GK and Current Affairs Updates

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated a meeting of American Association of Thoracic Surgeons and International Coronary Congress in New Delhi today (November 12, 2016).
●    Speaking on the occasion, the President said that healthcare is a priority area to our country. However, the challenges at meeting the healthcare requirements are acute in the case of developing economies with large populations. 
●    Doctors have a responsibility to work on creating greater awareness about prevention and treatment among the general population. The most common cause leading to CAD and heart attacks are wrong lifestyle choices. 
●    Hence, precautionary strategies have to take centre-stage in the fight against heart diseases. Our healthcare sector has to be equipped to not only treat people but also guide them about prevention of medical conditions.
●    The President said that the International Coronary Congress, to his mind, is a great platform where steps necessary to strengthen our healthcare system into one that is universally accessible, affordable and effective can be discussed. 
●    To build such a system, we require not only a robust healthcare infrastructure, but also trained and motivated personnel. We can study the systems prevalent in other nations that have turned successful in providing treatment to their entire population. 
●    Our country is unique on account of the size and geographical spread of our population. Therefore, we have to develop suitable solutions to meet our requirements.

The Ministry of Steel, Government of India announces the inauguration of the Ministry of Steel Pavilion at the 36th edition of India International Trade Fair (IITF), the largest integrated trade fair on Monday i.e. 14th November, 2016, at 04.00 PM at stall no 15-a, at hall 18U, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. 
●    The Union Minister for Steel Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh and Secretary, Steel, Dr. Aruna Sharma will be present to inaugurate the Ministry of Steel stall ‘Ministry of Steel Pavilion’, where the country’s public and private sector steel making capabilities come together on display. Steel PSU & Private sector chiefs and senior officials from Ministry of Steel will also be present. 
●    Steel, owing to its high tensile strength, low cost and inherent uses, is the backbone of any modern civilization and is very important for a growing economy like India. The government of India is focused on a steady manufacturing climate, accelerating the manufacturing potential in the country by leaps & bounds. In-line with ‘Make-in-India’ initiative, our steel companies like ESSAR Steel, FSNL, HSCL, JPC, JSL, JSPL, JSW, KIOCL, MECON, MOIL, MSTC, NMDC, RINL, SAIL and TATA Steel, have emphasized on innovation and R&D to developed new products empowering industries to manufacture indigenously, state of the art products like INS Vikrant, India’s first indigenous air craft career, bullet proof steel, nuclear power plants or space exploration missions and become widely recognized as purveyor of high-end, value-added steel. 
●    Digitalization has emerged as catalysts for rapid economic growth, ultimately transforming the nation. Indian Steel Industry which is highly automated has introduced digital technologies across processes such as operations research, product development, software development, robotics & mechanical engineering, mining, pelletization, raw material handling, coke oven, sinter plant, blast furnace, long product mill, continuous casting, SMS/BOF, flat product mill, supply chain management, procurement, retail and online sales of steel. 
●    The steel industry is constantly researching on new technologies to enhance the world's strongest and versatile material; currently there are over 2000 grades of steel globally of which 1500 grades are high grade steel. Iron and steel are used widely in the construction of roads, railways, energy, packaging, appliances, transport, infrastructure, buildings & large modern structures, such as stadiums and skyscrapers, bridges, and airports, are supported by a steel skeleton. Other common applications include shipbuilding, pipelines, mining, offshore construction, aerospace, white goods (e.g. washing machines), heavy equipment such as bulldozers, office furniture, steel wool, tools, and armour in the form of personal vests or vehicle armour, Cutlery, Rulers, Surgical instruments, Watches, Guns, Rail passenger vehicles, IT, Tablets, Electronics, Trash Cans etc. 

Guy Ryder on 7 November 2016 was re-elected as the Director-General (DG) of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for another five-year term. He will assume the post the on 1 October 2017.
●    Ryder obtained 54 of the 56 votes cast by the titular members. He was the only candidate for the post.
●    Guy Ryder is the 10th Director-General of the International Labour Organization.
●    From 2006 to 2010, he served as the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
●    From 2002 to 2006, he served as the General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).
●    The International Labour Organization is a United Nations agency dealing with labour issues.
●    It has 187 member states.
●    In 1969, the organization received the Nobel Peace Prize for improving peace among classes, pursuing decent work and justice for workers, and providing technical assistance to other developing nations.
●    The ILO registers complaints against entities that are violating international rules; however, it does not impose sanctions on governments.

Twitter on 9 November 2016 announced that Adam Bain, its Chief Operating Officer (COO), plans to leave the company.
●    In August 2016, Bain had celebrated his six-year anniversary at Twitter. Over his time at the company, he helped build Twitter’s ad efforts from the ground up. He was once considered a top candidate to be the chief executive of the company before Jack Dorsey got the job.
●    After Bain’s decision, Twitter’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Anthony Noto will be promoted to the position of COO.
●    Twitter is an online news and social networking service where users post and read short 140-character messages called tweets.
●    It is based in San Francisco and has more than 25 offices around the world.
●    It was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams. However, the site was officially launched in July 2006.

Tata on 8 November 2016 announced that Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award for 2016 will be conferred on acclaimed author Amitav Ghosh.
●    The award will be presented to Ghosh at Tata Literature Live!’s annual awards ceremony to be held on 20 November 2016 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point, Mumbai.
●    Amitav Ghosh is an Indian-American author best known for his work in English fiction.
●    He was educated at the all-boys The Doon School where he edited The Doon School Weekly. His contemporaries at Doon included author Vikram Seth and Ram Guha.
●    He received degrees from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, and Delhi School of Economics.
●    He then won the Inlaks Foundation scholarship to complete a D. Phil. in social anthropology at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, under the supervision of Peter Lienhardt.
●    In 1986, he wrote his debut novel titled The Circle of Reason.
●    His other famous works in fiction are The Shadow Lines, The Calcutta Chromosome, The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide, Sea of Poppies, among others.
●    His notable non-fiction writings are In an Antique Land, Dancing in Cambodia and at Large in Burma, Countdown, and The Imam and the Indian.
●    His book The Circle of Reason won the Prix Medicis etranger, one of France's top literary awards.
●    The Shadow Lines won the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Ananda Puraskar.
●    Sea of Poppies was shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize.
●    The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of Padma Shri in 2007.

Announcing the Centre's plans to inject Rs 25 lakh crore to strengthen inland waterways, ports and rail-road links, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today said these projects will create four crore jobs as the focus of the NDA government is to uplift the poor. 
●    The 12 public ports in the country have made an overall profit of Rs 6,000 crore this year and the government aims to raise the profit up to Rs 35,000-40,000 crore in four years.
●    A sum of Rs 4 lakh crore would be spent for the development of port-rail connectivity. 
●    Centre has taken concrete steps to accelerate the pace of road construction, which has been enhanced to 24-25 km per day from the earlier level of 2 km per day. 
●    The target is to raise it further to 41 km per day. 
●    Similarly, an investment of around Rs 15 lakh crore would be made for development of the highway sector.
●    Further, an amount of Rs 8,200 crore would be pumped in to develop a new port at Paradip.
●    Rs 7,000 crore is being invested for establishing rail link between the coal belt of Talcher and Paradip port. 

The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, J P Nadda, on 9 November 2016 launched Healthy India Initiative/Swastha Bharat-ek pehal magazine and No More Tension mobile App.
●    The initiatives were launched for promotion of health and to strengthen the health communications programmes.
●    It will be a quarterly magazine.
●    It will cater to health related information and raise awareness about healthy living.
●    The magazine will cover different aspect of health including women and child health, elderly health, daily nutritional needs, seasonal ailments, safe medication practices and home remedies for healthy living.
●    The magazine will be made available at all the government facilities up to the sub-centre and will be available free of cost.
●    The e-version of the magazine will also be available for download.
●    The current issue is in Hindi and English and the next version will be available in 13 other languages.

Meng Hongwei, a top-level Chinese Security Minister was elected as the president of the International Crime fighting and police cooperation organization (Interpol). Meng will serve as President until 2020.
●    With this appointment, Meng Hongwei becomes the first official from China to take the post. He has previously served as the head of Interpol China. At the time of this appointment, he was holding the position of China’s Vice Minister for public security.
●    He was sworn into his new position on 10 November 2016 at the closing of the organisation’s 85th general assembly in Bali, Indonesia.
●    The organization was founded in 1914 and is headquartered in Lyon, France.
●    It is the second largest international organisation after the United Nations with 190 members.
●    It plays an important role in deepening global police cooperation and tackling transnational criminal offenses. 
●    Election of Meng Hongwei, a Chinese national, to the world’s largest law enforcement agency turned up to be a reason for concern. 
●    His appointment is a concern for human right advocates because he belongs to the nation, where human right abuses are visible.
 

Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) and Parliamentary Affairs launched the logo of ‘Hunar Haat’ here today and addressed a press conference on the occasion. The exhibition is being set up in Hall No. 14 of Pragati Maidan by National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC) under scheme “USTTAD” (Upgrading the Skills & Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development) of Ministry of Minority Affairs. The logo will be used for branding exhibitions in future too.
●    Briefing the media ,the Minister said that more than 184 master artisans from 26 States will showcase their traditional art and skills at “Hunar Haat”. The “Hunar Haat” is being organised at India International Trade Fair 2016 from 14 to 27 November. Shri Naqvi said that besides providing free of cost stall to artisans/craftsmen, the Minority Affairs Ministry will also make arrangements for their transport and will facilitate daily expenses so that they can reach Delhi and display their arts/skills at the international platform in the form of International Trade Fair.
●    The exhibition at “Hunar Haat” will also display other arts/crafts like marble work from Rajasthan; beautiful handicrafts from Gujarat; Pashmina and bronze work from Kashmir. Besides, centuries old Ayurvedic, Unani health care; glass artefacts; Indian silk-cotton work will also be a part of the exhibition. The artisans will also display their skills of making products live before the people at the Trade Fair.
●    The USTTAD scheme aims at preserving and promoting the rich heritage of the traditional arts and crafts of the Minority communities. These crafts have gradually lost their employability in the light of globalisation and competitive market. This has demotivated the younger generation including the wards of master craft persons to look for different avenues for livelihood.
●    IITF is an exhibition of national/international acclaim and is expected to provide ample opportunity and a platform under one roof to artisans and craft persons of Minority communities, to demonstrate, showcase and sell their products.
●    The participating artisans include forty one from Uttar Pradesh, eighteen from Gujarat, seventeen from Delhi, sixteen from Jammu and Kashmir ,thirteen from Rajasthan , nine from West Bengal and seven from Bihar. Besides these states, artisans from Leh-Laddakh to Manipur, Nagaland to Kerala are participating in “Hunar Haat”.
●    A special pavilion has also been put up in “Hunar Haat” exhibition area for audio-visual depiction of schemes & programs of the Ministry, NMDFC and constituent organizations. This will help in creating awareness about the schemes & programmes of the Ministry among the visitors, so that they could avail assistance under these programmes.

National Skill Development Agency and The British Council signed a MoU today at NSDA’s office to collaborate for undertaking joint research projects in the area of skill development. Alan Gemmell, Director- India, The British Council and Dr. Sunita Chhibba, DG-NSDA signed the MoU.
●    This collaboration comes as a part of strengthening the overall research mechanism in skill development space and to encourage research collaborations with various national and international organizations. Under this partnership, The British Council and the National Skill Research Division (NSRD), a research division under the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) will work closely with each other to build research collaborations between the UK and India over a period of three years in the skilling domain. The topic for the joint research study in first year of collaboration is “Future Skills” that will focus on, understanding labour market trends and identifying future employment in India in selected manufacturing and service sectors in view of changing technology.
●    The partnership aims to promote knowledge exchange and research collaborations between UK and India in the skills space and to strengthen capacity of research organisations in both the countries so as to be able to work in collaborative research environments in the Sector.
●    This kind of collaboration is in alignment with the overall mandate of the recently established National Skill Research Division that will serve as a think tank on research related to skill development and evolve as a credible research organization in skills space at the national level.