Assam Current Affairs - Week 8-14 June, 2018- Daily & Monthly Assam GK

Current Affairs Assam – June 2018

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the month of June 2018 )

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June 14

World Blood Donor Day celebrated on 14^th June

In countries around the world, 14^th June is celebrated as World Blood Donor Day, to express gratitude towards the voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their precious life-saving gifts of blood. This also raise awareness of the need for regular blood donations to ensure the quality, safety and availability of blood and blood products for needy patients.

Transfusion of blood and blood products helps save millions of lives every year. It helps patients suffering from life-threatening conditions, live longer and with a higher quality of life. It also has an essential, life-saving role in maternal and child care.

An adequate availability of blood supply can only be ensured through regular donations by voluntary, unpaid blood donors.

The host country for World Blood Donor Day 2018 events is Greece, through the Hellenic National Blood Centre. A global event will be held in Athens on 14 June 2018. As per WHO, just 1 percent of the nation’s population is sufficient to meet its overall requirements of safe blood transfusion.

FACTFILE – World Blood Donor Day

It was started in 2004.
It is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Health Day, World Tuberculosis Day, World Immunization Week, World Malaria Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Hepatitis Day, and World AIDS Day.
The WHO’s goal is for all countries to obtain all their blood supplies from voluntary unpaid donors by 2020.
In 2014, 60 countries have their national blood supplies based on 99-100% voluntary unpaid blood donations, with 73 countries still largely dependent on family and paid donors.

Union Cabinet approves Dam Safety Bill

The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for introduction of Dam Safety Bill, 2018 in the Parliament, which will help the states and union territories to adopt uniform safety procedures to ensure safety of reservoirs and dams.

The bill seeks to constitute a National Committee on Dam Safety which shall evolve safety policies and recommend necessary suitable regulations. The Bill provides for proper surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of all specified dams in the country to ensure their safe functioning.

This bill will safeguard benefits from the dams and will also help in safeguarding human life, livestock and property. Across India, there are over 5,200 large dams and around thousands of medium and small dams.

The Bill provides for constitution of a State Committee on Dam Safety by State Government.

FACTFILE – National Dam Safety Authority

It will provide the technical and managerial assistance to the States and State Dam Safety Organisations
It will maintain a national level data-base of all dams in the country and the records of major dam failures
It will examine the cause of any major dam failure
It will publish the standard guidelines and check-lists for the routine inspection and detailed investigations of dams
It will assist in resolving issue between the State Dam Safety Organisation of two states, or between the State Dam Safety Organisation of a State and the owner of a dam in that State, for proper solution

India along with other 90 nations without paid paternity leave

A UNICEF analysis shows India is among almost 90 countries in the world without national policies to ensure new fathers get adequate paid time off with their newborn babies. The UN agency noted that around the world, momentum for family-friendly policies was growing.

India is proposing a Paternity Benefit Bill for consideration in the next session of Parliament which would allow fathers up to three months of paid paternity leave.

UNICEF said in eight countries across the world, including the United States which is home to nearly four million infants, there was no paid maternity or paternity leave policy.

Recently UNICEF modernised its approach to parental leave provisions, with up to 16 weeks of paternity paid leave across all of its offices worldwide.

This analysis is a part of UNICEF’s ‘Super Dads’ campaign, which aims to break down barriers preventing fathers from playing an active role in their young children’s development. The campaign focuses on the importance of love, play, protection and good nutrition for the healthy development of young children’s brains.

FACTFILE – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

UNICEF is a United Nations program that provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries and emphasize developing community-level services to promote the health and well-being of children.
Its headquarters located in New York City
It is a member of the United Nations Development Group
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 11 December 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II.
The Polish physician Ludwik Rajchman is widely regarded as the founder of UNICEF and served as its first chairman from 1946.
In 1950, UNICEF’s mandate was extended to address the long-term needs of children and women in developing countries everywhere.
In 1953 it became a permanent part of the United Nations System, and the words “international” and “emergency” were dropped from the organization’s name, making it simply the United Nations Children’s Fund, retaining the original acronym, “UNICEF”.
UNICEF relies on contributions from governments and private donors.
UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 and the Prince of Asturias Award of Concord in 2006.

Point2Remember:

UNICEF President -Tore Hattrem
UNICEF Headquarters located in New York City

Antarctica’s ice melting 3 times faster than before

The Antarctica is melting at an alarming rate, with about 3 trillion tons of ice disappearing since 1992, revealed by a study of the second of assessments, which is planned every several years by a team of scientists working with NASA and the European Space Agency.

In the last quarter century, the southern-most continent’s ice sheet – a key indicator of climate change melted into a huge volume of water, which made global oceans rise about three-tenths of an inch (7.6 millimetres).

From 1992 to 2011, Antarctica lost nearly 84 billion tons of ice a year (76 billion metric tons). From 2012 to 2017, the melt rate increased to more than 241 billion tons a year (219 billion metric tons).

The Assessment study’s mission is to produce the most comprehensive look at what’s happening to the world’s vulnerable ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland.

In Antarctica, it’s mostly warmer water causing the melt. The water nibbles at the floating edges of ice sheets from below. Warming of the southern ocean is connected to shifting winds, which are connected to global warming from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas.

FACTFILE – Antarctica

It is Earth’s southernmost continent and it contains the geographic South Pole
At 14,000,000 square kilometres, it is the fifth-largest continent.
About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 km (1.2 mi; 6,200 ft) in thickness.
Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents.
Antarctica is a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland.
The temperature in Antarctica has reached −89.2 °C, though the average for the coldest part of the year is −63 °C (−81 °F).
Organisms native to Antarctica include many types of algae, bacteria, fungi, plants, protista, and certain animals, such as mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Vegetation, where it occurs, is tundra.
Antarctica is a de facto condominium, governed by parties to the Antarctic Treaty System that have consulting status.
Twelve countries signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959, and thirty-eight have signed it since then. The treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining, prohibits nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal, supports scientific research, and protects the continent’s ecozone.

Fitch Ratings raises India’s growth forecast to 7.4%

Fitch Ratings raised India’s economic growth forecast to 7.4 per cent for 2018-19 from it’s earlier estimation of 7.3 per cent for the current financial year. For 2019-20, it projected the growth at 7.5 per cent.

Fitch said the Indian rupee has been one of the worst performing currencies in Asia this year. Another rating agency, Moody’s cut India’s growth forecast for 2018-19 to 7.3 per cent from 7.5 per cent citing rising oil prices.

The Indian economy grew at 6.7 per cent in 2017-18. In the fourth quarter (January-March) the GDP grew at 7.7 per cent. Fitch retained the global growth forecast at 3.3 per cent in 2018 and 3.2 per cent for 2019.

FACTFILE – Fitch Ratings Inc.

It is one of the “Big Three credit rating agencies“, the other two being Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
It is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSRO) designated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 1975.
Fitch Ratings is dual-headquartered in New York, US, and London, UK.
Fitch Ratings is the smallest of the “big three” NRSROs, covering a more limited share of the market than S&P and Moody’s, though it has grown with acquisitions and frequently positions itself as a “tie-breaker” when the other two agencies have ratings similar.

HDFC becomes fifth biggest consumer financial services company in the world

Forbes magazine ranked the HDFC as the 5th biggest public company globally in the ‘consumer financial services category’ list. American Express has topped this category.

HDFC’s rank has moved up from 7th place last year. Indiabulls Housing Finance is the only other Indian company (at 13th place) on the list.

There are a total of 58 Indian companies on the overall list of Global 2000 from across the world. These include Reliance Industries at 83rd place, the only Indian company in the top 100. Besides, HDFC Bank is at 202nd, ONGC at 266th, Indian Oil at 270th, ICICI Bank at 320^th, Tata Motors at 385th position, Tata Consultancy Services (404), Larsen & Toubro (471) and the largest state lender State Bank of India (SBI) at 489th.

FACTFILE – Forbes Global 2000

Forbes compiled the Global 2000 list to screen for the biggest public companies in four parameters that included sales, profits, assets and market value.
China’s banking behemoth ICBC topped the list.
These publicly-traded companies together account for $39.1 trillion in sales, $3.2 trillion in profit, $189 trillion in assets and $56.8 trillion in market value.
The list has been published since 2003. The Forbes Global 2000 is a useful indicator of which are the leading public companies in the world, but it is only an interpretation, as only public companies are listed.

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