Important Current Affairs 6th August 2017

Important Current Affairs 6th August 2017

Current Affairs 6th August 2017: NATIONAL NEWS

All ASI-protected monuments declared polythene free zones

All monuments and archaeological sites protected by the ASI have been declared as polythene free zones, Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma told Lok Sabha on Monday. 
●    A total of 3,686 historical monuments and archaeological sites have been declared protected as that of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
●    Replying to questions, Sharma said ASI has declared all the monuments and archaeological sites protected by it as polythene free zones. 
●    The Culture Ministry has written letters to all chief secretaries of states for their active cooperation in making centrally protected monuments as polythene free zone, he sai“All the field offices of ASI have been directed for necessary compliance,” the minister added. Sharma said Rs 80.47 crore worth revenue has been received through sale of tickets at monuments and site museums up to September of the current financial year. 
●    During the same period, revenue through other heads stood at Rs 3.33 crore, he added.

Haryana bans govt school teachers from taking mobile phones to classrooms

The Haryana government on Thursday barred school teachers from stepping inside the classrooms with mobile phones and decided to hold head of the school “accountable” for violation of this norm.
●    There are about 25 lakh students in the government-run schools, from primary to plus two, across the state, while over 90,000 teachers are posted in these schools.
●    “Henceforth, no teacher will be allowed to take along mobile phone to the classroom,” Virender Singh, joint secretary (school education) told Hindustan Times.
●    He added, “In case any substantive complaint is received from students or general public that the latest guidelines are being violated in any campus, then the head of that school will be held squarely accountable.”
●    This restriction of going to the classroom without mobile phones also applies to the head of school.
●    The education department has directed that all inspecting officers, whether on regular inspection or surprise inspections, will check whether these instructions are being followed in letter and spirit.

Haryana submitted report on ‘Mhara Gaon Jagmag Gaon’

The Haryana Government had launched a voluntary scheme ‘Mhara Gaon - Jagmag Gaon’, aimed at providing 24-hour uninterrupted power supply to rural domestic consumers and improving electricity bill collections in order to reduce huge accumulated losses of power utilities.
●    Chief Minister Manohar Lal said that the State has become first in the country to launch such an innovative scheme.Giving details about the scheme at a Press conference, the Chief Minister said at present rural consumers were being supplied electricity for only 12 hours daily. 
●    In the first phase of the scheme, 83 feeders have been identified covering 310 villages having minimum line losses between 25 to 70 per cent and which have made payment of their electricity bills.
●    Power supply has been ensured for 15 hours in these villages instead of 12 hour power supply they were getting. 
●    The consumers in these 310 villages falling under these 83 feeders have now urged to install their meters outside their houses and get their old electricity wires replaced with insulated wires, said the Chief Minister.

Union Government launches e-RaKAM portal for selling agricultural produce

The Union Government on 1 August 2017 launched a portal, e-RaKAM, to provide a platform to sell agricultural produce.
●    The portal is a joint initiative by state-run-auctioneer MSTC and Central Warehousing Corporation arm CRWC.
●    The platform is a digital initiative that aims to bring together the farmers, PSUs, civil supplies and buyers on a single platform to ease the selling and buying process of agricultural products.
●    The e-RaKAM is a first-of-its-kind initiative that leverages technology to connect farmers of the smallest villages to the biggest markets of the world through internet and e-RaKAM centres.
●    While launching the portal, the Union Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan stated that the effort should be to auction 20 lakh tonnes of pulses in the first phase through the platform.
●    With the help of the platform, various crops whose price increases due to rainfall or bad weather conditions will be managed and get the market.

Jharkhand Cabinet approves Religious Freedom Bill 2017

Jharkhand Cabinet on 1 August 2017 approved Religious Freedom Bill 2017. 
●    The bill named as Jharkhand Freedom of Religion Bill, 2017 seeks to bring the stringent anti-conversion law in place under which forceful or allurement induced religious conversion will be a non-bailable criminal offence.
●    According to an official release, Section three of the Bill prohibits forceful conversion. In the event of violation of section three, there will be up to three years imprisonment or Rs 50000 penalty or both.
●    The release says that if the crime involves a minor, woman or person from SC or ST community than the prison term would be up to four years and a penalty of one lakh rupees.
●    Allurement for religious conversion has been well defined in the bill, where cash or economic benefits for religious conversion are included. 
●    The bill would be tabled in the upcoming monsoon session of Jharkhand Assembly.

Current Affairs 6th August 2017: GLOBAL NEWS

US Senate confirms Christopher Wray as FBI Director
The US senate on 1 August 2017 confirmed the appointment of Christopher Wray as the Director of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Wray was elected to the post by winning 92-5 votes of the Senate.
●    With this, Wray succeeds James Comey, who was unexpectedly fired by US President Donald Trump in May 2017 in the midst of the investigation into Russian meddling in US Presidential Elections 2016. 
●    Since then, Andrew McCabe has been serving as acting FBI director.
●    Wray, a former high-ranking official in President George W Bush's Justice Department who oversaw investigations into corporate fraud, takes over the FBI at such a challenging time when Trump expelled Comey, who was admired within FBI.

Current Affairs 4th August 2017: APPOINTMENTS

Sanjaya Baru appointed as Secretary General of FICCI

Sanjaya Baru was on 1 August 2017 appointed as the Secretary General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) with effect from 1 September 2017. 
●    He succeeds A Didar Singh, who served as Secretary General for 5 years. 
●    However, Didar Singh will continue to serve as a strategic advisor to Pankaj Patel, President of the FICCI.
●    Baru had earlier served as the media advisor to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
●    Baru served as media advisor and chief spokesperson of Manmohan Singh from May 2004 until August 2008.
●    Later, he was appointed as the Editor of Business Standard, a position he served from January 2010 to October 2011.