Daily Current Affairs, 23rd October 2019

1) Indian Railways install Electronic Interlocking System on Grand Chord route

•Indian Railways has installed the most advanced Electronic Interlocking System on the Grand Chord route. The measure is expected to help Indian Railways speed up trains and achieve the objective of reducing the travel time between Delhi and Howrah to about 12 hours from the existing 17 to 19 hours.

•Grand Chord is part of the Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line and Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line. The new Electronic system has replaced outdated 65-year old mechanical signalling system at Tundla Junction in Uttar Pradesh on the route.

2) No govt. jobs in Assam for people with more than two children

•The State Cabinet of Assam has decided to make government jobs out of bounds for people with more than 2 children. The policy will come into effect from January 1, 2021.

•The Cabinet also adopted a new land policy that will make the landless indigenous people eligible for 3 bighas (43,200 sq. ft.) of land for farming and half a bigha for constructing a house. The beneficiary will be able to sell the given land only after 15 years of use.

3) 1st India-Bangladesh Stakeholders’ meet in Guwahati

•The 1st India-Bangladesh Stakeholders’ meet was held in Guwahati. Bangladesh was represented by Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi. India is the second-largest trading partner of Bangladesh.

•A 70-member delegation from Bangladesh is participating in the meet, while a similar top-level team will represent the host nation. The idea of the meet is to put Assam at the focus point of India’s trade expansion with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.

4) AYUSH, Defence ministries ink MoU to provide traditional medicine services

•The AYUSH ministry has signed an MoU with the Defence Ministry to provide traditional medicine services at the armed forces’ hospitals and dispensaries. Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik inaugurated an Ayurveda Palliative Care Unit at the Base Hospital in the Delhi Cantonment.

•Under the MoU, Ayurveda units will also be established at palliative care centres at the Army Research and Referral Hospital, Air Force Hospital, Hindon in Ghaziabad and five identified ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) polyclinics in Delhi–NCR.

5) DRDO starts work on ‘next-gen’ hypersonic weapon

•The Defence Research and Development (DRDO) has started work to produce hypersonic weapon missiles that travel at 5 times speed of sound, or a little over a mile every second. A wind tunnel to test and fine-tune the technology will be operational soon.

•Hypersonic weapons are specifically designed for increased survivability against modern ballistic missile defence systems. These missiles are capable of delivering conventional or nuclear payloads at speeds not imagined hiterto over long ranges.

6) Ashok Malik appointed as Policy Advisor in MEA

•Ashok Malik has been appointed as the Policy Advisor in the External Affairs Ministry in the rank of Additional Secretary. The Distinguished Fellow of the prominent think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) will have a 2-year tenure.

•Ashok Malik has previously served as the Press Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind from August 1, 2017 to July 31, 2019.

7) Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas elected as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Cabo Verde

•The Ministry of External Affairs notified that Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas (IFS:1993), presently Ambassador of India to the Republic of Senegal, has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Cabo Verde. He will replace Rajeev Kumar.

8) IRDAI imposes penalty of Rs 1.01 crore on Cholamandalam MS GIC

•The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has imposed penalties of Rs 1.01 crore on Cholamandalam MS GIC. The insurer was penalised for violations observed during an inspection.

•The penalty of Rs 1 crore is for violation of Clause 15 of Schedule I of IRDA (Health Insurance) Regulations, 2013 which clearly specifies that no commission shall be payable to any intermediary on the acceptance of a ported policy.

•The other penalty of Rs 1 lakh is for motor insurance and was for violating the outsourcing guidelines by agreeing to payment terms not in the interests of the insurer.

9) Sourav Ganguly take Charges as new BCCI President

•One of India’s most decorated captains Sourav Ganguly takes over as the 39th President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Ganguly is the unanimous nomination for the post of BCCI President along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah as the Secretary. Mahim Verma of Uttarakhand is the new Vice President of BCCI.

10) Pankaj Kumar appointed as new CEO of UIDAI

•The Government of India appointed IAS officer Pankaj Kumar as the new CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). He is currently Additional Secretary in the Ministry Of Electronics and IT.

•The UIDAI is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 by the government under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, with the mandate to issue Unique Identification numbers (UID), or Aadhaar, to all residents of India to eliminate duplicate and fake identities.

11) 2024 Olympic Games logo unveiled in Paris

•The logo for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games unveiled at a ceremony in the French capital. The circular design with Paris 2024 in the art deco style which was in vogue in 1924 when Paris last hosted the Games, also incorporates the lips and outline of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic since the revolution in 1789.

12) Graeme Smith has been elected as MCC Honorary Life Member

•Former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith has been elected an Honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Smith has an impressive record in One-Day International, scoring 6,989 runs including ten centuries and also became South Africa’s youngest ever captain at 22.

•Former Australian off-spinner Tim May was also awarded Honorary Life Membership in recognition of his outstanding achievements in cricket.

•The pair follows Paul Collingwood, AB de Villiers, Mitchell Johnson and Adrian Morgan in being awarded Honorary Life Membership of MCC in 2019.