Daily Current Affairs 12 September 2019

Daily Current Affairs

1) DRDO successfully flight-tests indigenously developed low weight, fire & forget Man-Portable Antitank Guided Missile

• In a major boost for the Indian Army, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) today successfully flight tested indigenously developed low weight, fire and forget Man-Portable Antitank Guided Missile (MPATGM) in the ranges of Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. The missile was launched from a man-portable Tripod launcher and the target was mimicking a functional tank. The missile hit the target in top attack mode and destroyed it with precision. All the mission objectives were met.

• This is the third series of successful testing of MPATGM. The missile is incorporated with state-of-the-art Infrared Imaging Seeker along with advanced avionics. The test paves the way for the Army to have developed 3rd generation man-portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile indigenously.

2) Shri PK Sinha appointed  Principal Advisor to Prime Minister

• Shri PK Sinha, currently functioning as OSD in the Prime Minister's Office, has been appointed the Principal Advisor to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

• Shri Sinha served as Cabinet Secretary from 13th June 2015 to 30th August 2019. He was a 1977 Batch IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh Cadre. During his illustrious career, Shri Sinha has served as Secretary in the Ministries of Power and Shipping. He also served as Special Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

3) Dr. PK Mishra takes over as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister

• Dr. Pramod Kumar Mishra has been appointed as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India.

• Dr. Mishra has varied work experience in the management of programs relating to agriculture, disaster management, power sector, infrastructure financing, and regulatory issues and has an outstanding career profile comprising research, publications, policy formulation, and program/project management. He has vast experience in policymaking and administration and has handled major assignments such as Additional Pr. Secretary to the Prime Minister; Secretary, Agriculture and Cooperation,  Government of India; Chairman, State Electricity Regulatory Commission and in the area of Disaster management. As Secretary Agriculture & Cooperation, he was actively involved in path-breaking national initiatives such as the National Agriculture Development Programme (RKVY) and the National Food Security Mission (NFSM)

4) Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship lays Foundation Stone for Indian Institute of Skills, Mumbai

• Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), today laid the foundation stone of Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) at Mumbai to provide skill training in highly specialized areas to students who want to pursue technical education after completing Class X and Class XII, making them employable and industry ready for the New India and the global market. The vision behind setting up IIS was to build world-class skill training centers in line with reputed educational institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institution of Management (IIM), with first-hand learning facilities from internationally renowned existing skill institutions.

• Tata Education Development Trust (TEDT) was selected as the private partner for setting up IIS at the NSTI campus in Mumbai through a competitive bidding process. The Tata Group is investing about Rs. 300 crore in the 4.5 acres campus that aims to bring best-in-class infrastructure and facilities to students. The aim of the Institute is to ensure that 5000 trainees will be passing out every year with 70% placement opportunities.

• The Union Cabinet had given its nod to set up Indian Institute of Skills (IISs) in three locations of the country — Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Kanpur, to give wings to the Skill India Mission. These institutes will be constructed & operated on a PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model and on a not-for-profit basis.

5) Indian Railways across the country is observing “Swachhta-Hi-Seva Pakhwada” from 11th September to 2nd October

Ministry of Railways is observing ‘Swachhta-Hi-Seva Pakhwada’ across its entire network from 11th September to 2nd October. Hon’ble Prime Minister of India at an event on Swachhta Hi Seva (SHS) offered Shramdaan at Mathura leading and giving a message to the nation on the removal of plastic waste.

Following actions are to be initiated across Indian Railways network on plastic waste management:

• Wide publicity will be given to banning single-use plastic.
• Banners/posters/messages to this effect to be displayed at prominent places.
• Extensive use of Information Education and Communication measures would be made to create awareness among stakeholders. Audio messages/Banners shall also be displayed.
• Zonal Railways to take action on the implementation of the Board’s instructions and give feedback about the measures adopted.
• Plastic bottle crushers to be installed at all A1 and A category stations before 2nd October 2019
• Visibility of separate waste bins to be increased on all A1 and A category Railway Stations. These would bear the SHS logo.
• Work on the development of 150 nurseries on Railway properties across the country to be completed by 2nd October 2019
• IRCTC to implement the return of plastic drinking bottles as part of Extended Producer Responsibility
• Plastic Bottle crushing machines to be provided expeditiously at all other Railway Stations.
• A pledge will be administered on 2nd October to cut the use of plastic.

6) I&B Minister announces the implementation of Accessibility Standard for TV Programmes for the Hearing Impaired

• In order to enhance the accessibility of television programs for the hearing impaired, Union Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar announced the implementation of Accessibility Standard for TV Programmes for persons with hearing impairment. This will be done through the provision of captioning and Indian Sign Language.

• Shri Javadekar announced that all news channels will carry a news bulletin with sign language interpretation at least once per day and all TV channels and service providers will run at least one program per week with subtitles / captioning.

• Live news, live and deferred live content/events such as sports, live music shows, award shows, live reality shows, live debates, scripted/ unscripted reality shows, etc. and advertisements/ teleshopping content have however been exempted.

• This will be implemented on 16th September 2019. The overall implementation of the Standards will be done in a phase-wise manner in the next five years. The policy will be reviewed after two years.

• Shri Javadekar also announced that Accessibility Standards for films for visually impaired through provision of narration facility in between dialogues are also under examination.

7) Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) 2019

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi launched Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) 2019, a massive countrywide awareness and mobilization campaign on Swachhata at Mathura today. SHS 2019, with special focus on ‘plastic waste awareness and management’ is being organized from 11th September to October 2nd, 2019, as the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) is poised to dedicate an ODF India to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary. The launch of SHS was organized jointly by the central Departments of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Drinking Water and Sanitation and the Government of Uttar Pradesh.

8) MoS for Home Affairs, Shri G. Kishan felicitates Mount Satopanth conquerors of CISF

• Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri G. Kishan Reddy felicitated the 16 members expedition team of CISF who successfully summitted Mount Satopanth peak

• The 16 members mountaineering expedition team ( Including 03 women personnel) was flagged-off on 05th August 2019 by, Director General, CISF, Shri Rajesh Ranjan to hoist the National and CISF Flags atop Mt. Satopanth peak (7075m).  The team was led by Shri Raghubir Lal, DIG. Three women personnel including Ms. Ashoka Nandini, Asstt. Commandant was also part of the team

• CISF as part of the CAPFs team, in its maiden attempt, is going to undertake Mount Everest Expedition in March-April, 2020. In order to provide CISF team members pre-Mt Everest expedition experience, the expedition to Mount Satopanth was launched. Mt. Satopanth is 2nd highest peak in western Himalayas of Gangotri Region, Garhwal in the state of Uttarakhand.  It has all the features which are essential to gain technical knowledge & first-hand experience, courage & confidence to the mountaineers planning ascent to Mt. Everest

• On 30th August 2019 at about 08:45 hrs the CISF expedition team successfully summited Mount Satopanth's peak. 

9)  Drought Toolbox launched on Day 10 of COP14

The 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which is currently underway at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noidadedicated day 10 to the theme of Drought.

This event highlighted the different causes of drought and also saw the launch of a toolbox which is a one-stop-shop for all actions on drought. The toolbox is a sort of knowledge bank that contains tools that strengthen the ability of countries to anticipate and prepare for drought effectively and mitigate their impacts as well as tools that enable communities to anticipate and find the land management tools that help them to build resilience to drought.

10) GeM and Punjab Government sign MoU for Setting up Project Management Unit

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) under the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry and Government of Punjab, signed MoU to set up a GeM Organizational Transformation Team (GOTT) Project Management Unit (PMU) in the state. The MoU was signed by Additional CEO, GeM, S. Suresh Kumar, and Director Industries, Government of Punjab, C. Sibinat Chandigarh on 10th September 2019

What are GeM and GOTT?

GeM, the national public procurement portal launched in August 2016 has transformed the public procurement landscape in the country with transparency, efficiency, and inclusion.  It has facilitated procurement worth over Rs. 34,000 crores of goods & services by various Government Departments, Organisations and PSUs.

GOTT will assist the buyer agent to redesign the procurement processes and enhance competencies to derive maximum benefit from the online marketplace.

The government of Punjab is the first State which will establish GOTT PMU. Among the CPSUs, SAIL has already signed MoU for setting up of PMU

It is projected that through the initiatives of GOTT PMU, Government of Punjab will be able to transact around Rs 1700 crore in terms of annual Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) on GeM platform in the first year and over Rs 3000 crore per annum

11) Prithvi air defense missile, the procurement of 6 squadrons worth Rs 5,000 crore was approved by the central government

In a bid to strengthen the Indian Air Force (IAF), the central government has approved the procurement of 6 squadrons of indigenous Akash Air Defense missile for the Air Force at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore. They will be deployed along the borders with Pakistan and China.

12) Sanjay Mitra Committee has been constituted by the Union Government to oversee the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) into Union Territories

The Union government recently constituted a 3-member committee chaired by former defense secretary Sanjay Mitra to oversee the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) into two Union Territories. The other members of the Committee are Arun Goyal, retired IAS officer and Giriraj Prasad Gupta, retired Indian Civil Accounts Service officer. The Committee will look into the distribution of assets and liabilities of J&K between two UTs