Daily Current Affairs, 27th May 2020

1) Nitin Gadkari inaugurates tunnel under Chardham Pariyojana in Chamba

•Union Minister for Road Transport, Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated the 440 metre-long tunnel as part of the Chardham Connectivity Project in Chamba. The tunnel will significantly reduce the time taken by travellers on the Rishikesh-Dharasu and Gangotri stretch of the Chardham Highway (NH 94).

•Under the Chardham Project costing around 12 thousand crore rupees approximately 889 Kilometres of Highway Construction is to be done. BRO has been entrusted for construction of 250 Kilometre-stretch leading to holy shrine Gangotri and Badrinath. The tunnel has been developed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). 

2) ‘Hunar Haat’ will restart with the theme “Local to Global” from Sept 2020

•Ministry of Minority Affairs flagship programme ‘Hunar Haat’ will restart from September 2020 with the theme of “Local to Global”. This Platform is for artisans and craftsmen from various parts of the country to showcase their art and craft. This platform has provided employment and employment opportunities to more than five lakh Indian artisans, craftsmen, culinary experts and other people associated with them in the last five years.

•Hunar Haat provides market and opportunity to master artisans and craftsmen from remote areas of the country, has become a credible brand of rare exquisite indigenous handmade products. There will be a special “Jaan Bhi, Jahaan Bhi” pavilion to create health awareness among the people with the theme of “Say no to panic, yes to precautions”.

3) Webinar on “Van Dhan Scheme: Learnings for post COVID-19”

•The Department of Science and Technology, Government of Rajasthan has organized a webinar on “Van Dhan Scheme: Learnings for post COVID-19” in assciation with TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India. The webinar was organised under the Know Your Scheme-Lecture Series. The webinar was addressed by Pravir Krishna, Managing Director of TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

•TRIFED has partnered with UNICEF to initiate “Van Dhan Samajik Doori Jagrookta Abhiyaan“. Under this initiative tribals will be provided with relevant information regarding COVID-19 along with several guidelines, nationwide and state-specific webinars and instructions on safety measures to be followed. The Minimum Support Prices of Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) items has also been revised by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to provide much needed relief to forest gatherers in these trying times.

4) PK Nair becomes new Indian Ambassador to Niger

•The government of India has announced the appointment of Prem K Nair as Indian Ambassador to the Republic of Niger. He is currently posted as Consul General of India to Hambantota. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly. He will replace Rajesh Agarwal.

5) NASA renamed its telescope after ‘Mother of Hubble’ Nancy Grace Roman

•NASA has renamed its next-generation space telescope “Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST)”, which is set to launch in 2025, in honour of Nancy Grace Roman. Nancy Grace Roman is the US space agency’s first chief astronomer, who paved the way for space telescopes focused on the broader universe. She left behind a tremendous legacy in the scientific community when she died in 2018.

•Roman came to NASA in 1959, just six months after the agency had been established. At that point, she served because the chief of astronomy and relativity within the Office of Space Science, managing astronomy-related programmes and grants. The newly named Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope help to research long-standing astronomical mysteries, like the force behind the universe’s expansion and look for distant planets beyond our system.




6) Major Suman Gawani to be honoured with UN Military Gender Advocate Award

•Indian Army officer Major Suman Gawani is going to be awarded the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year 2019. This will be the first time that an Indian Peace Guard will be awarded this award. Major Suman was stationed in South Sudan under the United Nations Mission. Recently she has completed her mission. Gawani joined the Indian Army in 2011 where she graduated from the Officers Training Academy, then joined the Army Signal Corps. She hails from Pokhar village in Tehri Garwhal, Uttarakhand.

•The award is going to be presented to Major Suman Gawani and Brazilian military officer Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo during a web ceremony chaired by UN Secretary-General Guterres on May 29, the International Day of the United Nations Peacekeepers. These two women peacekeepers were described as “powerful role models” by the UN Chief Antonio Guterres.

•Major Suman Gawani is that the first Indian peacekeeper to win the award. She is a Military Observer, formerly deployed to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Military Supervisor Suman Gawani has recently completed a mission in South Sudan in addition to his tenure with UNMISS.

7) IBM scientist Rajiv Joshi wins NYIPLA Inventor of the year Award 2020

•Indian-American IBM scientist, Rajiv Joshi has bagged the prestigious NYIPLA “Inventor of the Year award” for the year 2020. This award is given for his contribution to advancing the electronic industry and improving artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

•Dr Joshi works at the IBM Thomson Watson Research Center in New York. This award is presented by the New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA). The inventor of the year is awarded every year to honour the contribution of an inventor towards society and the winner will be awarded $5,000.

8) LIC launches “PM Vaya Vandana Yojana” for senior citizens

•Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has announced the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana, which is a social security scheme for senior citizens. This plan starts from May 26 for three financial years up to March 31, 2023. LIC is solely authorised to work this scheme, which works as a Non-Linked, Non-Participating, Pension Scheme subsidised by the Centre.

•The policy term is of 10 years and for policies sold during the first financial year up to March 31, 2021, the scheme will provide an assured rate of return of 7.40 per cent once a year payable monthly (which is like 7.66 per cent per annum) for the whole duration of 10 years.

9) Army Commanders’ Conference begins in New Delhi

•The Army Commanders’ Conference has commenced in New Delhi. This is the first phase of the conference which has been scheduled from 27 to 29 May 2020. The Army Commanders’ Conference is an apex level biannual event that was earlier scheduled to be held in April 2020, but was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic. It was then planned to be conducted in two phases. The second phase of the conference will held in the last week of June 2020.

•In the first phase of Army Commanders’ Conference, the apex level leadership of Indian Army will deliberate on various aspects pertaining to operational and administrative issues including studies pertaining to logistics and human resources. During the conference they will also brainstorm on current emerging security as well as administrative challenges, and will also find out the future course for Indian Army.

10) PFC signs MoU with NBPCL to fund various projects in Madhya Pradesh

•Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the central PSU under Ministry of Power has signed an MoU with Narmada Basin Projects Company Ltd. (NBPCL), a wholly-owned company of Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, to fund various power projects to be executed in the State of Madhya Pradesh. The funds of worth Rs 22,000 crore will be deployed by NBPCL for setting up hydroelectric projects of 225 MW along with power components of 12 other major multipurpose projects to be executed in Madhya Pradesh.

•Some of the major multipurpose projects for which PFC has signed MoU with NBPCL includes Chinki Boras Multipurpose Project Narsinghpur Raisen Hoshangabad, Dudhi Project Chhindwara Hoshangabad, Basaniya Multipurpose Project Dindori, Sakkar Pench Link Narsinghpur Chhindwara etc.