Daily Current Affairs – 25th November 2016
1) Yudhvir Singh Malik was appointed as the new Chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Malik had joined NITI Aayog as its Additional Secretary in September 2015. Before joining the NITI Aayog, he worked as the CEO of FSSAI from 20 October 2014 to 23 September 2015. It was during his tenure that Maggi noodle was banned.
Malik, who worked as the Special Secretary with NITI Aayog, will replace Raghav Chandra.After Malik’s appointed, Chandra has been shifted to National Commission for Schedule Tribes.
The National Highways Authority of India is an autonomous agency of the Government of India. It was created through the promulgation of the National Highways Authority of India Act, 1988. It looks after the management of a network of over 92851.05 km of National Highways in the country.
It has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for satellite mapping of highways. Yogendra Narain was the first Chairman of NHAI.
2) India has been ranked 138th in the 2016 ICT Development Index.
The index was released as part of the annual Measuring the Information Society Report for 2016 of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The ICT Development Index (IDI) rankings compare the state of ICT development across countries. It is published annually by the UN ITU. The IDI is based on 11 ICT indicators, grouped in three sub-indices: access, use and skills.
In 2015, India ranked 135th position. It is standard tool that governments, operators, researchers, development agencies and others can use to measure the digital divide and compare ICT performance within and across countries.
In the Asia Pacific region, India is ranked at 26 out of the 34 countries. 9 countries in region remained least concerned. Africa was named as the worst performing region.
Besides, there is lack of mobile ownership seen in lower income category, and among those who are not educated. People in rural regions are more likely to not own a mobile phone. Fixed line telephone subscriptions have gone down in India, and now only two people in a hundred have a landline.
For improving the IDI, India needs to improve internet access to the underserved to reduce digital divide. There is also a need to change the definition of the minimum broadband speed. The FUP (fair usage policy) levels must be relaxed which are among the most restrictive in the world. Efforts should be taken to promote the use of mobile phones in rural areas. Besides more efforts must be taken to increase access of mobile phones to more women.
3) The Palampur Assembly Constituency of Kangra district has became the first e-assembly constituency of the country.
The system was inaugurated by State Assembly speaker Brij Behari Lal Butail at a function held in Palampur on 22 November 2016. It will help the residents of the constituency to know about the development works going on by one click on the computer. In addition, the residents would also send their requirements about funds for different schemes in their respective areas online.
This conversion of the Palampur into an e-constituency is Himachal Pradesh government’s commitment to Union Government’s Digital India mission.
This system would be introduced in other 67 constituencies of the state in next six months.It is necessary to mention that the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly was the first assembly of India to adopt the e-Vidhan system, making it paperless. This e-Vidhan system helped the state in automating the day to day functioning of assembly.
4) Indian journalist Malini Subramaniam has won the International Press Freedom Award.
Along with Subramaniam, three other journalists won the prestigious award. They are Mahmoud Abou Zeid from Egypt, Can Dündar from Turkey and Oscar Martinezfrom El Salvador. The CPJ chose these four journalists as “they have risked their freedom – and their lives – to report to their societies and the global community about critical news events.”
These Awards are given by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.
Subramaniam reports on buses by police and security forces, sexual violence against women, the jailing of minors, shutdown of schools, extrajudicial killings, and threats against journalists in the Bastar region in Chhattisgarh.
The CPJ International Press Freedom Awards honours journalists or their publications around the world who show courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, threats or imprisonment. The award was established in 1991.
The CPJ seeks to focus local and international media coverage on countries where violations of press freedom are particularly serious.
5) The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has liberalised norms for angel investors to invest in early-stage entities.
This decision was taken based on the recommendations received from the NR Narayana Murthy Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee. SEBI in its meeting decided to amend the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012.
Increased the upper limit for number of angel investors in a scheme from 49 to 200. Angel Funds will also be allowed to invest in start-ups incorporated within 5 years instead of the earlier norm of 3 years.
The requirement of minimum investment amount by an angel fund in any venture capital undertaking has been reduced to Rs. 25 lakh from earlier Rs. 50 lakh. Such funds also have been allowed to invest in overseas venture capital undertakings. It will be up to 25% of their investible corpus in line with other Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs).
It will benefit start-ups looking for raising venture funding not just for the money but for the other value addition. It will help start-ups raising money from a venture capital firm brings such as direction and mentorship from seasoned investors.
6) UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has released the 2016 edition of the Measuring the Information Society Report.
The report was launched on 22 November 2016 during the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS). WTIS was held in Botswana, South Africa from 21 November to 23 November 2016.
India was placed at 138th rank with IDI score of 2.69. In 2015, it stood at 135th position with IDI score of 2.50.
The ITU index prepared after surveying 175 economies of the world was topped by the Republic of Korea with IDI of 8.84. The Sub-Saharan Africa’s Niger with an IDI of 1.07 ranked lowest. The report highlights that the average global ICT Development Index (IDI) saw an improvement from 4.74 in 2015 to 4.94 in 2016.
It reveals that cost of the mobile-phone handset is one of the main barriers in owning a mobile phone. ITU cautioned that since many people have multiple subscriptions or devices, other metrics need to be produced to accurately assess mobile uptakes, such as the number of mobile phone users or mobile phone owners.
7) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered environment audit of all the government buildings in Delhi to control pollution.
The order was issued by the NGT bench, which was conducting a hearing in the petition filed by Vardhaman Kaushik over toxic air of the National Capital.The bench directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to issue guidelines in this regard within two weeks.
The purpose behind the move is to make every government building to take necessary precautions to control pollution so that no hazardous result follows in relation to public health.
The bench passed the directions while observing that “right to clean environment is a fundamental right and every citizen, wherever he goes, has a right to receive decent environment”.The term ‘Green Audit’ signifies the assessment of a business in terms of its impact on the environment. It is also widely known as Environmental Audit.
8) The 24th edition of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was concluded in Lima, Peru.
The theme of the 24th APEC Summit was “Quality Growth and Human Development”. The architecture of Caral, an ancient city of Peru, served as the inspiration for the official logo of the APEC summit.
The summit also closed with a joint pledge to work toward a new free trade agreement that would include all 21 members as a path to “sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth.”The summit ended with adoption of the 2016 Leaders Declaration.
The 2016 Leaders Declaration highlights are Quality Growth and Human Development, Challenges and opportunities for free trade and investment in the current global context, Food security, climate change and access to water, Towards real and functional connectivity in the region.
9) The Union Cabinet has approved introduction of the Merchant Shipping Bill, 2016 in the Parliament.
The bill is a revamped version of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. It seeks to repeal Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 as well the Coasting Vessels Act, 1838. It allows substantially-owned vessels and vessels on Bare Boat-cum-Demise (BBCD) to be registered as Indian flag vessels.
It is mandatory for vessels owners to compulsorily take insurance of crew engaged on vessels including fishing, sailing and whose net tonnage is less than 15. The crew members now don’t need to sign of articles of agreement before the Shipping Master.
Incorporates all International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Conventions/Protocols in Indian laws up-to-date by inserting provisions relating to 7 different conventions.
These 7 different conventions are Intervention Convention 1969, Search and Rescue Convention 1979, Protocol for Prevention of Pollution from Ships, Convention for Control and Management of Ships Ballast Water and Sediments 2004, Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention 2007, Salvage Convention 1989 and International Convention for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001.
The new bill has provisions which have been meticulously shortened to 280 sections. It also simplifies the law governing the merchant shipping in India. The Coasting Vessels Act, 1838 was also an archaic legislation of the British era. It provided limited jurisdiction for registration of non-mechanically propelled vessels to Saurashtra and Kutch. The proposed bill allows registration of all vessels for the whole of India.
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