Current Affairs 7th July 2017

Current Affairs 7th July 2017 - Important Points

• One of the largest icebergs is about to - Break off Antarctica
• Scientists searching reasons behind - 2015 Chennai Floods
• New transport policy to overhaul transport system of the state unveiled by - Punjab government
• EPFO inked agreement with 5 banks to - Collect PF dues
• Veteran leader Babu Jagjivan Ram was paid homage by - PM Modi
• Indian national team rises to 96th in - FIFA rankings
• India declares itself free from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 and H5N8 on - 6th July 2017
• Student-scientist connect program JIGYASA launched by - Union Government
• West Bank city of Hebron as World Heritage Site declared in Danger by - UNESCO
•  Sanjiv Goenka renominated as the Chairman of IIT Kharagpur for - 3 years
• Malabar Exercise 2017 begun by India , Japan and - US

Current Affairs 7th July 2017 - Details

One of the largest icebergs is about to - Break off Antarctica

One of the largest icebergs ever recorded, about 2,500 square miles, is poised to break off from one of the largest floating ice shelves in Antarctica stated by the European Space Agency.
The impending iceberg is predicted to detach itself from one of the continent’s major ice shelves called Larsen C and float to the Weddell Sea, south of the tip of South America. Scientists have been monitoring the crack in the ice shelf from last two years since they first observed that it was expanding at a significant rate.

Important Details

• The deep crack in the ice shelf has slowly extended to 120 miles and now only about 3 miles of ice keeps the iceberg attached to it.
• It is expected to be one of the largest icebergs on record once broken.
• With roughly 620 feet thickness and 1 trillion tons of ice, the massive iceberg could pose a major hazard to ships.
• The break off is following similar collapses that occurred in nearby ice shelves during 1995 and 2002.

Scientists searching reasons behind - 2015 Chennai Floods

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and The University of Hyderabad together conducted a study to find out the reasons behind the 2015 Chennai floods.
Study published in the journal Climate Dynamics showed that, extreme El Nino conditions and warming of the Bay of Bengal had resulted in unprecedented heavy rainfall in Chennai between 30th November 2015 and 2nd December 2015.

Important highlights

• El Nino causes less than normal rainfall in the case of the southwest monsoon as compared to the monsoon during the northeast monsoon.
• This happens due to the difference in seasonal wind patterns between both the monsoons.
• The scientists also suggested that the consistent warming of the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have played a pivotal role in causing the floods in that area.
• A simple linear correlation analysis carried out by the researchers indicates that the Bay of Bengal sea surface temperature is significantly correlated with northeast monsoon rainfall.
• Based on sensitivity experiments, the researchers concluded that about 21 percent of the intensity of the extreme Chennai rainfall can be attributed to the extreme El Nino conditions.
• However, the researchers also cautioned that these results have been concluded using just one dynamical model.

New transport policy to overhaul transport system of the state unveiled by - Punjab government

To restructure the transport services state by streamlining the process of issuing licenses and permits,
the Punjab cabinet approved a new Transport Policy on 5th July 2017. The new transport policy of Punjab has abolished the system of District Transport Officers (DTOs).
The cabinet has decided to set up a special task force of the vigilance department and the state police to crack down on all illegal buses. This task force will have to weed out all such buses in a phased manner during next two months.

Important Highlights

• Cancellation of permits and new allotments: After being implemented, permits of 5432 buses indulging in extension/diversion of routes and another 6700 minibuses, besides 78 internal luxury coaches, will going to be cancelled and then allotted afresh.
• Lots for new permits: The new law says that lots will be drawn to provide permits if the number of eligible applications received for a particular route is more than the number of permits available.
• As per new law, in case of private operators, not more than 25 percent of the total permits on a particular route will be issued to one firm or party or person.
• It says the permits issued under this scheme will be valid for a period of five years from the date of issuance.

EPFO inked agreement with 5 banks to - Collect PF dues

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) inked an agreement with four private banks and Bank of Baroda to collect provident fund dues from employers and payments to its subscribers on 5th July 2017.

Key Points

• For the first time EPFO tied up with private banks which are ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Prior to this, it was SBI only to collect  contributions from employers and make payment to employees.
• The agreement will help the EPFO save about Rs 300 crore per annum as the five banks have agreed for zero transaction charges.
• Bandaru Dattatreya, Union Labour and Employment Minister, stated that “With today’s agreement, we have tied up with 10 banks now to collect provident fund contribution and pay dues to the workers. EPFO settles around 1.16 crore claims yearly and collects Rs 75000 crore per annum from various establishments under the EPF Act.”
• The EPFO had tied up with five other banks,Allahabad Bank, Indian Bank, Punjab National Bank and Union Bank of India to collect dues online in December 2016.

Veteran leader Babu Jagjivan Ram was paid homage by - PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his tributes to veteran leader Babu Jagjivan Ram on his death anniversary on 6th July 2017, hailing him as a champion of the deprived masses.
He was an Indian independence activist and politician from Bihar, who passed away on 6th July 1986."Tributes to Babu Jagjivan Ram on his Punya Tithi.
He will be remembered for his contribution towards empowerment of the poor and marginalised," tweeted by Modi.

More about Jagjivan Ram

• Born on 5th April 1908, Babu Jagjivan Ram, popularly known as Babuji, was a Dalit icon and Congress leader.
• He is also the father of the opposition’s candidate for the Presidential elections, Meira Kumar.
• He joined the Congress in 1937. He became the labor minister, the youngest member in Nehru’s interim government, the first cabinet of India in 1946.
• He went on to serve as a minister with various portfolios for more than four decades as a member of the Indian National Congress (INC).
• He served as the Indian Defense Minister during the Indo-Pak war of 1971, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.
• He held several other significant portfolios including railways, food, agriculture, communications and irrigation.
• He joined Indira Gandhi’s faction at the time when Congress split in 1969 and even supported her during the emergency from 1975 to 1977 and quit the party in 1977 too.

Indian national team rises to 96th in - FIFA rankings

Indian national football team climbed four places to sit on the 96th position in the latest FIFA rankings updated on 6th July 2017. It is the second highest ranking for the nation ever. In addition to that it is India’s highest FIFA ranking under coach Stephen Constantine. The rankings were updated following India’s 2-0 win against Nepal in a friendly match.
India has scored 341 points currently, seven points behind 95th placed Cyprus. It was in February 1996 that India was placed on the 94th rank and that was the nation's best ever FIFA ranking.

More about FIFA World Rankings

• It is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football.
• The teams of the member nations of FIFA are ranked based on their game results where the most successful teams being ranked highest.
• The rankings were introduced in December 1992.
• As per the existing system, rankings are based on a team's performance over the last four years, with more recent results and more significant matches being more heavily weighted to help reflecting the current competitive state of a team.

India declares itself free from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 and H5N8 on - 6th July 2017

India declared itself free from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1 and H5N8) on 6th July 2017 and notified the same to World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), an intergovernmental body takes care of the coordination, support and promotion of animal disease control.

India had reported outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian influenza at various epicenters in Rajpura (Punjab), Hissar (Haryana),Delhi, Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Bellary (Karnataka), Allappuzha and Kottayam (Kerala), Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Khordha and Angul (Odisha) and Daman (Daman) during October 2016 to February 2017. Subsequently, control and containment operations were carried out.

After the proper execution of control and containment operations including disinfection, culling and clean-up, surveillance was taken throughout the country and especially around the areas of the outbreaks. Final report of surveillance in the states showed no evidence of presence of Avian Influenza Virus.

Student-scientist connect program JIGYASA launched by - Union Government

The Union Government launched JIGYASA program, a student- scientist connect program on 6th July 2017. In this regard, Union Ministry of Science & Technology and Union Ministry of Human Resource Development signed a MoU.

In order to implement this program, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have tied-up with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).

Important highlights of the Program

• 'JIGYASA' would be inculcating the culture of inquisitiveness on one hand and scientific temper on the other, among-st the school students and their teachers.
• The Program is planning to connect 38 National Laboratories of CSIR with 1151 Kendriya Vidyalayas targeting one lakh students and nearly 1000 teachers every year.
• The focus is on connecting school students and scientists to extend student’s classroom learning with a well planned research laboratory based learning.
• It will also enable the students and teachers to practically live the theoretical concepts taught in science by visiting CSIR laboratories and by participating in mini-science projects too.

West Bank city of Hebron as World Heritage Site declared in Danger by - UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared West Bank city of Hebron a heritage site on 7th July 2017, an issue which triggered a new Israeli-Palestinian clash.

UNESCO passed an anti-Israel resolution by voting to have the Tomb of the Patriarchs, in the Old City of Hebron in the West Bank, to be inscribed as a Palestinian World Heritage Site in Danger.

The voting took place along with a secret ballot at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s 41st annual summit in Krakow, Poland with 12 other countries voting in favor of the move, while three opposed it and six countries were neutral. Generally, votes to inscribe sites onto UNESCO’s World Heritage List are done by a show of hands among all the member states. But three countries Croatia, Poland and Jamaica requested a secret ballot.

The members of this year’s World Heritage Committee include five countries with which Israel does not have diplomatic ties, and a number of others that routinely support
pro-Palestinian resolutions. The 21 member nations are Lebanon, Peru,Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso,Angola,Croatia, Cuba, Finland, Kuwait, Philippines, Poland, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan,Portugal,
South Korea, Tunisia, Turkey, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Vietnam.

More about Tomb of the Patriarchs

• The Tomb of the Patriarchs is considered as a sacred place as the Biblical burial place of the Jewish matriarchs and patriarchs.
• After this declaration, Tomb of the Patriarchs is now the third cultural site on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger that located in the State of Palestine.
• The other two sites in danger are the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem and the cultural landscape of Southern Jerusalem.

 Sanjiv Goenka renominated as the Chairman of IIT Kharagpur for - 3 years

Sanjiv Goenka was recently selected as the Chairman of the Board of Governors at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur for next three years. President Pranab Mukherjee nominated him. He previously served as the Chairman of the premier institute from 2002 to 2007.
More about Sanjiv Goenka

• He is the Chairman of RP Sanjiv Goenka Group and also served as a former member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry.
• He is serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Woodlands Medical Centre Ltd. presently, a premier hospital located in Kolkata.
• He became the President of the All India Management Association (AIMA) in 2009-2010.
• He has also been a member of the council of Prime Minister on Trade & Industry.

Malabar Exercise 2017 begun by India , Japan and - US

India, Japan and the United States have began the joint naval exercise Malabar 2017 on 7th July 2017.
Aircraft, warships, submarines, and personnel from India, Japan and the US will be participating in the Malabar exercise in the Bay of Bengal from 7th July to 17th. The exercise will feature both at shore and at-sea training.

Key Highlights of the Malabar 2017

• The ashore training in Chennai will include professional exchanges on carrier strike group operations, maritime patrol operations, surface warfare, medical operations, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), helicopter operations, and visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) operations.
  The at-sea training will be conducted in the Bay of Bengal and focused on advance military-to-military coordination and capacity to plan and execute tactical operations in a multinational environment.
• Events planned during at-sea portions will include a photo exercise, liaisoning officer professional exchanges, submarine familiarization; high-value unit defence and air defence exercises.
• Participants from the US Navy include the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68),USS Shoup (DDG 86), the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) , guided-missile destroyers USS Howard (DDG 83), a P-8A Poseidon aircraft, and a Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine.
• The Japan Navy will deploy Japan Maritime Self Defense Force ships JS Sazanami (DD113) and JS Izumo (DDH 183) in the exercise.
• The Indian fleet is expected to have six to seven frontline warships including India’s aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, two Shivalik class frigates, two destroyers and tanker INS Jyoti.
• The joint naval exercise is going to take place at such a crucial time when there are reports of the presence of Chinese warships in the Indian Ocean in the name of anti-piracy operations.