GK and Current Affairs Updates

The Supreme Court (SC) on 10 January 2017 directed the Union Government and the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) to complete auditing of NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisation) and voluntary organisations and submit its report by 31 March 2017.
●    The ruling was made by a bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and justices NV Ramana and DY Chandrachud. The court rebuked the government over its failure to work out a regulatory mechanism to monitor the public money that is given to the 32 lakh NGOs, societies and voluntary organisations in the country.
●    The bench ruled that 'mere blacklisting' of these organisations cannot be sufficient. Moreover, civil and criminal action should be initiated against these organisations for misappropriation of public money received by them from the centre.
●    The government was also directed to explain the manner in which it will maintain the accounts, conduct the audit, the process of recovery and methodology of recovery of the amount in case of misappropriation and criminal proceedings. 
●    It directed the competent authority to come out with guidelines for a regulatory mechanism by March 2017. The bench also asked whether General Financial Rules 2005 were complied with or not as the Rules 210-212 provide for a regulation mechanism for NGOs.

Clare Hollingworth, legendary correspondent who first broke the news of the beginning of World War II, passed away on 10 January 2017 following a brief illness. She was 105.
●    She was famously known as the doyenne of war correspondents.
●    She was the first to report the invasion of Poland by German troops that triggered the outbreak of World War Two.
●    Hollingworth's career took her to Palestine, Iraq and Iran, where she interviewed Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, who was overthrown by revolutionaries in February 1979.
●    While working as a correspondent for the Economist and the Observer, Hollingworth went to Jerusalem in July 1946 when the King David hotel, where she was staying, was bombed by Zionist paramilitaries led by future Israeli prime minister Menachim Begin.
●    She also covered the conflict in Vietnam where she scored a scoop that peace talks would shortly begin between Hanoi and Washington in 1968.
●    She also reported the defection of British spy Kim Philby, but the story was largely buried by her editors out of the fears of a libel suit. 
●    In 1972, Hollingworth became the Telegraph's first Beijing correspondent since 1949.
●    Later, she returned back to the UK as a defence correspondent and also travelled to Hong Kong to cover the colony's handover to Chinese control in 1997.
●    She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh chaired the 29th meeting of the Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA) here today.The SCOVA meeting is organised by the Department of Pensions & Pensioners’ Welfare (DoP&PW), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions and the last such meeting was held on June 27, 2016.
●    During the meeting, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that today’s interaction was very meaningful and stimulating, thus reflecting on the working of DoP&PW. The Minister said that there are about 50-55 lakh pensioners in the country and almost 88 percent of pension accounts have been seeded to Aadhaar. He further said that minimum pension has been increased to Rs. 9000 per person and ex-gratia amount has been increased from Rs. 10-15 lakh to Rs. 25-35 lakh.
●    Dr. Jitendra Singh said that we need to put in place an institutionalized mechanism to make good use of the knowledge, experience and efforts of the retired employees which can help in the value addition to the current scenario. Dr. Jitendra Singh said the retired employees are a healthy and productive workforce for India and we need to streamline and channelize their energies in a productive direction. We should learn from the pensioners’ experience, he added. The Minister also said that the DoP&PW should be reoriented in such a way that pensioners become a part of nation building process. 
●    In the meeting, discussions were held on the action taken report of the 28th SCOVA meeting. Further many issues related to pensioners were discussed threadbare, such as revision of PPOs of pre-2006 pensioners, Health Insurance Scheme for pensioners including those residing in non-CGHS area, Special "Higher" Family Pension for widows of the war disabled invalidated out of service, Extension of CGHS facilities to P&T pensioners, issue relating to CGHS Wellness Centre, Dehradun etc. The Minister directed for the prompt and time bound redressal of the grievances of the pensioners and said that we should have sympathetic attitude towards them.
●    The Secretary, DoP&PW, Shri C. Viswanath and other senior officers of the department were also present on the occasion. The meeting was also attended by the member Pensioners Associations and senior officers of the important Ministries/Departments of Government of India.

21st National Youth Festival with the theme “Youth for Digital India” begins in Rohtak, Haryana today. At the inaugural ceremony of the 4 day festival, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the Youths from across country who have come to Rohtak to participate in the event through video conference. The ceremony was inaugurated by Union Minister of state (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel along with Chief Minister of Haryana Shri Manohar Lal. Sports Minister of Haryana Shri Anil Vij and several other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
●    Speaking on the occasion, Shri Vijay Goel paid glowing tributes to Swami Vivekanand and said since 1985 government of India is commemorating his birthday as National Youth Day as the life and teachings of Vivekananda is an inspiration for millions of Youth of this country. He said this year the theme of the Festival ‘Youth for Digital India’ reflects the most critical and crucial importance of the thrust accorded to the area of Digitalisation and Skill Development by Government of India and realise the proclaimed national goal for the PM’s vision of ‘Youth Led Development’.
●    Shri Goel said the youth are indeed the most dynamic and vibrant segment of the population in any country. India is one of the youngest nations in the world, with about 28% population between 15 – 29 years of age group. He said, the Indian Youth have always been highly talented, hard-working and enterprising and therefore, the government wants participation of Youth in every aspect of country’s development through education and skill development. He urged the Youth of the Nation to strive and work endlessly in the process of nation building by following the path shown by Swami Vivekanand.
●    About 5000 participating youth delegates from different States/UTs will enrich their knowledge and exchange their experiences during the festival.

Union Textiles Minister Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani said that given the entrepreneurial spirit of Gujaratis & the investment inflow, the textile story of Gujarat has just begun. She said that as an area with one of the largest concentrations of textiles in India, Gujarat is a one-point sourcing hub for all kinds of textiles. The Minister also said that there are huge possibilities in textile education in Gujarat. She said that the skill development programme in textile sector conducted at 28 ITIs of Gujarat running the Textiles courses has recorded a placement figure of 75%. 
●    The Minister said that two major institutes of Gujarat, namely, NIFT and NID, and various engineering colleges offer degrees in textile technology, textile processing and textile engineering. Smt. Irani was addressing the 'Make in Gujarat' theme seminar on “Trends & Innovation impacting the Textile Value Chain”, at Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Gandhinagar, Gujarat today. 
●    The Minister witnessed signing of MoUs worth Rs. 8,835 crore in textile sector during the seminar.  MoUs have been signed in different sectors such as textile parks, textile processing, machinery, carpet development, etc. The Textiles Minister said that Gujarat produces 29% of India’s total cotton production; she said this indicates the trust of textile industries in the prospects of the state. Smt. Irani assured the support of her Ministry to the development of the textile value chain of Gujarat and to explore possibilities in technical textiles and research.
●    Shri Jayesh Radadiya, Minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Cottages Industry, Printing and Stationery, Government of Gujarat; Dr. Kavita Gupta, Textile Commissioner, Government of India; Shri Shishir Jaipuria, Chairman, FICCI Textile Committee; Smt. Sunaina Tomar, Principal Secretary, Education Department, Government of Gujarat and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

The 38th meeting of the Tripartite Committee on Convention (COC) was held, on 10th January, 2017, at New Delhi, under the chairpersonship of Smt.  M. Sathiyavathi, Secretary, Union Ministry of Labour and Employment.  Representatives of Central Trade Unions, Employers’ Organizations, State Governments, Central Ministries, ILO and officers from the Ministry of Labour & Employment participated in the meeting.
●    Secretary (Labour & Employment) informed the Committee that Tripartism has been integral to labour policy processes in India.  COC has a specific mandate of discussing the progress made so far in ratification of International Labour Standards and recommending the future road map.
●    COC took stock of the progress made in respect of ILO Convention No. 138 regarding Minimum Age for Entry to Employment and Work, Convention No. 182, concerning Worst Forms of Child Labour, Convention No. 87 regarding Freedom of Association and protection of Rights, Convention No. 98 regarding Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining, Maritime Labour Convention 2006, Convention No. 185 regarding Seafarers’ Identify Document, Convention No. 187 regarding promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health, Convention No. 153 regarding Hours of work and Rest Periods in Road Transport and Report on the Working Group on Standard Review Mechanism. 
●    The Committee expressed satisfaction on the progress made in respect C 187, C 153 and India’s contribution to ILO’s work in the Standard Review Mechanism and also on the decision of the Government of India to ratify the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 and C 185. 
●    COC also decided to constitute a committee comprising of representatives from Union Ministry of Labour & Employment, Department of Personnel & Training and ILO, New Delhi Office to examine issues relating to ratification of C 87 regarding Freedom of Association and protection of rights, C 98 regarding Right to Organize and collective bargaining.

India and USA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT- In) under the Ministry of Electronics nd Information technology of the Government of India and the Department of Homeland Security, Government of the United States of America on cooperation in the field of cyber Security. The MoU was signed by Smt. Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Mr. Richard Verma, US Ambassador to India today.
●    The MoU intends to promote closer co-operation and the exchange of information pertaining to the Cyber Security in accordance with the relevant laws, rules and regulations of each economy and this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit.
●    Earlier United States and India signed an MoU on 19th July, 2011 to promote a closer cooperation and timely exchange of information between the organizations of their respective Governments responsible for Cyber Security. Since, 19.07.2011 regular interactions between CERT-In and US CERT are taking place to share the information and discuss cyber security related issues.
●     In continuation to the cooperation in cyber security areas both have renewed the MOU.

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh today met Israeli delegation led by the Agriculture and Rural Development Minister of Israel, Shri Uri Ariel to discuss issues relating to bilateral cooperation in agriculture between India and Israel.   
●    Both sides expressed satisfaction over the progress made in cooperation in the agriculture and allied sectors between the two countries.
●    Both sides expressed their commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations   in the field of Agriculture which is manifested by the fact that the third phase of Action Plan for 2015-18 in the field of Horticulture has recently been finalized by the two countries.  Under this program, as many as 27 Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in the cultivation of various fruits and vegetables, in 21 states, are being set up, out of which 15 CoEs are complete.
●    Further, both sides expressed the hope that while continuing the two countries could embark upon newer areas of cooperation at the Government to Government and Business to Business levels between the two countries so as to further enhance the relationship.

Regional Conference of State Labour Ministers and Principal Secretaries/Secretaries, Department of Labour of Southern States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telngana, Lashadweep and Puducherry was held under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour & Employment, Government of India, Shri Bandaru Dattatreyaji today at Chennai.
●    Shri Dattatreya said that Central Government is committed to inclusive growth where everyone, be it youth, women, rural poor, or minority backward class, should be made a stake holder and partner.
●    The Minister said that flagship programmes Make in India, Skilled India, Digital India have made the world to look at India positively.  Indian Labour market is becoming more vibrant and sought after Globally.  While tapping the resources, this Government is committed to Employment Generation and also to upgrade the status of work force of the country to make them more dignified, valued, financially sound with their safety as a priority.   
●    He elaborated the initiatives and reforms taken up by his government including the technology based initiatives such as Shram Suvidha Portal, NCS and UAN.  He expressed his happiness that the Southern States were willing and ready to join these initiatives.
●    Shri Dattatreya highlighted the recent initiatives/Schemes by Government such as PMRPY, the Ordinance for payment of wages, initiatives by MoLE in collaboration with States and Banks on financial inclusion of workers.
●    Shri Dattatreya in his concluding remarks, emphasised that Co-operative Federalism is a key vehicle to achieve rapid development in India. Strong states are the foundation of a strong India. He Congratulated States for their welfare measures and assured of every cooperation by the Central Government.  

Norway became the first country to ban FM radio broadcasting. The northern county of Nordland on 11 January 2017 stopped radio broadcasting using analogue frequencies.
●    The primary reason behind banning FM radio broadcasting is government’s endeavour to offer a better radio service to the whole population.
●    Compared to FM radio broadcasting, digital audio broadcasting offers a wider range of broadcasting options and greater sound quality.
●    DAB allows for more channels on a given bandwidth, provides better reception and has significantly lower operating costs than traditional FM.
●    At present, there are 22 national digital stations in Norway including 20 smaller ones. However, the FM spectrum has room for a maximum of only five national stations.
●    As per an estimate of Norway’s culture ministry, the switch over will save 25 million US dollars a year.