Current Affairs 9th August 2017

Current Affairs 9th August 2017 - Important Points

• Entire Assam as 'disturbed' area under AFSPA for a month declared by - Union Government Center
• Rs 1 lakh Cr on education and road connectivity to be spent by - J&K government
• Justice Dipak Misra appointed as 45th Chief Justice of India on - 8th August 2017
• India celebrates 75th anniversary of Quit India Movement on - 9th August 2017
• 6 States for transformative change in Health & Education sectors selected by - NITI Aayog
• Who has been appointed as Deputy Comptroller for Minority Affairs in New York? - Indian-American Dilip Chauhan

Current Affairs 9th August 2017 - Details

Entire Assam as 'disturbed' area under AFSPA for a month declared by - Union Government Center

The Union Government declared entire Assam state as a disturbed area under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) for one month on 7th August 2017.

Important Highlights

• AFSPA was declared in the state after violent activities by insurgent groups NDFB, ULFA and others.
• In addition, the Home Ministry has also declared Meghalaya’s border areas adjoining Assam (20 km belt in Meghalaya) as disturbed under the AFSPA for two more months with effect between 3rd August 2017 and 30th September 2017.
• Other than that three districts Arunachal Pradesh, namely Tirap, Changlang, Longding, and areas falling within the jurisdiction of 14 police stations in nine other districts of the state were also called disturbed under the AFSPA for two more months with effect from 4th August 2017.
• The 14 police stations fall under the districts of West Siang, Papumpare, East Siang, West Kameng, East Kameng, Lohit district, Lower Dibang Valley, Namsai, Lower Subansiri in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Reports suggested that in 2016 there were 75 incidents of violence in Assam in which 33 people were killed and 14 other were abducted.
• This violence was perpetrated by insurgent groups in Assam .

Rs 1 lakh Cr on education and road connectivity to be spent by - J&K government

The state government of Jammu and Kashmir has announced recently that it would be spending around Rs 1 lakh Crore on development works with special emphasis on education and road connectivity in next five years.
The Public Works Minister, Naeem Akhtar on 7th August 2017 shared this information while addressing a public meeting in Ramban which is one of the 22 districts of the state.
Akhtar said that the state is entering an era of unprecedented development as the government is spending Rs 1 lakh Crore on roads, buildings and other public assets creation over the next five years.
He also cleared that there is no shortage of funds on part of the government. In fact, he added
that new projects are being taken up regularly whereas old ones are being completed more quickly.

In addition to that the minister also added that equal emphasis would be paid on all the constituencies for the development works.
“The major advantage of this huge spending will going to be its commitment to ensure equitable development of all regions,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, he also appealed to people to be aware of what is going on and keep an eye on the development works to ensure there is no wrongdoing.

Justice Dipak Misra appointed as 45th Chief Justice of India on - 8th August 2017

The Union government appointed Justice Dipak Misra as the 45th Chief Justice of India (CJI) on 8th August 2017.  Justice Misra will sworn in as the 45th Chief Justice of India by President Ram Nath Kovind on 27th August 2017.

He will be succeeding incumbent Justice J S Khehar, who is set to retire on 27th August 2017.
6 Misra's name was recommended by Justice Khehar himself to succeed him as the next Chief Justice of India. After this appointment, Justice Misra became the third person from Odisha to be appointed as the Chief Justice of India after Justices Ranganath Misra and G B Pattanaik. He is currently serving as the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). He will be retiring on 2nd October 2018.

 Justice Dipak Misra's landmark Judgements

• Justice Misra authored the landmark judgement in May 2017 confirming the death penalty of four convicts in the brutal Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.
• He was also part of the Supreme Court Bench where Calcutta High Court judge Justice CS Karnan was convicted for the contempt of court and sentenced him to 6 months imprisonment.
• Justice Misra is presently hearing many of the important cases including the BCCI case for transparency in Indian cricket administration, right of women to  equally access Sabarimala temple in Kerala and complicated Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
• Justice Dipak Misra enrolled as an advocate on 14th February 1977.
• He was appointed as an Additional Judge in the Orissa High Court in 1996 where he became a Permanent Judge in December 1997 before taking charge as the Chief Justice of Patna High Court in 2009.
• He also served as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and then elevated to the Supreme Court on 10th October 2011.

India celebrates 75th anniversary of Quit India Movement on - 9th August 2017

The 75th anniversary of Quit India Movement, also called August Kranti Andolan, will be celebrated across India on 9th August 2017. This was the movement that aimed to help India attain complete independence, a historic milestone in the Indian freedom struggle, had started on 9th August 1942 under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi where the country gained independence five years after the movement.

To mark this occasion, there are a number of events are being planned at both organizational and local levels. This year’s theme is "Sankalp se Siddhi- which means the attainment through resolve.
Recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for the launch of the mega campaign, Sankalp Se Siddhi, from 9th August. He urged the youth, student organizations and NGOs to organize group discussions to bring forth new ideas in India.
Modi also termed the month of August as the month of revolution, as it has witnessed the three most significant events of Indian history – the non-cooperation movement (1st August 1920), Quit-India movement (9th August 1942) and finally the day India gained its Independence from the British Raj (15th August 1947).
To celebrate 75 years of the iconic Quit India Movement, both Houses of Parliament will be hosting
a special session, suspending their usual question hour and zero hour sessions.
More about Quit India Movement

• The Quit India Movement was launched at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi, during World War II, demanding an end to British Rule in India.
• One of the main triggers of the movement was the failure of the Cripps mission led by Stafford Cripps (leader of the House of Commons) which were sent to India to negotiate a deal with the
• Indian National Congress to get total co-operation during the war, in return for progressive transfer and distribution of power from the crown and the Viceroy to an elected Indian legislature.
• They did not address the key demand of a timetable of self-government and of definition of the powers to be relinquished henceforth the talks were failed.
• Following its failure, Mahatma Gandhi made a do or die call in his Quit India speech at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay.
• It was followed by a mass protest which was launched by all-India Congress Committee, demanding what Gandhi called "An Orderly British Withdrawal" from the country.
• In retaliation to that , the British imprisoned almost the entire leadership of INC without trial.

6 States for transformative change in Health & Education sectors selected by - NITI Aayog

NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog has announced its partnership with six states to bring transformative change in Health & Education sectors under its 'Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital (SATH) ' initiative on 8th August 2017.
Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka were shortlisted under SATH initiative in order to transform their health sector.
In addition to that, three states namely - Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha – were selected to transform their education sector under its SATH initiative.
To give a major push to cooperative federalism, competitive, the government think tank had invited all Union Territories and states to participate in its SATH initiative to transform Education and Health sectors. States then made presentations for each sector will be assessed by a committee comprised of senior members of NITI Aayog and Health & Human Resources Development ministries.
The States have highlighted the initiatives undertaken by them and their willingness to accelerate the improvement.
The chosen States have committed to time-bound and governance reforms in both sectors on thorough technical evaluation.

A Program Management Unit just to push for efficacy and efficiency in governance structures and service delivery will going to be available in the six chosen States for the period of 2 years and 6 months. It is also expected that these three years of focused attention and support from the premier think tank will going to lead to a marked transformation and also provide a model for other States to replicate and adapt.

More about SATH program

• Further more the agenda for cooperative federalism, NITI Aayog has launched SATH which is a program providing ‘Sustainable Action for Transforming Human capital’ with the State Governments on 10th June 2017.
• The program seeks to start transformation in the health and education sectors. It addresses the need for technical support from NITI Aayog expressed by states.

Who has been appointed as Deputy Comptroller for Minority Affairs in New York? - Indian-American Dilip Chauhan

Indian-American Dilip Chauhan was appointed as the Deputy Comptroller for Minority Affairs of Nassau County, New York on 8th August 2017 and nominated for the post by George Maragos Nassau County Comptroller. The post of Deputy Comptroller for Minority Affairs aims on enhancing outreach to the minority communities in Nassau County here.
These minority communities are an integral part of the structure of The Nassau County and the Comptroller’s Office has been a driving force to advocate towards enhanced business opportunities for Minority and Women Owned Enterprises (MWBEs) in order to meet the County’s goals.

He has been serving as Senior Advisor to the Comptroller since early 2017. Chauhan has been active in numerous communities including his role as Advisor to the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI); as a Board member for Service Now for Adult Persons (SNAP) and also as a Volunteer for the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit.