment test would be removed or will be given compulsory retirement by the government norms.
In addition, a committee headed by RK Mahajan is working to identify such non-performing headmasters, teachers, block education officers or district education officers.
Reason behind such a decision The action was taken after the students performance in matric and intermediate exams of the state in 2017. The results highlighted the sad plight education system of the state.
This action was taken aiming to improve results in matriculation and intermediate.
The government has also asked the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) to work on changes with more emphasis on objective type questions.
The Chief Secretary said the government will also be going in for the merger of two or more schools in the same building in urban areas. The surplus teacher will be relocated elsewhere for rationalization.

NABARD (Amendment) Bill, 2017 passed by - Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha passed the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Amendment) Bill, 2017 by voice vote on 3rd August 2017.
NABARD Bill enables exit of The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and increase authorised capital of the development institution six times to Rs 30000 crore.
The Bill also seeks to amend some of the clauses in the light of reference of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development Act 2006 in the proposed legislation.

Important highlights of the Bill

Capital Increase of NABARD:

• NABARD may have a capital of Rs 100 crore under the 1981 Act.
• This capital can be further increased to Rs 5 thousand crore by the Union Government in consultation with the RBI.
• The Bill has allowed the Union Government to increase this capital to Rs 30000 crore.
• The capital can be increased to more than Rs 30 thousand crore by the Union Government in consultation with the RBI, if important.
• Transfer of the RBI’s share to the Union Government: The Union Government and the RBI together must hold at least 51% of the share capital of NABARD Under the 1981 Act.
• The Union Government alone must hold at least 51% of the share capital of NABARD provided by the Bill.
• The Bill transfers the share capital held by the RBI and valued to Rs 20 crore to the Union Government. The Union Government will be given an equal amount to the RBI.

 Appointment of three Indian Americans confirmed by - US Senate

President Donald Trump had picked three three Indian-Americans confirmed by the US Senate to key governmental posts. While Neil Chatterjee was confirmed on 3rd August as the member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a body that oversees electricity, natural gas and oil at the national level, Vishal Amin got confirmed as the Intellectual Property (IP) Enforcement Coordinator in the Trump administration. The third Indian-American confirmed to a key governmental position was Krishna R Urs, who was confirmed as the US Ambassador to Peru.

Important Details

• Krishna, serving as a career foreign service officer since 1986, is also the second Indian-American chosen for an ambassador position in the Trump administration, after Nikky Haley.
• Chatterjee is also the second Indian American to be appointed by Trump for a major regulatory position with a controversial mission. He would be playing a key role in Trump's program to reshape energy policy, which is facing tough opposition from the Democrats and the environmentalists.
• Amin, on the other hand, would be having the toughest role to play, as he would be responsible for enforcement of intellectual property which is an area where India and the United States share sharp differences.
• The US retained India on its priority watch list for "lack of improvement" in the IP framework in April 2017.
•   Also, India had termed the report as an unilateral move by the US.

Government to develop green airports in - Andhra Pradesh

As a part of Government of India’s initiative to develop green airports, two airports in Andhra Pradesh- Tirupati and Vijayawada are going to go completely green! The work on the same has already started with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) starting the process of installing 1 Mega Watt solar power plant at both the airports.
Important Highlights

• The AAI has set up Solar Power Plants at various places and airports for its captive power consumption based on the capacity permissible under Net-Metering policy of States.
• It has also completed solar power plants installation at 29 airports and locations with a total capacity of 12.84 MWp.
• The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) is the first airport in the world to be completely powered by solar energy in Kerala.
• The information was given out by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha in written reply to a question in the lower house of the Parliament, Lok Sabha on 3rd August 2017.

NASA working towards completion of NISAR mission by 2021 with - ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working along with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for co-development and launch of a dual frequency synthetic aperture radar satellite in the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission 2021.
The satellite will the first radar imaging satellite using dual frequency and it is planned to be used for remote sensing purposes, to observe and understand natural processes of the Earth.

In the joint mission, NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory will be responsible to the design & development of L-band SAR, a 12m unfurlable antenna & its deployment elements, data recorder and GPS system.

ISRO will be responsible for the design & development of S-band SAR, data transmission system,
Spacecraft Bus, Spacecraft integration, testing and launch using GSLV and on-orbit operations.
The L & S band microwave data obtained from this satellite will be useful for a variety of applications,including:
- Mapping & monitoring of natural resources
- Estimating agricultural biomass over full duration of crop cycle and to assess soil moisture
- Floods and oil slicks, coastline changes, coastal erosion, and variation of winds in coastal waters monitoring
- Mangroves and surface deformation studies assessment

Do you know?
ISRO and NASA together are expecting to complete the mission by 2021.

 Book Tatkal Train Tickets now and Pay Later announced by : Indian Railways

Indian Railways announced on 2nd August 2017 that people can now pay later for tickets booked under the tatkal quota on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) website. This service was available only for general reservations till now.

Key Highlights of the service

• It enables customers to book tatkal e-ticket and pay the fare within a period of next 15 days.
• While booking an e-ticket, the customer will be given an ‘ePaylater’ scheme and a service charge of 3.5 percent will be levied on the transaction amount along with other taxes.
• Once the e-ticket is booked with the ePaylater option, an email link and SMS will be sent to the customer to make the payment within the stipulated period.
• Also, if a customer fails to make the payment within stipulated period, it will be leading to levy penal interest at the rate of 36 percent per annum and may also lead to ticket cancellation or user account deactivation.
• The users, who will be using this facility and will be able to pay through debit card, cash or credit card by opting to have tickets delivered at their doorstep.
• Before this, for tatkal bookings, people were needed to pay first via standard online payment gateways before their tickets were confirmed.
• This move will do away with the chances of transaction failures as often customer's money got debited and the tickets were not issued due to multiple reasons.
• The refund cycle for such cases is about 7 to 15 days.