ENGLISH NEWS - 20.09.2016

DAILY G.A UPDATE : 20-09-2016

In this competitive age, everyone needs to be updated with the current affairs. So, here is the important news for your upcoming exams like IBPS PO, IBPS CLERK, RRB and many more. 

1. British Indian MP takes charge of Conservative party group

Indian-origin British MP Shailesh Vara has been appointed co-chairman of the Conservative Friends of India group that aims to build better links between the diaspora and the party. 

The 56-year-old Gujarati-origin MP joins co-chair Indian- origin businessman Ranjit Singh Baxi in the group, which is affiliated to the UK's ruling Conservative Party. 

Vara's appointment follows the recent ministerial reshuffle under British Prime Minister Theresa May, when Indian-origin MP Alok Sharma, who had been the Conservative Friends of India (CF-India) co-chairman, was made Minister for Asia at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). 

Sharma is now working with UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson to build links with India following Brexit, CF-India said in a statement.

2. Anita Praveen gets additional charge of APEDA chairman

Anita Praveen, Joint Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, has been given the additional charge of Chairman of the agri-export promotion body Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). 

The additional charge has been given for a period of three months from July 22, 2016 or till such time the post is filled up on a regular basis, according to a government notification.

Praveen is a 1989 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. 

APEDA was established by the Government of India under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act passed by Parliament in December 1985. 

It is mandated with the responsibility of export promotion and development of food items such as fruits, vegetables and their products as well as meat, poultry and dairy products among others.

3. Railways launches Yatri Mitra Sewa for elderly, differently-abled

In a move to make rail travel comfortable for elderly, differently-abled and ailing travelers, Railways has launched 'Yatri Mitra Sewa' to facilitate access to wheelchairs, battery operated cars and porter services.

'Yatri Mitra' or 'Passenger Friend' can be a "Sahayak (assistant)" or any other person nominated for the purpose.

The service will be available at major railway stations across the country.

The service can be availed at the time of online booking of tickets, calling or messaging '139', accessing an app to be developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), or by simply dialling a dedicated mobile phone number to be activated for the purpose.

The IRCTC has been mandate to implement the service which may provide it 'free of cost' by involving some NGO, charitable trust, PSUs, etc under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) category.

But, if the service cannot be provided 'free of cost' due to lack of response, IRCTC may arrange this service on "reasonable and affordable" charges through a service provider or on its own.

Once the service is booked, the IRCTC will ensure the 'Yatri Mitra' receive the passenger at the entrance of the station and help in boarding the train safely.

The assistant will also be available at the coach when the passenger arrives at the designated railway station.

4. Union HRD Minister, Shri Praksh Javadekar launched PARAM-ISHAN supercomputer at IIT, Guwahati 

Union Human Resource Development Minister Shri Praksh Javadekar launched PARAM-ISHAN supercomputing facility at IIT, Guwahati. PARAM-ISHAN have power of 250 Teraflops and three hundred tera bites capacity. 

PARAM-ISHAN can be used in the application areas like Computational Chemistry, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Computational Electromagnetic, Civil Engineering Structures, Nana-block Self Assemble, Optimization etc. North East India receives heavy rainfall during monsoon, which leads to flooding and landslides. PARAM-ISHAN can be used for Weather, climate modeling and seismic data processing.

5. 2 Indians, 1 Indian-American among 17 UN Young Leaders

Two Indians and an Indian- American are among 17 people selected for the inaugural class of UN Young Leaders for Sustainable Development Goals for their leadership and contribution to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030.

Trisha Shetty, 25, is the founder and CEO of SheSays, a platform she launched last year to educate, rehabilitate and empower women to take direct action against sexual assault in India.

Ankit Kawatra, 24 founded Feeding India in 2014 to address the issues of hunger and food waste, particularly by distributing excess food from weddings and parties to the needy.

Indian-American Karan Jerath, 19, invented a ground- breaking, subsea wellhead capping device that contains oil spills at the source as a solution in the aftermath of the BP deepwater horizon oil spill - the largest marine oilspill in US history, near his home in Texas.

6. Shubha Mudgal to get LalitArpan Samman

Hindustani classical singer Shubha Mudgal will be honoured with the annual LalitArpan Samman this year.

Mudgal, a Padma Shri recipient, was born in Allahabad and is known for her singing in genres of Khayal, Thumri and Dadra. She has also given her voice to many popular Indie-pop numbers.

The 15th edition of LalitArpan festival will also acknowledge artist couple Paramjit and Arpita Singh.

The two-day festival, dedicated to the "Nayikas of Vidyapati"- a Maithili poet and a Sanskrit writer, will witness dance performances by esteemed dancers like Padma awardees Shovana Narayan, Madhavi Mudgal, Jaya Ram Rao and Vanashri Rao among others.

"The award is given to those artists who have consistently worked on promoting classic art in different forms. We have been honouring artists including the several upcoming ones since past five years," said Narayan, who is also one of the organisers of the event.

This year’s festival is dedicated to dance. It will present six classical dance styles -- Kathak, Odissi, Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam with performances by eight Padma awardees.

Last year, the LalitArpan Samman was conferred upon literary figure Namwar Singh, painter Krishen Khanna, photographer Raghu Rai and Bharatanatyam dancer Yamini Krishnamurthy. 

7. India successfully test-fired Barak-8 missile 

India successfully test-fired a new medium-range surface-to-air missile Barak-8 from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, on the Odisha coast.

The long range missile, a product of a joint venture between India and Israel, was test launched from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur, a DRDO official said.