Important Current Affairs 27th August

NATIONAL:

Karnataka get 3 Deputy CM and 17 ministers in its Cabinet.

• Karnataka chief minister B.S.Yediyurappa appointed three deputy chief ministers and inducted seventeen Ministers. The Deputy Chief Minister appointed are:

♦ Mudhol Govind Karajol (68) who is a five-time MLA 

♦ Dr. C.N. Ashwath Narayan (51) MLA from Malleswaram 

♦ Athani Lakshman Savadi (59) who is a three-time MLA

Roles and Duties:

♦ Govind Karjol will be in charge of PWD and Social welfare

♦ Ashwath Narayan will handle the portfolio of Higher Education, IT & BT, Science and Technology

♦ Laxman Savadi will carry out the duties in the Transport department.

List of Ministers:

List of other ministers (including the 3 deputy CM) are:

1. Govind Makthappa Karajol - Deputy Chief Minister; construction Department, extra charge welfare Department

2. Dr. Ashwath Narayan C.N. - Deputy Chief Minister; instruction, IT and BT, Science and Technology

3. Laxman Sangappa Savadi - Deputy Chief Minister; Transport

4. K.S. Eshwarappa - Rural Development and panchayat rule

5. R. Ashoka - Revenue Department excluding Muzrai

6. Jagadish Shettar - massive and Medium Scale Industries excluding Sugar

7. B. Sreeramulu - Health and Family Welfare excluding Medical Education

8. S. Suresh Kumar - Primary and education and Sakala

9. V. Sommanna - Housing

10. C.T. Ravi - business enterprise, extra charge Kanarese and Culture

11. Basavaraj Bommai - Home Department excluding Intelligence Wing

12. Kota Shrinivas Poojari - Muzrai from Revenue Department, Fisheries, Ports and upcountry Transport

13. J.C. Madhu Swamy - Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Legislation, extra charge Minor Irrigation from Water Resources Department

14. Chandrakantagouda Channappagouda Patil - Minies and earth science from Commerce and Industries Department

15. H. Nagesh - Excise

16. Prabhu Chauhan - husbandry

17. Smt. Jolle Shashikala Annasaheb - ladies and kid Development

Banjari village of Katni district in MP to become an integral part of the digital map of the country.

• Prime Minister’s initiative among the of Digital India is the Banjari village of Katni district becomes the 1st village in Madhya Pradesh(MP) to become an integral part of the digital map of the country.

The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEiTY) won the Digital Village Project . It has planned to build 1000 digital villages across India in this phase starting from Banjari Gram Panchayat of MP.

The project provides connectivity in every village & bridge the digital gap between rural and urban areas of the country.

Akodara village of Sabarkantha district of Gujarat is the 1st digital village in India.

The MEiTY planned to create one lakh digital villages of this kind in the next 5 years.

About Digital India campaign:

The program launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1 July 2015 The services are made available to citizens electronically by improved online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity or by making the country digitally empowered in the field of technology.

Fourth edition of Internet of Things India Congress 2019 held in Bengaluru.

• The 4th edition of India’s largest confluence of digital technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) India Congress 2019 held in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

The theme of Edition is ‘Mainstreaming the Internet of Things’.

It was inaugurated by Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India(GoI). The IoT India Congress 2019 will include tracks on segments such as healthcare, manufacturing, telecom, smart cities, energy, retail, cybersecurity, skills and development, IoT Standards, legal and regulatory, and agriculture.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The internet of things, or IoT, is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launches the commencement of work for 10th City Gas Distribution.

• Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan launched the commencement of work for 10th City Gas Distribution (CGD) . They cover 50 Geographical Areas (GAs) in 124 districts. He distributed Letters of Intent to 12 successful bidders of the round on 1st March, 2019. After the completion of the 10th round, over 70% of the country’s population and 52.73% of the area will be covered under the CGD. As per the minimum work program approved by the PNGRB for the 10th round, 2.02 crore PNG domestic connections will be provided, 3578 CNG stations will open, and 0.58 lakh Inch-km steel pipeline will be laid.

The 9th and 10th rounds, the country is making a giant leap in the CGD. In last 5 years, the number of domestic PNG connections, CNG vehicles and CNG stations have more than doubled.   India is the 3rd largest energy consumer of the world, and will become top consumer in a decade. The government aims to provide reliable, affordable, sustainable and universal access to clean fuel to all. The present share of gas in the energy mix in the country is 6.2% compared to 24% globally, and the aim is to increase the share of natural gas to 15% by 2030. The rising consumption of energy in the country, the share of CNG will increase the most. The country will continue to harness multiple sources of energy, including fossil fuels, renewables, EVs and gas. The hydrogen fuel-driven vehicles have already been introduced in the national capital and several auto manufacturers have introduced new CNG models. Even the coal will continue to have relevance, as Coal gasification plants are being set up. On the policy enablers to promote gas usage in India, Sh Pradhan said that CGD has been granted ‘public Utility’ status.

City Gas Distribution (CGD)

Around 5 lakh crore rupees are being invested in gas infrastructure which includes exploration, distribution, marketing, regasification, pipeline network laying.

Domestic gas production was 32.87 billion cubic metre in 2018-19, and is likely to go up to 39.3 billion cubic metre in 2020-21. LNG terminal capacity of 38.8 MMTPA augmented to 52.5 MMTPA in next 3-4 years. Long term contracts have been signed for importing LNG, and its sources are being diversified. The gas grid presently is 16,788 km, and work is in progress for additional 14,788 km.

The ethanol blending in petrol gone upto 6% from 1%, and we have to take it to 20%.

Bio-diesel is being promoted so as Recycle Used Cooking Oil (RUCO). 2G ethanol plants are being set up to convert surplus food grains into fuel. Compressed Biogas is another field of development. The union Government’s commitment to meet the COP-21 targets the country will leapfrog next year from BS-IV to BS-VI. He said that the issues concerning the setting up of Gas infrastructure are being sorted out in consultation with the state governments.The Minister stressed on conservation and efficiency aspects.

Seventh Community Radio Sammelan to be held in Delhi from 27 to 29 August.

• Seventh Community Radio Sammelan will be held at Dr. BR Ambedkar Bhawan, New Delhi from 27th to 29th August 2019. It is organized by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting will witness the participation of all operational Community Radio Stations across the country.

The theme of this year’s Sammelan is ‘Community Radio for SDGs’.The representatives of the Community Radio Stations will discuss experiences and possibilities of programming for better public awareness on the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Sammelan witness discussion on various flagship schemes of the Government like the Jal Shakti Abhiyaan and efforts for Disaster Risk Reduction. Research, production, broadcasting, dissemination of social welfare messages through Social Media and content management for Community Radio Stations discussed.

Union Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar will give awards to Community Radio Stations for their achievements in broadcasting development programs in various genres including Promotion of Local Culture, Most Creative and Innovative Content, Community Engagement Awards, among others.

AGREEMENTS AND MOU’s:

Microsoft and Indian School of Business (ISB) signs MoU to set up AI Digital Lab.

•  IT(Information Technology) company, Microsoft and Indian School of Business (ISB) have signed an MoU(memorandum of understanding) to set up an AI Digital Lab powered by PlatiFi technologies(a Microsoft partner) to study issues that are relevant for business and public policy. The duo will also offer an executive 3-day nontechnical program titled “Leading Business Transformation in the Age of AI”, which will kick start in October 2019, would equip business leaders with tools and strategies to transform their respective organizations to AI(Artificial Intelligence)-driven organizations.

Microsoft

Founded: April 4, 1975

Founders: Bill Gates.