Current Affairs Questions & Answers: March 10, 2017

Notes:
Mahabaleshwar Sail, the noted Konkani writer, has been honoured with the 2017 Saraswati Samman for his novel ‘Hawthan’. The Goa-based Sail is a renowned bi-lingual writer who has four Marathi dramas and seven Konkani novels to his credit. The award carries a cash prize of Rs.15 lakh and a citation.

Notes:
Donald Tusk from Poland has been re-elected for a second term as the President of the European Council. His reappointment will be until November 30, 2019. The European Council is the institution of the European Union (EU) that charged with defining the EU’s overall political direction and priorities.

Notes:
The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill 2016, which is recently passed in the Lok Sabha, will raise the maternity leave for working women in public and private sector from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children. The maternity leave beyond the first two children will continue to be 12 weeks. The bill will now be sent to the President for his assent before it becomes an Act. It has already been passed by the Rajya Sabha during last winter session. The Bill provides for 12 weeks of maternity leave to a woman who legally adopts a child below three months of age and a commissioning mother (defined as a biological mother) who uses her egg to have a surrogate child. In such cases, 12-week period of maternity leave will be calculated from the date the child is handed over to the adoptive or commissioning mother. The bill also makes it mandatory for employers in establishments with 30 women or 50 employees, whichever is less, to provide crèche facilities either in office or in any place within a 500-metre radius.

Notes:
The Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TATA Power-DDL) has become the first Indian power utility to successfully implement teleprotection service using Line-Differential Relay (LDR) over an IP/MPLS network because of the deal with Nokia. The Nokia IP/MPLS technology has improved the reliability, scalability, security and efficiency of power distribution. The Nokia’s enhanced system will allow Tata Power-DDL to receive nearly instant updates of any fault in its infrastructure and reroute power through alternative lines to minimize the disruption to the end consumer. The system connects all grid stations and ensures there is tele-protection and in case there is a fault, then it can be addressed immediately. Apart from the network upgradation, Nokia’s system also provides more traditional business applications such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and video surveillance systems.

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has won the 2017 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Spectrum Technology in the Service of Society Award for its solar-Direct Current (DC) inverter system. The system, developed using micro grid technology, converts in-home power distribution from 230V Analog Current to 48V DC to directly power appliances and devices. The system is also equipped to tap rooftop solar power that makes it the most energy efficient solution for homes and offices.The award is presented to the company/institution voted by IEEE Spectrum editors as having developed the technology that has the potential to benefit mankind.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah has recently launched a comprehensive web-based platform “’Pratibimba” to showcase the government’s performance and achievements to the citizens. The platform is developed as the Chief Minister’s dash board that will serve as a tool to improve efficiency in governance and allow citizens to track government’s progress. It is a reflection of the growth story and development of the state and the dash board will reflect the works of all the departments across flagship schemes, key programmes and projects undertaken in the state. The dash board is available both in English and Kannada.

Notes:
Indian Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has been officially appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the UNICEF and Cricket For Good Ambassador for the Women’s World Cup 2017, which will be hosted in the United Kingdom from June. Both UNICEF and the ICC will engage the broader cricketing community to empower adolescent girls in particular, during the many ICC events over the next 5 years, develop and implement various community outreach programs and initiatives in collaboration with coaches, cricketers and cricketing personalities.

Notes:
The book “Age of Anger – A History of the Present” has been authored by Pankaj Mishra, the noted Indian writer. His new book traces the origins of present-day global maladies like the rise of far right-wing parties, ISIS nihilistic violence and growing mass disenchantment by casting his gaze back to the late eighteenth century.

Notes:
Arvind Padmanabhan (49), the veteran journalist and executive editor with the news agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), has recently passed away in New Delhi. Before joining the IANS, he also worked with the Press Institute of India (PTI), The Times of India and TV18. The IANS is a private Indian news agency and was founded by Indian-American publisher Gopal Raju.

Notes:
Narendra Kumar, an officer of Central Water Engineering Service (1979 batch), has recently taken charge as Chairman of Central Water Commission (CWC). The CWC is an apex organization in India in the field of Water Resources that came into existence in 1945. The CWC is charged with the general responsibility of initiating, coordinating and furthering in consultation with the State Governments concerned, schemes for the control, conservation and utilization of water resources in the respective state for the purpose of flood management, irrigation, drinking water supply and water power generation.