Daily Current Affairs, 27th February 2020

1) World NGO Day observed globally on 27 February

•World NGO Day is observed globally on 27 February. The day aims to raise awareness about the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) sector. The day is observed every year to encourage people worldwide who are involved and dedicatedly working for a good cause. The day highlights the achievements and success of NGOs from all the sectors across the globe. The day makes people understand the role of NGOs in society.

History of NGO Day

•The observation of World NGO Day was founded in 2009 by Law student Marcis Liors Skadmanis. The observation of the day was officially declared by 12 countries on 17 April 2010. It was internationally recognized on 27 February 2014 by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

2) Capacity Building Programme for Scheduled Tribe Pri Representatives

•A Programme for Capacity Building of Scheduled Tribe Representatives in Local Self Governments has been launched in Bhubhaneswar, Odisha. The programme was launched by the Union Tribal Affairs Minister Shri Arjun Munda. “1000 Spring Initiatives” and an online portal on GIS-based Spring Atlas with hydrological and chemical properties of the Springs were also launched during the event. FRA Atlas of Odisha and short documentary film on FRA in Odisha were also released on the occasion.

About “Capacity Building Programme for Scheduled Tribe Pri Representatives”:

•The Capacity Building initiative aims to empower the tribal PRI representatives by improving their decision making capabilities at local government level. It also stresses on constitutional and legal provisions that safeguards and supports the rights and welfare of the tribal population. The above programme will also ensure the participation of ST PRIs representatives in planning, execution and monitoring of policies and programmes launched by the government.

About ‘1000 Springs Initiative’:

•‘1000 Springs Initiative’ aims to improve the accessibility of safe and adequate water for the tribal communities who are living in difficult and inaccessible areas of rural India. Springs are basically natural sources of groundwater discharge which have been used extensively in the mountainous regions across the world as well as in India. The ‘1000 Springs Initiative’ includes the provision of infrastructure for piped water supply for drinking; accessibility of water for irrigation and provision for water for backyard nutrition gardens, which is also expected to generate sustainable livelihood opportunities for the tribal people. The initiative will support in harnessing the potential of perennial springs’ water which can also be used to address the natural scarcity of water in tribal areas.

Online portal on GIS-based Spring Atlas

•Online portal on GIS-based Spring Atlas has been introduced to improve the accessibility of these data easily from an online platform. Currently the data of more than 170 springs is being available on the Spring Atlas.

3) Maharashtra to conserve the native species of cattle through genetic study

•Maharashtra government has decided to undertake the genetic study for the conservation of the native species of domesticated animals. The genetic study aims to conserve the native species of domesticated animals in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra.

•Under this project, the study of genetic traits of Osmanabadi goat, Red Kandhari cow, Deoni bull, Caravan or Pashmi dogs will be done as the number of pure breeds of these animals is on the decline. The project will also include the analysis of their abilities and adaptation capabilities. The project will be funded by the Maharashtra government.

4) Bhubaneswar to host 24th Meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council

•The 24th Meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council will be held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The Meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council will be chaired by the Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah. Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Odisha will be the Vice-Chairman and host of the meeting. The meeting will feature the participation of the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. The participating states will discuss various issues including power transmission lines, investigation of heinous offences, inter-State water issues, petroleum projects and various other issues. The above issues are expected to be resolved by consensus in the meeting.

•The 23rd Meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council was held in Kolkata, West Bengal.

Background of the meeting:

•Under Section 15-22 of the States Reorganization Act, 1956, five Zonal Councils were set up in the year 1957. According to the act, these 5 councils will be chaired by the Union Home Minister and the Chief Minister of the host State will act as the Vice-Chairman of the council meeting. The Zonal Council takes up issues involving Centre and States, and among Member-States falling in the Zone. It also provides a forum for resolving disputes between the states.

•The Zonal Councils also deliberates on wide range of issues including boundary related disputes, security, infrastructure related matters like road, industries, water and power etc., matters pertaining to forests & environment, housing, tourism, food security, education, transport, etc.

5) Delhi hosts 91st Annual General Meeting of the ICAR Society

•The 91st Annual General Meeting of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Society was held in Delhi. The Annual General Meeting was chaired by the Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar. During the meeting, the minister announced that in order to promote cooperative farming, government will soon register 10,000 new Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). The government has also made a budgetary provision to provide each FPO a sum of Rs. 15 lakh for all farming related activities including sowing, harvesting along with distribution and marketing.

6) 6th Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel “VAJRA” launched

•The 6th Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) “VAJRA” has been launched in Chennai. The Coast Guard’s Offshore Patrol Vessel is expected to strengthen the efforts Indian Coast Guard in securing the vast coastline of over 7500 km, including an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of over 20 lakh sq kms.

•OPV “VAJRA” is the 6th vessel in the series of seven OPV projects. The Offshore Patrol Vessel has been built by M/s L&T Shipbuilding under the ‘Make in India’ policy. OPV Vajra is a state of the art platform which will increase the capabilities of Indian Coast Guard in terms of Operation, Surveillance, Search & Rescue. The OPV is empowered with two Navigation Radars along with ultra-modern technology, Sophisticated navigational and latest communication systems. The OPV will help the Indian Coast Guard in executing day and night patrol/surveillance along with anti-terrorist/ anti-smuggling operations in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as well as Coastal Security.

7) RAISE 2020 Summit to be held in New Delhi

•The Government of India (GoI) announced the mega event, RAISE 2020- ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020,’ to be held from April 11-12 in New Delhi. RAISE 2020 is India’s first Artificial Intelligence summit to be organized by the Government in partnership with Industry & Academia.

•The summit will be attended by experts of Artificial Intelligence from all over the world. It will focus on using AI towards social empowerment, transformation and inclusion and also in other key areas such as agriculture, healthcare, smart mobility and education. It is essential to implement AI in social transformation as it will help in bringing regulatory changes. It will improve the efficiency of workplaces.

8) Jawed Ashraf becomes India’s next Ambassador to France

•Jawed Ashraf has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to France. He is presently High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Singapore. He was a 1991 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer. He will succeed Vinay Mohan Kwatra. Vinay Mohan Kwatra will become the next Ambassador of India to Nepal, he will succeed Manjeev Singh Puri. Vinay Mohan Kwatra was a 1988 batch IFS officer.

9) India-UK joint Air Force Exercise Indra Dhanush Exercise 2020 began

•The 5th edition of the Exercise Indra Dhanush 2020 commenced on 24th February. It is a joint air force exercise between Indian Air Force (IAF) and British Royal Air Forces (RAF) has commenced at Air Force Station Hindan in Uttar Pradesh (UP).

•‘Base Defence and Force Protection’ was the focus of this year exercise. 36 specialised combatants from RAF Regiment & 42 combatants of the GARUD Force from IAF team participated in this exercise with para drops from C-130J aircraft, tactical insertions by Mi-17 V5 helicopters and use of various airborne sensors.

•During the exercise, both the elements of the air force will share and jointly validate strategies and tactics to tackle terror threats to their installations. Both the forces also to take up various missions including Airfield Seizure, Base Defence and anti-terror operations in Urban built-up zones.

10) Rajesh Kumar becomes new MD & CEO of CIBIL

•TransUnion Cibil, the largest credit information bureau appointed Rajesh Kumar of HDFC Bank as its new managing director and chief executive. He will succeed Satish Pillai who has moved to become the president of Asia region business of the US-based company. Prior to joining Cibil, Kumar was the group head for retail credit and risk at HDFC Bank. He will be responsible for steering Cibil India’s business into the next phase by ensuring it continues to support the domestic finance industry and consumers.