Important Current Affairs 16th November 2018 English

(International News)

India and UK sign MoU for collaboration in cancer research
India and United Kingdom have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for collaboration in cancer research.   
Facts
The MoU was signed between Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) for India-UK Cancer Research Initiative for collaboration in cancer research for the next five years. Under it, both CRUK and DBT will invest 5 million pounds each in this five-year pilot project and seek further investment from other potential funding partners.

(National News)

2nd Mega Food Park in Maharashtra
Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated 2nd Mega Food Park in Maharashtra, in Wahegaon and Dhangaon village in Paithan taluka of Aurangabad district. It was launched under Mega Food Park Scheme and is promoted by Paithan Mega Food Park Pvt Ltd.
Important
It has been set up in 102 acre of land at cost of Rs 124.52 crore. The facilities at Central Processing Centre (CPC) of this mega food park include dry warehouse of 10,000 metric tonne (MT), cold storage (1,000 MT), pre-cooling facility (10 MT), ripening chambers (400 MT), individual quick freezing (IQF) facility (1.5 metric tonne per hour).

Regional meeting of World Customs Organisation
Four-day regional meeting of World Customs Organisation (WCO) was held in Jaipur, capital city of Rajasthan.  It was attended by representatives of 33 member countries of Asia. The meeting was jointly chaired by WCO Deputy Secretary General Ricardo Travino and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs Chairman S Ramesh.

Important
The meeting deliberated upon various issues including the steps required for the capacity building and reforms in customs. It also discussed and deliberated upon amended Kyoto protocol, digital customs, e-commerce among other issues.

RURAL JHARKHAND DECLARED ODF
A regional review meeting of the Eastern States was held in Kolkata, West Bengal. Teams from West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha joined the review.  The Swachh Bharat Mission Directors from the participating States were also present at the meeting.
Rural Jharkhand was declared ODF. West Bengal currently has a rural sanitation coverage of 97% and is on track to becoming ODF much before the national target of October 2019.
FACTS
There are total 25 ODF states in the country.
Sikkim was the first state to declared as ODF in 2008.

India says ready to import more gas and oil from the United States 
India's foreign secretary said that India is open to import more gas and oil from the US.
The United States early this month re-imposed sanctions against Iran's oil exports to punish Tehran for its involvement in several Middle Eastern conflicts and curb its nuclear programmes. 

Ministry of Tourism rolls out online Certification programme for Tourist Facilitators
The Union Tourism Secretary, Smt. Rashmi Verma rolled out the Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification (IITFC) Programme in New Delhi.
Successful completion of this program would enable the learner to become a Certified Tourist Facilitator of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
The Secretary added that this online programme will have lot of advantages like job creation for local people, harness the local experience and traditional knowledge and also it has the flexibility of any age or any place people to join. 

(Scheme News)

Swadesh Darshan Scheme
Union Ministry of Tourism has inaugurated two important projects as part of Development of North East Circuit under Swadesh Darshan Scheme in Arunachal Pradesh.
Swadesh Darshan scheme
It was launched by Union Tourism Ministry in 2015 with objective to develop theme-based tourist circuits in the country. These tourist circuits developed will be developed under on principles of high tourist value, competitiveness and sustainability in integrated manner. Under this scheme, Government is focusing on development of quality infrastructure with objective of providing better experience and facilities to visitors on one hand and on other hand fostering economic growth.