Current Affairs 17th August 2017

Current Affairs 17th August 2017 - Important Points

• 100 million years old damselfly named after Sir David Attenborough on - 16th August 2017
• Bullock Cart Racing to remain banned in Maharashtra : Bombay HC on 16th August 2017
• India’s first Partition Museum opens in - Amritsar
• Procedure and mechanism for Strategic Disinvestment approved by - Cabinet
• Real Madrid beats Barcelona to win 2017 Spanish Super Cup on - 16th August 2017
• 4th Advance Estimate of production of major crops for 2016-17 released by - Union Government
• LED bulbs, tubelights, fans to go on sale at petrol pumps across India on - 16th August 2017
• MoU between India and Sweden on Intellectual Property Rights approved on - 16th August 2017
•  RBI announced Aadhar linkage mandatory for farmers to avail short-term crop loans in 2017-18 on - 16th August 2017

Current Affairs 17th August 2017 - Details

100 million years old damselfly named after Sir David Attenborough on - 16th August 2017

A 100 million year old damselfly species, discovered in Myanmar, was named after British broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough on 16th August 2017. It belongs to a group known as shadowdamsels and has been given a name as Mesosticta davidattenboroughi.

The damselfly was named after Attenborough for his long-standing appreciation of dragonflies and to celebrate his 90th birthday. After this, it joins a long list of animals which have been named after Sir David Attenborough a carnivorous plant, a butterfly, a tiny spider, a Peruvian frog and a Namibian lizard.

Important Highlights

• It was found in the Hukawng Valley of Kachin Province in Myanmar.
• This 100 million year old damselfly species has been notified in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
• The Mesosticta davidattenboroughi fossil was found in a piece of mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber
  in an extremely well preserved as it is covered in yellow transparent amber and includes a complete set of wings.

Bullock Cart Racing to remain banned in Maharashtra : Bombay HC on 16th August 2017

The Bombay High Court restrained the Maharashtra state government from granting permission to bullock cart racing until the government frames rules to govern the same on 16th August 2017.
A bench of justices took this decision including Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N M Jamdar.
The bench stated that permission cannot be granted to the sport as the government till date had not framed rules for its functioning, as it had assured in the amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
While hearing, the decision was announced against a PIL filed by a Pune resident, Ajay Marathe, who brought to the court’s notice a bullock cart race that was to be organised in his district the following day. The petition sought to put up a stay on the race.
In addition to that the bench directed the government to file an affidavit within two weeks in response to the petition.

India’s first Partition Museum opens in - Amritsar

A new museum on the Partition of the Indian subcontinent was inaugurated after 70 years of bloodstained tragedy that had split British India into India and Pakistan in 1947 in the third week of August 2017. This is the first time that a venue is created in the past 70 years since India and Pakistan were created India and Pakistan celebrated their seven decades of their independence in August.

More about the Museum

• The museum is located in the red-brick Town Hall building in Amritsar in the North India.
• Photographs, newspaper clippings and donated personal items depicting India's struggle for freedom from colonial rule are being exhibited there.Ticket prices of the Museum are as low at Rs 10 for Indians and Rs 150 for foreigners. The museum is a non-profit trust to raise money from individuals such as Suhel Seth andother companies including Airtel and the Hindustan Times.
• The land was donated by the Punjab government.
• Mallika Ahluwalia, the Chief Executive Officer of the Partition museum has created the museum. Ahluwalia was inspired to build the museum after hearing her 83-year-old grandmother’s stories of then India before partition.

  Procedure and mechanism for Strategic Disinvestment approved by - Cabinet

  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the proposal of the DIPAM ( Department of Investment and public Asset Management) for strategic disinvestment.
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the meeting. This approval is expected to help in the speedy completion of strategic disinvestment transactions.
  Important Highlights

• An alternative mechanism comprising Finance Minister, Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Minister of Administrative Department would set up the department.

• The alternate mechanism would be given the charge to decide on matters related to terms and conditions of the sale from the stage of inviting of Express of Interests till the invitation of financial bid.

• Other than this, CCEA will also be empowering the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment (CGD) to take policy decisions with regard to procedural issues.

• The Core Group will be allowed to consider deviations as necessary from time to time for effective implementation of CCEA decisions.

  Real Madrid beats Barcelona to win 2017 Spanish Super Cup on - 16th August 2017

  Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 2-0 in the second leg of the 2017 Spanish Super Cup to seal the win on 16th August 2017. Real Madrid achieved the feat without Cristiano Ronaldo, who was penalised with a five-game ban for pushing the referee after he was sent-off in the first leg.
  More about Real Madrid 

• It is a professional football club founded on 6th March 1902 and based in Madrid, Spain.

• The club was bestowed to the club by King Alfonso XIII in 1920 along with the royal crown in the emblem.

• It was estimated to be worth USD 3.65 billion in 2015.

• The football club was recognised as the FIFA Club of the 20th Century on 11th December 2000, and received the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit on 20th May 2004.

  Do you know?
  The Spanish Super Cup was the 31st edition of the tournament in 2017 and is a Spanish football championship contested by the winners of the Copa del Rey and La Liga.

4th Advance Estimate of production of major crops for 2016-17 released by - Union Government

The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare released the 4th advance estimates of production of major crops for 2016-17 on 16th August 2017.
This assessment of different types of crops production is based on the feedback received from States and validated with information available from other sources.

Key highlights of the 4th Advance Estimates

• The total food grain production in the country is estimated around 275.68 million tonnes, which is higher by 10.64 million tonnes (4.01%) than the previous record production of food grain achieved during 2013-14.
• The current year’s production is also higher by 18.67 million tonnes than the previous five years (2011-12 to 2015-16) average production of food grains.
• Total rice production is estimated at record 110.15 million tonnes,which is a new record.
• This year’s rice production is higher by 3.50 million tonnes (3.28%) than previous record production of 106.65 million tonnes achieved during 2013-14.
• Significant increase in the rice Production by 5.74 million tonnes (5.50%) than the previous years production of 104.41 million tonnes during 2015-16.
• Total production of wheat is approximately is 98.38 million tonnes, which is also another record.
• Wheat production for this year is higher by 2.64% than the previous record production of 95.85 million tonnes achieved during 2013-14 and it is higher by 6.10 million tonnes (6.61%) as compared to wheat production of 92.29 million tonnes achieved during 2015-16.
• Due to the significant increase in the area coverage and productivity of all major pulses, total production of pulses during 2016-17 is estimated at 22.95 million tonnes, which is higher by 3.70 million tonnes (19.22%) than the previous record production of 19.25 million tonnes achieved during 2013-14.

 LED bulbs, tubelights, fans to go on sale at petrol pumps across India on - 16th August 2017

The Energy Efficiency Services Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding with three state-owned oil marketing companies for the distribution of energy-efficient appliances through petrol pumps across India on 16th August 2017.
The energy-efficient appliances include tubelights, LED bulbs and ceiling fans and they would be sold under UJALA (Unnat Jeevan by Affordable LEDs and Appliances for All) scheme. Speaking on the occasion, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated that the three oil marketing companies have more than 53 thousand petrol pumps and the products will be available across the country in the next 6 months.

Important Highlights

• The three oil marketing companies are IOCL (Indian Oil Corporation Limited), HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited) and BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited).
• In the first phase, the distribution will be starting from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• The consumer would now be able to purchase high-quality 9W LED bulbs at just Rs 70, 20W LED tubelight at Rs 220 and 5 star rated ceiling fans at the rate of Rs 1200 only.
• At present more than 25 Crore LED bulbs, 30 lakh LED tubelights and more than 11 lakh energy efficient fans have been distributed under this Ujala scheme.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched this scheme in January 2015.
• The distribution of these energy efficient appliances has led to an annual energy saving of over 3,340 Cr kWh, as a result it avoided more than 6,725 MW of peak demand.
• The initiative is a step towards realizing the Center's vision to reduce our dependence on importing energy.

MoU between India and Sweden on Intellectual Property Rights approved on - 16th August 2017

The Union Cabinet, presided by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave green signal to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Sweden on cooperation in the field of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) on 16th August 2017.
This MoU's main objective is at establishing a flexible and wide ranging mechanism through which both the nations can exchange their best practices, working together on training programs and technical exchanges in order to increase awareness on IPRs and better protect intellectual property rights.

Important highlights

• A Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) with members from both the countries will form to decide cooperation activities to be taken under the MoU in following areas:
• Exchange of experiences, best practices and knowledge on IP awareness among the public, businesses and educational institutions of both the nations.
• Collaboration in training programs, technical exchanges, exchange of experts and outreach activities; Exchange and dissemination of best practices, experiences and IP knowledge with the universities, industry, R & D organisations and SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) through participation in programs and events in the matter, organized solely or jointly by the Parties.
• Exchange of information and best practices for disposal of applications for patents,industrial designs, trademarks,copyrights and Geographical Indications, as also the protection, enforcement and use of IP rights.

 RBI announced Aadhar linkage mandatory for farmers to avail short-term crop loans in 2017-18 on - 16th August 2017

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made Aadhar linkage mandatory for farmers who wish to avail short-term crop loans in 2017-18 on 16th August 2017. In its, notification RBI has stated that to ensure hassle-free benefits to farmers under Interest Subvention Scheme, the banks are advised to make Aadhar linkage mandatory to avail short-term crop loans in 2017-18.”
RBI has clarified that farmers can avail short-term crop loans of up to Rs 3 lakh at the subsidised interest rate of 7 percent that could go down to 4 percent on prompt repayment.
Important Highlights

• An interest subvention of 2 percent annually will be given to lending institutions like Public Sector Banks (PSBs), Private Sector Commercial Banks (in respect of loans given by their rural and semi-urban branches only) for the use of their own resources.
• This subvention will be provided on the short-term crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh to farmers at an interest rate of 7 percent per annum during the year 2017-18.
• As per the notification this interest subvention of 2 percent will be calculated on the crop loan amount from the date of its disbursement/drawal up to the date of actual repayment of the crop loan by the farmer or up to the due date of the loan fixed by the banks whichever is earlier, subject to a maximum period of an year.
• The notification says, an additional interest subvention of 3 percent will be available for those who pay their dues on time.
• This also implies that the farmers paying promptly as above would get short term crop loans at 4 percent per annum during the year 2017-18.