AUGUST 9, 2017 CURRENT AFFAIRS
President of India hosts ‘At Home’ for freedom fighters on the 75th anniversary of the Quit India Movement
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind hosted an „At Home‟ reception for freedom fighters on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Quit India Movement today (August 9, 2017) at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
NATIONAL ● On the occasion, the President honoured and felicitated 93 freedom NEWS fighters from across the country in the presence of the Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari; Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi; Union Minister for Home Affairs Shri Rajnath Singh and other dignitaries. ● Each of the freedom fighters was gifted an electric kettle with a personal message from the President. ● In his message, the President said “I extend warm greetings to you on the 75th Anniversary of the Quit India Movement. ● The nation is proud of our freedom fighters and salutes them. ● This small token is our people‟s appreciation of your successful struggle against colonialism. ● I wish you happiness, good health and a long life.”
NCERT launches its Web Portal for supply of NCERT Textbooks
Shri Upendra Kushwaha, Minister of State, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India has launched a NCERT‟s Web portal for supply of textbooks to schools and individuals in New Delhi today.
NATIONAL ● The portal will ensure better distribution of textbooks across the country NEWS and will also address the apprehensions, on the part of schools and parents, regarding unavailability of NCERT textbooks. ● The schools will be able to log on to the portal, by entering their respective
Boards‟ affiliation numbers and other details, till 8th September 2017 for placing their orders for the session 2018-19. ● The Web Portal can be accessed at www.ncertbooks.ncert.gov.in. ● At the time of placing the orders, the schools are not required to make the payment; the payment can be made just before the supply. ● The schools will also have the option of directly procuring textbooks either from their nearest NCERT vendors or from the Regional Production-cum- Distribution Centres (RPDCs) of the NCERT‟s located at Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Guwahati, and Bengaluru.
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Dr. Mahesh Sharma Inaugurates Exhibition ‘Quit India’ and ‘Azad Hind Fauj – 75th Anniversary (1942-2017)
On the occasion of 75th Anniversary of the Quit India Movement and the Azad Hind Fauj, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (I/C) for Culture and Tourism inaugurated an exhibition “Quit India and Azad Hind Fauj 75th Anniversary (1942-2017)” in the National Archives of India, Janpath, New Delhi today. ● Addressing on the occasion, Dr Sharma said that the „Quit India Movement‟ NATIONAL was an important milestone in the Indian Freedom Movement which made NEWS the entire nation determined to attain freedom from the British rule. Millions of Indians responded to Mahatma Gandhi‟s clarion call and the mantra of „Do or Die‟. ● Gandhi Ji and prominent freedom struggle leaders were all arrested on 9th August, 1942. Dr Sharma said that the Prime Minister, in his „Man ki Baat‟ of 30 July 2017, said: „Our young generation must know what had happened on the 9th of August 1942.‟ ● The forthcoming exhibition is just such endeavour. ● The exhibition will continue till 1st September 2017. ● The exhibition is based on public records, private papers, photographs, newspaper reports and proscribed literature banned by the British Government which came out during the last phase of freedom movement. Some of original papers are on display in this exhibition.
Construction of Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor
nd The 2 meeting of Council of Trade Development and Promotion (CTDP) was held in New Delhi on 05.01.2017. Commerce & Industry Ministers of eight States who are Members of the Council, representatives of other 16 States and Heads of Trade Bodies like FIEO/ FICCI/ CII participated in the meeting. ● During the course of the meeting, a reference about Chennai-Bengaluru NATIONAL Industrial Corridor came up for discussion from Government of Tamil Nadu. ● Government of Tamil Nadu requested for expediting detailed planning as NEWS well as the environmental impact assessment studies in respect of Ponneri Industrial Node for speedy implementation and also to keep the State Government closely associated at all stages of the project. ● The State Government also requested for adequate flexibility in the institutional structure for the governance of Industrial Nodes. ● Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC), the nodal agency for Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor has already initiated the process for Master Planning of three identified Nodes, namely, Ponneri (Tamil Nadu), Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) & Tumkur (Karnataka).
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Approval of Industrial Parks in Andhra Pradesh
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under Ministry of Commerce and Industry has approved two projects under „Modified Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (MIIUS)‟ for development of industrial clusters at Hindupur and Bobbili in the respective districts of Anantapur and Vizianagaram of Andhra Pradesh. ● The objective of the above projects is to provide quality and reliable infrastructure to industrial units located in these clusters; specifically these NATIONAL projects aim to provide road network, drainage, power and water supply networks and some other common services like health centres, canteens, NEWS crèches, dormitories, parking areas, etc. ● These projects are likely to be functional by 31st March, 2018. ● These projects have employment potential of about 5500 persons (direct) and 8500 persons (indirect). ● This information was given by the Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Health Ministry set for 2nd round of National Deworming initiative to tackle Worm Infections in children
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is all geared up for its 2nd round of National Deworming Day (NDD) 2017 on 10th August in 33 States/Uts followed by mop-up activities on 17th August targeting 31 crore children.
● A total of 7.8 crore children are targeted in private schools and 3.5 crore out of school children will be covered in this program through Anganwadi workers and ASHAs. ● This is one of the largest public health programs reaching large number of children during a short period. ATIONAL ● The first NDD round of 2017 implemented in February covered 26 crore N children with a coverage of 89%. NEWS ● The NDD program has been launched in 2015 as WHO estimates that 220 million children below 14 years of age are at risk of STH infections in India. ● National Deworming Day is organised twice in a year covering all the children from 1-19 years of age except the States of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh where deworming is carried out once in a year. ● The Soil Transmitted Helminths (STH) prevalence in these two States is less than 20%. ● All the children are provided deworming tablet in schools and anganwadis. The deworming has the potential to improve nutritional status of children. ● The deworming tablet called „Albendazole‟ is a safe and efficacious drug for controlling worm infestation
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Ahmed Patel, Amit Shah & Smriti Irani win RS seats
In a dramatic turn of events Tuesday in the high stakes Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat, the Election Commission of India (ECI) invoked Article 324 of the Constitution to revoke the decision of its Returning Officer (RO) in the state and declare invalid the votes cast by two Congress MLAs.
● Until early Wednesday, the EC announcement of the results was awaited. But there was word that BJP‟s Amit Shah and Smriti Irani had won. ● The poll panel‟s intervention was prompted by a Congress complaint that two of its MLAs, Bhola Bhai Gohel and Raghavji Bhai Patel, had turned rebel and violated Rule 39A and Rule 39AA under the Conduct of Elections NATIONAL Rules 1961 by disclosing their choice to an unauthorised person, other than NEWS the party‟s election agent. ● The EC studied the video footage of the two legislators casting their votes and found merit in the Congress complaint. ● Revoking the RO‟s decision, the Election Commission at 11.25 pm ordered that the votes cast by the two MLAs be rejected by segregating the ballot papers concerned at the time of counting.
Citizens of 80 countries including India can now enter Qatar without visa
The Qatari government on 9 August 2017 announced that citizens belonging to 80 countries including India, Canada, US and UK can now enter Qatar without the need of applying for a visa.
● The Qatari officials stated in a release that Citizens of 80 countries GLOBAL including India, UK, US, Canada, South Africa, Seychelles, Australia and New Zealand wishing to visit Qatar will no longer need to apply or pay for a NEWS visa. ● The release further stated that the visitors from the select countries would be issued a multi-entry waiver, completely free-of-charge, at the point of entry upon presentation of a valid passport having a minimum validity of six months and a confirmed onward or return ticket. ● The waiver will either be valid for 180 days or for 30 days, depending upon the nationality of the visitor, entitling the person to spend only those many days in the country. ● The visitor would however, be given a window for applying for an extension of the waiver for an additional 30 days.
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