Current Affairs : November 2, 2011

Odisha Government prepares Rs 20 crore Plan to protect elephant from electrocution

• After some 100 elephants lost their lives, Orissa government has formulated a Rs 20 crore action plan to protect the wild elephants from electrocution in elephant corridors.
• It will be first implemented in Dhenkanal, Angul and Keonjar elephant corridors.
• Under the plan, the electric poles in the elephant corridor would be strengthened, sparking poles would be installed and the hanging electric wires would be strengthened to ensure that the wild elephants were not electrocuted.

On India-Japan CEPA

• Bilateral trade between India and Japan during the year 2008-09 was of the volume of 10.91 billion dollar. During the year 2009-10 the bilateral trade slightly declined to 10.36 billion dollar. The bilateral trade during the year 2010-11 was of 13.362 billion dollar.
• Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was signed between India and Japan on February 16, 2011. This Agreement has come into force from August 1, 2011.
• The CEPA is most comprehensive of all the agreements concluded by India so far as it covers more than 90% of the trade.
• The Japanese side has put 87 per cent of their tariff lines under immediate tariff liberalisation.

Poonam Rani to lead India in Junior Women Lal Bahadur Shastri Tournament

• Poonam Rani will lead Indian team in the four-nation under-21 hockey Junior Women Lal Bahadur Shastri tournament, starting from November 8, at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, in New Delhi in a round-robin format.
• Other teams are Australia, Germany and New Zealand.

NIR Conclave in Jaipur in PBD 2012

• World NRI Conclave-Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2012 (PBD-12) is scheduled to be held in the Pink City Jaipur between January 7 and 9 next year.
• Birla, Auditorium, Jai Mahal Palace, Raj Bhawan, the historic City Palace and some venues are where different programmes could be held during the mega meet which would be attended by NRIs settled in various countries at different parts of the world.

Interpol General Assembly begins in Hanoi

• 80th General Assembly of the Interpol, world police organisation, opened at Hanoi in Vietnam.
• It is discussing a wide range of issues to combat crime.
• A total of 142 delegations from Interpol member countries have been participating in the four-day event.
• This year s Interpol General Assembly has been focused on Connecting Police for a Safer World, Strong Partnerships, Innovation and Capacity Building .
• CBI Director Amar Pratap Singh is attending the session with a delegation consisting of senior officials from India.

India ranks 134th in Human Development Index

• India is ranked at 134 out of 187 UN-recognised countries and territories. The 2011 Global Human Development Index (HDI) that ranks countries on their progress on three key dimensions of education, health and income — includes 187 nations and territories, the most comprehensive coverage since UNDP began publishing the Human Development Report in 1990.
• Between 1980 and 2011, India s Human Development Index (HDI) value increased from 0.344 to 0.547, an increase of 59.0 per cent or average annual increase of about 1.5 per cent
• In the Gender Inequality Index (GII) India is ranked 129 out of 146 nations.
• The report said that India has the world’s largest number of “multi-dimentionally poor” at 612 million, or more than half its population.

Mamata unanimously re-elected national chairperson of AITC

• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was unanimously re-elected the national chairperson of the All India Trinamool Congress at an organisational poll.

Jeevesh Nandan, new CEO of Noida

• Uttar Pradesh government posted Jeevesh Nandan as new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Noida. He will take charge from Mohinder Singh.

India welcomes agreement among Nepal poltical parties

• India welcomes the seven-point agreement reached among the political parties in Nepal to take the integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist combatants to its logical conclusion.
• Nepal has been facing political instability since the end of the 10-year conflict in 2006 followed by the abolition of monarchy in 2008.
• The constituent assembly has been extended three times after failing to reach a consensus on a Constitution.
• Under the deal reached recently, the parties agreed to stick with a November 30 deadline for completing the Constitution. The deal also settled the status of 19,000 rebel fighters, who had been confined to camps since the end of the conflict.

National Innovation Council (NIC) plans to establish $1 bn fund

• The National Innovation Council plans to create a one billion dollars fund to build an ecosystem for innovation for the benefit of 20-odd local industrial clusters identified by the council in collaboration with industry chambers.
• NIC Head Mr Sam Pitroda, who is also Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Information, Infrastructure and Innovations disclosed this in a seminar.

India to host SAFF Cup in Delhi

• Defending champions India will host the 10th SAFF (South Asia Football Federation) Cup football championship in New Delhi from December 2 to 11, 2011.
• India have won the title for a record five times after qualifying for the final on seven occasions, and despite being ranked lower than rivals Bangladesh and Nepal. This time the championships will be held at the World class Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium which is now being developed as a football hub as part of the legacy plan of the ministry of sports.
• The tournament held biennially includes the teams from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and India. These 8 teams will be the eight teams vying for honours in the competition, which India is staging for only the second time.
• India had hosted the fourth edition of the tournament in Margao in 1999 when it won the cup.

Pakistan gives India MFN status

• Pakistan has granted the “Most Favoured Nation” (MFN) status to India, reciprocating a 15-year-old gesture.
• India had given MFN status to Pakistan in 1996.
• Pakistan also agreed to double bilateral trade from $2.5 billion to around $5 billion.

Google India offers free website to small, medium businesses

• Google India has launched a new initiative, “India Get Your Business Online” to provide a free website, personalised domain and hosting to small and medium businesses (SMB) across the country, in partnership with US-based hosting firm HostGator.

India close to eliminating syphilis

• National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has said that India is close to eradicating syphilis, one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

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Month: Current Affairs - November, 2011