Important Current Affairs 4th September, 2015

1. SAARC countries’ conference on Disaster Mitigation begins in New Delhi

i. Disaster Mitigation conference of member counties of South Asian Association on Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has begun in New Delhi on 3 September 2015.

ii. The two day conference seeks to chalk out and undertake various joint efforts on various issues related to disaster mapping and mitigation in the member nations.

iii. The conference is being held by keeping in mind the prevalent geo-climatic conditions as well as increased frequency of natural disaster and calamities in the SAARC region.

iv. It is also being held in the wake of the recent Nepal earthquake (April 2015).
v. It calls for enhanced levels of preparedness and risk resilience amongst member countries.

vi. It also seeks collaborative action amongst member countries to deal jointly and individually in disaster situations and ensure minimal loss of lives and property.

A few facts about South Asian Annual Disaster Management Exercise (SAADMEx)

* India has taken the lead to begin SAADMEx, a simulation exercises on disaster management in the region. In this regard, India has requested all SAARC countries to participate in this exercise.

* SAADMEx aims at augmenting current levels of individual and joint preparedness of member countries in the rescue, relief and response operations during disaster situations.

* The exercise will be conducted in two phases. 

* First phase is the current coordination conference which will discuss the requirements and modalities of the main exercise. 

* Second phase will cover the main exercise which will be held from November 23-26, 2015 in New Delhi. Three components of second phase of SAADMEx are Table Top Exercise (TTx) Field Training Exercise (FTx) and After Action Review (AAR).

2. RBI to issue Rs 5 coin on golden jubilee of 1965 Indo-Pak war

i. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to issue coins of 5 rupees denomination to commemorate golden jubilee year of Indo-Pak War 1965.

ii. These coins will be issued under in The Coinage Act, 2011 and will be considered as legal a tender.

iii. Obverse side: It will bear Lion Capital of Ashoka Pillar in the centre and Satyamev Jayate will be inscribed below it.
iv. Reverse side: In the centre it will bear image of ‘Amar Jawan’ monument along with the design of olive leaves branch on its left and right sides. The year 2015 will be written below the image of the monument.

v. It will bear inscription ‘VALOUR AND SACRIFICE’ in English on the right upper periphery and ‘Veerata Aur Balidan’ in Devnagri script on the left upper periphery.

vi. GOLDEN JUBILEE 1965 OPERATIONS in English will be inscribed on the lower periphery on the reverse side of coin.

3. Haryana Government wins Skoch Order-of-Merit National award for implementing e-governance, IT

i. Haryana Government has won the Skoch Order-of-Merit national award  for implementing 6 e-Governance and IT initiatives in the state.

ii. It was announced by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in the state Assembly on the second day of the monsoon session. The award will be presented to the state government on 22-23 September, 2015.

iii. Haryana Government has notified 163 e-Governance services which would be delivered to the citizens at their doorsteps with a view to provide time-bound and hassle-free services.
iv. Skoch Order-of-Merit national award Bestowed upon top performing government organisations and private organisations working with the government. Given by Skoch Consultancy Services Private Limited, a strategy and management consulting firm founded in 1997.

v. Recognises the best practices and governance models that aim for excellent and efficient implementation of programmes and services delivery. It recognises the best practices of local, state and national level government organisations in the area of Health, Education, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Urban Development, Finance and Security.

4. Punjab Government establishes Special MGNREGA cell

i. Punjab Government has established a special MGNREGA cell to coordinate effective implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the state.

ii. It has been established by Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Department at Chandigarh with an outlay of 233 crore rupees.

iii. This cell will monitor implementation of Union Government’s flagship 100 days employment guarantee scheme of MGNREGA.
iv. It will also monitor the wage rate under MGNREGA which has been fixed by Union Government on the basis of consumer Price Index- Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL) which is implemented on 1st April every year and will be applicable for whole financial year.

v. It should be noted that all the districts of Punjab are being covered under MGNREGA with effect from 1st April, 2008. The recent wage rate has been revised from 202 rupees to 210 rupees with effect from 1st April 2015. The wages will be directly transferred by state government in the bank accounts of the beneficiaries from 15th September 2015.

5. India, Australia agree to deepen bilateral Defence Partnership

i. India and Australia have agreed to deepen their bilateral defence partnership based on their shared strategic interests by setting up of a joint working group on defence research and material cooperation.

ii. This decision was taken after the delegation-level talks between Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his visiting Australian counterpart Kevin Andrews in New Delhi.

iii. Focus on maritime security ties in the Indian Ocean region and acknowledged the importance of freedom of maritime navigation.

iv. First-ever bilateral Maritime exercise AUSINDEX between both countries is scheduled to be held in September 2015.
v. Agreed that maritime security should remain a key component of the bilateral defence relationship between both countries.

vi. India will take part in the first ever air exercise with Australia.

vii. Implement the action plan outlined in the Framework for Security Cooperation (FSC) which was agreed by Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and his counterpart Tony Abbott in November 2014.

6. ONGC buys 15% stake in Russia’s 2nd-largest oil field from Rosneft

i. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has bought a 15 per cent stake in Russia’s second-largest oil field Vankor from Rosneft for about 1.35 billion US dollars.

ii. In this regard, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) the overseas investment arm of ONGC has signed agreements to buy 15 per cent stake in the Vankor oil field located in East Siberia.

iii. The agreement to buy stake in Vankor was signed by the OVL Managing Director Narendra Verma and Chairman of Rosneft Management Board Igor Sechin in Vladivostok.

iv. OVL will get two seats on the Board of Directors of Vankor, a subsidiary of Rosneft that operates the Vankor field.
v. The 15 per cent stake Vankor oil field will give OVL about 3.5 million metric tonnes of oil a year of its total 2.5 billion recoverable reserves barrels (or 500 million tonnes). Rosneft will retain full control of infrastructure of the Vankor cluster.

vi. Rosneft will retain full control of infrastructure of the Vankor cluster. Presently, Rosneft (Russian national oil company) holds 100 per cent stake in Vankor which started production in 2009. With this stake acquisition Rosneft, stake will come down to 85 per cent.

7. Union Government cancels registration of Greenpeace India

i. Union Government has cancelled licence of Greenpeace India, a non-profit Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) to receive foreign donations.

ii. The license was cancelled by Union Ministry of Home Affairs as per under Section 13 of Foreign Contribution Regulations Act (FCRA), 2011. Henceforth, Greenpeace India will be not able to receive any kind of foreign donations from its international network.

iii. Earlier in April 2015, MHA had suspended the license of Greenpeace India for six months for mixing foreign and domestic funds and not disclosing the movement of its funds.
iv. Greenpeace India had filed a petition challenging this suspension in the Delhi High Court. The court had allowed the NGO to use two of its accounts for the purpose of receiving and utilising fresh domestic donations for its day-to-day functioning.

v. Greenpeace India is the subsidiary of the global environmental group Greenpeace, a non-profit NGO. Greenpeace has its presence in 40 countries across the world including in Europe, America, Asia and Pacific. Its operations in India run mainly in four broad campaigns viz. stop climate change, preserving the oceans, sustainable agriculture and preventing another nuclear catastrophe.