Current Affairs 7th June 2017

Current Affairs 7th June 2017 - Important Points

• World's fastest elevator to be installed in - Skyscraper complex building in China
• Sweden, Bolivia, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan elected to Security Council by - United Nations General Assembly
• To implement India’s first Rural LED Street Lighting Project in AP by - Union government
• MoU for construction of Budhigandaki Hydro-power Project signed between China and - Nepal
• India’s first private railway station going to be - Habibganj Railway Station
• India's Presidential Election 2017 of India to be held on - 17th July

Current Affairs 7th June 2017 - Details

World's fastest elevator to be installed in - Skyscraper complex building in China

The world's fastest elevator that can operate at a record breaking speed of 1260 meters per minute is set to be installed in a skyscraper complex building in China. Elevator test recorded this speed at the CTF Finance Center that is a 530 meter long skyscraper in the city of Guangzhou, China. This test was conducted for technology development of Hitachi elevators. The elevator in Guangzhou will only run at its rated speed of 72 kilometers per hour when it is in service. It is developed by the Japanese tech company Hitachi.

Important highlights

• The ultra-high-speed elevator had reached 1200 meters per minute as its rated speed in May 2016.
• China's National Elevator Quality Supervision and Inspection Center which is a public body of elevators recorded this achievement.
• The elevator has various safety features which include brake equipment using materials with outstanding heat resistance.
• An air pressure adjustment technology eases ear blockage by minimizing the changes in air pressure inside elevator car.
• Active guide rollers installed in the elevator take in vibration during high speed operation and that makes the ride comfortable.

Sweden, Bolivia, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan elected to Security Council by - United Nations General Assembly

The 193 members of the United Nations General Assembly elected Sweden, Bolivia, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan in the last week of May 2017 to serve on the world body’s Security Council for a period of two years, starting from 1st January 2017. After rounds of voting at the United Nation Headquarters in New York, only one non-permanent Council seat is left to be filled.

Italy and Netherlands are competing for the remaining seat. However, the voting resulted in no clear winner , now both the countries will manage sharing the two-year term, each with a one-year period.

More about United Nations Security Council

• It is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations,charged with the maintenance of international peace and security as well as accepting new members to the United Nations and approving any changes to its United Nations Charter.
• Its powers include the establishing peacekeeping operations, international sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions.
• Like the UN as a whole, the Security Council was created after the World War II to address the failings of a previous international organization in maintaining world peace.

Do you know?

The Security Council held its first session on 17th January 1946. It has 15 members , out of them 5 (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) are permanent and have veto powers.

To implement India’s first Rural LED Street Lighting Project in AP by - Union government

The Union government would be providing 10 lakh conventional street lights with LED lights in Gram Panchayats of the seven districts in Andhra Pradesh. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) under the Ministry of Power will be undertaking the project.

Important Highlights

• Under the Government of India’s Street Lighting National Project (SLNP), it will be the first project for rural LED street lighting in the country.
• Gram panchayats of the districts of Guntur, Kurnool, Kadapa,Prakasham, Nellore,Ananthapur and Chittoor will have the replacement done in the first phase.
• This replacement drive will enable the gram panchayats to cumulatively save approximately 147 million units of electricity every year and help to reduce of 12 Crore tonnes of Carbon Dioxide.
• The entire capital cost of the project will be taken care of by a French Development Agency, Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
• The EESL would be carrying out the entire annual maintenance and warranty replacement in these gram panchayats for 10 years.

MoU for construction of Budhigandaki Hydro-power Project signed between China and - Nepal

Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 5th June 2017 with China for construction of 1200-megawatt Budhigandaki Hydro-power Project. Nepal Energy Minister Janardan Sharma and Lv Zexiang, President of China Gezhouba Water & Power (Group) Co Ltd (CGGC) signed this agreement at Kathmandu in Nepal.

 Key Highlights

• Based on EPCF (Engineering, Procurement,Construction and Finance) model this Budhigandaki Hydro- power Project will be developed. 
• In this model, CGGC will help arranging the funds required to develop the project.
• As per the MoU, CGGC has one year time to conduct the hydro -power project assessment and arrange necessary funds to develop it further.
• Mobilization of funds will be in the form of soft loan or may be commercial loan that will be taken from Chinese financial institutions on terms and conditions  which are acceptable to the Nepal government.
• The funds will be mobilized in the form of soft loan or commercial loan from Chinese financial.
• Overall project execution responsibility will be taken care by CGGC.
• It will also conduct additional studies on and investigations into the project, if necessary.

India’s first private railway station going to be - Habibganj Railway Station

Located in the suburbs of Bhopal, Habibganj Railway Station  will going to become India’s first railway station to be re-developed in a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The station redevelopment work in the railway station will be launched on 9th June 2017 by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. The project is aiming at developing Habibganj Railway Station as a as a world-class transit hub equipped with all kind of amenities.

Vital highlights

• The railway station  maintenance and operation responsibility has been given to Bhopal-based Bansal Group for a period of total eight years.
• The Bansal Group is planning to completely overhaul the station and develop four commercial land parcels to make Habibganj a commercial hub with offices,shops and hotels, all within three years.
• The railway station will be powered with solar energy to make it environment-friendly.
• The station will also have facilities for disabled people. It will have escalators,lifts,travelators and underpasses.
• The station will be re-designed in such a way that the premises can be evacuated within four minutes in case of a emergency and passengers can reach to the designated safety points in six minutes.

India's Presidential Election 2017 of India to be held on - 17th July

The Presidential Election of India going to be held on 17th July 2017. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi made this announcement on 7th June 2017. The term of President Pranab Mukherjee who assumed the office in July 2012 will come to an end on 24th July 2017. 

Important Highlights

• The nominations for Presidential Election will be from the 14th June 2017 till 28th June 2017.
• This will be followed by the scrutiny of nomination papers that will take place on 29th June 2017. 
• The last date for withdrawal of candidature is 1st July 2017. 
• The counting of votes will take place on 20th July 2017, if required.
• The polling will be held in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and premises of different state assemblies while secret ballot will conduct this polling.