Current Affairs 2nd November 2017

Current Affairs 2nd November 2017 - Important Points

• Union Cabinet approves amendment in National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993 on - 1st November 2017
•  Extension of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana for three years approved by - Cabinet 
• CCEA approves Special Banking Arrangement for payment to fertilizer companies on- 1st November 2017
• Odisha imposes 7-month ban on fishing to protect endangered Sea turtles on -1st November 2017
• Union Government announces the launch of Food Regulatory Portal and Nivesh Bandhu portal on - 1st November 2017
• World's highest motorable road in Ladakh built by - BRO
• Goa tops Gender Vulnerability Index compsed by - Child development NGO Plan

Current Affairs 2nd November 2017 - Details

Union Cabinet approves amendment in National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993 on - 1st November 2017

The Union Cabinet on 1st November 2017 approved a Bill in Parliament to amend the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993.
The National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Act, 2017 look forward to permit looking back recognition to the Central and State Institutions and Universities that run teacher education courses without NCTE permission identification till the academic year 2017-2018.
Provisions of the amendment Act-

• The past recognition will be a single measure to ensure that the future of the students, passed out or enrolled in those institutions, is not at risk.
• It will allow students studying in these Institutions and Universities or already passed out, eligible for jobs as a teacher.
• All institutions enrolling Teacher Education Courses including B.Ed and D.El.Ed. need to procure recognition from the National Council for Teacher Education under section 14 of the NCTE Act.
• Furthermore, the courses of such recognized Institutions and Universities have to be allowed under section 15 of the NCTE Act.
  National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) Act, 1993
• The NCTE Act, 1993 came into existence on 1st July 1995 and is applicable round the Nation, except the State of J&K.
• This act is mainly focusing  to provide for the formation of a NCTE to achieve designed and coordinated development of the teacher education system.
• Thus to achieve the aims of the Act, separate provisions have been organized in the Act for recognizing teacher education programs and to lay down guidelines for acceptance by recognized Institutions/Universities.

 Extension of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana for three years approved by - Cabinet 

India and World Bank sign USD 200 million loan harmony for Assam Rural Transformation Project
The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs lead by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the extension of centrally sponsored scheme- Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana as Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana- Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation for a period of 3 years, from 2017-18 to 2019-20.

Important Highlights

• The government would be assigning Rs 15,722 Cr for the execution of the plan. The main aim for this development is to make farming a remunerative asset by strengthening the farmer's effort, risk mitigation and promoting agri¬business business.
• The funds allocated for the plan would be issued to the states as 60:40 grants ratio between Centre and States and 90:10 in the case of Himalayan and North Eastern states with following streams:
  Smooth-running RKVY-RAFTAAR with 70% of its annual outlay will  going to be issued to states as grants based for the following activities:
• Manufacturing and assets with 50% of regular RKVY-RAFTAAR outlay.
  Value addition connected production projects with 30% of regular RKVY-RAFTAAR outlay.
• Flexi-funds with 20% of regular RKVY-RAFTAAR outlay. States can use this fund for supporting any projects as per the local needs.
  RKVY-RAFTAAR special sub-schemes of National priorities – 20% of annual outlay
• Innovation and agri-entrepreneur development through generating end-to-end solution, skill developments and financial support for starting up the agri-enterprise -10% of annual outlay including 2% of administrative costs.

CCEA approves Special Banking Arrangement for payment to fertilizer companies on- 1st November 2017

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 1st November 2017 sanctioned the implementation of Special Banking Arrangement of Rs 10000 cr for payment of balance claims to fertilizer companies in the year 2016-17.
Key Highlights-

• As per the Special Banking Arrangement, a total loan of Rs 9969 cr for settlement of outstanding subsidy bills with SBI was lifted by the Union Government.
• The loan amount along with interest responsibility on the part of Union Government amounting to Rs 80.90 cr was paid to SBI.
• SBA for an amount of Rs 1000 cr for the year 2016-17 has already been imposed to overcome the liquidity issues of the fertilizer companies.
• Union Government is arranging fertilizers available to farmers at sponsored prices through fertilizer manufacturers.
• For making reserves available to the fertilizer companies against the sponsored claims, Union Ministry of Finance had allocated SBA for an amount of Rs 10000 Cr with Government interest accountability limited to G-Sec rate.
• Therefore, Special Banking accordance was planned out with SBI for an amount of Rs 10000 Cr to meet the outstanding sponsored claims of fertilizer organizations.

Odisha imposes 7-month ban on fishing to protect endangered Sea turtles on -1st November 2017

The Odisha state government on 1st November 2017 forced a 7-month ban on ocean fishing activity in order to protect the Olive Ridley sea turtles. The order has been brought on, due to the approaching breeding season of the endangered sea animals. The ban will be valid until 31st May 2018.
Key Highlights

• The restriction on fishing activity was clamped within 20km off the coast of Dhamra-Devi-Rushikulya river mouth.
• Approximately 26,000 marine fishermen in coastal areas of Puri, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur and Ganjam are likely to be affected due to this ban.
• The ban is imposed in accordance with provisions of Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1982 and Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• Over 300 trawls and containers were sealed and around 2,000 people arrested during a similar restriction in 2016 for disobeying the OMFRA regulations along the prohibited areas.
• As per the Divisional Forest Officer of Rajnagar Mangrove Forest Division, Bimal Prasanna Acharya, the forbidding orders are being strictly imposed to ensure the safety of the turtles. “The trawl operators have been cautioned not to active in prohibited water areas. Any act of trespass will be taken as punitive measures,” Acharya explained.
• The government would, however, be distributing subsidized rice at Rs 1/ kg under Rice for Olive Ridley Conservation programmed to morethan 6,000 fishermen families directly affected by the fishing ban, in order to compensate for their loss of income sources.
  More about Olive Ridley sea turtles
• The sea turtles are found in warm and tropical waters, mainly in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
• The coast of Odisha in India is the largest area nesting site for the olive ridley.
• Olive ridley sea turtles roam in great numbers from the beginning of November, every year, for mating and nesting along the coastline of Orissa.
• In 1991, over 600,000 turtles nested along the coastline of Odisha in 1 week.
• The hatching of the eggs takes place around May, after that the hatchlings swim across the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal to explore.
• The turtles are considered under danger due of their few remaining nesting sites in the world.

Union Government announces the launch of Food Regulatory Portal and Nivesh Bandhu portal on - 1st November 2017

Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal on 1st November 2017 reported the launch of the Food Regulatory Portal and Investor Facilitation Portal “Nivesh Bandhu” while stating the Press Conference explaining about the World Food India 2017 Expo.
World Food India Expo is a huge event which would showcase the complete value chain in the food sector.
'Food Regulatory Portal'

• MoFPI and FSSAI will jointly release the 'Food Regulatory Portal', a single interface for food businesses to cater to both domestic operations and food imports.
• Food Regulatory Portal will be a plan changer for effective and transparent execution of the food safety laws in the nation.
• The gateway is strategically ranged with Union Government’s mission of One Nation-One Food Law to create an enabling habitat for operating businesses.
  More  about World Food India 2017 Expo
• More than 150 Global CEOs will come under one umbrella to attend the event. The program is expected to generate Rs 65000 Crore worth of investment and 10 lakh vacancies.
• The major event will host 8 sectoral meetings, 2 plenary sessions on “India the preferred destination” and one on 'One Nation-One Food Law'.
• A huge exhibition spread over 40000 sq mtrs in the C- Hexagon lawns of India Gate will be organized. More than 800 global companies representing 22 nations and domestic companies will be displaying.
• A special property of the Event is the “Food Street”, a lively vibrant zone that will exhibit Indian and foreign cuisines with Indian ingredients and flavors, specially curate by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor.
• The program is carried by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Development of North East Region, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Civil Aviation.

World's highest motorable road in Ladakh built by - BRO

The BRO ( Border Roads Organization) has established the highest motor-able road of the world in Ladakh region of J&K, passing through Umlingla Top at a height of more than 19,300 feet.
The feat was attained under 'Project Himank' of the organization. Congratulating the BRO staff for completing the tough task, Chief Engineer, Project Himank, Brigadier D M Purvimath, stated that building the road at an altitude of more than 19,300 feet was filled with life threatening problems.
Some Major Challenges faced by BRO
Climate:

The climate of the location is not suitable for construction process. The temperature is around minus 10-20 degrees Celsius during peak summers, it dips to minus 40 degrees during winters.

Oxygen level:

• The oxygen level at the altitude where the road was being constructed is about 50% less than normal places.
• The difficult climate and less oxygen reduce the efficiency of manpower and machines.
• As per to Brigadier D M Purvimath, “the machine operators had to come down after every 10 minutes for oxygen.” He also stated that logistics was additional major challenge at such an altitude.
  "Operating equipment at such a height, it’s repairing and maintaining was also a major task since equipment face a lot of wear and tears," he explained.
• Furthermore he stated that due to the gradation, many of the workers faced serious health issues such as loss of memory, eyesight and high BP.
• The 86km long road will connect Chisumle and Demchok villages, located 230 Kms from Leh. The villages are very close to the Indo-China border in eastern area. Other high-altitude roads constructed under Project Himank are Khardangu La at an altitude of 17,900 ft and Changla Pass at 17,695 ft in leh.

Goa tops Gender Vulnerability Index compsed by - Child development NGO Plan

The Gender Vulnerability Index composed by Child development NGO Plan India has placed the state of Goa at the top and Bihar at the bottom.
The other two states to occupy the top positions are Kerala and Mizoram, which were placed 2 and 3 respectively. Bihar was joined by UP at the bottom, while Delhi was placed near bottom at the position 24.
The composite table has been designed after analyzing the situation of females in the country on the basis of four important dimensions - Protection, Education, Health and Poverty. It will be helpful in understanding the situation in states, as it ranks each state in every dimension of gender equality.
Key Highlights

• Kerala, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu were ranked top 3 as far health of females is concerned and Bihar was worst ranked.
• Delhi was positioned as the worst performing state as per the education for females whereas Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Sikkim took up the top three positions.
• In terms of poverty, Manipur and Mizoram were placed in the top 2 positions which were followed by Tamil Nadu and Bihar was placed at the bottom again.
• In terms of safety, Goa was considered the safest state followed by Himachal Pradesh and J&K. UP was placed at the last rank.