Current Affairs Assam – October 2018
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the month of October 2018 )
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October 10
100% organic Sikkim shortlisted for FAO’s Future Policy Award
- Sikkim’s achievement in becoming the world’s first totally organic agriculture state has gotten it a place on the shortlist of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Future Policy Award.
- The FAO said that the award “will celebrate policies that create enabling environments that advance” a transition to sustainable food and agriculture systems that are crucial to achieving sustainable development and climate resilience.
- The 2018 award is co-organised by the FAO, the World Future Council (WFC) and IFOAM-Organics International. The winner will be announced on 12th
- Sikkim became in 2015 “the first organic state in the world with more than 66,000 farming families practicing organic farming state-wide, managing 75,000 hectares organic certified.
- It was augmented by a rise in tourism with the number of Indian tourists increasing between 2012 and 2016 by 40 per cent to 800,000 per year, while the number of foreign visitors doubled.
- Starting with a political commitment to support organic farming in 2003, Sikkim designed in 2010 the Sikkim Organic Mission which was a road map that clearly detailed all the measures necessary to achieve the target of becoming a fully organic state by 2015.
- With the 100 per cent organic farming goal, Sikkim took ground-breaking steps to reverse the prevailing economic logic, which favours forms of food production failing to preserve the biodiversity and ecosystem functions agriculture depends on.
FACTFILE – The Future Policy Award
- The Future Policy Award celebrates policies that create better living conditions for current and future generations.
- The aim of the award is to raise global awareness for these exemplary policies and speed up policy action towards just, sustainable and peaceful societies.
- The Future Policy Award is the first award that celebrates policies rather than people on an international level.
- Each year the World Future Council chooses one topic on which policy progress is particularly urgent.
India launches Global Jaipur Foot distribution initiative
- The External Affairs Ministry launched the “India for Humanity” initiative under which the Jaipur Foot artificial limb will be distributed free of cost to the needy across the world.
- In collaboration with charitable organization Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS), the Ministry will distribute the artificial limbs through camps that will be organised by Indian missions abroad.
- These camps will be initially held in 12 countries identified through Indian missions with financial support from the Indian government.
- Founded in 1975 and better known by its trademark limb Jaipur Foot, BMVSS is among the world’s largest organisations for the fitment of artificial limbs and till date has served over 1.73 million amputees.
India ranks 147 in Oxfam World Inequality Index 2018
- India ranks at 147 among 157 countries Oxfam analysed for their commitment to reduce inequality, saying it was a “very worrying situation” given that the country is home to 1.3 billion people.
- The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index 2018, published to coincide with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank annual meetings being held in Bali, analysed the countries’ policy behaviour on social spending, tax and labour rights, particularly for women.
- The index finds that countries such as South Korea, Namibia and Uruguay were taking strong steps to reduce inequality.
- Countries such as India and Nigeria do very badly overall, as does the US among rich countries, showing a lack of commitment to closing the inequality gap .
- The Britain-based charitable organisation calculated that if India were to reduce inequality by a third, more than 170 million people would no longer be poor.
- According to the report, the tax structure looked reasonably progressive on paper but in practice much of the progressive taxation, like on incomes of the richest, was not collected.
- India also fared poorly on labour rights and respect for women in the workplace.
Point2Remember – Denmark topped the rankings, with one of the most progressive taxation policies in the world.
FACTFILE – Oxfam
- Oxfam is a confederation of 20 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International.
- It is based in Oxford, England.
- Oxfam is a major nonprofit group with an extensive collection of operations.
Union Cabinet sanctions Rs 3,074 cr to set up 2 new IISERs
- The Union Cabinet on 10th October sanctioned Rs 3,074 crore for the establishment of permanent campuses of two new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati and Odisha’s Berhampur cities.
- Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made the announcement after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- The Tirupaticentre was part of Andhra Pradesh package while Berhampur centre was a budget announcement.
- A total of 1,855 students will study in both the institutions that will be operational from December 21.
- Both the states have given land for the construction of these campuses and the total cost is Rs 3,070.12 crore
FACTFILE – Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISERs)
- The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISERs) are a group of premier science education and research institutes in India.
- These institutions have been declared by an Act of Parliament as Institutes of National Importance, and are intended to be the leading institutes in the country in the field of basic sciences.
- Seven IISERs have been established across the country, namely IISER Kolkata in West Bengal, IISER Pune in Maharashtra, IISER Mohali in Punjab, IISER Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, IISER Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, IISER Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and IISER Berhampur in Odisha. Together with the IISER at Berhampur, Odisha that commenced in 2016, another IISER in Nagaland was also announced in the 2015 Budget.
The financial outlay for each IISER is around ₹5 billion (US$70 million) for the first five years. IISERs are envisioned to be the IITs of Basics Sciences.
October 11
British Council and North Eastern Council sign MoU on educational, cultural collaboration
- British Council India and the North Eastern Council (NEC) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen educational and cultural cooperation.
- Alan Gemmell OBE Director British Council India and NEC Director (HRD & E) K.H. Siile Anthony inked the MoU to support the knowledge ambitions and economic growth of the eight northeastern Indian states.
- As per the agreement, the artists and the cultural community of the northeastern states would get the opportunity to share culture creativity and ideas with the UK.
- Government school teachers and faculty members of higher education institutions would also gain access to English language learning quality education and internationally benchmarked assessments.
- The pact will work towards improving English communication of state civil servants developing capacity-building initiatives in state governments supporting improvements in the teaching of Mathematics and Science capacity-building programmers for faculty and senior administrators of higher education institutions.
- It will seek to increase student and academic mobility for all eight states of the region.
FACTFILE – British Council
- British Council is a British organization specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities.
- It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language; encouraging cultural, scientific, technological and educational co-operation with the United Kingdom; and changing people’s lives through access to education, skills, qualifications, culture and society.
- The British Council is a charity registered in Great Britain and Scotland, and is governed by Royal Charter.
- It is also a public corporation and an executive nondepartmental public body (NDPB), sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Competition Commission of India (CCI) amends M&A approval regulations
- Anti-trust watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) has amended its regulations to make it easier for corporations to secure approvals for mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
- The amended M&A regulations allow parties to a transaction to voluntarily suggest to CCI possible alterations to the deal that may mitigate any adverse impact the combined entity may have on competition in the market.
- Competition regulators worldwide, including CCI, suggest changes to M&A deals and approve transactions subject to conditions if they find that certain aspects of the deal may stifle competition in the relevant market.
- The Competition Act, 2002, allows businesses to suggest alterations to the original deal structure only after the CCI proposes changes.
- According to amended M&A regulations, businesses involved in the deal can “submit remedies voluntarily in response to the notice issued under Section 29(1) of the Act”
- This section of the Act deals with commencement of an investigation into the effects of the deal on competition. The move could save time in getting a deal cleared by CCI.
- If such remedies (voluntarily proposed by the parties) are considered sufficient to address the perceived competition harm, the combination can be approved. This amendment is expected to expedite disposal of such combination cases.
- The amendments also allow parties to transactions to withdraw their request for approval and file afresh in cases where their original application had significant information gaps.
- With this amendment, the parties could address the deficiencies without facing an invalidation by CCI.
FACTFILE – Competition Commission of India
- Competition Commission of India is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 throughout India and to prevent activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India.
- It was established on 14 October 2003.
- CCI consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Central Government.
- It is the duty of the Commission to eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.
- The Commission is also required to give opinion on competition issues on a reference received from a statutory authority established under any law and to undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues
Odisha Governor lays foundation stone for India’s first 2G ethanol bio-refinery
- Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal laid the foundation stone of the country’s first 2G ethanol bio-refinery in Bargarh district of Odisha.
- Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited will set up the ethanol plant with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore to produce three crore litres of fuel grade ethanol annually.
- The ethanol produced from this plant will be blended with petrol. With production of 17-18 lakh metric tonne paddy at Bargarh, there is always an equal amount of straw production.
- The bio-refinery will utilise about two lakh tons of rice straw annually which will be sourced from nearby locations.
- Farmers hardly use 6-7 lakh metric tonnes as fodder for the cattle and other uses whereas they burn 10-12 lakh tonne that creates severe environmental hazards including production of carbon.
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