Important Current Affairs 4th October 2017

Important Current Affairs 4th October 2017

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Current Affairs 4th October 2017: INTERNATIONAL RELATION

Cabinet approves the Extradition Treaty between India and Lithuania 

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for the signing and ratification of the Extradition Treaty between India and Lithuania.
●    The Treaty would provide a legal framework for seeking extradition of terrorists, economic offenders and other criminals from and to Lithuania.
●    The Treaty would help in extradition of fugitive criminals including terrorists for criminal prosecutions from Lithuania who may have committed crimes against India. 
●    It will bring the criminals to justice, with a view to ensure peace and tranquility to public at large.

Cabinet apprised of the MoU between India and Switzerland on Technical Cooperation in Rail Sector 

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding between Ministry of Railways, Government of India and the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications of Swiss Confederation on Technical Cooperation in Rail Sector.  
●    The MoU was signed on on 31st August, 2017.
●    The   MoU   will   enable technical cooperation in the following areas:-
●    Traction Rolling stock               
●    EMU and train sets
●    Traction Propulsion Equipments
●    Freight and Passenger Cars
●    Tilting Trains             
●    Railway Electrification Equipments
●    Train scheduling and operation improvement      
●    Railway Station modernization
●    Multimodal transport                        
●    Tunneling technology      
●    Ministry of Railways have signed MoUs for technical cooperation in the Rail sector with various foreign Governments and National Railways. 
●    The identified areas of cooperation include high-speed corridors, speed raising of existing routes, development of world-class stations, heavy haul operations and modernization of rail infrastructure, etc. 

Current Affairs 4th October 2017: NATIONAL NEWS

Cabinet approves renaming of Kandla Port as Deendayal Port 

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to the renaming of Kandla Port as Deendayal Port.
●    Ports in India are generally named after the city or town in which these are situated.  
●    However, the Government, in special cases, after due consideration, have renamed the Ports after great leaders in the past.
●    By renaming Kandla Port as "Deendayal Port, Kandla", a grateful nation would be remembering the invaluable contributions made by one of the greatest sons of India, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay. 
●    This will inspire the People of Gujarat, particularly the Youth, who may not be fully aware of the contributions made by the great leader.
●    There have been public demands from various quarters in Gujarat, especially from Kachhh district, to rename 'Kandla Port' as 'Deendayal Port, Kandla'. 
●    Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay (25.9.1916 - 1.2.1968) was a prominent leader, who pledged his life to the service of the nation.

Government constitutes a High Level Committee for proper management of water resources in North Eastern Region 

The Government has constituted a high-level committee for proper management of the water resources in the North Eastern Region (NER) under the Chairmanship of Vice-Chairman, Niti Aayog. 
●    This is a sequel to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s visit to Guwahati in August this year to review the flood situation and relief work in the North Eastern States.
●    The Committee would facilitate optimising benefits of appropriate water management in the form of hydro-electric power, agriculture, bio-diversity conservation, reduced flood damage erosion, inland water transport, forestry, fishery and eco-tourism. 
●    Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) will serve as the coordinating point. 
●    The Committee will submit its report, including Plan of Action, by June, 2018.
●    During the review of the flood situation with the Chief Ministers of Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, the Prime Minister had announced constitution of a High-Level Committee for holistic management of water resources in the NER.  

DRDO Transfers Technology for Bullet Proof Jacket 

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has transferred the technology of Bullet Proof Jacket (BPJ) to M/S MKU Limited, Kanpur for manufacturing these for the Indian Army and Para-Military Forces personnel.
●    Chairman DRDO and Secretary Department of Defence R&D Dr S Christopher handed over the technology at a function held in New Delhi, where documents and related licence agreement between DRDO and M/S MKU Limited, Kanpur were exchanged. 
●    The Indian Army General Staff Qualitative Requirement (GSQR) No. - 1438 BPJ technology has been developed by Defence Materials & Stores Research & Development Establishment (DMSRDE), a Kanpur based premier laboratory of DRDO. 
●    This technology is challenging and one of the most significant matured personal protection systems developed by DRDO among the various GSQRs of Indian Army meeting NIJ III+ Standard.

Turtle Sanctuary to be set up in Allahabad 

In order to protect the rich aquatic biodiversity of river Ganga from escalating anthropogenic pressures, development of a Turtle sanctuary in Allahabad along with a River Biodiversity Park at Sangam have been approved under Namami Gange programme. 
●    The project at an estimated cost of Rs 1.34 crore would include development of River Biodiversity Park at Sangam (confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Sarasvati), establishment of a Turtle Rearing Centre (Permanent nursery at Triveni Pushp and makeshift annual hatcheries) and awareness about the importance of river Ganga and imperativeness of its conservation has been approved. 
●    This project will provide much needed platform to make the visitors aware of their place in the ecosystem, their roles and responsibilities, improve their understanding of the complexity of co-existence with the environment and help generate awareness for reducing the impact of human activities on critical natural resources. 
●    The task of dissipating knowledge about river Ganga will be taken up ardently in this project, which is 100% centrally funded.
●    The sustenance of more than 2000 aquatic species including threatened gharials, dolphins and turtles in river Ganga exemplifies the rich biodiversity of this lifeline to over 40 per cent of the country’s population.
●    Rivers Ganga and Yamuna at Allahabad are home to some of the most endangered fauna like turtles (Batagur kachuga, Batagur dhongoka, Nilssonia gangetica, Chitra indica, Hardella thurjii etc.), the National Aquatic Animal - Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica), the Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) and numerous migratory and resident birds.

Union HRD Minister launches Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) 

A quality programme of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) for in-service untrained teachers training Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) was launched by Union Human Resource Developement Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi today. 
●    The Teacher Training Programme is designed for all Untrained Govt. /Govt. aided /Private unaided recognized in- service Untrained teachers of Elementary Schools & 15 lakh (approx) teachers have been enrolled so far. 
●    It is an initiative in Online and Distance Learning (ODL) mode of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) for upgrading the professional competence and Information and Communication based capacity building for teachers. 
●    With an objective of enhancing quality, NIOS has been focusing its attention on the quality and excellence in the training aspects of the in service teachers of Govt. /Govt. aided /Private unaided recognized schools across the country. 
●    It is important that trainings are put in place to help develop skills through their job & to retain knowledge, skills need to be refreshed on regular basis. 

PM visits Himachal Pradesh, lays foundation stone for AIIMS at Bilaspur

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, visited Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh today. 
●    The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), at Bilaspur. 
●    This 750 bed hospital will be built at a cost of approximately Rs. 1350 crore. 
●    In addition to healthcare, it will also provide medical education at the undergraduate and post-graduate level, besides nursing. 
●    The Prime Minister also unveiled a plaque to mark the launch of Digital Nerve Centres for primary health care. 
●    The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), at Una. 
●    Shri Narendra Modi also inaugurated a Steel Processing Unit of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), at Kandrori, Kangra.