Current Affairs 7th September 2017

Current Affairs 7th September 2017 - Important Points

• 11 Agreements signed between India and - Myanmar
• Obama’s amnesty program revoked by - Donald Trump
• PLuS Alliance Prize 2017 conferred by - N R Narayana Murthy
• Study: Uninhabited Island from Lakshadweep has vanished
• Expert Task Force on Employment & Exports constituted by NITI Aayog on - 5th September
• A giant black hole discovered near heart of Milky Way by - Researchers
• DIKSHA Portal launched by - Union Government
• Financial powers of chiefs of CRPF, BSF extended by - Home Ministry
•  North East Calling to be organized by - Union Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
• Mother Teresa declared as co-patron of Archdiocese of Calcutta on - 6th September 2017

Current Affairs 7th September 2017 - Details

11 Agreements signed between India and - Myanmar

India and Myanmar signed eleven agreements on 6th September 2017 following delegation-level talks headed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi at Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar. These MoUs were signed in a range of sectors including one on maritime security cooperation to further strengthen their partnership of multifacet.

Important Highlights

• MoU was signed between the Election Commission of India and Union Election of Myanmar on cooperation between Myanmar Press Council and the Press Council of India.
• Both the sides signed an agreement for cultural exchange program between the years 2017 to 2020.
• Two MoUs were signed on establishment of the India-Myanmar Center for IT enhanccement Skill and the MIIT (Myanmar Institute of Information Technology).
• There were two other MoUs signed on medical products regulation and in the field of health and medicine.
• Another MoU was signed on enhancing cooperation for the upgradation of the Women’s Police Training Center at Yamethin, Myanmar.
• Both the sides have also signed an agreement to share white shipping information in order to improve data sharing on non-classified merchant navy ships or cargo ships.
• An agreement on Maritime Security Cooperation was also signed.
• A Technical Agreement was signed between both the sides to provide Coastal Surveillance System.
• PM Modi reached in Myanmar on 5th September 2017 for a three-day visit and is his first bilateral trip to Myanmar. He visited to Myanmar back in 2014 to attend the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-India Summit.

Obama’s amnesty program revoked by - Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump scrapped an amnesty program introduced during Obama’s term that granted work permits to immigrants who arrived in the country illegally as children on 5th September 2017. The move is likely to impact more than 800,000 undocumented workers including over 7000 Indian-Americans.
The US Attorney General Jeff Sessions made this announcement who said that the program known as Deferred Action for Children Arrival(DACA) that was effectuated under the Obama Administration is being withdrawn. Sessions said that to have a lawful system of immigration that serves the national interest, one cannot admit everyone who would like to come here defending their decision.

He further stated that the country must set and enforce a limit on how many immigrants it will be admitting each year and that means all cannot be accepted.  As per the session, It doesn't mean they are bad people or that their nation disrespects them or demeans them in any way. It means they are properly enforcing their laws as Congress has passed them.

Sessions further added that ending the previous administration's ‘disrespect for the legislative process’ is an important first step. He was of the opinion that all immigration policies should serve the people's interests of the United States such as those who are lawful immigrants or those who have been born there. The development was protested across the country. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the White House to protest against the President.

PLuS Alliance Prize 2017 conferred by - N R Narayana Murthy

Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy was conferred with the PLuS Alliance Prize 2017 on 3rd September 2017 along with Mumbai-born scientist Veena Sahajwalla. USD 50000 is awarded to both the winners as a cash prize. Both the winners were recognised for the development and implementation of innovative solutions towards significant global issues.

Murthy was awarded with the PLuS Alliance Prize for his Global Leadership while Sahajwalla was awarded the Prize for the Research Innovation for her 'The new science of green manufacturing' project. Professor Sir Malcolm Grant who is the Chairman of NHS England and Chair of the PLuS Alliance Advisory Board presented the award to Murthy, Sahajwalla and the other winners at the T-H-E World Academic Summit in London.

More about PLuS Alliance Prize

• It is a prestigious honour that recognises education innovation,research innovation, global innovation and global leadership.
• It is one of the many initiatives of the PLuS Alliance working to make a positive and lasting contribution to global innovation.
• The PLuS Alliance is an international collaboration among Arizona State University, King's College London and UNSW Sydney.
• The Alliance launched in February 2016 enables research-led solutions to global challenges while expanding access to world-class learning.

Study: Uninhabited Island from Lakshadweep has vanished

According to a new study, one of the biodiversity-rich islands in the Indian Union Territory of Lakshadweep has vanished. These islands were uninhabited.
The island known as Parali I, was a part of Bangaram chain of islands and about 0.032 km in size in 1968. The main reason behind its disappearance is expected to be coastal erosion. The study has claimed that four other such territories in the sea will be facing a similar fate, as they are also shrinking fast.

More about R M Hidayathulla

• He has made this study.
• He was awarded Ph.D. in July 2017 by Calicut University in Kerala for his studies on ‘Coastal Erosion in Selected Uninhabited Islands of Lakshadweep Archipelago with Special Reference to Biodiversity Conservation’.
• He himself hails from Androth, a small inhabited island in Lakshadweep. His studies mainly were including assessment of the biodiversity, focusing on five uninhabited islands –Bangaram, Thinnakara, Parali I, II and III majorly.

Study Result

• An overall assessment of the changes in the aerial extent of islands using the Remote Sensing and Geospatial Information System has revealed the incidence of coastal erosion in the five islands.
• The magnitude of net erosion was more in Parali I island (100 percent), which resulted in its inundation.
• The net erosion has been reported to be high in Parali II (80 percent) also, which is one among the four swiftly shrinking islands.
• This is followed by Thinnakara (14.4 per cent), Parali III (11.4 percent) and Bangaram (9.97 per cent).

Expert Task Force on Employment & Exports constituted by NITI Aayog on - 5th September

With an aim to create new jobs by improving India’s export, the NITI Aayog constituted an Expert Task Force on 5th September 2017. The NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, Dr. Rajiv Kumar will be chairing the task force.
The task force also includes Secretary Department of Commerce, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion among others have been asked to submit its report by November 2017 maximum. The steps outlined by the task force to address this challenge to create well-paid, formal sector jobs, include:

• Proposing a comprehensive action plan to generate employment and alleviate under-employment in both goods and services sectors and low wages by improving India’s exports in key labour-intensive industries.
• Recommendation of sector-specific policy interventions in key employment sectors.
• Recommendation of measures to enhance trade in services with high employment potential
  Identification of key macro economic factors constraining exports and suggesting methods to address these constraints.
• Assessing the existing schemes effectiveness to promote exports 
• Addressing issues related to logistics trade facilitation and export credits.
• Suggesting ways to increase the data availability on trade such that it is reliable, globally comparable and on time, particularly with respect to trade in services.

A giant black hole discovered near heart of Milky Way by - Researchers

A giant black hole, nearly 100 thousand times the sun's mass, has been detected near the heart of the Milky Way galaxy. The newly detected black hole becomes Milky Way’s second largest known black hole after Sagittarius A* at its very center after this finding.
It is a bright and very compact astronomical radio source at the center of the Milky Way. Journal Nature Astronomy published these findings.

Important highlights

• The black hole was found hidden in a huge molecular gas cloud called CO–0.40–0.22.
• The finding is the best evidence of a long-sought class of 'intermediate-mass' black holes so far, the existence of which could explain how supermassive black holes grow so terrifying and vast.
• The newly discovered black hole is expected to be destined for a slow, one-way trip towards Sagittarius A*, into which it would be absorbed ultimately.
• The existence of the new black hole was hinted back in 2015, when a team from Keio University in Japan discovered the gas cloud, located just 200 light-years away from the center of Milky Way.
• Due to unusual gas movements detected within CO–0.40–0.22 suggested some massive force accelerating matter was inside the cloud.
• The researchers detected a distribution of velocities inside a clump of gas in the cloud again, but this time they found a spectrum of radio waves, similar to the readings Sagittarius A* itself produces, but about 500 times lesser luminous.
• The team also thinks CO–0.40–0.22 may be the remnants of a dwarf galaxy that was slowly drawn into the Milky Way, suggesting larger galaxies grow by taking inside their smaller neighbours.

DIKSHA Portal launched by - Union Government

The Union Ministry of Human Resource and Development recently launched DIKSHA Portal on diksha.gov.in  on 5th September 2017  in order to provide digital platform to teachers for making their lifestyle more digital. This portal will be enabling, accelerating and amplifying solutions in the realm of teacher education.

Important Highlights

• Considering the whole life cycle of teacher starting from the time when they enrol in Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) to the time they retire as teachers, DIKSHA is built.
• Government bodies, States and even private organisations can also integrate DIKSHA into their respective teacher initiatives based on their goals, needs and capabilities.
• DIKSHA platform can be used to create in-class resources, teacher training content, assessment aids and teacher community.
• These features have been added in the portal after consultation with multiple state governments, NGOs and over 30 public and private organisations, who have contributed to DIKSHA so far.

Financial powers of chiefs of CRPF, BSF extended by - Home Ministry

The Ministry of Home Affairs has increased the financial powers of the Chiefs of central armed police forces like CRPF, BSF and other central agencies, empowering them to spend up to Rs 15 Crore in order to execute major projects and Rs 1 Crore for the minor ones including repairing of residential buildings.
The director generals of SSB, NSG, CISF, ITBP, Assam Rifles and National Investigation Agency and the director of Intelligence Bureau will also be able to exercise the same enhanced financial powers.
The amount sanctioned for major projects has increased to Rs 15 Cr from Rs 10 Crore.

The major projects include buildings construction and purchase of vehicles among others. The fund for minor projects has also been enhanced to Rs 1 Crore from Rs 50 lakh. The minor works include administrative expenditure and petty repairs. The Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba took the decision.
The main objective behind the order is to bring more flexibility in operations, reducing delays and facilitating a quick decision on matters involving financial expenditure.

 Prior to this, the ministry gave financial powers to the joint secretaries to spend up to Rs 50 Cr to execute work and purchasing land.

 North East Calling to be organized by - Union Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

The Union Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) is organising an event called North East Calling on 9th-10th September 2017. The event is to be organised under its Destination North East series of the year 2017.
Important highlights

• The purpose of this calling is to promote the heritage, cuisine, handicrafts,art,culture, business and tourism of North East India.
• The two-day event will be held at India Gate lawns between 11.00 AM to 10.00 PM. The entry will be free for general public.
• The event will also showcase all the products and activities of North-East.
• The event is also coinciding with the 16th Anniversary of Ministry of DoNER.
• In the run-up of the event, a variety of contests with North East as the theme are also open to the public with attractive prizes.
• The event will be including Music Festival for bands of North-East, Cultural Night for Dances of North-East, Handloom Demo Show etc.

Mother Teresa declared as co-patron of Archdiocese of Calcutta on - 6th September 2017

Mother Teresa, was declared the as the co-patron of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta on 6th September 2017 which is 131 years after St Francis Xavier was declared as first patron.

The Vicar General, Archdiocese of Calcutta made this declaration in the presence of the Vatican's ambassador to India Giambattista Diquattro, bishops across the state and nuns of the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa in 1950 within Archdiocese of Calcutta. The decision was taken to remember the first anniversary of St Teresa's canonisation which was held on 4th September 2016.

On the occasion, a statue of St Teresa was also unveiled.