Thursday, January 19, 2017

P.I.B CURRENT AFFAIRS (11.1.2017 T0 15.1.2017)







1.   Festival of India to be Organised in Ghana from January 25 to March 16, 2017

·         A Festival of India is being organised in Ghana from January 25 to March 16, 2017. 
·         The activities of the Festival include amalgamation of Indian classical dances, Sufi & Folk Music, and Saptarang – confluence of seven classical dance forms culminating in Vande Matram.    
·         To complete the experience, a Food Festival, Yoga and Meditation, Film Festival will also be organised during the Festival.        
·         The Festival events are being showcased in four cities of Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast, Takoradi in Ghana.

2.   Successful Test Firing of Guided Pinaka:

·         The Pinaka Rocket converted to a Guided Pinaka was successfully test-fired from Launch Complex-III, ITR, Chandipur today.
·         The Pinaka Rocket Mark-II, which evolved from Pinaka Mark-I is equipped with a navigation, guidance and control kit and has been transformed to a Guided Pinaka.
·         This conversion has considerably enhanced the range and accuracy of Pinaka.  The test-firing has met all mission objectives.
·         The Guided Pinaka is developed jointly by ARDE Pune, RCI Hyderabad and DRDL Hyderabad.
·         Pinaka is an unguided rocket weapon area system (WAS) with a range of 40 km. It meant to neutralise large areas with rapid salvos.




3.   Submarine ‘Khanderi’ Launched:

·         Khanderi, the second of Indian Navy’s Scorpene’ class stealth submarine, was ‘launched’.
·         The submarine is expected to be delivered to Navy by the year end.
·         She has been christened after her illustrious predecessor, an erstwhile ‘Foxtrot’ class submarine decommissioned in 1989, which is as per the traditions of Indian Navy.
·         The construction of six Scorpene submarines is presently being progressed at Mazagon Dock Shipyard Limited (MDL), under Project 75 with Transfer of Technology from M/s DCNS, France as the Collaborator.
·         The first of the class submarine, Kalvari is presently undergoing sea trials and likely to be commissioned into Navy by Mid 2017.
·         Indian Navy celebrates Golden Jubilee of the submarine arm in 2017, the induction of Project 75 submarines would mark the beginning of a new chapter in our submarine capabilities.
·         The launching of Khanderi also marks a critical milestone event for the Shipyard which earlier has delivered two Shishumar class submarines in the 90’s and has now strengthened its position as a submarine building yard for Indian Navy.
·         Started as a small dry dock facility for East India Company, MDL today has established itself as a forefront Defence Public Sector Undertaking, with indigenous construction of several ships and submarines for Navy such as P 15 B Destroyers and P 17 A class stealth Frigates being the latest.


4.   Project 75 :

·         Under Project 75, six Scorpene submarines are being built with assistance and technology transfer from DCNS of France under deal signed in October 2005.
·         The first of the series INS Kalvari is completing sea trials and will be commissioned shortly.
·         The other four submarines are expected to be launched at nine-month intervals after the INS Khanderi.
·         At Present, the Indian Navy operates only 13 conventionally powered submarines and two nuclear submarines.

5.   Dr. Jitendra Singh chairs 29th meeting of SCOVA:

·         88 percent of pension accounts have been linked to Aadhaar: Dr Jitendra Singh.
·         Make Pensioners part of nation building process, says Minister.
·         The SCOVA meeting is organised by the Department of Pensions & Pensioners’ Welfare (DoP&PW), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions and the last such meeting was held on June 27, 2016.

6.   Consumer Price Index Numbers on Base 2012=100 For Rural, Urban and Combined for the Month of December 2016

·         The Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has revised the Base Year of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from 2010=100 to 2012=100 with effect from the release of indices for the month of January 2015.

·         In this press note, the CPI (Rural, Urban, Combined) on Base 2012=100 is being released for the month of December 2016. In addition to this, Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for all India Rural, Urban and Combined are also being released for December 2016.


7.    4 Day National Youth Festival with the theme Youth for Digital India begins at Rohtak, Haryana:

·         21st National Youth Festival with the theme “Youth for Digital India” begins in Rohtak, Haryana.




8.   Vice President greets people on Makar Sankranti and Pongal:

·         The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari has greeted the people of our country on the eve of Makar Sankranti and Pongal.
·         Makar Sankranti symbolizes ‘Uttarayan’ or the beginning of the northward journey of the Sun.
·         Celebrated with different names in all over the country, the festivals of Makar Sankranti and Pongal are associated with harvest season and reflect the underlying unity of our country.

9.    Makar Sankranti:
·         Makar Sankranti, according to the Hindu calendar, marks the transition of the sun into the zodiacal sign of Makara (Capricorn) on its celestial path, which is the first change in the zodiac after the winter solstice.

10.  PM greets the people, on the occasion of festival of Lohri:

·         The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people, on the occasion of festival of Lohri.

Lohri:
·         Lohri is a popular Punjabi festival, celebrated by people from the Punjab region of South Asia The origins of Lohri are many and link the festival to Punjab region.
·         Many people believe the festival commemorates the passing of the winter solstice.




11.  Ministry of DoNER celebrates Magh Bihu (Makar Sankranti) festival:

·         Dr Jitendra Singh addressed at the celebrations of Magh Bihu (Makar Sankranti) festival, organised by Ministry of Development of North-East Region (DoNER) at Dilli Haat here today. The theme of the festival was ‘Integration through fusion’.

·         Addressing on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Bihu is the biggest post-harvest festival of Assam and other parts of the North-East and it coincides with the other festivals such as Pongal, Lohri and Makar Sankranti.


12. Uttarayan of Gujarat (kite festival):
·         The term Uttarayana is derived from two different Sanskrit words "uttara" (North) and "ayana" (movement) thus indicating a semantic of the northward movement of the Earth on the celestial sphere.

13. Pongal: Tamilnadu
·         Thai Pongal is a Tamil harvest festival. Thai Pongal is a four-day festival which according to the Gregorian calendar is normally celebrated from January 14 to January 16.
·         Feasting, gift-giving, visiting homes & Harvest Festival.






14. Petroleum Minister to inaugurate month long awareness programme “Saksham - 2017” on 16th January, 2017:

·         Saksham - 2017 (Sanrakshan Kshamta Mahotsav) is aimed to create awareness amongst masses towards judicious utilization and conservation of petroleum products along with use of energy efficient appliances and switching to cleaner fuels.
·         The programme is being organized by PCRA (Petroleum Conservation Research Association) and other Oil & Gas PSUs under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
·         Saksham - 2017 is aimed to educate on various steps for fuel conservation through activities like Quiz Show, Saksham Asian Cycling Championship, Walkathons, concerts and other activities across the country.



15. App named 'SEZ India' launched by Commerce Ministry:

·         SEZ Online System, has developed mobile app for Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
·         Commerce Secretary launched the app and mentioned that the App would help the SEZ Units and Developers to find information easily and track their transactions on SEZ Online System.
·         Now the SEZ Developers & Units can file all their transactions digitally through SEZ Online system and track the status on the go through the SEZ India mobile app.
·         The app is available on Android Platform for use by SEZ Developers, Units, officials and others. The app has four sections i.e. SEZ Information, SEZ Online Transaction, Trade Information, and Contact details.

16. Operation SADBHAVANA:

·         Army has undertaken a large number of Military Civic Action programmes aimed at ‘Wining the Hearts and Minds” of the people in J&K and North Eastern States, as part of a strategy for conflict resolution.

These programmes aim to achieve the following:-
·         Army has undertaken a large number of Military Civic Action programmes aimed at ‘Wining the Hearts and Minds” of the people in J&K and North Eastern States, as part of a strategy for conflict resolution.

·         Fulfilling the needs of the Peoples and to alleviate their problems.
·         Development of remote and inaccessible areas where civil administration is barely existent.
·         Assuaging the feeling of alienation and moulding public opinion towards peace and development.
·         Fan the desire for firmer integration with the nation.


17. India Signs Financing Agreement with World Bank for US$ 48 Million for “Nagaland Health Project”:

·         A financing agreement for IDA credit of US$ 48 million (equivalent) for the ‘Nagaland Health Project’ was signed with the World Bank here today.
·         The Objectives of the project are to improve health services and increase their utilization by communities in targeted locations in Nagaland.
·         Communities in targeted locations will benefit from project activities at the community and health facility levels while the population of the state as a whole will benefit from improvements in higher-level facilities as well as system-wide investments.

·         The project will directly benefit about 600,000 people. It will support and complement existing systems and mechanisms involving communities under the National Health Mission.
·         The closing date of Nagaland health Project is 31st March, 2023.
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