march 18, 2017 - talentsprint · pdf filenational health policy, 2017: salient features ......

Current Affairs: March 18, 2017

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March 18, 2017

National Health Policy, 2017: Salient Features

The Union Cabinet approved the National

Health Policy 2017. It will replace the previous

policy which was framed 15 years ago in 2002.

It aims at providing healthcare in an ‚assured

manner‛ to all by addressing current and

emerging challenges arising from the ever changing socio-economic, epidemiological and

technological scenarios.

GST Council Approves SGST & UTGST Draft Bills at its 12th Meeting

i. The Goods and Service Tax (GST) council headed by

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley cleared the State GST

(SGST) and Union Territory GST (UTGST) laws during its

12 Council meet on March 16, 2017.

ii. Now the draft bills will need to be approved by the

Cabinet and taken up in Parliament’s ongoing budget

session for final approval.

iii. Meanwhile, the SGST draft law will have to be approved by the legislative assemblies of

respective states including Delhi and Pondicherry.

iv .The UTGST draft law is for the union territories like Andaman and Nicobar Islands,

Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which do not have legislative

assemblies.



v. The council’s next meeting is scheduled to be held on March 31 to frame rules for Goods and

Service Tax regime.

vi. The GST tax regime has nine set of rules and regulations out of which the Council has

already approved five including registration, payment, refunds, invoices and returns.

vii. The four other rules namely composition, valuation, input tax and credit transitions is yet to

get formal approval of the Council and will be taken up in the next meeting on March 31.

Sanjauli Police Post in Himachal Becomes India’s First CCTNS Linked Police Post

i. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh

inaugurated a Crime and Criminal Tracking

Network & Systems (CCTNS) in Shimla on March

15, 2017 to connect all the police posts in the state

with each other.

ii. Thus Himachal Pradesh has become the first state

in India to link its police posts in various districts with CCTNS.

iii. The CCTNS was first linked at Sanjauli Police Post in Shimla, followed by simultaneous

linking of Police posts of Manikaran in district Kullu, Police Post Solan City and that of Dada

Siba in district Kangra. All the police posts in Himachal Pradesh would be linked with CCTNS.

iv. The system will facilitate people in lodging online/offline complaints, police verification of

job applicants, tenants, character verification and migrant labourer registration.

v. Besides, senior citizens, differently abled and women in far-flung areas of the state can lodge

First Information Reports (FIRs) through the nearest police post.

vi. With the linkage of Police Posts with CCTNS, the general public can now file complaints at

these posts which earlier were confined only to Police Stations to register complaints.

vii. Once the police posts are linked under the CCTNS system, its daily activities can be viewed

online by supervisory officer of the police department which will make it easy to supervise the

staff.



India, Brazil conclude social security agreement

India and Brazil have finalised text of the Social Security

Agreement(SSA) on March 16, 2017. It will be

effective from 2018.

This is the first SSA agreement between the BRICS

Countries.

Till date, India has signed Social Security Agreements

(SSAs) with 18 countries – Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark,

Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,

Sweden, Switzerland, and South Korea.

Demands for Grants of Ministry of Defence for 2017-18 Passed in Lok Sabha

i. The Lok Sabha passed the Demands for Grants

of Ministry of Defence for 2017-18 on March 17,

2017 after negotiating with the opposition.

ii. In 2017-18, the Ministry of Defence has been

allocated Rs 3,59,854 crore (including pensions)

for expenditure across the various services,

production establishments and research and development organisations.

iii. This allocation is the highest from all other departments and represents 16.8% of the central

government’s budget of 2017-18 and 2.1% of India’s estimated GDP.

iv. Minister of State for Defence Dr Subhash Bhamre assured the House that money will never

be a constraint in strengthening the country’s security and that the Indian Armed Forces are

well prepared to meet any challenge against national security.



v. Besides, he said that more funds will be provided to Border Roads Organisation to create

road infrastructure.

vi. Several steps have been taken by the government to modernize the defence forces with the

latest equipment and meet all the critical requirements of the defence forces to further enhance

its capabilities.

Australia Research Institute Signs Agreement with Indian Railways for

Infrastructure Support

i. Monash University Institute of Railway

Technology (IRT), Australia has entered into an

agreement with the Indian Railways to support

future research and technology development

related to critical infrastructure in India.

ii. The agreement was signed on March 16, 2017

in New Delhi between the representatives from Monash University Institute of Railway

Technology (IRT) and Indian Ministry of Railways Corporation DFCCIL (Dedicated Freight

Corridor Corporation of India Limited).

iii. IRT along with partners, Balaji Railroad Systems Ltd (BARSYL), a leading railway consultant

in India, PwC, and Indian Institute of Bombay (IITB) will provide necessary support to Indian

Railways.

iv. They will provide guidance on the establishment of a new applied research and

development institute in India known as SRESTHA (Special Railway Establishment for Strategic

Technology & Holistic Advancement).



Indrani Das wins top prize in Regeneron Science Talent Search competition

Indian-American teenager Indrani Das (17) has won

the top prize of $2,50,000 in the Regeneron Science

Talent Search competition in the United States (US).

She has won the award for her research on treating

brain injury and disease. Her research showed a way

for increasing the survival rate of neurons affected by

brain injury or neurodegenerative disease.

G20 Meet of Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors Began in Germany

i. The two day G20 finance ministers and central bank

governors meet began in Baden-Baden, Germany on

March 17, 2017.

ii. Focus: the meeting will focus on strengthening

economic resilience in finance, digitalization and promote

investment in Africa.

iii. The meetings between finance ministers and central bank governors will provide a

preliminary discussion platform ahead the G20 Summit of heads of state and government,

which will be held in Hamburg on July 7-8, 2017.

iv. This is the first global gather to discuss economic challenges since Donald Trump took over

as the US President in January 2017. The gathering will help to set the tone for international

commerce and finance.



India ranks 148 in 2017 UN Women in Politics Map

i. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN

Women launched the ‘Women in Politics 2017 Map’

on March 16, 2017 in New York. The Women in

Politics 2017 Map is the visual representation of

women’s political empowerment in executive

government and parliament as on January 1, 2017.

ii. It was unveiled on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the 61st Commission on the Status

of Women (CSW) at United Nations. The CSW is a global organization that focuses on the

empowerment and equality for women.

iii. The theme for 2017 CSW is Women’s Economic Empowerment In The Changing World Of

Work.

iv. As per the report, the top nations that have high representation to women in the government

and parliament includes: Rwanda, Bolivia, Cuba, Iceland, Nicaragua, Sweden, Senegal, Mexico,

Finland and South Africa.

v. As per the Map, India ranked 148 out of 193 UN member nations in representing women in

the executive government.

New Zealand’s Whanganui River Granted Legal Status as a Person

i. New Zealand’s Whanganui River on March 15, 2017

became the first river in the World to get the legal rights

as possessed by a human being.

ii. The third largest river of the country has gained its own

identity with all the corresponding rights, duties and



liabilities of a legal person after a 170-year battle.

iii. The Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill was passed in the Parliament

on March 15, 2017 to establish a new legal framework for the river.

iv. The local Maori Iwi tribe of Whanganui in the North Island regards the river as an ancestor

and has fought for the recognition of the river for 170 years.

v. Two guardians will be appointed to act on behalf of the Whanganui River including one

appointed by the government (crown) and one from the Maori tribe.

vi. The river is a sacred and revered waterway to New Zealand’s Maori Iwi people and the new

Bill creates a strong platform for the future of Whanganui River.

World Bank Approves $175 million loan for India’s National Hydrology Project

i. The World Bank has approved a $175 million loan on March

15, 2017 to India for the National Hydrology Project to improve

India’s ability to forecast floods and reduce the recurring

chances of floods and droughts.

ii. The loan would be disbursed by the International Bank for

Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The loan has a six-

year grace period in which no interest payments will be due and will mature in 23 years.

iii. The project will strengthen the capacity of existing institutions to assess the water situation

and equip them with real-time flood forecast systems across the country to help communities to

plan in advance to build resilience against possible uncertainties of climate change.

iv .This National Hydrology Project is the successor of the Hydrology Project-I and Hydrology

Project-II and will cover the entire country including the states along the Ganga and

Brahmaputra-Barak basins.

v. National Flood Forecasting Systems with an advance warning system and reservoir operation

systems as well as water resources accounting in river basins will be included under the project.



ESAF Small Finance Bank launched in Thrissur

Kerala’s first private sector bank ESAF Small Finance Bank

was launched by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in

Thrissur, Kerala on March 17, 2017.

This bank is promoted by ESAF Microfinance and

Investments (P) Ltd and it is targeted to open 85 branches in

unbanked rural centres in first year.

Target of the bank: Rs 20,000 crore by 2020.

Interest Rates :

i. For term deposits of varying maturities – 5.75 per cent to 9 per cent

ii. For savings deposits – 6 per cent to 7 per cent

iii. Senior citizens term deposits – .05 per cent

Bandhan Bank ties up with Avenues India

i. Kolkata based Bandhan Bank has signed an

agreement with a payment solution provider

Avenues India Pvt Ltd on March 16, 2017.

ii. Aim: To provide merchants with seamless

access to point-of-sales (POS) and payment

gateway products.

iii. This tie-up will help to provide faster and ‚more direct‛ access to POS machines, payment

gateways, and competitive financing options.



Centre Gives 6 Months to Industrial Projects for Green Clearance

i. In a bid to regulate the environment violators, the Union

Environment Minister, Anil Madhav Dave has decided to

recommend closure of industrial projects if the developers are found

to have started the construction without the mandatory environment

clearance (EC).

ii. As per the notification published on March 14, 2017, the ministry has granted 6 months

period to project developers as one time opportunity to apply for environmental clearance for

units which have not obtained such nod earlier and are in violation on date of the notification.

iii. The notification states that if any projects/activities or expansion/modernization of

existing projects/activities requiring prior environmental clearance is found to have been

undertaken in any part of India without obtaining prior environmental clearance from the

central government/State authorities then it shall be considered a case of violation of the

Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 and will be dealt strictly.

iv. All the cases of violation, irrespective of category, will be rated as category ‘A’ projects by

respective sector Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) at Central level so that the violations can

only be appraised at the level of ministry.

v. The move is to bring such projects and activities in compliance with the environmental laws

as early as possible rather than leaving them unregulated and unchecked .

vi. Besides, it also aims to take away the economic benefit derived by the company due to

violation and pay for the remediation of damage caused due to violation.



First Airbus Training Centre in Asia to be set up in New Delhi

i. France based Aircraft maker Airbus will set up

Asia’s first training facility for pilots and

maintenance engineers in New Delhi.

ii. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi

Raju performed the ground-breaking

ceremony for the training centre on March 17, 2017.

iii. The centre will formed by the European aviation major Airbus. It is expected to be

operational by the end of 2018.

iv. Vistara become the first client for this sinters to provide training services to Vistara pilots for

the A320 type aircraft for 5 years.

Mallikarjun Kharge set to become next PAC Chairman

i. Former Minister of Inidan Railways Mallikarjun Kharge has

been nominated for the post of chairman of the Public’s

Account Committee (PAC) of Parliament.

ii. Kharge will take charge from K.V. Thomas on May 1, 2017.

iii. Now, he will now be entitled for a Cabinet rank and an

office at the Parliament House.

iv. The congress leader from Karnataka belonging to the Dalit community, he is a former

Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka and was union minister for railways and labour during the

UPA regime.



Papa Rao, Jwala included in governing body of SAI

i. Indian badminton player Jwala Gutta and retired

IAS officer BV Papa Rao have been appointed as

members of the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

ii. Rao is currently working as a sports administrator

and advisor to Telangana Government, has the

experience of being an officer on special duty of SAI

from 1985 to 90.

iii. Gutta has won the bronze medal at the 2011 World Championship and she is a 2010 Delhi

Commonwealth Games champion and a silver medalist at the 2014 Glasgow Games in women’s

doubles. She was honoured with Arjuna award by the Indian Government.

Scientists Develops World’s First Blood Test for Autism

i. Scientists at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

(RPI) in United States have for the first time in the

world, discovered a way to accurately predict

whether a child has Autism Spectrum Disorder

(ASD) by analyzing a blood sample.

ii. The blood test can help to determine whether a

child is on the autism spectrum before they turn two,

which was till now diagnosed after the age of two.

iii. The Biomedical Engineering Department of RPI scientist investigated the patterns of over 24

metabolites from a blood sample and found significant differences between metabolites of

children with ASD and those that are neurotypical.



iv .This enabled them to categorize whether an individual is on the autism spectrum or not or

even the chances of landing on the spectrum.

v. The test is the first physiological test for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and could open the

door for earlier diagnosis and the future development of therapy.

vi. The study was published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology.

Japan Launches Latest North Korea Spy Satellite

i. Japan space agency JAXA launched a new spy

satellite Radar 5 from a launch site in the

country’s southwest on March 17, 2017.

ii. The information-gathering satellite Radar 5 is

lifted off with H-2A rocket.

iii. This will replace an existing satellite that is

approaching the end of its mission.

iv. It will also used to monitor damage in the wake of natural disasters.

MIT Pune & IBM Jointly Unveils Robot ‘Chintu’

i. The final year computer engineering students at

Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT) Pune

and technology giant IBM have developed a robot

named Chintu to assist senior citizens in their everyday

tasks.

ii. Chintu is about 58 cm (2 feet) tall robot, weighing

over 5 kilograms.

iii. The robot is the result of IBM’s global Shared University Research grant programme, under



which the team at MIT received a grant of Rs 10 lakh in 2016 by IBM to work on this project.

iv. The students used APIs from IBM’s cognitive platform Watson along with the IBM Bluemix

Cloud platform to create the ‘brains’ or the actual intelligence behind the robot.

v. Chintu will assist senior citizens in conducting everyday tasks such as reading the

newspaper/book when they feel lonely as well as generate reminders on their daily medication.

Chintu can move his hands to read books as well as dance for an audience.

Michael Clarke’s launches his autobiography ‘My Story’

i. Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has launched

his autobiography named ‘My Story’ in Kolkata in the

presence of former Indian cricketer Saurav Ganguly.

ii. This book was triggered by how he was affected by

Phil Hughes’ death when India were touring Australia in

2014-15

march 18, 2017 - talentsprint · pdf filenational health policy, 2017: salient features ......

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