DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 04.12.2015

1. LOK SABHA PASSES THE BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS BILL, 2015

i. The Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 is passed by Lok Sabha.

ii. Loksabha has passed the bill to establish Bureau of Indian Standards.

iii. It will replaces the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 and establishes Bureau of Indian Standards as a national standard body for development of standardization, assessment and quality assurance of goods, articles, services, processes and systems.

iv. The Bureau of Indian Standards will formulate, certify and implement certain standards of quality for goods.

2. ADIDAS INDIA’S PULIN KUMAR GRABBED INBA AWARD

i. Pulin Kumar Senior Legal and Compliance Director of Adidas India, was honoured with the Indian National Bar Association's General Counsel of the year 2015 in New Delhi.

ii. The award was given by Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani to Pulin on the occasion of INBA's Annual International Conference.

3. INDIA RE-ELECTED AS MEMBER OF INTERNATIONAL MARITIME COUNCIL

i. India has been re-elected to the Council of the International Maritime Organization.

ii. India was elected to the council under Category ‘B’ at the 29th session of the Assembly of the International Maritime Organization held recently in London.

iii. The IMO is an specialised agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships with 171 members

4. FIRST INDIA INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL BEGINS AT IIT DELHI

i. The First India International Science Festival has been started at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi campus.

ii. The Festival has been organised by Union Ministry of Science and Technology.

iii. The India International Science Festival is expected to be the country’s biggest ever Technology and Industrial Expo.

iv. 4,000 delegates from India and abroad are expected to take part in the festival.

iv. The Festival will showcase the achievements of Indian scientists and institutions.

5. DELHI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AWARDED WITH E-INDIA AWARD

i. The Delhi Development Authority was awarded with the E-India Award.

ii. The award is given for adopting technology to serve the public  with better resources through mobile applications.

ii. The award was received by VS Tomar, Director Delhi Development Authority during the e-INDIA SUMMIT 2015 under the category of Digital India IT initiatives for extraordinary IT initiatives in the field of land protection and engineering projects.

 

6. Himachal Pradesh became first state to launch Rotavirus vaccination project

1. Himachal Pradesh  became the first state of India to launch Rotavirus vaccination project.

The vaccine will help in controlling the child mortality rate (under five years of age) due to diarrhoea.

2. Rotavirus vaccines are administered orally to infants in three dose course at ages of six, ten and fourteen weeks and are part of Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).

3. Highlights of the Rotavirus Vaccination Project

• The project was launched by the state Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh at Dharamsala in Kangra district.

• Singh administered the Rotavirus drops to children aged under five years.

• The project will soon be launched in Vellore in Karnataka and Pune in Maharashtra.

 

 7. RBI announced revised Priority Sector Lending norms for Regional Rural Banks

1. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced revised Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).

Among other things, the PSL target was increased to 75 percent of total outstanding from the existing 60 percent. The revised target will be effective from 1 January 2016.

2. The PSL norms have been revised considering the growing significance of RRBs in pursuit of financial inclusion agenda

As on March 2015, there were 56 RRBs operating in the country with a network of 20059 branches. They cover 644 notified districts in 26 states and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

3. Key features of revised PSL Norms

• Medium enterprises, social infrastructure and renewable energy were included under PSL category.

• Agri-Loans: Loans to individual farmers, for the purpose of PSL, was increased to 50 lakh rupees from the present 10 lakh rupees against pledge/ hypothecation of agricultural produce (including warehouse receipts) for a period not exceeding 12 months.

• Aggregate limit loan was doubled to 2 crore rupees per borrower in the case of loans, among others, to corporate farmers, farmers’ producers organisations/ companies of individual farmers, farmers partnership firms/ co-operatives engaged in agriculture and allied activities.

• Housing Loans: The RBI has lowered the quantum of loans that will qualify as PSL. Against the earlier limit of 25 lakh rupees, loans to individuals up to 20 lakh rupees only are considered as PSL as per revised guidelines. Housing loans to banks’ own employees will be excluded from this limit.

 

8. Paris Pact on Water and Climate Change Adaptation announced

1. A broad coalition of nations, river basin organizations, business and civil society  announced the creation of the international Paris Pact on Water and Climate Change Adaptation.

2. The announcement was made at the Water Resilience Focus event held under the Lima to Paris Action Agenda on climate change. And, the event was held on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris, France.

3. Key features of the Paris Pact

• Its objective is to make water systems – the very foundation of sustainable human development - more resilient to climate impacts.

• Almost 290 water basin organisations are engaged under the Paris Pact on Water and Climate Change Adaptation.

• It involves a wide geographic coalition of national and cross-border river basin organisations, overnments, funding agencies, local governments, companies and civil society.

• It encompasses individual commitments to implement adaptation plans, strengthening water monitoring and measurement systems in river basins. 

• It promotes financial sustainability and new investment in water systems management.

• Major collaborative projects under the pact represent over 20 million US dollars in technical assistance and potentially over 1 billion US dollars in financing. They include

a) A Financial commitment by India to build climate resilience through improved groundwater management.

b) In the Niger Basin (9 African countries involved), the launch of a 10-year investment plan to strengthen resilience to climate change, with financial support from the World Bank/IDA, WAEMU, KfW, GEF and the countries themselves.

c) In Jordan, Lebanon, Monaco, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia, a 7-year commitment under the Mediterranean Water Platform to assess the state and trends of water resources, supported by the European commission.

d) In Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia, program Ecocuencas, a 3-year commitment to a financial mechanism for adaptation to climate change in river basins, supported by the European commission.

e) In China, a 3-year commitment to improve management of the Hai river basin, supported by France.

f) In central Africa in the Basin of Congo, the launch of a hydrological and meteorological monitoring program benefiting over 160 million citizens, with financing from AFD (French Development Agency).

 

9. Union Government releases postage stamp to mark centenary year of ZSI

1. Union Government has released a commemorative postage stamp to mark the Centenary year of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI). The postage stamp was released by Union Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in the presence of Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi.

2.  They also released publications of ZSI- the Centenary Souvenir, Centenary Directory and A Glorious 100.

10. YouTube opens first video production studio in India

1. Stepping up its India focus, YouTube along with Subhash Ghai-owned film school Whistling Woods International, has opened its first video production studio in the country.

2. Called YouTube Spaces, it has similar collaborations in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, New York City, Sao Paulo, Paris and Berlin. The company said that the “watch-time” of its content in India was growing at 80 per cent on a year-on-year basis while the content uploaded to India has grown by 90 per cent.

3. Through this collaboration, India’s popular up-and-coming YouTube creators, as well as their students, will have free access to Whistling Woods’ studios, high-end audio, visual and editing equipment, in addition to training programs, workshops and community events.