Daily Current Affairs, 21st November 2018

1) Himachal Pradesh Approves Sashakt Mahila Yojna

•The Himachal Pradesh government in the cabinet meeting accorded its approval to implement Sashakt Mahila Yojna in the state with a vision to empower rural women by providing them an interface for organization and socio-economic development.

•The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. The scheme not only envisages to link rural women with sustainable livelihood opportunities but also to improve their skill by imparting training.

2) India’s First Justice City To Set Up In Andhra Pradesh

•Andhra Pradesh is building a world-class and India’s first ‘Justice City’ within its new capital Amaravati with the vision to provide a state-of-the-art ecosystem built on latest technology for supporting the judicial system in the state.

•Justice City will provide the necessary infrastructure to provide speedy justice for litigants, easy and better access to justice for the masses and reduce pending cases. A law museum is proposed to be built to showcase, preserve and disseminate information and knowledge on the rich legal heritage of India.

3) Andhra Pradesh Launches ‘Bhudaar’ Portal

•Andhra Pradesh has launched a web portal which makes land records available to people with unique identification numbers. The “Bhudaar’’ is an 11-digit unique identification code assigned to each agriculture land holding and rural and urban properties in the state. Two types of Bhudaar cards are available including e-Bhudaar and M-Bhudaar.

•The temporary Bhudaar is assigned based on valid textual data of an agriculture landholding or rural or urban property starting with 99 which indicates it is temporary Bhudaar. The unique ID for permanent Bhudaar will start with 28 and if it is a government land, 28 is followed by 00.

4) 27th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change Held in New Delhi

•The 27th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change was held in New Delhi, India. The meeting was chaired by H.E. Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India.

•The meeting has urged the advanced countries to enhance their support to the developing nations in effectively implementing the Paris Agreement to combat climate change.

5) West Bengal Passes Bill To Give Land Rights To Enclave Dwellers

•The West Bengal Assembly unanimously passed a Bill to give land rights to enclave dwellers in north Bengal, ending an era of uncertain future for the people residing in those enclaves. Bangladesh and India had exchanged a total of 162 enclaves on Aug 1, 2015, ending one of the world’s most-complex border disputes that had lingered for seven decades since Independence.

•Moved by Minister of State for Land and Land Reforms Chandrima Bhattacharya, the West Bengal Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill, 2018, was passed in the House unopposed. The Bill will help in the distribution of land-right documents to the people of the enclaves in the border district of Cooch Behar, the chief minister said, adding that the state government was working hard to give beneficiaries their due.

6) Indo-US Joint Military Exercise ‘Vajra Prahar’ Commences In Jaipur

•The 12-day long joint military exercise between India and the United States known as ‘Vajra Prahar’ commenced in Jaipur. A contingent of the United States Pacific Commander arrived at Mahajan Field Firing Ranges for undertaking Joint training with the Indian Special Forces.

•The United States Special Forces will carry out rigorous joint training in semi-desert and rural terrain to enhance the interoperability of the two armed forces and further the military to military co-operation.

7) IMD World Talent Ranking: India Ranks 53rd, Switzerland Tops

•Switzerland has topped the list of the IMD World Talent Ranking 2018 for the fifth year in a row. Among the BRICS countries, South Africa remains in the middle position (50th) performing better than India (53rd) and Brazil (58th) but lagging behind China (39th) and Russia (46th).

•The Top 3 countries in the list are: 
1.Switzerland
2.Denmark
3.Norway

8) World’s Standard Definition of Kilogram, Second & Metre Redefined

•The 26th meeting of the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM)was held at Versailles(Paris), France. The members have voted for the redefinition of 130 years old “Le grand K – the SI unit of kg” in terms of the fundamental Planck’s constant(h). The new definitions will come into force on 20 May 2019.

•The definition of kilogram has been changed from being the mass of prototype sanctioned by the 1st CGPM held in Paris in 1889 and deposited at the BIPM to the Planck constant which is a physical constant. Likewise, the definition of meter has been changed to link it to the speed of light. There is a change in the definition of time also.

9) Jitendra Singh Releases Book ‘Radio Kashmir-In Times of Peace & War’ By Rajesh Bhat

•Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C) Dr Jitendra Singh released a book titled ‘Radio Kashmir-In Times of Peace & War’ written by DrRajesh Bhat. The author Dr Rajesh Bhat is currently posted in the Policy Division of Directorate General, All India Radio, New Delhi.

10) Bangladesh Wins 59th Edition of Subroto Cup Football Tournament

•Bangladesh Krida Shiksha Prothishtan (BKSP) won the 59th edition of the junior boys Subroto Cup International Football Tournament beating Amini School, Afghanistan by a solitary goal at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi. Habibur Rahman scored the all-important goal in the 11th minute.

•A total of 95 teams and 1500 players participated in the tournament, making it one of the biggest tournaments in its category in the entire football world. Sonia Lather, silver-medal winner in the 2016 AIBA women’s World Boxing Championship was the guest of honour during the ceremony.