Current Affairs Assam – July 15 - 21, 2019
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of July 15 – 21, 2019 )
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July 15, 2019
Meghalaya becomes first state to have water policy
- The Meghalaya cabinet became the first state to approve a draft water policy to address water issues, conservation, and protection of water sources in the state.
- The policy intends to achieve sustainable development, management and use of water resources with community participation.
- This will improve health and livelihood and reduce vulnerability among the people.
- This will also assure of good governance for present and future generations through integrated water resources management and environmental sustainability.
- Issues such as the protection of catchment areas and river pollution have also been outlined in the policy.
- The committees will be formed at village level and the issue of groundwater will also be catered through this policy.
- Also, the department will also monitor the quality of the water to check if it has a high content of iron or if it’s acidic.
Motor vehicles Amendment bill introduced for stricter penalty
- Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari introduced the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha. The Bill seeks to amend the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. Increasing penalties of traffic violations, address issues on third-party insurance, regulation of cab aggregators, road safety are among the changes proposed in the amendment.
- The amendment Bill proposes to omit a clause of the Motor Vehicle Act to decide how to maintain their registers for driving licenses, to centralize vehicle registration data and achieve standardization.
- It also proposes a National Transportation Policy for ushering guidelines on the transportation of goods and passengers.
- The minister said the bill has been approved by the transport ministers of 18 states and the standing committee as also the Joint select committee have already gone through the bill.
L&T Finance arm get $100 million loan from AIIB
- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), has provided a $100-million loan to L&T Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (LTIF), a subsidiary of L&T Finance Holdings Ltd and and a leading non-bank financier of renewable energy in India.
- This deal with L&T Finance Holdings embarks as AIIB’s first loan first loan to a non-banking finance company (NBFC).
- The loan proceeds worth $100 million will be used to on-lend to wind and solar power infrastructure projects throughout India.
- The project named, ‘L&T Green Infrastructure On-Lending Facility’ specifies that the proposed facility will be used by L&T Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (LTIF) to finance mid and large scale solar and wind power projects in India.
- The facility promotes environmentally and socially and financially responsible project development.
July 16, 2019
World Bank clears $250 million for Resilient Kerala Programme
- The first tranche of $250 million of the $500 million fund set aside by the World Bank for the Resilient Kerala Programme (RKP) to help improve the state”s resilience against natural disasters and climate change has been cleared.
- Kerala had become the first Indian state to get this fund, said Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, World Bank, India.
- Ahmad along with his team was here to take part in the Development Parties Conclave, organised by the Kerala government with participation of top international agencies, like World Bank, Asian Development Bank, JAICA and UNDP, to discuss ways to help the state rebuild after last year”s floods.
- Ahmad said they would invest $250 million in the state account for specific programmes, like improving the Ariver basin planning, sustainable agriculture besides improving resilience of the core road network.
India signs 10 MoU’s with Afghanistan
- India went ahead with its development partnership with Kabul, inking 10 MoUs for building roads, buildings, schools, markets places across 10 Afghan provinces.
- These projects are funded under the High Impact Community Development (HICDP) scheme implemented by India in Afghanistan.
- The projects for which MoUs were inked are related to construction of buildings for market places, cultural halls, classrooms, jirga halls, administrative offices, laying of roads and water supply networks.
- The projects are to be implemented in the provinces of Daikundi, Panjshir, Ghazni, Uruzgan, Nangahar, Khost, Farah, MaidanWardak, and Takhar.
- Since 2001, India has undertaken projects and programmes for over $2 billion.
- Since 2005, India has committed over $200 million to support over 550 projects throughout Afghanistan under the HICDP scheme.
- In 2016, India pledged an additional $1 billion over the next five years as part of its renewed commitment to assist Afghanistan emerge as a stable, secure, peaceful, united and prosperous and pluralistic nation.
Makemytrip Ltd. signs MoU with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)
- In a bid to promote India as a heritage tourism destination, online travel company MakeMyTrip Ltd. has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) the with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for convenient and hassle-free online bookings for 116 historical monuments and sites across India.
- The agreement, signed, entails listing and offering an online booking gateway to the ASI protected heritage monuments such as Taj Mahal, Red Fort, QutubMinar, Humayun’s Tomb, Khajuraho group of monuments, Charminar, Golconda Fort and so on.
- The ASI currently offers online ticketing on Zoonga, CityWalkers and Westland platforms. A similar collaboration with Cleartrip, another travel company, is in the pipeline.
- This partnership will help make it convenient for travellers to plan and book their visit to these heritage monuments online.
Researchers develop statistical model to predict floods
- Researchers have developed a novel statistical model for prediction of floods and its duration. It also accurately determines the timescale of flooding.
- Researchers analysed data from the Missouri river basin from the last 50 years to develop the Bayesian network statistical model.
- The research team found that long duration floods first require high flow conditions in rivers created by recurrent high-intensity rainfall events, which is then followed by a large stable long-lived low-pressure system — a storm cell.
- These conditions may then result in large-scale devastating floods.
- The researchers said that with the help of this statistical model, potential risk imposed by longer duration floods on critical infrastructure systems such as flood control dams, bridges and power plants can be mitigated.
- It is also possible to predict how long the duration of flooding and inundation will be.
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July 17, 2019
England won the Title of ICC World Cup 2019
- England won the trophy of ICC world cup held in its 12th edition 2019 that held in England, Wales. England became the sixth team to win ICC Cricket World Cup.
- Both teams made 241 runs and also ended in a tie in the super over and Britain defeated the New Zealand on boundary rate as scores tied in super over.
- All-rounder Ben Stokes was titled Man of the Match and Kane Williamson awarded with the Man of the Tournament.
FACTFILE – ICC Cricket world cup
- It is a championship of one-day international cricket (ODI)
- First edition of ICC world cup: 1975, England
- 12th Edition: 2019, Wales, England
- Next edition: 2023, India
- Australia won the ICC world cup 5 times, India and West Indies 2 times, Pakistan, Srilanka, and England(current champion) one time
CSC partners with Facebook to empower rural women
- Common Services Centre (CSC), which serves as access point for the delivery of various electronic services to villages in India, announced a partnership with Facebook to provide digital skill training to women village level entrepreneurs.
- Facebook, in collaboration with CSC Academy, plans to provide tools and digital skills training to more than 250,000 people across over 3,000 villages in 10 states in India.
- As part of the project CSC will identify and nominate 5,000 women village level entrepreneurs across 10 states – Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Bihar, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
- These women entrepreneurs will be given training sessions on leveraging various Facebook tools to not just build and grow their business but also on how to train people on the ground.
- These entrepreneurs will further help build awareness to ensure that the community is able to learn from each other.
- CSC along with Facebook will co-create a curriculum (online and offline) around digital marketing skills and online safety in over 14 regional languages.
Rajya Sabha passes AERA bill
- The Rajya Sabha passed the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Amendment Bill, 2019 that seeks to raise the threshold for an airport to qualify as a major airport and hence reduces the tariff-fixing power of the airport regulator to fewer airports.
- Currently, an airport with annual passenger traffic of 15 lakh or more is defined as major airport and tariff at such airports are determined by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India or AERA.
- The bill raises the threshold to 35 lakh and as a result, many airports would come out of the purview of the regulator.
- Once the bill becomes an Act, many airports for which various fees like landing and parking charges which are currently determined by the AERA will go away.
- Tariff at these airports would be determined by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
- The amendment also empowers the Aviation Ministry to bid out airport projects on the basis of pre-determined tariff.
July 18, 2019
Cinema halls to be categorized as ‘service industry’ as per the Assam State Film Policy Rules, 2019
- Cinema halls will be categorised as ‘service industry’ and the industry department should give all benefits to them as per the service industry norms, according to the Assam State Film Policy Rules, 2019.
- The new film policy was passed by the State Cabinet last evening to give a boost to the eight-decade-old struggling industry in Assam. The policy also underscores the need for theatres to allot daily and compulsory shows for regional films of Assam.
- For this, the Assam Cinema (Regulation) Act, 1953 will be amended so that one prime time show in theatres (as preferred by the producer) is compulsory for regional films of Assam. Additional show will not require guarantee money, but can be arranged after mutual discussion. If the producer demands additional show in prime time subsequently, then he will have to deposit a guarantee money,” the rules state.
- The policy proposes penal action against exhibitors refusing to release any regional film.
- Regional films which earn 20 per cent (for less than 200-seat theatres) and 15 per cent (for theatres having more than 200 seats) or more of gross houseful collection of the theatre in the first week will be continued compulsorily for the second week.
- Subsidy from the government will be granted in three different slabs to the producers in the form of grant-in-aid for high quality films, science fiction, animation films, children films and other genres considering their thrust and focus.
- Twenty-five per cent of the total subsidy amount will be earmarked for new directors which will include alumni of the government film institute. The subsidy amount will be 25 per cent of the total eligible cost, subject to a cap of Rs 25 lakh. A maximum of 20 films will be given subsidy every year.
- One producer will be eligible for two subsidies during his career. If the film gets a national award, the remaining 75 per cent of the eligible cost will be returned by the government.
- The policy also proposes a number of awards. Films from Assam to represent India in Oscars will receive an amount of Rs 2 crore and official award winners in reputed international film festivals will receive an amount of Rs 20 lakh. National award winning films will get a cash award – which will be double the cash amount of the national award. Producers and directors of Swarna Kamal and Rajat Kamal winning films will get a subsidy of Rs 25 lakh each for their next film.
Union Govt approved Rs 1,600 crore for pre-investment activities in Arunachal Pradesh
- The Cabinet cleared Rs 1,600 crore for pre-investment activities and granted various clearances for the Dibang Multipurpose Project (MPP) in Arunachal Pradesh.
- The estimated total cost of the project is Rs 28,080.35 crore.
- The estimated completion period for the project shall be nine years from receipt of government sanction.
Bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act
- Union Minister Smriti Irani introduced a bill in the Rajya Sabha to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act that aims to make punishments more stringent and even include death penalty for offenders involved in sexual crimes against minors.
- The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019 provides for stringent punishment, including life imprisonment, for using children for pornographic purposes.
- The new law is expected to discourage the trend of child sexual abuse by acting as a deterrent due to the strong penal provisions in the Act.
- It intends to protect the interests of vulnerable children in times of distress and ensures their safety and dignity.
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July 19, 2019
Lok Sabha productivity reaches 20-year high at 128 per cent
- The ongoing session of the 17th Lok Sabha has been the most productive in the last 20 years, with the Lower House registering 128 per cent productivity till Tuesday, according to think tank PRS Legislative Research.
- Lok Sabha members discussed the General Budget for 17 hours, demands for grants for Ministry of Railways for 13 hours and for Ministry of Road and Transport for 7.44 hours, Speaker Om Birla informed the House.
- The Lok Sabha has been working for more than its scheduled time and has sat till midnight on two occasions to complete its legislative business.
- Similarly, the productivity of Rajya Sabha, where the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led dispensation lacks majority, unlike Lok Sabha, is also relatively high. The productivity of the upper house was 98 per.
- Productivity means the number of hours the House actually functioned compared to the number of hours officially earmarked for it to work.
Rajya Sabha passed Arbitration & Conciliation Amendment Bill 2019
- The Rajya Sabha passed the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill 2019 that seeks to make India a hub of arbitration for settling commercial disputes in a shorter period of time.
- The Upper House also cleared another bill for setting up the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (NDIAC) for creating an independent and autonomous regime for institutionalised arbitration.
- The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2019 declares the NDIAC as an institution of national importance.
- The draft legislation provides for establishing an independent body to lay down standards for timely and cost-effective disposal of cases and eventually improving ease-of-doing business.
- The proposed law provides for setting up of an independent body Arbitration Council of India (ACI) to frame arbitral institutions and grade arbitrators.
- The Chairperson of ACI will be appointed by the government in consultation with Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
- Its other members would include eminent persons and government nominees.
IRCON International Limited to upgrading Maho-Omanthai rail line in Sri Lanka
- India’s IRCON International Limited and the Sri Lankan government have inked a $91.26 million agreement for upgrading the around 130 km-long Maho-Omanthai rail line.
- The railway line is being upgraded under Indian concessional financing. This is the first time the track is being upgraded in 100 years.
- The contract agreement was signed between IRCON International Limited and the Government of Sri Lanka in Colombo.
- IRCON Chairman Sunil Kumar Choudhury and L.P. Jayampathy, Secretary, Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation of Sri Lanka, signed the agreement in the presence of ArjunaRanatunga, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation of Sri Lanka.
- The upgradation will include modification of 12 crossing stations, seven halt stations and 78 level crossings.
- The upgradation would help double the speed potential of the railway track from the current 60 km to 120 km per hour, as well as reduce the maintenance costs.
- It will also improve the travel comfort of passengers, and further contribute to the modernization Sri Lanka Railways.
- India has so far committed Lines of Credit worth around $1.3 billion for development of the railway sector in Sri Lanka.
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July 20, 2019
Nagaland govt sets up committee to compile tribal customary practices
- The Nagaland government has set up a four-member committee to compile the customary practices and usages of all the tribes of the state.
- There is a need for compilation of the personal customary practices and usages of all the tribes in the state so as to have a better understanding of the same as well as for the purposes of record and references.
- The committee will be headed by chief secretary. The other members of the committee are Home commissioner, secretary of Justice and Law departments and the commissioner of Art and Culture department will be the member secretary.
Lok Sabha passes Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019
- The Lok Sabha passed an amendment bill that allows a Supreme Court judge besides the Chief Justice of India to be appointed the chairperson of National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) and increases the number of members from two to three.
- The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed with a voice vote.
- The government seeks a report if there are allegations of human rights violations against security forces, but care needs to be taken of human rights of terror victims.
- The Centre has incorporated suggestions of states in the bill.
- The Bill, which amends the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, provides that a person who has been Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or a Judge of the Supreme Court will be the chairperson of the NHRC.
- It says that of three members of the commission, at least one will be a woman.
- The bill provides that a person who has been Chief Justice or Judge of a High Court will be the chairperson of a State Human Rights Commission.
- It seeks to reduce the term of office of chairperson and members of the NHRC and SHRC to three years from five years or till the age of seventy years, whichever is earlier.
Kerala to set up state-of-the-art Space Park
- In a bid to become a major manufacturing hub for space-related technology, and attract global start-ups working on research and development in the space sector, the Kerala government to set up the country’s first state-of-the-art Space Systems Park in the state capital
- The proposed park will come up at the Technocity campus, the newest destination for IT companies.
- It will house the APJ Abdul Kalam Knowledge Centre and Space Museum, developed with investments from ISRO”s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC)
- The state government will transfer 20.01 acres of land as lease to the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd (KSITIL) to develop the space park.
- The KSITIL will hand over the land required for the APJ Abdul Kalam Knowledge Centre and Space Museum to ISRO through a lease agreement.
- The entire project will be implemented by the Electronics and IT Department, government of Kerala.
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 introduced
- The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 was introduced by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot.
- The Bill intends to benefit transgender persons, mitigate the stigma, discrimination and abuse against the marginalised section and bring them into the mainstream of the society.
- This will lead to inclusiveness and will make the transgender persons productive members of the society.
- The Bill shall empower the transgender community socially, educationally and economically
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July 21, 2019
‘Chai Sahyog’ App to integrate tea industry
- The Tea Board has developed an app with an objective of integrating the small tea growers and bringing about traceability of green leaf, besides circulating advisories, including weather forecast. The technological initiative has been christened as ‘Chai Sahyog’ and the industry feels it will also help in quality control as well.
- The App has features that cover the entire supply chain from green leaf to made tea. Another important feature of the app is real time weather forecast, with advisories to small growers and two-way communication between board’s officers and stakeholders.
- The app will facilitate trade of green leaf and help growers follow the activities of the Tea Board officials. There will be provisions for uploading information related to training, notifications, awareness programmes, etc.
- The app will enable small tea growers to upload quantity and price details of their teas, even as minimum benchmark price will be uploaded every month.
- The Tea Board has carried out enumeration of small tea growers and issued identity cards with memory chips. This has been further refined to online data capture and issuance of cards with QR code (quick response code like a matrix barcode) so that the cards can be scanned in the mobile app by small tea growers for accessing the various functionalities of the app.
President of India appoints new Governors for six states, including Tripura and Nagaland
- President Ramnath Kovind transferred Anandiben Patel from Madhya Pradesh and appointed her as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh.
- Anandiben Patel has been replaced by LaljiTandon in Madhya Pradesh, who was so far the Governor of Bihar.
- Fagu Chauhan replaces LaljiTandon as the new Governor of Bihar.
- JagdeepDhankar as the Governor of West Bengal
- Ramesh Bais as the Governor of Tripura.
- N. Ravi has been appointed the Governor of Nagaland.
Microsoft partners with Telangana’s Women Entrepreneurs Hub
- Microsoft has announced a partnership with the Women Entrepreneurs Hub, an initiative of the Telangana government aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs and technologists in the region.
- The partnership would focus on designing and execution of learning activities and tools that would enable women to innovate and encourage girls to pursue a career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
- Together, they would also provide a platform for deeper and better networking opportunities for women in various technology fields.
- The partnership would provide the WE Hub communities access to the state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure at Microsoft Garage
Indian-origin scientists develop AI system to Curb ‘Deepfake’ Videos
- A team of Indian-origin researchers has developed Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven deep neural network that can identify manipulated images at the pixel level with high precision.
- Realistic videos that map the facial expressions of one person onto those of another — known as “deepfakes”, present a formidable political weapon in the hands of nation-state bad actors.
- Led by Amit Roy-Chowdhury, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Riverside, the team is currently working on still images but this can help them detect “deepfake” videos.
- A deep neural network is what AI researchers call computer systems that have been trained to do specific tasks, in this case, recognize altered images.
- These networks are organized in connected layers; “architecture” refers to the number of layers and structure of the connections between them.
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