Current Affairs Of Today are
1) GES 2019 will be held in Bengaluru
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways, Piyush Goyal, will launch the 5th Global Exhibition on Services (GES) in New Delhi on 5th November 2019. The exhibition will be held in Bengaluru from 26th – 28th November 2019.
This initiative will enhance the competitiveness of India's service sectors through the implementation of focused and monitored Action Plans. These sectors include some of the largest and most critical sectors with the highest potential for global trade and investment, growth and employment. The objective is to give focused attention to the following 12 identified Champion Services Sectors for promoting their development and realizing their potential:
- Accounting & Finance
- Media & Entertainment
- IT & ITES
- Health & Wellness
- Infra & Construction
- Legal
- Transport & Logistics
- Banking, Financial & Insurance
- Communications
- Tourism & Hospitality
- Education
- Environment
Highlights of GES 2019
- Focus on increasing ‘trade in services’
- Showcasing 12 Champion Services Sectors
- Over 500 participants from 100 countries
- Knowledge Sessions focussed on Champion Services Sectors
- States/Theme Pavilions
- Huge participation of overseas delegates
- Overseas delegations led by industry leaders
- Release of Report on Services Sectors
- Avenues for partnerships through B2B, B2G, G2G meetings
- Studio Talks
- Display of Culture & Cuisine
- Food Festivals, Cultural Evenings, Networking Dinners
2) Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship launches Skills Build platform in Collaboration with IBM
Directorate General of Training (DGT), under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), today announced the launch of the SkillsBuild platform in collaboration with IBM. As part of the program, a two-year advanced diploma in IT, networking and cloud computing, co-created and designed by IBM, will be offered at the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) & National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs). The platform will be extended to train ITI & NSTI faculty on building skills in Artificial Intelligence (AI). SkillsBuild offers digital learning content from IBM and partners such as CodeDoor, Coorpacademy, and Skillsoft.
The digital platform will provide a personal assessment of the cognitive capabilities and personality via MyInnerGenius to the students. They will then learn foundational knowledge about digital technologies, as well as professional skills such as resume-writing, problem solving and communication. Students will also receive recommendations on role-based education for specific jobs that include technical and professional learning.
This initiative is part of IBM’s global commitment to create a job-ready workforce and to build the next generation of skills needed for new collar careers. The platform is deployed with the support of leading NGOs like the Unnati and Edunet Foundation. IBM Volunteers along with the NGOs will offer students personalized coaching and experiential learning opportunities. IBM joined hands with the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in early 2018 to launch a first-of-its-kind ‘New Collar Curriculum. Post the successful completion of the course, in September 2019, 19 students were offered a five-month paid internship at IBM.
3) Finance Minister Launches two new IT Initiatives -ICEDASH & ATITHI
Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman today unveiled two new IT initiatives – ICEDASH and ATITHI – for improved monitoring and pace of Customs clearance of imported goods and facilitating arriving international passengers by the electronic filing of Customs baggage and currency declarations.
About ICEDASH & ATITHI
ICEDASH is an Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) monitoring dashboard of the Indian Customs helping the public see the daily Customs clearance times of import cargo at various ports and airports. With ICEDASH, Indian Customs has taken a lead globally to provide an effective tool that helps the businesses compare clearance times across ports and plan their logistics accordingly. This dashboard has been developed by CBIC in collaboration with NIC. ICEDASH can be accessed through the CBIC website.
With ATITHI, CBIC has introduced an easy to use mobile app for international travelers to file the Customs declaration in advance. Passengers can use this app to file a declaration of dutiable items and currency with the Indian Customs even before boarding the flight to India. ATITHI is available on both, iOS and Android.
4) India Decides not to Join RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India was dropping out of the RCEP (Regional
Comprehensive Economic Partnership) or Free Trade Agreement, citing its negative effects on farmers, MSMEs, and the dairy sector.
Why is India worried?
The deal requires the gradual Indian markets with the elimination of tariffs which may flood Chinese goods and agricultural produce from Oceania, harming local producers
Will India's decision hurt the RCEP?
Without India, the RCEP accounts for nearly 1/3 of the global GDP. But they have less than a third of the world's population
Who signed the pact?
The RCEP brings together with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (including
India), China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand.
5) The Brown Blotched Bengal Tree Frog
Specimens were not discovered from deep jungles but from residential areas in two districts of West Bengal.
A genetic identity investigation established the frog as a new species in this genus, an authority on herpetofauna in Asia, took care of the team’s data limitations. Their study finally established the midsized tree frog as the 26th species under the genus Polypedates, found throughout south and southeast Asia.
It took six herpetologists working across States and countries to determine that a tree frog found commonly in urban habitats of West Bengal was a brand new species.
About the Brown Blotched Bengal Tree Frog
The new species has been named Brown Blotched Bengal Tree Frog (Polypedates bengalensis) from the series of six to nine dark brown blotches that extend laterally from behind the frog’s eye to the vent. The frog’s body color is yellowishbrown to greenishbrown.
6) Iran announces the latest nuclear deal violations
Iran announced its latest violations of the nuclear deal with world powers, saying that it now operates twice as many advanced centrifuges banned by the 2015 accord and is working on a prototype that’s 50 times faster than those allowed by the deal
What do nuclear centrifuges do?
The Zippe-type centrifuge is a gas centrifuge designed to enrich the rare fissile uranium isotope Uranium-235 out of the mixture of isotopes found in naturally occurring uranium compounds. The isotopic separation is based on the slight difference in mass of the isotopes.
How is uranium enrichment done?
The enrichment plant concentrates the useful uranium-235, leaving about 85% of the uranium by separating gaseous uranium hexafluoride into two streams: One stream is enriched to the required level of uranium-235 and then passes to the next stage of the fuel cycle. ... It is mostly uranium-238 and has little immediate use.
IR6 advanced centrifuges
Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said Tehran is now operating 60 IR6 advanced centrifuges, twice as many as before. Such a centrifuge, an IR6, can produce enriched uranium 10 times as fast as the first generation IR1s allowed under the accord. The nuclear deal limited Iran to using only 5,060 first-generation IR1 centrifuges to enrich uranium by rapidly spinning uranium hexafluoride gas.
7) The Agreement on Reciprocal Logistics Support (ARLS)
India and Russia are expected to conclude a mutual logistics agreement and review the setting up of joint ventures for manufacturing spares for Russian defense platforms in India during the visit of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh to Moscow from November 5 to 7
Objective of ARLS
The objective of the delegation is to explore ways to jointly manufacture spares and components with Russian original equipment manufacturers (OEM) under ‘Make in India’.
The delegation to Russia is a followup of the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) signed on September 4 by India and Russia to “operationalize a mechanism for collaboration on joint manufacturing of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for the maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment in India under the ‘Make in India’ programme through the transfer of technology and setting up of joint ventures.”
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