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Important Current Affairs 14th July 2017

Important Current Affairs 14th July 2017

Current Affairs 14th July 2017: NATIONAL NEWS

Environment Minister to Dedicate NCSCM to the Nation

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is embarking on a new National Coastal Mission. 
●    With this objective in view, Environment Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan will dedicate the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) to the nation at Chennai, tomorrow. 
●    The Minister will inaugurate the new building of the Centre and research infrastructure at Anna University campus in Chennai. 
●    He pointed out that the research undertaken by NCSCM will be used directly for arriving at policy decisions and for capacity building of coastal communities and other stakeholders. 
●    In a statement on the eve of his departure for Chennai, the Minister said that the focus of the Government in coastal states is sustainable livelihood, development of coastal communities through various R&D and policy initiatives. 
●    He also added that six research divisions have been established at NCSCM that will combine geospatial sciences with cutting-edge research on conservation, pollution, climate change and community interface – both in mainland and islands of the country. 
●    He also added that the NCSCM’s core strength is the multi-disciplinary nature of coastal system research for the well-being of coastal communities and promoting sustainable development based on scientific principles.


Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inducts First DEMU Train with Solar powered Coaches into service of the Nation

Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu today (14 July 2017) dedicated to the nation the first 1600 HP DEMU train with Solar Powered Coaches with a unique facility of Battery Bank here today. 
●    The entire electrical need of the coaches for Lighting, Fans and Information Display System will be met from the Solar Energy produced from the solar panels fitted in the roofs of coaches. 
●    While this train has been manufactured by the Coach Factory of Indian Railways namely Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, its Solar panels and Solar systems have been developed and fitted by Indian Railways Organisation of Alternative Fuel (IROAF) Delhi. 
●    This first rake has been commissioned and based at Shakurbasti DEMU shed in Delhi of Northern Railway. 
●    Twenty-four more coaches will be fitted with this system within the next 6 months. 
●    The first rake will be put in the commercial service over the suburban railway system of Delhi division of Northern Railway.


Shipping Ministry appointed committee suggests ways to upgrade port hospitals under PPP 

The Ministry of Shipping had constituted a committee to study how the existing healthcare infrastructure at major ports can be upgraded under PPP mode  to provide world class health services,  along with affordable medical and paramedical education. 
●    Presenting  its report to Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Shipping and Road Transport and Highways in New Delhi today, the committee has indicated possible alternatives by which port hospitals can be upgraded under PPP mode so that their healthcare facilities are augmented.
●    The report has also indicated the feasibility of starting of medical college and postgraduate specialty courses attached to port hospitals. 
●    According to the report, the hospitals at Mumbai Port which has more than 200 beds can be taken up for this, while hospitals at Cochin, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam and Kolkata ports can be considered for upgradation into tertiary care facilities, with a particular super specialty being assigned to a specific port hospital, which then becomes the super specialty center for all referral purposes by the other port hospitals. 
●    As such, Port Trust Hospital, Chennai could be availed for development of tertiary care facilities in the domain of cardiovascular thoracic surgery, Port Trust Hospital Cochin for nephrology, Port Trust Hospital Kolkata for neurology and neurosurgery and Port Trust Hospital Vishakhapatnam for gastroenterology and surgical gastroenterology respectively.

RINL Signs MoU with CCI for setting up Cement Plant 

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and Cement Corporation of India (CCI), a PSU under Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Vishakhapatnam today to set up 2 mtpa Fly Ash and Blast Furnace Slag based Cement Plant in a Joint Venture in two phases of one million tonne capacity each. 
●    RINL generates a large quantity of BF slag and fly ash, prime raw material for the Cement Plant. 
●    Sri Manoj Misra, Chairman cum Managing Director representing CCI and Sri P.C. Mohapatra, Director (Projects) representing RINL signed the MoU in the presence of Sri P Madhusudan CMD,RINL. 
●    The JV Project cost is approximately Rs.150 Cr. RINL is offering around 35 acres of land for the proposed plant in its premises. 
●    The project is proposed to be completed in 15 months from the date of placement of order. 

Ministry of Water Resources to Sign MoU with Ministry of Skill Development for the success of Namami Gange

Union Ministry for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation will sign an MoU with Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for the success of Namami Gange programme in New Delhi tomorrow.
●    The MoU intends to develop skilled manpower for laying sewerage pipeline, plumbing works, construction of toilets, civil masonry works, waste collection and its disposal activities. 
●    It will also develop skills for preparing products from pious waste materials like flowers, leaves, coconuts, hair and associate plastic bags and plastic bottles etc. and their proper packaging and promotion of such products. 
●    The MoU will also help in developing skills for operation and maintenance of pumps and STPs.
●    As per the MoU the Ministry of Water Resource, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation   shall develop the market for reuse/recycle of treated wastewater to be released from STP/ETPs for various non-potable purposes. 
●    It will also ensure necessary coordination and support from the state governments and state level implementing agencies for various activities to be undertaken by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship as part of Namami Gange programme. 
●    The Ministry will also mobilize resources for creation of Pradhan Mantri Namami Gange Kaushal Kendras in 60 districts covered under Namami Gange Mission.

Current Affairs 14th July 2017: INTERNATIONAL RELATION

European Union & India establish an Investment Facilitation Mechanism 

European Union (EU) and India today announced the establishment of an Investment Facilitation Mechanism (IFM) for EU Investments in India. 
●    The mechanism will allow for a close coordination between the European Union and the Government of India with an aim to promote and facilitate EU investment in India.
●    This agreement builds on the Joint Statement of the 13th EU-India Summit held in Brussels in March 2016, where the EU had welcomed India's readiness to establish such a mechanism and leaders from both sides had reaffirmed their shared commitment to oppose protectionism and to work in favour of a fair, transparent and rule-based trade and investment environment.
●    As part of the IFM, the EU Delegation to India and the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, agreed to hold regular high level meetings to assess and facilitate "ease of doing business" for EU investors in India. 
●    This will include identifying and putting in place solutions to procedural impediments faced by EU companies and investors in establishing or running their operations in India.
 

Current Affairs 14th July 2017: SPACE SCIENCE

Scientists have just discovered the smallest star in the universe

Scientists have discovered the smallest known star in the universe – slightly larger than Saturn in size – which may possibly have Earth-sized planets with liquid water in its orbit. 
●    Researchers from University of Cambridge in the UK identified the star located about six hundred light years away, called EBLM J0555-57Ab as it passed in front of its much larger companion.
●    The star is likely as small as stars can possibly become, as it has just enough mass to enable the fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium, researchers said. 
●    If it were any smaller, the pressure at the centre of the star would no longer be sufficient to enable this process to take place, they said. 
●    With a size just a sliver larger than that of Saturn, the gravitational pull at its stellar surface is about 300 times stronger than what humans feel on Earth.
●    The discovery is also the best possible candidates for detecting Earth-sized planets which can have liquid water on their surfaces, such as TRAPPIST-1, an ultracool dwarf surrounded by seven temperate Earth-sized worlds, researchers said.
 

Current Affairs 14th July 2017: OBITUARY

Liu Xiaobo, Nobel laureate and political prisoner, died

China is facing a barrage of international criticism for its treatment of the Nobel laureate and democracy campaigner Liu Xiaobo, who died at the age of 61 on Thursday.
●    Liu, who championed non-violent resistance as a way of overcoming “forceful tyranny”, had been serving an 11-year jail sentence for demanding an end to one-party rule when he was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer in May.
●    He died of multiple organ failure while under guard at a hospital in north-east China, making him the first Nobel peace prize winner to die in custody since German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, the 1935 recipient, who died under surveillance after years confined to Nazi concentration camps
●    News of Liu’s death sparked an immediate outpouring of international mourning and condemnation. 
●    His peaceful activism and biting criticism of one-party rule meant he had spent almost a quarter of his life behind bars.
 

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