Current Affairs November 19-20, 2018
In this post, GKToday presents Current Affairs of November 19-20, 2018 in Short Notes form for preparation of IBPS, Banking, CLAT, SSC, Railway, UPSC, IAS/PCS, UPPSC, BPSC, MPPSC, RPSC, TNPSC, MPSC, KPSC and all other competitive examinations of India.
1. On November 19, the 8th National Conference of Women in Police (NCWP) has started in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The two-day conference is being organised by the Bureau of Police Research and Development in collaboration with Jharkhand Police. It is the only national level platform to address the issues of Women in uniform and create an enabling atmosphere for them to maximize and optimize their professional potential. Eminent speakers such as Justice Gyansudha Mishra (Former Judge of Supreme Court) and Rekha Sharma (Chairperson of National Women Commission) would be deliberating / participating during the conference. In addition to them, many other experts would be deliberating during the conference.
2. The Maharashtra government has recently cleared reservation to the Maratha community under a new category called 'Socially and Educationally Backward Class' (SEBC) in educational institutes & jobs. Hence, the Marathas will get reservation from an independent quota and this will not affect the reservations given to the Other Backward Class (OBC). As per report of State Backward Class Commission, the SEBC category can be extended benefits of reservation under Articles 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution, and in view of such extra-ordinary and exceptional condition, the state government is liable to take action. At present, the total reservation in Maharashtra is 52% — 13% for SCs, 7% for STs, 19% for OBC, 2% for Special Backward Classes (SBCs), 3% for Vimukta Jati, 2.5% for Nomadic Tribe-B, 3.5% for Nomadic Tribe-C (Dhangar) and 2% for Nomadic Tribe-D (Vanjari). The politically dominant Maratha community constitutes over 30% of the state's population.
3. On 18th of November 2018, the Ministry of Ayush celebrated its first Naturopathy Day across the country with the aim of promoting the drug-less system of medicine to prevent diseases by altering the diet and lifestyle. The Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy organised health camps, workshops and exhibitions in association with local naturopathy centres and hospitals. More than 1,000 Naturopathy specialist doctors from all over the country participated in the event, which was organised by International Naturopathy Organisation (INO) in association with Ministry of Ayush.
4. The Government of India (GoI) has appointed UIDAI CEO & GSTN Chairman Ajay Bhushan Pandey as new Secretary of Revenue in place of Hasmukh Adhia, who is set to superannuate on November 30. Pandey, who is 1984 batch Maharashtra-cadre IAS officer will continue to hold additional charge of CEO of UIDAI and also Chairman of GST Network. Interestingly, the government also appointed Sanjay Kumar Mishra, a 1984 batch IRS Officer, as Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) for two years. Similarly, Gujarat cadre IAS Girish Chandra Murmu will be new Secretary of Expenditure and will take over from AN Jha who will superannuate in January 2019.
5. Dr. Saroj Suman Gulati, Director of Blue Bells Group of Schools, has been conferred with the coveted Global Education Leaders Award 2018 for her ‘exemplary contribution to K-12 education & promotion of Art & Culture’ during the 2nd India-UAE Partnership Summit-2018 at The Atlantis, Dubai. Dr. Gulati was among the 9 eminent education leaders from India who were awarded for their exemplary contribution in various spheres of education and social development. Other award winners are: Dr. Atul Chauhan, MME Grace Pinto, Dr. M.K. Madan, Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Dilip Thakore, J.C. Chaudhry, Prateek Bhargava and Prof. Samit Ray. The two day summit was attended by over 400 Delegates from India & UAE comprising of prominent Education Leaders, Chancellor's & Vice Chancellors, Academicians, Schools Principals, Entrepreneurs and Ed Tech Startups.
6. ‘The Third Wife’, directed by Vietnamese director Ash Mayfair, movies has won the Best Film award at the 24th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF-2018). Mayfair and her compatriot producer Tran Thi Bich Ngoc collected the 'Royal Bengal Tiger' trophy and Rs 51 lakh cheque. Similarly, Egyptian director Abu Bakr Shawky won the Best Director award for his film 'Judgement Day' (Yomeddine). In Indian Language category, Indian director Praveen Morchhale’s film ‘Widow of Silence’ grabbed the Hiralal Sen Memorial Award for Best Film and Arijit Biswas won the Best Director award for his film Surjo Prithibir Chardike Ghore (Sun goes round the Earth).
7. The World Toilet Day (WTD) is observed every year on 19th of November to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. The 2018 theme is “When Nature Calls”. Hence, this year’s campaign is based on the narrative: When nature calls, we need a toilet. But, billions of people don’t have one. This means human faeces, on a massive scale, are not being captured or treated - contaminating the water and soil that sustain human life. We are turning our environment into an open sewer. We must build toilets and sanitation systems that work in harmony with ecosystems. Therefore, the Nature-based sanitation solutions (NBS) harness the power of ecosystems to help treat human waste before it returns to the environment. Most NBS essentially involve the protection and management of vegetation, soils and/or wetlands, including rivers and lakes.
8. After Maharashtra and Gujarat, Punjab has become the India’s third state to legally ban hookah bars or lounges. The ban was announced through a law after President Ram Nath Kovind gave assent to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018 recently. The purpose of bringing the law is to check the use of tobacco in various forms and prevent diseases caused by the use of the tobacco products. As per available data, an hour's average of hookah includes 20-200 puffs, delivering 50 litres of smoke contain, hazardous and carcinogenic chemicals. The smoking of hookah increases health risks includes exposure to toxic chemicals that are not filtered out by the water, and also the risk of infectious disease like tuberculosis resulting from sharing a hookah.
9. The 10th edition of joint military exercise between Indian and Russia “INDRA 2018” on combating insurgency has started at Babina Field Firing Ranges in Babina Military Station, Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh) from 18th November 2018. The purpose of the exercise is to practice joint planning and conduct to enhance interoperability of the two Armies in the peace keeping/ enforcement environment under the aegis of the United Nations (UN). It focuses upon training on enhancing team building, special tactical level operations such as Cordon and Search, house intervention, handling and neutralisation of Improvised Explosive Devices and integrated employment of force multipliers. The primary focus of the tactical field exercise is to share best practices amongst the militaries and hone existing skills of the troops in the backdrop of interoperability between the two Armies in the peace keeping/ enforcement environment.
10. In Haryana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently laid foundation of India's first Sri Vishwakarma Skill Development University at village Dudhola in Palwal district via remote control . The University would impart skill training to the youth and encourage them to be self employed. It’s campus would be developed over 82.7 acres at a sum of over Rs 1,000 crore. PM Modi also inaugurated the Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE), which is popularly known as Kundali-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway. The six-lane KMP expressway is expected to reduce traffic congestion and pollution in Delhi. It will act as a ring road around Delhi and also could reduce heavy vehicle traffic by diverting up to 50,000 commercial vehicles away from Delhi. KMP will connect National Highway-1 (towards Panipat), near Kundli, with National Highway -10 (Rohtak Road, near Bahadurgarh), NH-8 (Jaipur expressway at Manesar), and NH-2 (Delhi-Agra highway near Palwal).
