Current Affairs Today – March 26 2016

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INDIAN AFFAIRS

Arogya Fair began in Goa

In a move to popularize the Indian medicines with special attention to Ayurveda, Arogya fair is a four day programme is begin today in Goa.

• The fair is launched as a cooperative effort by AYUSH ministry and Confederation of Indian Industry
• The main objective is to popularize the Indian Medicinal system and update the industry with recent developments in the sector

India to become 100% e-vehicle nation by 2030

The increasing emissions across the world have forced all the nations to move towards renewable energies and adopt measures to bring down the pollution. As a part of these measures India has planned to promote the use of electricity operated vehicles.

• India have decided to provide electricity operated cars at zero down payment making it as a 100% e-vehicle nation by 2030
• Piyush Goyal also told that they don’t need support from neither the government nor the people

Fourth unit of NTPC-Bihar govt owned 195-Mw plant synchronized

The fourth unit of 195 Mw of Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station (MTPS) was successfully synchronised with the national grid.

• The plant is owned by KantiBijleeUtpadan Nigam Ltd, a joint venture between NTPC and Bihar State Power Generation Company Ltd, in which the two Companies have 57% and 35.43% shares, respectively.

Significance of the Project:

• Bihar will get 261 Mw (67%) from MTPS’ expansion project under which two units of 195 Mw are being constructed at Kanti in Muzaffarpur.
• The plant, which is being constructed at the existing site of an old power plant, would draw water from the river It would get coal supply from a coal block of Central Coalfield Ltd located in Jharkhand.
• State Run major BHEL has been awarded the job for constructing two units of 195 MW under expansion project.

MP to have its first ITBP centre

Madhya Pradesh is going to have its first Indo Tibetan Border Police weapon training centre at Batiagarh, Damoh.

• It is going to be established at 1800 acres between Batiagarh and Fatehgarh at a cost of 2100 crores
• The newly recruited constables of ITBP will be given training at the centre for operating all kinds of small and big weapons including cannons capable of firing up to 5-km range and sten guns
• The centre was initially planned to be set up at Mirzapur, UP but later the Union ministry gave its approval to MP
• A similar training centre is already operational in Allahabad

Points to note

• Madhya Pradesh CM– Shivraj Singh Chouhan
• Union Home minister– Rajnath Singh

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

China, India leading investors in Renewable energy: UN report

The need of the hour, Renewable energy is the focus of all nations of the world owing to the rising emissions. A recent report released by UN reveals that India & China have overtaken the developed economies in terms of investment in Renewable energy.

• The report ‘Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment’ for 2015 has been released by the UN
• It showed an increase in investment by the developing countries compared to the developed nations

India to appeal against WTO verdict in solar case

India has decided to appeal against WTO verdict in solar panel case which was in favour of US.

• The Union government earlier as part of its National Solar Mission, imposed a stipulation that solar cells and solar modules be locally sourced
• The US government filed a case in WTO against India demanding equal market for domestic as well as foreign traders
• The measure was taken by the ministry of power following the concerns raised by the domestic traders to protect their interests
• Ministry of Power, Piyush Goyal also told that the government would have imposed heavy anti dumping duty to support the domestic manufacturers but the government paid respect to the US
• However the US did not repay the faith and hence they have decided to appeal against the WTO verdict

Key points

• WTO headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland
• WTO president- Roberto Azevedo

Beijing allows remarried couples to have more children

The Beijing’s new two-child policy allows couples to have two children .The decision has been approved by the national legislature in December.However, it will not be promoted across the country, as different cities have different situations.

• The Decision legalese the remarried couples who had one child before remarriage and then gave birth to a child after getting remarried are allowed to have a second child together, also couples in the capital will enjoy longer maternity and paternity leave.

New Provisions in Beijing’s Rule:

• The Chinese capital city has passed a new family planning rule allowing remarried couples to have more children besides granting 128 maternity leaves for mothers and 15-day holiday for fathers.
• The city’s new population and family planning regulation, mothers in Beijing are entitled to at least 128 days of maternity leave after having their first or second child, 30 days longer than the previous allowance.Maternity leave may be extended to a maximum up to seven months.

China:

• Capital: Beijing
• Currency: Renminbi
• President: Xi Jinping

BANKING & FINANCE

Revised RBI rules for rehab of MSME’s to reduce Bad loans

The biggest problem faced by the Indian banking sector in the recent days is the piling up of Bad loans. The RBI has been taking various measures to reform the banking sector and bring down the NPA’s. As a part of its efforts, it has revised the Rules for rehabilitation of MSME’s.

• FICCI has commented on RBI’s move calling it to be a rehabilitation measure for MSME’s
• The measures include formation of special mention account and committee at the district level to manage stressed accounts

RuPay to launch Credit Cards in September

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) owned and developed RuPay will be offering the credit card segment this September. It plans to issue 100,000 such cards in the first year of its launch.

• Initial focus to be on two variants – regular and platinum, there are 241 million RuPay cards in circulation comprising 35 per cent of the total card base in India and accounting to 20 percent of all card-based transactions.

National Payment Corporation of India:

• National Payments Corporation of India was established in December 2008 for the benefit of all the member banks and their customers. RuPay Scheme successfully implemented by this body similar to the one of which is in China’s
• The RuPay card is now accepted at all the ATMs, PoS terminals and most of the eCom merchants in the country. A variant of the card called Kisan Card is now being issued by all the Public Sector banks in addition to the mainstream debit card.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Former Malaysian PM Badawi named new Petronas adviser

Former Malaysian PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi named as an adviser for state oil firm Petroliam NasionalBhd (Petronas), His appointment is effective April 1.

• Government owned Petronas headquartered in Kuala Lumpur is Malaysian Oil and Gas Company that was founded on 17 August 1974.
• He will be replacing country’s longest serving prime minister Mahathir Mohamad who has been expelled from the post two weeks ago.

Abdullah Ahmed Badawi:

He served as PrimeMinisterof Malaysia from 2003 to 2009. He was also the President of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

Tata Steel Europe CEO to quit

Karl Koehler, chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) of Tata Steel Europe  is stepping down to take up a senior leadership positions, Hans Fischer, currently chief technical officer of Tata Steel Europe, will be appointed as the new CEO.

• Imports of cheap Chinese steel, overcapacity in the market and high energy costs have put huge pressure on steel businesses through Europe, with those in the UK the hardest hit.
• Koehler, who has been with Tata for six years, but he will remain available in an advisory capacity for a short period.

TATA Steel:

• TATA Steel Limited isan Indian multinational steel-making company headquartered in 
• It was the11th largest steel producing company in the worldin 2013, with an annual crude steel capacity of 25.3 million tonnes.
• Tata Steel has Presence in 26 countries, including Australia, China, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Thailand and the United Kingdom, and employs around 80,500 people.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Yokohama Rubber Co to buy Alliance Tire Group for $1.2 billion

Tokyo based Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd has agreed to buy Alliance Tire Group, a Netherlands-based company led by Indian entrepreneur Yogesh Mahansaria, for $1.2 billion from private equity firm KKR & Co. Ltd. Yokohama Rubber, a Japanese maker of passenger-car tyres.

• The Yokohama Group will acquire the 90% stake held by KKR and 10% of theMahansaria family.

ITC Has Acquired TechnicoAgri Sciences Ltd For Rs 121 Cr.

FMCG Major ITC has acquired Technico Agri Sciences Ltd (TASL), a company owned by its direct subsidiary, Technico Pty Limited (TPL), Australia for Rs 121 crore.

• Prior to such acquisition, Technico Agri Sciences Limited was a wholly owned subsidiary of Technico Pty Limited, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of ITC Limited.

ImperialTobacco Company:

• ITC a Fast-moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Company is headquartered in Kolkata, involves in Hotels, Paperboards & Packaging, Agri Business & Information Technology.
• In 2014,The Brand Trust Report, published by Trust Research Advisory, a brand analytics company, ranked ITC in the 9th position among India’s most trusted brands in the Diversified sector.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Malaysia to launch counter-messaging centre to fight IS in cyberworld

Prime Minister NajibRazak announced that Malaysia will set up its first counter-messaging centre in a bid to curb the influence of the Islamic State in the cyber world.A counter-messaging centre will be operational by April 1 to tackle terrorism threats.

• Malaysia is taking the fight against the Islamic State online with the launch of the country’s first counter-messaging centre.

China launches first cyber-security organisation

The Country’s first cyber security public organisation has been launched by China which consists of academic institutes, individuals and internet companies including Tencent and popular internet Security Company Qihu 360.

• The Organisation aimed at better safeguarding national cyber security and guiding internet companies in perform their duties.
• The Cyber Security organisation will focus on promoting self-discipline in the industry, accelerating the establishment of industry standards and cyber security studies and participating in international cooperation.

China discovers New Lightweight, low cost batteries

China which is the manufacturing hub of the world has been consistently experimenting with the Electronic items. Adding to its new discoveries, a new light weight, low cost, efficient battery (AGDIB) has been found to replace the Lithium ion batteries.

• The new aluminium-graphite dual-ion battery (AGDIB) has low weight, volume and manufacturing cost and it has higher energy density compared to the Lithium ion batteries used in smart phones
• Electrode- Low cost Aluminium and graphite
• Electrolyte– Lithium salt and carbonate solvent
• The AGDIB mechanism follows a dual ion intercalation/alloying process
• It will find wide applications in portable electronic devices, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems

Points to note

• Study published in journal ‘Advanced Energy Materials’
• Research done by Chinese Academy of Sciences

ENVIRONMENT

Union Government notified E-Waste Management Rules, 2016

Union environment ministry has notified new plastic waste management rules, The Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules 2016, issued will replace the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011.The ministry also increased the minimum thickness of plastic carry bags from 40 microns to 50 microns.

• The new rules also focus on phasing out of non-recyclable multi layered plastic and increasing reuse of plastic waste especially in applications like road construction and waste to energy.

OBITUARY

Actor Peter brown died

Veteran TV actor Peter Brown passed away at the age of 80. He had been ailing from Parkinson’s disease for years.

• He did starring roles in two television westerns in the 1950s and 1960s and later acted in soap operas
• Brown played Deputy Johnny McKay on “Lawman,” which was seen on ABC from 1958 until 1962 and he also starred as Chad Cooper, a Texas Ranger, in the 1965-67 NBC series
• His popular films include “Darby’s Rangers,” “Merrill’s Marauders,” “Summer Magic,” “Ride the Wild Surf” and “Foxy Brown.”

Points to note

• He was born in New York in 1935
• His last movie appearance was in 2005 in “ Hell to Pay”

Former BJP MP Lal Muni Chaubey passed away

Veteran BJP leader and Politician Lal Muni Chaubey passed away at the age of 73 owing to prolonged illness.

• He has been selected as the MP from Buxar district during 1996-2009 four times
• He had also been the MLA from Kaimur constituency thrice
• He belongs to Bihar
• He is close to the former BJP PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee