– Current Affairs – January 2017 ================================================================================== BSF launches operation Sard Hawa at Rajasthan Border To keep vigil on instances of infiltration due to dense fog in the western international border of Rajasthan, BSF on 15th January 2017 launched Sard Hawa, an operation. The operation will continue till January 28. The purpose of the operation is to keep a hawk’s eye on the international border, where vigil has been beefed-up and officers have also been asked to be part of operation to motivate jawans. ================================================================================== Suprme Court Grants Permission to 24-Week Pregnant Woman for Abortion i. The Supreme Court on January 16, 2017 allowed Mumbai based 22 year old pregnant lady with 24 weeks of Pregnancy to abort her baby as continuation may risk her life. ii. Two bench of judges, Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice L. Nageswara Rao gave the verdict after a panel of seven doctors from KEM Hospital, Mumbai declared that the skull and brain tissue development of the foetus were absent and there was no chance of the foetus surviving outside the uterus. iii. Abortion is legal in India only up to 20 weeks of pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 that too if it involves a risk to the life of the pregnant woman physically or mentally or involves a substantial risk to the health of the child. iv. There is an urgent need to look into the amendment of the Act to increase the limit from 20 weeks to 24 weeks. ================================================================================== Kozhikode becomes 1st Elderly-Friendly Corporation in Kerala Kozhikode Corporation was declared as the first Elderly-Friendly corporation in Kerala. The Kozhikode corporation, state Govt has planned to set up senior citizen’s club, Day care centers as a part of Vayomithram project for the elderly friendly status, the corporation has begun to collect basic details of all the senior citizens in the city through its 543 Anganwadi centers. ================================================================================== Kangra first ever district to geo-tag all assets under MGNREGA i. Kangra village in Himachal Pradesh achieved the geo-tag 100 per cent of the assets generated under the MGNREGA said by Himachal Pradesh CM Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. ii. Kangra was the first district in India to achieved this target. It would help people in integrated development of all sectors like agriculture, irrigation, education, health etc. Benefits of Geo-tag : ♦ Geo-tag will allows the workers to click photo of the asset and upload it to a ISRO-run web portal thus digitally recording its time and location. ♦ It allows the ease in tracking the assets. ================================================================================== India Ranked 78th in Global Passport Index India Ranked low at 78th position on the recently released Global Passport Index 2017 with a visa- free score of 46. Ranking is based on the number of nations their citizens can visit without a visa or an arrival. Germany ranked No.1 in 2017 Passport Index with a visa-free score of 157 followed by Singapore with visa-free score of 156. ================================================================================== Govt inks MoU to set up 1,000 ‘Janaushadhi Kendras’ i. The Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Yuva Cooperative Society to set up 1,000 ‘Janaushadhi Kendras‘ under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) scheme. This was announced by Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar. ii. Aim : To provide medicines at an affordable price. iii. The central government has targeted to open 3,000 such centers across India by the end of this fiscal year. Nearly 750 Janaushadhi Kendras are opened still now. iv. Janaushadhi Kendras will be opened in each block and Gram Panchayat ================================================================================== NASA set to Explore Iron-Rich Asteroid 16 Psyche The asteroid 16 psyche, named for the ancient Greek goddess of the soul, is one of the most mysterious objects in our solar system. But in a few years humanity will be getting a close up view, confirmed NASA mission. Located in the large asteroid belt between Mars & Jupiter, psyche may have started out as a planet that got bumped around so badly. ================================================================================== Over 3.81 lakh Winners of Rs 61 cr in NITI Aayog’s Lucky Draw Scheme i. According to a statement by NITI Aayog, till date over 3.81 lakh consumers and 21,000 merchants have been declared as the winner of the NITI Aayog’s lucky draw schemes namely Lucky Grahak Yojana (LGY) for consumers and Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana (DVY) for merchants. ii. It also stated that daily as well as weekly prize money worth Rs 60.90 crore has been declared at 24 Digi-Dhan Melas organized across the country. Besides, most of the winners were in the age group of 21-30 years. iii. The top 5 states that had most of the winners are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. ================================================================================== Govt launches ShaGun-a Web-Portal for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan The HRD (Human Resource Development) Minister Prakash Javadekar launched a dedicated Web portal ‘ShaGun’ for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan at New Delhi Today (20 January 2017). ShaGun aims to capture and showcase innovations and progress in Elementary Education sector of India by continuous monitoring of the flagship scheme-Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). ================================================================================== Sir Tim Barrow appointed Britain’s EU Ambassador: Sir Tim Barrow on 4 January 2017 was appointed the British Permanent Representative to the European Union (EU). The appointment came after the resignation of Sir Ivan Rogers from the post on 3 January 2017. Sir Tim previously served as representative to the EU Security Committee and as Ambassador to the Western European Union. ================================================================================== NDMC Names a Road in Rohini Area of New Delhi After Guru Govind Singh i. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has dedicated a stretch of road in New Delhi to Guru Govind Singh on January 5, 2017. ii. The road between Block A and Block B at Sector 15 in Rohini was named after Guru Gobind Singh to commemorate his 350th birth anniversary. ================================================================================== Astronomers discover powerful cosmic double Whammy: Astronomers have discovered a cosmic one-two- punch unlike any ever seen before. Two of the most powerful phenomena in the Universe, A supermassive black hole, and the collision of giant galaxy clusters, have combined to create a stupendous cosmic particle accelerator. This double Whammy is found in a pair of colliding galaxy clusters called Abell 3411 and Abell 3412 located about two billion light years from earth. ================================================================================== Aadhaar now mandatory for EPF pension scheme i. Central government has made obtaining an Aadhaar number mandatory for 2.5 crore members of the Employees’ Pension Scheme of 1995, one of the benefits available to Employees’ Provident Fund subscribers. ii. According to a notification from Labour Ministry,those without an Aadhaar number will have to make an application to get enrolled by January 31, 2017. iii. The subsidy, equivalent to 1.16 per cent of the employee’s salary upto Rs. 6,500, paid by the Centre towards the EPS, will no longer be credited till the Aadhaar number is shared with the authorities. ================================================================================== Gen, Raheel sharif to head Islamic Military Alliance: General Raheel Sharif, the former Pakistani army nation military coalition formed to serve as a platform for security cooperation and combat terrorism, the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism. Raheel retired as the army Chief in November and has been succeeded by General Qamar Javed Bajwa. ================================================================================== Maharashtra launched India’s first 24×7 helpline for forests i. India’s first state-wide call centre facility the Maharashtra forest department launched by Maharashtra state Forest Minister forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar at Goregaon in Mumbai on January 6, 2017 ii. State government soon will launch 24×7 toll free number 1926 to complaints or get information about a variety of issues related to forests and wildlife. iii. The forest department selected SAAR IT Solutions Pvt Ltd in for this helpline service till August 2017. iv. The call centre would circulate the query within the network and try to respond with a feedback within a minimum of 48 hours and maximum of four days. ================================================================================== The 20th National Conference on e-Governance began in Visakhapatnam: The 20th National Conference on e-Governance began in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The theme of this years conference is “Internet of Things and e-Governance” and newly evolving areas of e-Governance would be discussed ever five plenary sessions. ================================================================================== Assam govt comes