Daily Current Affairs 7 September 2019

Daily Current Affairs

1) UPS Madan takes over as State Election Commissioner

Retired bureaucrat UPS Madan on Thursday took over as the 6th State Election Commissioner of Maharashtra. Mr. Madan replaces J.S.Saharia, who has completed his five­ year tenure in the top post at the State Election Commission. Mr. Madan, a 1983 ­batch IAS officer, has held various important posts during his decade's ­long career, including that of Maharashtra Chief Secretary.

2) Russia for joint submarine development

• Russia has offered joint design and development of conventional submarines through an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) at the delegation­level dialogue between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok. 
• The proposal includes joint design and development of a conventional submarine with air-independent propulsion (AIP) to Indian Navy’s requirements with full access to technology and intellectual property rights.
• The Navy has issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) for six advanced conventional diesel­electric submarines under Project 75I and the bids are expected to be submitted later this month. The procurement is through the Strategic Partnership (SP) model and valued at over ₹40,000 crore. The indigenous AIP being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) could be incorporated in the submarine

3) India lends $1 billion for Russia’s Far East Development

India on Thursday announced an “unprecedented” $1 billion line of credit for the development of Russia’s the Far East, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowing that New Delhi would walk shoulder to shoulder with Moscow in its quest for the development of the resource-rich region.

Indian companies had signed 50 agreements worth “billions of dollars" in investments during a visit to the region last month in areas such as energy, health, education, skill development, mining, and timber, the Prime Minister said at the plenary session of the 5th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

4) PM to launch National Animal Disease Control Programme for Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be launching National Animal Disease Control Programme for Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis on 11 September 2019 in Mathura. He will also launch the National Artificial Insemination Programme during the event.
• Shri Modi will visit Pashu Vigyan Evam Arogya Mela and launch Babugarh Sex Semen facility and simultaneous countrywide workshops in Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in all the 687 districts of the country on the topic of vaccination and diseases management, Artifical insemination and productivity, etc.
• National Animal Disease Control Programme for Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis is a 100% centrally funded program, with a total outlay of Rs.12,652 crore from 2019 to 2024. It aims to control Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis by 2025 with vaccination and eventual eradication by 2030.

5) Commerce & Industry Minister to attend 7th RCEP Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok from 8-10 September 2019

• Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal, will attend the 7th RCEP Ministerial Meeting, 16th ASEAN India Economic Ministers (AEM) meeting and the 7th East Asia Economic Ministers Summit being held in Bangkok from 8-10 September 2019.  The meetings will be attended by Economic Ministers and senior leaders of ten ASEAN member countries and eight East Asia Summit (EAS) countries.
• Trade and investment relations between India and ASEAN continue to show remarkable growth. India’s bilateral trade jumped threefold from USD 21 billion in 2005-06 to USD 96.7 billion in 2018-19.  ASEAN countries together have emerged as the largest trading partner of India in 2018-19 (followed by the USA), with a share of 11.47 % in India’s overall trade, while India was ASEAN’s sixth-largest trading partner in 2018.
• The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into India from ASEAN between April 2018 to March 2019 was about USD 16.41 billion which is approximately 36.98 % of total FDI flow into India. FDI inflows from India to ASEAN in 20018 amounted to USD 1.7 billion, placing India as ASEAN’s sixth-largest source of FDI. 
• The EAS meeting will discuss regional and global economic developments and ASEAN’s outlook on the Indo-Pacific regions. Matters related to the promotion of trade and investment among the partner countries will also be discussed in the India ASEAN AEM and EAS-EMM meetings.

6) Smart Cities Mission Technology Showcased

Smart Cities Mission, in partnership with Invest India and the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, organized the Smart Cities Mission Technology Showcase in Pune. Pune Smart City Development Corporation Ltd. was the host smart city for the event. The aim of the event held on 30th August 2019 was to bring forward the best technologies in four focus areas:

• Traffic management, transport, and mobility, pollution management
• Water, sanitation and solid waste management
• Safety, surveillance, and security 
• Social (health, education, and citizen engagement)

7) Shri Dharmendra Pradhan to visit Saudi Arabia, UAE & Qatar from 7-12 September 2019

Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, accompanied by an official and business delegation, will be visiting Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar from 7-12 September 2019. He will engage with his counterparts in oil & gas as well as steel sectors in three countries and also participate in the 8th Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable (AMER) at Abu Dhabi on 10 September, where India is the co-Host along with UAE. 

8) India Pavilion at 44th Toronto International Film Festival 2019 Inaugurated

High Commissioner of India to Canada Shri Vikas Swarup inaugurated the India Pavilion at the 44th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2019. The Inauguration of India Pavilion at TIFF 2019 will provide a platform to showcase Indian Cinema in the overseas market and facilitate new business opportunities

9) Sports Minister felicitates Indian Shooting team for excellent performance at ISSF World Cup in Rio De Janeiro

Shri Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports today met here the members of the Indian shooting team that returned from the recently-concluded ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Rio De Janeiro. He congratulated the shooters for their outstanding display at the event where India topped the medal tally with five golds, two silver, and two bronze medals. The shooters present at the gathering were Apurvi Chandela, Anjum Moudgil, Elavenil Valarivan, Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini Deswal, Sanjeev Rajput, Abhishek Verma, and Deepak Kumar. Shri Raninder Singh, President, National Rifles Association of India and coaches Jaspal Rana, Pavel Smirnov, and Oleg Mikhailov were also present on the occasion.

10) 6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue to be held from 7-9 September 2019

The 6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue(SED) will be held in New Delhi from 7-9 September 2019. The Dialogue will comprise of round table meetings of Joint Working Groups (JWG) on Infrastructure, Energy, High-Tech, Resource Conservation, Pharmaceuticals and Policy coordination followed by technical site visits and closed-door G2G meetings. The Indian side will be led by Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog and the Chinese side by Chairman, NDRC. Senior representatives from policymaking, industry, and academia will participate in the Dialogue from both sides.

11) WCD Minister Felicitates states and Districts Under BBBP Scheme

The Union Minister of Women and Child Development and Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani, felicitated districts and states which have successfully implemented the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme at a function in New Delhi

Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were felicitated for improvement in Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB).

Ten districts selected for improvement in SRB were also felicitated during the program. The ten districts are: 

• East Kameng (Arunachal Pradesh),
• Mahendragarh and Bhiwani (Haryana),
• Udham Singh Nagar (Uttarakhand), 
• Namakkal (Tamil Nadu), 
• Jalgaon (Maharashtra)
• Etawah (Uttar Pradesh), 
• Raigarh (Chhattisgarh), 
• Rewa (Madhya Pradesh) and 
• Jodhpur (Rajasthan).

Besides, ten districts selected for good work in awareness generation and outreach activities under BBBP were also felicitated by the Minister. These districts are: 

• Tiruvallur (Tamil Nadu), 
• Ahmedabad (Gujarat), 
• Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh)
• Kishtwar (J&K), Gadag (Karnataka), 
• Wokha (Nagaland),
• Farrukhabad (Uttar Pradesh), and
• Nagaur (Rajasthan).

12) 69th Inter-Services Athletics Championship being held at Army sports Institute, Pune from 07 to 10 September 2019

69th Inter-Service Athletics Championship is being held at Army Sports Institute, Pune, from 07 to 10 Sept 19. Over these four days, some of the best athletes of the nation would be competing against each other in the Championship. Subedar G Lakshmanan, National Champion in 1500 meters and 5000 meters,  Junior Warrant Officer Nirmal Noah Tom 400 Meters National Champion,  Havildar Avinash Sable, Gold medalist in the Asian Championship in 3000 Meters Steeple Chase, Petty Officer Tejinder Singh Toor  Gold medalist at the Asian Games in Shot Put would be seen in action.

13) Odisha won the IT Excellence Award, 2019 in disaster management

Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) has won the IT Excellence Award, 2019 for its innovative conception by using information technology in the field of disaster management. The "SATARK" (System for Assessing, Tracking and Alerting Disaster Risk Information based on Dynamic Risk Knowledge) application has been chosen for the award. This app has been developed to provide real-time watch, alert and warning information for different natural disasters and hazards such as heatwave, lightning, agriculture risk, flood, tsunami, earthquake, cyclone or storm, road accident, and snakebite.

14) Vienna topped in the Economist Intelligence Unit(EIU)'s 2019 "Global Liveability Index"

The 2019 "Global Liveability Index" prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit(EIU) has ranked Vienna, the capital of Austria as 1st for the second consecutive time whereas Damascus, the capital of Syria was ranked last becoming the least liveable city at 140th position. Russia's St. Petersburg topped the list among BRICS nations at 71st spot

15) Microsoft India, CBSE has partnered to build AI learning for schools

Microsoft India and the Central Board of Secondary Education have partnered to build AI learning for schools. They will conduct capacity building programs for high school teachers to integrate cloud-powered technology in K12 teaching. The program is for teachers of grades 8-10 and will be conducted in 10 cities across the country. The program will provide teachers better access to the latest Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools. Therefore, it will help the teachers to integrate technology into teaching safely and securely. The program will also offer teachers the opportunity to become Microsoft Innovative Educators.

16) Indus Valley settlers were not from Iranian farmer and Steppe pastoralist shows in Genome (The complete set of genes or genetic material present in a cell or organism)

The Indus Valley Civilisation, a study of DNA from skeletal remains excavated from the Harappan cemetery at Rakhigarhi argues that the hunter­gatherers of South Asia, who then became a settled

people have an independent origin. The researchers who conducted the study contend that the theory of the Harappans having Steppe pastoral or ancient Iranian farmer ancestry thus stands refuted. The finding also negates the hypothesis about mass migration during Harappan times from outside South Asia, they argue.

Additional Current Affairs 

• DD News was awarded 'Champions of Empathy Award' by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for spreading awareness about hepatitis.
• IIT Kharagpur announced a collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to develop a National Artificial Intelligence Resource Portal (NAIRP) platform.