GK and Current Affairs Updates

In line with the Digital India initiative of Government of India, National Handloom Development Corporation Ltd. (NHDC) has decided to implement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for its commercial activities for the benefit of handloom weavers. It was recently launched in Varanasi. 
Benefits:
1. By making the procurement process transparent, yarn will be available at the best price to the weavers across the country.
2. The weavers will be able to access information anytime through the mobile app. 
3. They can view the stock of the material in yarn depots.
4. They can place their indents.
5. They can check the status of their indents.
6. They can get the details of the dispatched material via SMS.
7. The weavers would not have to visit NHDC office or send indent by post, saving time and money.
8. In case of 10% scheme, weavers can view  the information about their unused  quota at any point of time
9. Mills will also be integrated in the system, in order to ensure that indenting and order confirmationform a part of the online ERP system.
10. Weavers can access the status of the despatched material from the mills such as the name of the transporter, freight, LR No etc.
11. ERP will be available in Hindi and local languages for the benefit of weavers. 
12. Calculation of freight and depot subsidy will be done by the system, bringing in transparency and faster claim submission.
Beneficiaries: are those who are the primary beneficiaries of the yarn supply scheme of Government of India.

Haryana Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NASSCOM and Global Village Foundation (GVF).
Aim: to achieve the target of providing employment to 25,000 persons in the next 18 months.
Objectives:
1. skilling the youth and students of Haryana for employment ready programme through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds of the corporate.
2. to effectively utilize the CSR budget of the corporate by skilling youth of Haryana that makes them job ready.
About NASSCOM 
- It is a non-profit organisation.
- The National Association of Software and Services Companies is a trade association of Indian Information Technology and Business Process Outsourcing industry. 
- Established in 1988

About Global Village Foundation
- it is a rural development foundation.
- Vision: To educate the children in rural India and empower them to achieve the global standards by using innovative technology and methods.
- Mission: To provide a world-class, yet affordable education through a unique concepts of Mastery learning, sustainable technology, continuous Innovation and integrated efforts. To further develope an environment that promotes confidence, responsibility, self-respect, cooperation, spirit of inquiry, creativity and academic growth.

Chennai defeated Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda and emerged to be the champion of Indian Super League.
All Awards :
1. Golden boot award goes to John Stiven Mendoza of Chennaiyin FC.
2. Golden glove award goes to Chennaiyin FC goalkeeper Apoula Edima Edel Bete.
3. Emerging player award goes to Jeje of Chennaiyin FC.
4. Hero of the League award goes to John Stiven Mendoza of Chennaiyin FC.
5. Fairplay award goes to Mumbai City FC.
6. Player of the ISL 2015 goes to Iain Hume of Atletico de Kolkata.
About Indian Super league
- kick off on 12th October 2014
- A football championship
- Mission: To engender an entertaining and high quality football league that engages hundreds of millions of fans, drives improvement in playing standards and delivers value for all partners.
- Vision: For India to become a global football power, tightening its grip so as to get the push in order to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
- OBJECTIVES:
1. To present an international-quality domestic football competition
2. To engage hundreds of millions of passionate and proud Indian football fans
3. To encourage and facilitate the masses to start playing the sport
4. To produce a large pool of increasingly talented Indian players and ‘heroes’ to play for the Indian national team
5. To set new standards of sports administration, governance and marketing in India
6. To deliver value to all our stakeholders and partners, and create demand for further investment.

Now government is taking support of space technology and satellite imagery to track illegal mining. This will be done in partnership with ISRO. Satellite will take images of their mines and update them on a regular basis every 15-30 days.
What is Illegal Mining ?
Illegal mining is the absence of land rights, mining license, exploration or mineral transportation permit or of any document that could legitimate the on-going operations.
It can be operated in the surface or underground.
- Health Impact
 Workers affected by lung diseases - Silicosis, a lung disease caused by breathing in silica dust, is another grim reality in the area. The workers also get affected by deadly diseases like tuberculosis and asbestosis. 
- Ecological Impact
1. Erosion and endangered species habitat
2. Carbon output
3. Wastege and pollution of groundwater

Internet censorship is the control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet. It may be carried out by governments or by private organizations at the behest of government, regulators, or on their own initiative.
Aim:There are three main motives for Internet censorship; politics and power, security and social norms, and morals.
Types:
1. Active Censorship
2. Passive Censorship
Active Censorship: Active means prosecution of people who spread unsuitable content, for instance arresting them. Active type of internet censorship is also forbidding the Internet (in North Korea), restriction of the Internet and controlling - how people may use the Internet. 
Passive Censorship: Passive means blocking of content. Blocking, can be blocking of TLD, blocking of whole servers, blocking of particular websites, blocking of specific services of web applications, etc.
Advantages:
1. It can protect young children from adult websites and videos. On the market, there are software products for parents that can block certain web sites, called web filters. 
2. To censor stuff citing moral grounds and those against the legislative. 
3. Some countries censor gambling sites, gay and lesbian sites, sites promoting drugs
and criminality, pornographic sites, sites that contain blasphemous or hate speeches.
Disadvantages:
1. Violation of Rights: Freedom of Speech and expression of views.
2. Limiting Educational Resources: Often educational sources of contraversial topics are restricted thereby curbing the availability of resources.
3. Widening Social Gaps: Lessens the chances to learn about people around the globe.
4. Business Issues: Businesses can be negatively impacted by Internet censorship. First, they cannot be accessed by all possible consumers -- especially on an international scale. Second, these businesses are unable to access the best websites and businesses for supplies and services. If a business owner can't access certain parts of the Internet, she may not be able to compete fully on a global scale, or access the best resources for products and services required.
Conclusion:  
Everyone has their own opinions, their own expressions, their own views—and the Internet is the best tool to let out there their voices so as to be heard. If that right is taken away from us, no one would have a voice. No one’s opinions would be heard. Some people might have great ideas, but if the government thinks it’s not in the popular opinion, they’ll censor it. Almost everyone gets their information off the Internet now days. If only certain things are censored, everyone would be looking at biased views on everything. They would only be reading about what the government thinks is right. We wouldn’t get to express ourselves and speak freely. Our First Amendment rights would be diminished, and the Internet would definitely loose all its charm. The Internet is a free environment; no one should be allowed to take it away from us.

Afghanistan got the membership of World Trade Organization after 11 years of diplomatic dialogues. This decision was taken at its 10th ministerial conference in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.
It has become the 164^th WTO member and the 36^th least developed country (LDC) to join this body.
About World Trade Organistation:
1. Location: Geneva, Switzerland
2. Established: 1 January 1995
3. Created by: Uruguay Round negotiations (1986-94)
4. Functions:
• Administering WTO trade agreements
• Forum for trade negotiations
• Handling trade disputes
• Monitoring national trade policies
• Technical assistance and training for developing countries
• Cooperation with other international organizations 
5. Annual Publications:
- WTO Annual Reports
- World Trade Report
- International Trade Statistics

The West Bengal cabinet ratified a proposal to create six new districts.
These new districts are:
1. From Darjeeling in North Bengal, new district Kalimpong will be created.
2. Basirhat district would be formed out of North 24 Parganas district of Sunderban. Sundarbans stretches currently across parts of the North and South 24 Parganas districts. 
3. Burdwan district will be bifurcated into Burdwan (Industrial) and Burdwan (Rural).
4. Jhargram, now a police district under West Midnapore district, will become a full-fledged administrative district.

Discovered by: Zoological Survey of India ( ZSI).
- Discovered at: coast of Digha in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district.
- Named as: Gymnothorax mishrai
- Characteristics features: 
1. 32.4 cm long, 
2. Brown in colour  
3. The body is without any patterns. 
4. Categorised among short, brown, patterned moray eels.
5. Categorised among short, brown, patterned moray eels.
6.There are 800 species of eels found across the world and India is home to 150-200 of these fish species. Consumption of eels in India is very less as compared to Japan.

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received Garwood Award for Outstanding Global Leader in Open Innovation from UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The award was presented to the President for:
1. Promoting open innovation; 
2. For taking initiative of hosting and gathering global innovators at the first-ever Global Roundtable on Inclusive Innovations at Rashtrapati Bhavan;
3. Organizing first Festival of Innovation at the Rashtrapati Bhavan: 
In order to link global leaders from technological, financial and educational sectors for the promotion of increased scalability in national and international grassroots innovation; 
4. For launching the first Innovations Scholars' 'In-Residence' programme: 
To promote the spirit of innovation and provide a thriving creative atmosphere for grassroots innovation activities that will have the potential to transform the global landscape; 
5. For urging higher education leaders to establish Innovation Clubs:
It is to catalyze the collaboration between institutions of higher learning and grassroots innovations; 
6. For being a primary supporter of Micro-Venture Innovation Finance which empowers grassroots innovators with the fundamental resources to provide their products and services to global markets; 
7. For being an initiator for innovative solutions towards financial inclusion via national programs that will promote worldwide economic success and for spearheading the establishment of an Innovation promotion platform involving academics, entrepreneurs, and researchers to foster an intercontinental medium of innovation, R&D and scientific research. 
About Garwood Award
1.The University of California, Berkeley, established this award.
2.It is awarded to acknowledge those individuals who have embraced, supported and encouraged open innovation in a significant and impactful way.

The Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme provides for opening of one Navodaya Vidyalaya in each district of the country. Opening of new Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas in uncovered districts depends on the willingness of the concerned State Government to make available suitable land free of cost for construction of school buildings and required temporary accommodation (free of rent) to start the Vidyalaya, and is subject to the availability of funds and approval by the competent authority. 
About Navodaya Vidyalayas
Motto: the selection of talented rural children as the target group and the attempt to provide them with quality education comparable to the best in a residential school system. Such education would enable students from rural areas to compete with their urban counterparts on an equal footing. The National Policy on Education-1986 envisaged the setting up of residential schools, to be called Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas that would bring out the best of rural talent.
Objectives 1.To serve the objectives of excellence coupled with equity and social justice.
2.To promote national integration by providing opportunities to talented children, largely rural, from different part of the country, to live and learn together and develop their full potential.3.To provide good quality modern education, including a strong component of culture, inculcation of values, awareness of the environment, adventure activities and physical education.4.To ensure that all students of Navodaya Vidyalayas attain a reasonable level of competence in three language as envisaged in the Three Language Formula; and
5.To serve, in each district, as focal point for improvement in quality of school education through sharing of experiences and facilities.
SALIENT FEATURES
1.JNVST: Entrance on the basis of Merit
2.Reservation for Rural, S.C., S.T. and Girl Students
3.Promotion of National Integration
About Navodaya Vidyalayas Samiti
Navodaya Vidyalayas are run by the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti which is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Secondary & Higher Education, Govt of India. The Chairman of the Samiti is the Hon’ble Minister of Human Resource Development.The Samiti (body) is responsible for the overall management including allocation of funds to manage the affairs as well as exercises the authority of powers.