Important Current Affairs 12th September 2017

Important Current Affairs 12th September 2017

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Current Affairs 12th September 2017: NATIONAL NEWS

Cabinet approves MoU between India and Morocco on cooperation in the field of health

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Morocco on cooperation in the field of health. 
●    The MoU covers the following areas of cooperation:-
●    Non-communicable diseases, including child cardiovascular diseases and cancer; 
●    Drug Regulation and Pharmaceutical quality control; 
●    Communicable Diseases; 
●    Maternal, child and neonatal health; 
●    Hospital twinning for exchange of good practices; 
●    Training in administration and management of health services and Hospitals; 
●    Any other area of cooperation as may be mutually decided upon. 
●    A Working Group will be set up to further elaborate the details of cooperation and to oversee the implementation of this MoU.
 

Cabinet approves MoU between India and Armenia on Cooperation in the field of Disaster Management 

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Armenia on Cooperation in the field of Disaster Management 
●    The MoU would enhance cooperation in the field of Disaster Management and contribute to the well-being and safety of the people of both the countries in the event of disaster. 
●    It will also result in exchange of information in the relevant fields of disaster management which is of mutual interest. 
●    Further, the MoU seeks to put in place a system, whereby both India and Armenia will be benefited from the disaster management mechanisms of the other country and will help in strengthening the areas of preparedness, response and capacity building. 

Cabinet approves hiving off mobile tower assets of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited into a separate company, fully owned by BSNL 

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for hiving off mobile tower assets of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) into a separate company, fully owned by BSNL.
●    This approval authorizes BSNL to monetize its telecom tower infrastructure with the formation of a separate subsidiary company.
●    There are around 4,42,000 mobile towers in the country out of which more than 66,000 mobile tower are of BSNL. 
●    An independent, dedicated tower company of BSNL with a focused approach will lead to increasing of external tenancies and consequently higher revenue for the new company.
●    The telecom tower industry has emerged as an independent business to harness the potential for sharing of infrastructure. 
●    The business model arose from the need to achieve economies of scale and to reduce capital investment costs for providing mobile services. 

Cabinet approves implementation of the scheme “Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund” 

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs,  chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved a Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund” (DIDF) with an outlay of Rs 10,881 crore during the period from 2017-18 to 2028-29.
●    Consequent to the Union Budget 2017-18 announcement, Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund will be set up as a corpus of Rs 8004 crore with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the Expenditure Finance Committee has given approval for;
●    Initiation and setting up of Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) at a total scheme outlay of Rs 10881 crore. 
●    Out of Rs 10881 crore of financial outlay for project components of DIDF, Rs 8004 crore shall be loan from NABARD to National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and National Dairy Development Cooperation (NCDC), Rs 2001 crore shall be end borrowers contribution, Rs 12 crore would be NDDB/NCDC‘s share and Rs 864 crore shall be contributed by DADF towards interest subvention. 
●    NABARD shall disburse Rs 2004 Cr, Rs 3006 Cr and Rs 2994 Cr during the year 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively.

Cabinet approves introduction of the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in the Parliament 

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for introduction of the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in the Parliament.
●    The Amendment will increase the maximum limit of gratuity of employees, in the private sector and in Public Sector Undertakings/ Autonomous Organizations under Government who are not covered under CCS (Pension) Rules, at par with Central Government employees.
●    The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 applies to establishments employing 10 or more persons. 
●    The main purpose for enacting this Act is to provide social security to workmen after retirement, whether retirement is a result of the rules of superannuation, or physical disablement or impairment of vital part of the body. 
●    Therefore, the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 is an important social security legislation to wage earning population in industries, factories and establishments.

Cabinet approves survey of Un-appraised Areas of Sedimentary Basins of India 

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for a significant project to acquire 48,243 Line Kilometer (LKM) 2D seismic data for appraisal of Indian sedimentary basins where limited data is available. 
●    The project will help in increasing the investments in domestic production of oil and gas. 
●    The project will be implemented by NOCs, i.e. Oil India Limited (OIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). 
●    OIL will conduct survey in North - Eastern States while remaining area will be covered by ONGC. 
●    Survey work will be carried out in 24 States. 
●    Total estimated cost of the entire project is Rs. 2932.99 crore spread over five years. 
●    Initially National Oil Companies (NOCs) are meeting the fund requirement from their own sources, which will be reimbursed by the Government.

AYUSH Minister inaugurates India’s first advanced Homoeopathy Virology lab in Kolkata 

The Union Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge) Shri Shripad Yesso Naik inaugurated India’s first State of art virology laboratory at Dr. Anjali Chatterjee Regional Research Institute for Homoeopathy in Kolkata today. 
●    In his inaugural address the Minister appreciated the popularity of Homoeopathy in West Bengal. 
●    Shri Naik said that this laboratory has been established to develop new drugs and technologies in Homoeopathy to combat emerging challenges of viral diseases. 
●    In this context the Minister expressed his satisfaction of recognising this laboratory by the Calcutta University to undertake research work of the PhD students in Homoeopathy.
●    The laboratory, established at a cost of Rs. 8 crore is the only one in India for conducting basic and fundamental research in Homoeopathy for viral diseases like influenza, Japanese encephalitis, dengue, chikungunya and swine flu. 
●    New drugs and technologies would also be developed here to combat emerging challenges of viral diseases.
 

Current Affairs 12th September 2017: ENVIRONMENT NEWS

Environment Minister inaugurates training workshop on capacity building of Indian Zoo Veterinarians on Animal Health Management in Captivity 

Appreciating the difficulties faced by the Zoo Veterinarians in the diagnosis of diseases and treatment of the wild animals kept in captivity, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that advancements such as C.A.T scan and M.R.I must be used for the benefit of animals. 
●    Speaking at the inaugural session of the training workshop on “Capacity Building Of Indian Zoo Veterinarians On Animal Health Management In Captivity” here today, the Minister said that such capacity-building workshops should be organised more by the Central Zoo Authority, in association with organisations having expertise similar to that of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. 
●    He reiterated that National Zoological Park, New Delhi must strive to become the best Zoological Park in the world.
●    Dr. Harsh Vardhan gave an assurance that the Government will adequately support the proposals from zoos that come up with ideas to develop model zoos. 
●    The Minister noted that interaction of the participants with the experts from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park will certainly help our zoos in adoption of modern trends in animal care. 
●    He also recalled the importance of the day, being the 125th anniversary of the historic speech of Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament of Religion held at Chicago in the year 1893.
●    The Minister also released two manuals on the occasion, namely Manual for Biological Sample Collection and Preservation for Genetic, Reproductive And Disease Analyses and Manual on Chemical Immobilization of Wild Animals.