Important Current Affairs 26th August 2017

Important Current Affairs 26th August 2017

Current Affairs 26th August 2017: NATIONAL NEWS

Rural Games to take Place in Delhi 

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Minister shri Vijay Goel today announced that the first edition of Rural Games or Grameen Khel Mahotsav will kick-start from Delhi and will take place between 28th August to 3rd September, 2017. 
●    The Rural Games will aim at popularising the indigenous games like wrestling, athletics etc. and will also have fun games like Matka Race, Tug of War for senior citizens to add the fun element in the games. 
●    Interacting with the media shri Goel said, "A Grameen Marathon marked the beginning of the Rural Games fever with participation of 16000 youth from rural Delhi. 
●    In the first stage, the games will be held in Alipur, Mehrauli, Nangloi, Najafgarh and Shahadara where 10000-12000 youngsters will participate and the second stage will commence on 31st August till 01 September 2017 which will have inter-block games.

New Guidelines for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process to reduce risk, enhance transparency and increase affordability of Solar Power 

Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued  the Guidelines for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process for Procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV Power Projects. 
●    These Guidelines have been issued under the provisions of Section 63 of the Electricity Act, 2003 for long term procurement of electricity by the ‘Procurers’ from grid-connected Solar PV Power Projects (‘Projects’), having size of 5 MW and above, through competitive bidding.
●    Generation Compensation for offtake constraints thereby reducing offtake risks: The “Must-run” status for solar projects has been stressed upon. Generation Compensation provided for following off-take constraints:
●    Back-down     -                      Min.  Compensation 50% of PPA Tariff
●    Grid unavailability -              Compensation by way of Procurement of  Excess Generation / Outright Compensation
●    To ensure lower tariffs, Minimum PPA tenure has been kept at 25 years. Unilateral termination or amendment of PPA is not allowed.
●    Project preparedness to expedite and facilitate setting up of projects: Issues related to land, connectivity, clearances etc. and the extension in case of delay, have been streamlined.
●    Event of Default and the consequences thereof clearly defined to ensure optimal risk sharing between Developer and Procurer. 
●    This has been done by clearly defining the generator and procurer events of default, and describing the consequences thereof.

Government finalises new cadre policy for IAS, IPS officers

A new policy for cadre allocation has been finalised by the Central government for IAS, IPS and other officers, aimed at ensuring “national integration” in the country’s top bureaucracy. 
●    Officers of all-India services — the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) — will have to choose cadres from a set of zones instead of states. 
●    The officers of the three services are currently allocated a cadre state or a set of states to work in. 
●    They may be posted on central deputation during the course of their service after fulfilling certain eligibility conditions.
●    The existing 26 cadres have been divided into five zones in the new policy proposed by the personnel ministry.
●    Zone-I has seven cadres — AGMUT (also known as Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories), Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana.

Forex reserve may cross $400 bn mark 

If the present pace of dollar accretion to the forex kitty continues, which crossed past the USD 393 billion, the reserves may hit the USD 400-billion mark by the week to September 8, 2017, says a report.
●    Forex reserves have been rising with a total accretion of USD 4.389 billion to the kitty since July 14, 2017. 
●    It had touched a record high of USD 393.448 billion after it rose by USD 581.1 million in the week to August 4, 2017.
●    “If the pace of foreign exchange reserves is similar to that of the past four weeks, the reserves would hit USD 400 billion by the week to September 8. Indeed, adjusted for forward positions, forex reserves are already at USD 407 billion,” Morgan Stanley said in a note today.
●    The pace of forex accretion has been the strongest since 2015 and this has also been one of the strongest in Asia ex-Japan in the past 12 months, the report said.

Haryana tells schools to counsel students regarding blue whale game

All private and government schools have been issued an advisory by the Haryana Children Protection Commission (HCPC) to counsel students about the risk of 'Blue Whale Challenge' and other similar online games.
●    The HCPC has asked schools to also keep a close tab on those students who were showing "abnormal" behaviour.
●    The advisory directed the management of all schools to educate students from Class 5 to 12 and make them aware about the deadly, hazardous and negative impact of 'Blue Whale Challenge', which has reportedly claimed lives of several people worldwide.
●    'Blue Whale' is a controversial Internet game in which a series of tasks are given to players for a period of 50 days by the administrators with a final challenge requiring them to commit suicide. 
●    The player is asked to share photos after finishing the different levels of the game. 
●    The game is spread via links on social media platforms.

Current Affairs 26th August 2017: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India-Nepal signed 8 agreements to boost the bilateral relations

India and Nepal on 24 August 2017 signed eight agreements in different areas of mutual benefit including demand reduction and prevention of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and cooperation in the field of standardization and conformity assessment among others. 
●    The agreements were signed in New Delhi during Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba visit to India.
●    Nepal PM Deuba is on a five-day long state visit to in India (23 August to 27 August 2017). 
●    The signed agreements will help the two nations to boost the bilateral relations.
●    List of MoUs/Agreements signed during the visit of Prime Minister of Nepal to India 
●    MoU on modalities for utilization of India’s housing grant component to support reconstruction of 50000 houses

Qatar restores its diplomatic relation with Iran despite demands by Arab nations

Defying demands of Arab nations to lessen its ties with Tehran, Qatar restored its diplomatic relations with Iran. 
●    Qatar's Foreign Ministry on 24 August 2017 announced that the country's ambassador would return to Tehran.
●    Qatar pulled out its ambassador in early 2016 after Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric sparked attacks on two Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran, a move to show solidarity with the kingdom.
●    A Foreign Ministry statement said the state of Qatar expressed its aspiration to strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields. 
●    However, the statement had no mention of the tensions that have created a problem in the Persian Gulf region since June 2017. 
●    The problem led to severing ties with four Arab nations, namely Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt, with Qatar.