Current Affairs Questions & Answers: March 16, 2017

Notes:
Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, has recently launched a new scheme “Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES)” in New Delhi for developing export linked infrastructure in states with a view to promote outbound shipments. The purpose of the TIES is to bridge the infrastructure gap and provide forward and backward linkages to units engaged in trade activities. The scheme will be implemented from April 1, 2017 and will have budgetary allocation of Rs 600 crore for three years with annual outlay of Rs 200 crore. The scheme would provide assistance for setting up and up-gradation of infrastructure projects with overwhelming export linkages like the Border Haats, Land customs stations, quality testing and certification labs, cold chains, trade promotion centres and export warehousing and packaging.

Notes:
Diphan Sivakumar (47), the noted Malayalam film director, has recently passed away in Kochi, Kerala. He is known for the Prithviraj starrer superhit movie Puthiya Mugham. His other noted movies include – Hero, SIM, Dolphin Bar, etc. His upcoming movie with Jayaram titled Sathya is in the post production stage.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare has launched Mission Fingerling programme with a total expenditure of about Rs. 52000 lakh to achieve Blue Revolution. The focus of the programme is to create an enabling environment for an integrated and holistic development and management of fisheries for the socio-economic development of the fishers and fish farmers. The target of the mission is to increase the fisheries production from 10.79 mmt (2014-15) to 15 mmt by 2020-21.

Notes:
Vienna has topped the list in the Mercer’s 19th Quality of Living survey 2017. Zurich is in second place, followed by Munich, Auckland, Vancouver, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Geneva. The highest ranking cities in Asia and Latin America are Singapore (25) and Montevideo (79). Among Indian cities, Mumbai is ranked the highest at 141, followed by Kolkata (149) and Pune (151), while Bangalore was rated the lowest (177) by the report. The survey included a city infrastructure ranking that assesses each city’s supply of electricity, drinking water, telephone and mail services, and public transportation as well as traffic congestion and the range of international flights available from local airports. The survey highlights that Indian cities that have been part of the survey haven’t made much progress on the quality of living scale since last year.

Notes:
As per Karnataka budget 2017–18, the Karnataka government has allocated Rs.100 crore for setting up of government subsidized chain of food centres “Namma Canteens” across the state to provide breakfast for Rs. 5 and lunch, dinner for Rs. 10 each to the common man. Approx 200 Namma Canteens will be set up in Bengaluru alone. Apart from this, the state lifted VAT on liquor, announced free eggs for Anganwadi workers and free LPG service for 5 lakh poor families.

Notes:
In Himachal Pradesh, Sanjauli Police Station in Shimla town has become the first police post of India to be linked with Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS), a nationwide online tracking system. Chief minister Virbhadra Singh inaugurated CCTNS system for connecting police post. Meanwhile, the police posts of Manikaran in district Kullu, Solan city and Dada Siba in district Kangra were also simultaneously linked to CCTNS. Under this system, over 200 police posts across the state will be linked. This will facilitate the people in lodging online/offline complaints, police verification of job applicants, tenants, character verification and migrant labourer registration, etc., through police post.

Notes:
The 2017 National Theatre Festival (NTF) has started at Tagore Theatre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from March 16 and will continue till March 24. The Festival is organised by the Information and Public Relations Department, Government of Kerala. The 2017 edition of the festival is dedicated to one of the doyens of Indian theatre, the late Kavalam Narayana Panikkar. This year’s edition will reflect contemporary India’s problems like atrocities against Dalits, issues being faced by women and sexual minorities. There will be a total of 17 plays, from various states, including six from Kerala. The opening play will be Deepan Sivaraman’s ‘The Legends of Khasak’, theatrical adaptation of OV Vijayan’s ‘Khasakkinte Ithihasangal’. A highlight of the festival will be Manipuri play ‘Pebet’, brought out by the celebrated Manipuri theatre group ‘Kalakshetra’, founded by the late theatre person Heisnam Kanhailal.

Notes:
The book “So You Want to Know About the Environment” has been authored by Bijal Vachharajani. The book will make children analyze, explore, love and respect the environment. It looks at climate change, food, waste, water and wildlife; explains scientific concepts and asks important questions. It is packed with facts, jokes, activities and stories from people working in the field in different parts of the world.

Notes:
The 6th edition of the International Engineering Sourcing Show (IESS) has started in Chennai, Tamil Nadu from March 16, 2017. It is the largest Engineering sourcing show in India for International visitors, which is organized under the aegis of Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The focus sectors of the IESS are industrial supply, metal & shop floor, industrial & electrical machinery, automotive component, etc. The 3-day event has exclusive Technology and Innovation Pavilions with representations from BARC, IIT Mumbai, IIT Madras, Fluid Control Research Institute (FCRI), International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials, Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) and MSME Tools Room.

Notes:
Manhar Valji Bhai, the former BJP legislator from Gujarat, has become the new Chairman of National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). The post of the Chairman was lying vacant for the past almost one year. Beside this, two other members, Manju Diler from Uttar Pradesh and Dilip Kallu Haathived from Maharashtra, also took charge as members of the NCSK. The NCSK is an Indian statutory body was established through National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act, 1993. The purpose of the Commission is to study, evaluate and monitor the implementation of various schemes for Safai Karamcharis as an autonomous organisation and also to provide redressal of their grievances.