Current Affairs 6th September 2017

Current Affairs 6th September 2017 - Important Points

• Two new contraceptives Antara and Chhaya launched by - Union Health Ministry
• Hurricane Harvey to be costliest natural disaster in US history stated in - Report
• Disability pension for defence forces to be made at par with civilians by - the Government
•  Former Union Minister Sultan Ahmed passed away on - 5th September 2017
• Assam Government sets up Direct Benefit Transfer cell to implement - DBT scheme
•  The National Nutrition Strategy launched by - Niti Aayog
• Artificial leaf creating fuel from sunlight and water developed by - Scientists
• Winners for Girl's and Women’s Education Prize 2017 announced by - UNESCO
• First batch of 1000 E-rickshaws 'SmartE' launched in Gurugram on - 4th September 2017

Current Affairs 6th September 2017 - Details

Two new contraceptives Antara and Chhaya launched by - Union Health Ministry

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched two new contraceptives- an injectable contraceptive MPA under the ‘Antara’ program and a contraceptive pill ‘Chhaya’ in the public health system to expand the basket of contraceptive choices for couples on 5th September 2017. These contraceptives have been launched in 10 states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Haryana, West Bengal, Goa and Odisha.

The Antara and Chhaya contraceptives are presently available for free of cost in District Hospitals and Medical Colleges. These contraceptives are highly effective and safe. The injectable contraceptive "Antara" is effective for three months and the ‘Chayya’ pill is effective for a week. These contraceptives will be helping to meet the changing needs of couples and help women plan and space their pregnancies.

Hurricane Harvey to be costliest natural disaster in US history stated in - Report

A recent report has indicated that the Hurricane Harvey is observed as the most expensive weather disaster in the history of the United States of America. The report was released on 1st September 2017 Friday by AccuWeather which is a US weather forecasting firm.
The total losses from Harvey, created havoc in Texas and Louisiana in southeast US, would be reaching USD 190 billion or one percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), countering the expected growth in the economy for the remaining months of the financial year 2017.
Important highlights

• As stated in the report, the losses due to the hurricane will be impacting every American and counter GDP growth.
• The hurricane will likely be forcing the Federal Reserve to postpone any interest rate changes for the rest of the year.
• The economic growth that had been predicted for the rest of this year will at least be cut in half due to the devastation from Hurricane Harvey.
• The  storm effects are rippling across the country, impacting everything from food and gas prices to shipping costs etc.
• The extent of human suffering as a result of the disaster will only be increased as floodwaters and lack of electricity and basic services puts Houston into third world-like conditions for days or weeks in coming time.
• Temperatures will be climbing between 100 and 105 degrees Fahrenheit in the next couple of days.
  Standing water may also lead to disease, hazardous mold and other concerns like mosquitoes outbreak.

More about Hurricane Harvey

• It was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005.
• The disaster broke a 12-year record with no major hurricanes making landfall in the country.
• Many areas received more than 40 inches of rain as the system meandered over eastern Texas and adjacent waters which is causing the catastrophic flooding in just four days.
• Harvey is the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the contiguous United States With peak accumulations of 51.88 inches.
• Floods as a result of this, inundated hundreds of thousands of homes, displaced more than 30000 people, and has prompted more than 17000 rescues.
• Harvey developed from a tropical wave to the east of the Lesser Antilles, reaching tropical storm status on 17th August 2017.
• The hurricane has caused minimum 66 confirmed deaths.

 Disability pension for defence forces to be made at par with civilians by - the Government

The Union government has accepted the recommendations of National Anomaly Committee that parity with civilians to grant disability element to the defence forces under the 6th CPC (Central Pay Commission) should be maintained.
This move was undertaken after an increased request from the armed forces in order to revert back to the percentage-based regime for the disability pension instead of the slab-based system conceived under the 7th CPC.

The Ministry of Defence had referred the matter to the NAC in order to decide methodology to calculate disability element of the disability pension under the 7th CPC. After this, the Government has decided to continue with an earlier system to disburse disability pension and not to go ahead with a new regime recommended by the 7th CPC.

 Former Union Minister Sultan Ahmed passed away on - 5th September 2017

Former Union Minister & Trinamool MP Sultan Ahmed passed away on 5th September 2017 after a cardiac arrest in Kolkata. He was 64 at the time of death. In july 2017, he was in the news  as one of the key accused in the Narada TV sting operation case and was facing investigation by the CBI and the ED (Enforcement Directorate) .
More about Sultan Ahmed

• He was a member of Parliament and served as the Union Minister of State for Tourism during the UPA regime.
• He was also elected as MP to the 15th Lok Sabha from Uluberia constituency on a Trinamool Congress ticket.
• Before joining the Trinamool, he had been a two-time Congress MLA from Entally, West Bengal between 1987-91 and 1996-2001.

Assam Government sets up Direct Benefit Transfer cell to implement - DBT scheme

The state government of Assam has set up a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Cell to implement of DBT across schemes in the country. The purpose to set up the cell is also to coordinate efforts at the state level in taking the DBT initiative forward with an immediate effect. While the Chairman of the cell will be the Chief Secretary of Assam, its convenor would be Additional Chief Secretary or Principal Secretary of the state’s finance department.
Important functions of the cell

• It will be coordinating with Central Ministries and distributing the directives to the respective departments in the state.
• It will be closely monitoring and evaluating the progress of various departments on DBT related indicators.
• It will further be functioning as the research unit to explore the possibility of using information technology for better service delivery across a range of government services in the state.

More about Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme

• It was launched by the Government of India on 1st January 2013 and intend to transfer subsidies directly to the people through their respective bank accounts.
• The main aim behind its introduction is to bring transparency in the funds distribution sponsored by Central Government of India.
• This scheme is launched with the hope to reduce leakages, corruption, eliminating the role of middlemen and speeding up the process of transfer of benefits to the deserving.
• The payment processing would be done with the help of Aadhaar linked bank account.

 The National Nutrition Strategy launched by - Niti Aayog

NITI Aayog launched the National Nutrition Strategy aimed at
Kuposhan Mukt Bharat on 5th September 2017. The problem of malnutrition will be removed in a phased manner under the strateggy of National Nutrition.
The strategy intends to bring nutrition to the center-stage of the National Development Agenda. The leader of the Green Revolution, Dr. M S Swaminathan, Padma Shri H Sudarshan and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Dr. Rajiv Kumar and Member Dr. Vinod Paul in New Delhi jointly launched this Strategy and was formulated through an extensive consultative process and lays down a roadmap for an effective action, among both the implementers and practitioners in order to achieve our nutrition objectives.

The nutrition strategy calls for a convergence between four proximate determinants of nutrition - health services,food, income & livelihoods and drinking water & sanitation.
The Nutrition Strategy framework predicts a Kuposhan Mukt Bharat which is linked to Swasth Bharat and Swachh Bharat. It enables states to make strategic choices, through local innovation and decentralized planning as well along with an accountability for nutrition outcomes.
At present, there is a lack of real time measurement of these determinants, that reduces the capacity for targeted actions among the most vulnerable mothers and children. This Strategy lays down a roadmap for an effective action, among both the implementers and the practitioners to achieve our nutrition objectives.
This is especially relevant in the view of enhanced resources available with states to prioritize focused interventions with a broader role for urban local bodies and panchayats.
20 percent of children under five years of age suffer due to acute undernutrition and it pays an income penalty of 9 to 10 percent due to a workforce in India that was stunted during their childhood.
Key Highlights

• A report by NITI Aayog says that every third child in India suffers from malnutrition which is a big number. It says India is far behind  the global standard in this regard.
• The recently published NFHS-4 results have reflected some progress, with a decline in the overall levels of under nutrition in women and children both.
• But still the decline pace is far below what numerous countries with similar growth trajectories to India have achieved. Moreover, India is paying an income penalty of  9 percent to 10 percent due to a workforce that was stunted during their childhood.

Artificial leaf creating fuel from sunlight and water developed by - Scientists

Scientists have developed an ultra-thin artificial leaf similar to an actual plant leaf which can absorb sunlight to generate hydrogen fuel from water.
The creation of the wireless device is an advance that may be providing clean energy to power eco-friendly cars in the future.
Explaining the same, Chinnakonda S Gopinath who is a senior principal scientist at the CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research)-National Chemical Laboratory in Pune,stated that it was known that hydrogen generation from renewable resources would be the ultimate solution to our environment and energy problems.
Gopinath added that his team had been working in the water splitting area to generate hydrogen for nearly a decade. This line of research is very relevant to our country, as per him.

Important Highlights of the Device

• The device has semiconductors stacked in such a manner that it simulates the natural leaf system.
  When visible light strikes these semiconductors, electrons move in one direction and produce electric current.
• The current almost splits water into hydrogen instantaneously.
• The device with an area of 23 square centimeters could produce hydrogen fuel of 6 litres per hour.
  When exposed to sunlight for 25 hours, the device retains its efficiency.
• Any external voltage is not required by the cell and performance is also better than existing solar cells.
• Hydrogen is believed to be one of the cleanest form of fuel, as its key by-product is water.
• At present hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels by steam reforming which is a process that not only involves exhaustible energy source but also leads to a large amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission which is a green house gas promoting global warming.
• This experiment was an attempt to generate solar hydrogen. The preparation method of the experiment is simple and practical and hence, it can be done on a larger scale, as informed by Gopinath.
• An online open-access journal called Scientific Reports published the research.

Winners for Girl's and Women’s Education Prize 2017 announced by - UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced the winners of 2017 edition of the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education in September 2017.
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova announced the names of the two laureates from Peru and Thailand as recommended by an International Jury. Both the organizations were honoured with the prize money of USD 50000 each at an official ceremony held in Xiamen, People’s Republic of China, on 5th September 2017.

Important Highlights

• The award was given to The Development and Education Program for Daughters and Communities Center in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region in Thailand for its project with a title “Education and Life Skills Training Program to Help Stateless women and Children Migrating from Shan State to Thailand”.
• The project gives education and skill training to the migrant girls and women to protect them from the risks of human trafficking and sexual or labour exploitation. It also helps the girls and women to rehabilitate who are victim of such abuses.
• The project is a global recognition that can be replicated in the country or anywhere in the world.
• The second winner of the award is “Mobile MaCTec Bus Labs/Mini Academy of Science and Technology” project of Mini Academy of Science and Technology – MaCTec Peru.
• It is chosen for the prestigious award due to its efforts to reduce the gender gap among the girls of rural areas in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields.
• The UNESCO’s Executive Board established the UNESCO Prize for Girls and Women Education rewards innovative in 2015.
• The Government of the People’s Republic of China funds the award. The prestigious honour was first awarded to the projects from Indonesia and Zimbabwe in 2016.

First batch of 1000 E-rickshaws 'SmartE' launched in Gurugram on - 4th September 2017

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari launched a fleet of first batch of 1000 E-rickshaws from Huda City Centre metro station in Gurugram on 4th September 2017. The e-rickshaw fleet is expected not only to give zero pollution but also cost effective substitute in transport system of Gurugram along with generating employment opportunities for marginalised youth.
Important Highlights

• These e-rickshaws were manufactured in India and fitted with tracking system and GPS.
• The Treasure Vase Ventures Private Limited operates these E rickshaw in partnership of Delhi Metro under the 'SmartE' program name.
• SmartE will be providing the last mile transport connectivity to metro commuters in the area and will be providing meaningful self-employment for over 100000 marginalised youths in coming 4-5 years.
• Strategic partnerships has been established by SmartE with the Haryana government (HSIIDC) and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to launch 1000 vehicles in Faridabad and Gurugram initially by the end of this year(2017).