Important Current Affairs 28th August 2017

Important Current Affairs 28th August 2017

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Current Affairs 28th August 2017: NATIONAL NEWS

First Synergy Conference on Defence Pension Organised by Defence Accounts Department

The Defence Accounts Department (DAD) organized its first Synergy Conference on Defence Pensions here, today. 
●    The conference was attended by all Defence Pensioners Associations and was open to all Defence Pensioners. 
●    Welcoming the panel and participants Additional Controller General of Defence Accounts (Addl. CGDA) Shri Prashant Sukul, emphasized the importance of stakeholder consultations by way of Synergy Conferences initiated by DAD. 
●    The objective of the conference was to obtain feedback from the pensioners that would help the department to serve them better with constantly improving systems and procedures. 
●    Digitization of pension data and implementation of a pension sipp were also discussed in detail. 
●    Joint CGDA (Pension) Shri Kanwaldeep Singh, gave a brief presentation on current status on important issues pertaining to pension. 
●    Many issues and suggestions were highlighted by the participants.

Government to hold Pan India Handloom and Handicraft Camps

The Ministry of Textiles proposes to organize Pan India camps in handlooms and handicrafts clusters, under the initiative “Hastkala Sahyog Shivir”. 
●    The camps will be organized during 7th October to 17th October, 2017. 
●    This initiative is dedicated to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Garib Kalyan Varsh, the birth centenary year of Pandit Deendayal Upadhayay.
●    The following services will be provided to the weavers and artisans in these camps:
●    Issuance of credit facilities through MUDRA scheme
●    Assistance for technological upgradation under Hathkargha Samvardhan Sahayata
●    Distribution of modern tool kits and equipments
●    Issuance of Yarn Pass Book
●    It is proposed to organize the camps in more than 200 handloom Block Level Clusters & Weavers’ Service Centres and more than 200 handicraft clusters in collaboration with State Governments.

Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu Launches Sports Talent Search Portal 

Ministry of Youth Affairs and sports has launched Sports Talent Search Portal to spot the best talent from among the young population of the country. 
●    The portal was launched by the Vice President of India Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu at a function at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi. 
●    Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel, Secretary Sports Shri Injeti Srinivas, Khel Ratna and Arjuna awardees sports persons and thousands of school children were present on the occasion to witness the path breaking initiative in the field of sports.  
●    School children presented a series of cultural performances on the occasion.
●    Speaking on the occasion Shri Venkaiah Naidu said that this kind of initiative will not only help in identifying the best talent, but will also provide a level playing field to all the applicants and create a competitive environment.

NMCG Awards Contracts for Three STPs on Hybrid Annuity Mode 

In a big push to Namami Gange programme, National Mission for Clean Ganga under Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has awarded for the first time contracts for three STPs under hybrid annuity model. 
●    Two STPs of 68 MLD and 14 MLD will be set up at Haridwar and one STP of 15 MLD at Varanasi. 
●    This Hybrid Annuity model is first of its kind in the country’s waste water management sector. 
●    The Central Government will completely fund the STPs construction ensuring that there is no shortage of resources for the project. 
●    The unique financial model will ensure the transparency and accountability of the running of sewage treatment infrastructure. 
●    The contractors will not only establish the sewage treatment plant but they will also operate and maintain it for a period of 15 years. Thereafter it will be handed over to the local bodies. 
●    This will ensure that no wastewater is dumped in the holy river. 
●    The payment of the operations and management of the projects and the worth of the cost will be provided to the agency over a period of 15 years ensuring that the project runs smoothly.

MNRE & GIZ Signs Agreement to Improve Framework Conditions for Grid Integration of Renewable Energies 

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH India on behalf of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany signed an agreement on technical cooperation under the “Indo-German Energy Programme – Green Energy Corridors (IGEN-GEC)” here today . 
●    The main objective of this programme component is to improve the sector framework and conditions for grid integration of renewable energies.
●    In the distinguished presence of  Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines Shri Piyush Goyal and the German Ambassador to India, H.E. Dr. Martin Ney, the agreement was signed by Dr. Wolfgang Hannig, Country Director, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH India and Mr. A.N. Sharan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
●    Dr. Ney added “When in July 2012 Power Grid Corporation of India submitted a comprehensive and well elaborated “Transmission Plan for Envisaged Renewable Capacity” to MNRE it paved the way for India’s ambitious goals to transform its power system by significantly increasing the share of renewable energies in the energy mix. 
●    Also in Germany’s “Energiewende” the evacuation and grid integration of renewable energy plays a pivotal role with major technological and fiscal challenges. 
●    Both the countries have very constructive dialogue under the Indo-German Energy Forum (IGEF).
 

Current Affairs 28th August 2017: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed Chief of Naval Staff Bangladesh Navy Visits India 

Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed, Chief of Naval Staff of the Bangladesh Navy is on an official visit to India from 28 to 30 August 2017. 
●    The visit is aimed at consolidating bilateral naval relations between India and Bangladesh and to explore new avenues for naval cooperation. 
●    The Chief of Naval Staff, Bangladesh Navy will hold bilateral discussions with Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of the Naval Staff and other senior officials of the Indian Navy on 28 August 2017. 
●    The Admiral is also scheduled to meet Chief of the Air Staff, and will also call on the Hon’ble Raksha Mantri, NSA and Defence Secretary as part of his official meetings in New Delhi. 
●    In addition to New Delhi, the Admiral is also scheduled to proceed to Visakhapatnam where he will be visiting various naval establishments, including INS Kalinga, INS Karna and INS Satavahana. 
 

Current Affairs 28th August 2017: APPOINTMENT

Dara Khosrowshahi becomes Uber CEO 

Uber’s board has chosen Dara Khosrowshahi, the head of Expedia, to be its new chief executive in a move that could cost the crisis-plagued Silicon Valley company about $160m to replace his unvested stock options.
●    The unanimous vote on Sunday came after months of infighting, leaks and divisions on Uber’s eight-strong board, which has struggled to unite after former chief executive Travis Kalanick was ousted by investors in June.
●    Mr Khosrowshahi has not publicly confirmed whether he will accept the job. But Expedia chairman Barry Diller said in a memo on Monday that he was “likely” to do so. Shares in Expedia dropped 4 per cent on the news.
●    The Expedia chief was one of three finalists for the role, along with Meg Whitman of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Jeff Immelt of General Electric.
●    The deep divisions at the top of Uber have complicated the chief executive selection process, and dealing with the board will be a major challenge for the incoming CEO.
 

Current Affairs 28th August 2017: SPORTS

Lewis Hamilton won the title of Belgian Grand Prix

This was a weekend to reaffirm Hamilton’s stature as perhaps the finest British sportsman of his generation. 
●    While Andy Murray might reasonably take issue with that claim, the Scot spends his Sundays hitting a tennis ball, not hurling a delicately-tuned machine around the forested majesty of Spa, where a ride through the steepling Rivage generates G-forces more familiar to fighter pilots. 
●    “There are only three sports,” Ernest Hemingway once argued. “Bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering. All the rest are merely games.”
●    As a personality, Hamilton continues to polarise, both by his esoteric fashion sense – he changed straight from his race overalls on Sunday into off-the-shoulder black dungarees bought on his latest trip to New York – and his mercurial mood swings. 
●    But in this chapter for Formula One, he is without peer. 
●    Just 24 hours after he had equalled Michael Schumacher’s 68 pole positions, he underlined his quicksilver racing instincts by thwarting Vettel despite carrying less pace and inferior tyres, as well as negotiating the controversial intervention of a safety car.