GK and Current Affairs Updates

 Black and white stamp is discharged to check the 24^th commemoration of arrival of Nelson Mandela in the wake of putting in 27 years in the prison. 

Stamp is imprinted in silver to mirror the wealth of Mandela's intelligence, his legacy and his stature. The smaller than usual sheet highlights a representation of Mandela in duotone. It is a strategy for changing a monochrome unique delineation or photo to two shades or hues and printing it utilizing two distinct plates. Expense of every stamp is around 4.50 dollars and can be obtained on the web. The South African postal office guaranteed that 5 million stamps have been delivered. Office likewise educated that around 20 pennies from each stamp deal will go to a proficiency crusade keep running by an establishment named after Mandela.

This is the fourth dedicatory stamp of Nelson Mandela. Alternate stamps were discharged when

* He won Nobel Prize.
* He turned out to be first dark president of South Africa.
* He turned 90.

 Nelson Mandela:Fact File

Nelson Mandela was an acclaimed hostile to politically-sanctioned racial segregation . He was conceived on 18^th July 1918 and kicked the bucket on 5^th December 2013. He alongside the then South African President FW de Klerk was regarded with Nobel peace prize in 1993 in acknowledgement to his endeavors to end the politically-sanctioned racial segregation . He was the first chosen dark president of South Africa and held the prestigious post from 1994 to 1999. 18^th July was pronounced as Nelson Mandela International Day to advance worldwide peace in 2009.

 The Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has consciously and constantly focused efforts towards making hydrocarbons a tool to enable social and economic development.

The states covered under this vision are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

Main Features of the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030

The vision is:

 It outlines the steps to leverage the hydrocarbon sector for development of the region in Guwahati.It is focused and consultative exercise to develop a common and shared aspiration for benefiting people of the north east region with involvement and inputs of various stakeholders, industry players and state governments.It not only includes the ambition for the region but also an actionable roadmap. The objectives of the plan are to leverage the region’s hydrocarbon potential, enhance access to clean fuels, improve availability of petroleum products, facilitate economic development and to link common people to the economic activities in this sector.

It rests on five pillars: People, Policy, Partnership, Projects and Production.

 • People: It foresees clean fuel access to households alongside fostering skill development and involvement of the local community.

 • Policy: It focuses on moderation in light of specific terrain and weather conditions of the region coupled with ensuring fund planning for new projects.

• Partnership: The stress is on greater involvement of state governments in planning and implementation, and on boosting trade with neighbouring nations.

 • Projects: The focus is on pipeline connectivity for carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas, and petroleum products, oil and lubricants (POL); building refineries and import links; and development of compressed natural gas (CNG) highways and city gas distribution network.

 • Production: It emphases include production enhancement contracts, technology deployment and fast-track clearance, and development of service provider hubs.

 • It aims at doubling Oil and Gas production by 2030, making clean fuels accessible, fast tracking projects, generating employment opportunities and promoting cooperation with neighbouring countries.

 Host India crossed the 100 mark in earning gold having tallied 117 gold, 61 silver and 16 bronze medals to reign supreme in the ongoing 12th South Asian Games at Guwahati and Shillong. Sri Lanka were trailing second with 24 gold, 46 silver and 63 bronze, followed by Pakistan with seven gold, 20 silver and 32 bronze in the third place. India dominated the tennis event at the All Assam Tennis Association Complex at Chachal here bagging all the three gold and as many silver medals on Wednesday. Ankita Raina of India clinched the gold with a thumping 6-1, 6-0 victory against compatriot Prerna Bhambri in the women’s singles final. In another all-India gold medal match, the tandem of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Prasanth Vijay Sunder won beating Divij Sharan and Sanam Singh 6-3, 6-4. In mixed doubles final, also an all-India affair, the pair of Divij and Ankita overcame stiff challenge from Sanam Singh and Prarthna Thombre to win 6-2, 7-6 (3).  

 To connect Kolkata with Tripura via Bangladesh through railway, the Union Government on 10^th February 2016 sanctioned about 580 crore rupees. The money was sanctioned for constructing the 15-kilometer railway track between Kolkata and Tripura. The project that is expected to be completed by 2017 will pass through Bangladesh. The Agartala-Akhaura rail-link between Indian Railway and Bangladesh Railway will reduce the current 1700 km road distance between Kolkata to Agartala via Siliguri to just 350-kilometer by railway.

This initiative is highly ranked on the ‘Act East’ policy of the government. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the India's new government has made its relations with East Asian neighbours a foreign policy priority at a time when US's 'pivot to Asia'. The Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had proposed a new outlook calling it Act East policy in the line of Look East policy which was introduced during the government of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao but seriously implemented during the successive administrations of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.

 Pakistan Hindu minority community will soon have a marriage law as a parliamentary panel has unanimously approved the Hindu Marriage Bill after decades of delay and in action.The National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice passed the final draft of Hindu Marriage Bill 2015.

Committee Chairman Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk adopted the bill unanimously after making two amendments to fix the minimum age of the marrying male and female at 18 and making the law applicable to the whole country.

Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have passed the requisite resolutions, but the Sindh and Punjab assemblies have not yet done so.

 Every year 10^th February is observed as National Deworming Day, celebrated to combat parasitic worm infections among preschool and school-age children across India. This year is the second edition of the observance of this day after, it was launched in 2015 by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). 

National Deworming Day is an initiative focused on reducing the threat of parasitic worm infections, a widespread health issue affecting over 24 crore children in India alone.

 The action plan called for an overhaul of aging government networks and a high-level commission to boost security awareness.

The action plan was unveiled on eve of Safer Internet Day designated by governments and technology firms to boost awareness on cyber security issues.

Main highlights of Action Plan:

• The plan seeks to address both short-term and long-term threats, with the goal of providing every American a basic level of online security.

• Obama issued an executive order creating a 12-member Cyber security Commission to make recommendations to both the public and private sectors. The panel will submit the report to the president by 1^st December 2016.

• The plan also called for a new federal chief information security officer to direct cyber security across the federal government.

Budget for Cyber Security Action Plan:

Obama asked for 19 billion US dollar for cyber security efforts in his budget request, a 35 percent increase from current levels, with 3 billion US dollar earmarked to help modernise the patchwork of computer systems used in government agencies.

 Morocco has switched on what will be the world's largest concentrated solar power plant. As His Majesty Mohammed VI of Morocco pressed a button on 4 February 2016, the first phase of the three-part project was set in motion.

The new site near the city of Ouarzazate -- famous as a filming location for Hollywood blockbusters like "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Gladiator" -- could produce enough energy to power over one million homes by 2018 and reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 760,000 tons per year, according to the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) finance group.

The solar plant, called the Noor complex, uses concentrating solar power (CSP) which is more expensive to install than the widely used photovoltaic panels, but unlike them, enables the storage of energy for nights and cloudy days. World Bank partially financed construction of the plant through a $97 million loan from the Clean Technology Fund.

 The 9th Indo-Nepal Combined Battalion level Military Training Exercise Surya Kiran commenced at Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand on 8^th February 2016. An Infantry battalion from Indian Army will represent the exercise while Nepalese Army is being represented by officers and troops of the elite Shree RudraDhoj battalion.

The Surya Kiran series of exercises is a bi-annual event conducted alternatively in Nepal and India. They will also focus on humanitarian aid and disaster relief operations, including medical and aviation aspects.

 The 5-day long event was hosted by the Indian Navy with the theme United through Oceans. It was attended by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Features of International Fleet Review 2016:

• The review was aimed at assuring the country of the Indian Navy’s preparedness, high morale and discipline.

• Considered as country’s biggest military exercise, friendly naval contingents from around the world joined Indian navy’s ships and submarines.

• It saw the participation of 50 navies, 90 ships, including 24 warships and over 70 aircraft. Besides, ships of Indian Coast Guard and mercantile marine also participated in the review.

• The list of participating countries included the 5 permanent members of the UNSC – The USA, China,UK, Russia and France, South Korea, Brazil, Canada, etc.

• During the review, Indian navy showcased latest acquisitions such as carrier-borne MIG 29K strike fighter, the P8I long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft and the KM-31 AEW helicopter.

• Indian Navy’s ships India’s biggest aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, INS Viraat, destroyers INS Mysore, INS Kolkata and frigates - INS Satpura and INS Shivalik, Teg participated in the event.

• Dolphin was chosen as the mascot for the I.F.R.-2016.

About International Fleet Review:

• A fleet review is a ceremonial and stately inspection of naval warships by the supreme commander of armed forces, the President of India.

• This was the second time an I.F.R. was being held in India.

• The first I.F.R. was held off the coast of Mumbai in 2001 when A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was the President. 29 countries participated in that event.