Current Affairs 16th May 2018

Current Affairs 16th May 2018 - Important Points

• 4th meeting of SAWEN held in Kolkata, India from - 8th May - 10th May 2018
• First all-woman Post Office Passport Seva Kendra starts operations in - Phagwara, Punjab
• DoT approved merger of Bharti Airtel and Telenor India on - 14th May 2018
• Indian Army flags of Women Officers’ Mountaineering Expedition to - Mt. Bhagirathi-Ii
• NALCO signs MoU with Union Ministry of Mines for setting revenue target of FY 2018-19 on - 14th May 2018
• Sulabh International founder Dr Bindeshwar Pathak honoured with - Nikkei Asia Prize

Current Affairs 16th May 2018 -  Details

4th meeting of SAWEN held in Kolkata, India from - 8th May - 10th May 2018

The 4th meeting of South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network, which is an inter-governmental wildlife law enforcement body was organised in Kolkata, West Bengal from May 8th -10th , 2018. It was 1st meeting of South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network to be organised in India since its inception in 2011.
Key Results

• The 2-day meeting was witnessed by representatives of 7 out of 8-member nations excluding Pakistan.
• 6 proposals, including tracking of wildlife smuggling route, review of present laws and structure for the organisation were listed during the conference.
• Participating nations also accepted various resolutions to control wildlife crime in the region. They decided on having operational framework for fortifying the regional body to fight against wildlife crime.
  South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network
• South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network is regional inter-governmental wildlife law enforcement
  support agency of South Asian Nations.
• It was released in January, 2011 in Paro, Bhutan during the 2nd meeting of the South Asia Expert Group on Illegitimate Wildlife Trade.
• Its secretariat is in Kathmandu. Its local network consists of 8 South Asia nations i.e. Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives.
  Mandate
• South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network focuses at working jointly as a powerful regional inter-
  governmental agency to fight against wildlife corruption by attainting common mutual aims and methods for fighting against unlawful trade in the region.
•  It also looks forward to control trans-boundary wildlife corruption through communication, management, partnership, capacity building and assistance in the region.

First all-woman Post Office Passport Seva Kendra starts operations in - Phagwara, Punjab

The Post Office Passport Seva Kendra operated by a whole-woman team started its working at
Phagwara, Punjab. It was initiated by Union Minister Vijay Sampla in the local head Post Office of
Phagwara.
Key Points

• This kendra was 192 nd Post Office Passport Seva Kendra in the nation and 1st one to be functioned by a whole-woman team. It was released as part of Central Government’s initiative for females’ empowerment.
• It will supply requirements of people from Kapurthala, Nawandhar and Jalandhar rural
  districts.
• It will advantage people immensely in this area as town is Non-Resident Indian hub of Doaba
  region of Punjab. It will permit people of the region to avail all facilities related to applying and
  dispensation of passport submissions.
  Post Office Passport Seva Kendra
• Post Office Passport Seva Kendra is Government initiative ruled by Indian Ministry of External Affairs and Department of Posts, where Head Post Offices and post offices are being used for delivery of passport concerned services to inhabitants.
• It focuses to deliver passport concerned services on large scale and to make sure wider area coverage for streamlining process to overseas traveling.
• The 1st Post Office Passport Seva Kendra was initiated at the Mysuru Head Post office in Karnataka on January 25 th , 2017.

DoT approved merger of Bharti Airtel and Telenor India on - 14th May 2018

The Department of Telecommunications permitted Bharti Airtel’s procurement of Telenor India, on May 14 th , 2018. The department has relocated all licences related to the Indian unit of Norway-grounded Telenor to Bharti Airtel.  With this sanction, Bharti Airtel will buy Telenor India in a no-cash contract and will take over its outstanding spectrum payments of Rupees 1650 crores.
Significance

• The Bharti Airtel and Telenor India union will enhance the 4G-spectrum holdings of Bharti Airtel group, which has been contending against Mukesh Ambani operated Reliance Jio Infocomm. 
• The Telenor acquisition will enhance Bharti Airtel’s adjusted gross income by approximately Rupees 1400 crores yearly, which in return, will suggestively withstand its operating revenue.
• The contract will also strengthen Bharti Airtel’s network capacity. It will increase 43.4 units of 4G-spectrum from Telenor India across AP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh-East, Uttar Pradesh-West and Assam.
• The company will also increase Telenor’s operational contracts, tower leases and about 39 million users. 
• The contract will assist the organisation in combining its market leading position with more than 330 million subscribers.
  Telenor India: A Financially Stressed Telecom
• Telenor India, has been seeking for a long-term explanation for its Indian business, which has been trailing Rupees four crores per day with a subscriber base that has been decrease gradually.
• Telenor India is presently loaded with almost Rupees 6000 crores of loss; however, this loss is supposed to be borne by Telenor itself. Airtel will only capture Telenor India’s outstanding spectrum payments.

Indian Army flags of Women Officers’ Mountaineering Expedition to - Mt. Bhagirathi-Ii

Indian Army has given green signal to Women Officers’ Mountaineering Expedition to Mt. Bhagirathi-II
to discover maximum potential of women officers in the area of adventure sports. Mt. Bhagirathi-II is
located in the Garhwal Himalayas in Gangotri National Park with a height of 6512 m. The peak growths
right above the Gangotri glacier.
Key Points

• The excursion focuses at inspiring women in the field of adventure where dauntless courage, will-power and strong fortitude of women officers is tested.
• It will check their technical judgement in mountaineering, mental forte and physical courage.
• The excursion team consists of 9 female officers.
• They are preparing to set new world record of performing and practising Yoga at 21000 ft on the eve of Yoga Day 2018.

NALCO signs MoU with Union Ministry of Mines for setting revenue target of FY 2018-19 on - 14th May 2018

Aluminium major  ‘Navratna’ firm National Aluminium Company Limited inked a Memorandum of
Understanding on May 14th, 2018, with the Union Ministry of Mines, setting highest ever target of generation of Rs 9350 crore revenue from the operations of FY 2018-19.
The Memorandum of Understanding was inked between Anil Gopishankar Mukim, Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Dr Tapan Kumar Chand, CMD National Aluminium Company Limited in New Delhi. 
The returns target fixed for financial year 2018-19 is 15% greater than that of 2017.
Highlights of the MoU

• The Memorandum of Understanding has formed an aim of 2.1 million tons for generation of Alumina with 100% capacity usage and an ideal Aluminium production target of 4.15 lakh tonnes. 
• It forms an aim of decrease in net carbon consumption as part of improvement in production efficiency.
• It delivers push to commercialisation of fresh research and development products.
• National Aluminium Company Limited has also formed a challenging CAPEX aim of Rupees 1100 crores for the year 2018-19. 
• The company has also formed an aim for assessment of employees through People Capability Maturity Model and execution of online HR management system. 
• The Memorandum of Understanding was designed according to the strategies of the Department of Public Enterprise and was concluded psot talks with the Inter-Ministerial Committee and with Union Ministry of Mines.

Sulabh International founder Dr Bindeshwar Pathak honoured with - Nikkei Asia Prize

The founder of Sulabh International, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak was honoured with the Nikkei Asia Prize in
Japan for his involvement to Asia’s development. Dr.Pathak was detailed as Indian social reformer
handling 2 of his nation’s biggest challenges including poor hygiene and discrimination. He was among 3
who were deliberated with this award.
More about Nikkei Asia Prize

Nikkei Inc. is one of the biggest media corporations in Japan. It has been awarding Nikkei Asia Prize since 1996 to regard people in Asia who have done important involvements in one of the 3 areas consisting of Economic and Business Innovation, Science, Technology and Environment and Culture and Community.
Dr Bindeshwar Pathak
He had created Sulabh International in 1970. It is a Non-Governmental Organisation that works towards promoting human rights, environmental sanitation among various social services. It has built Sulabh flush toilets throughout India, causative to better sanitation, safety for rural women and freedom from manual labour of removing human waste.