By: D.K Choudhary
Gujarat Technological University Sets Up Centre Of Excellence In Automation Technologies
i. India’s first Centre of Excellence in Automation Technology was inaugurated by the Gujarat Technological University at its campus at Vishwakarma Government Engineering College in Ahmedabad on February 3, 2017.
ii. The center has been funded by a German technology major, Bosch Rexroth. The excellence centre has four laboratories including Pneumatic Lab, Hydraulic Lab, PLC Lab, Robotic & Mechatronics Lab and Sensor Lab.
iii. The centre was inaugurated by Bosch Rexroth managing director, Hans Bangert jointly by the Gujarat government’s minister of state for higher and technical education, Jayadrathsinh Parmar.
iv. The centre aims to enhance the research and knowledge base of both students and faculties. It will work to improve the technical competence, entrepreneurship and employability of Under Graduate & Post Graduate students who are being trained at the centre.
v. It also seeks to encourage the students to pursue PG and doctoral programs. GTU has further planned to set up a few centers of excellence in Automation, Automobile, Mobile Hydraulic and Mobile Electronics Technologies with the help of BRIN.
President opens Rashtrapati Bhavan’s annual ‘Udyanotsav’
President Pranab Mukherjee opened the annual ‘Udyanotsav‘ of the Rashtrapati Bhavan on February 4, 2017.
♦ The Mughal Gardens will remain open for general public from February 4, 2017 to March 12, 2017
Highlights:
i. The two varieties of roses named ‘President Pranab‘ and ‘Suvra Mukherjee‘ were developed by Pranabir Kumar Maity and Ashok Kumar Maity of Pushpanjali Rose Nursery at Jakpur, West Bengal.
ii. Vertical Gardens and Air Purifying Plants which absorb toxins from polluted air.
iii. Exhibition Stalls set up near the Spiritual Garden displaying produce of fresh vegetables and fruits grown in the President’s Estate Organic Farm.
Kiren Rijiju Inaugurates Programme on ‘Inner Strength and D isaster Resilience’
i. Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs inaugurated the programme on ‘Inner Strength and Disaster Resilience’ on February 3, 2017 in New Delhi. The programme was organised by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
ii. The Minister stressed NDRF force to focus on mental fitness along with physical fitness.
iii .NDRF is India’s professional emergency force to tackle disaster. It has become one of the dedicated forces in the country both in India and abroad.
iv .NDRF has so far saved more than 5 million lives. Besides, it also educates people on how to tackle disasters. Over 47 lakh people have been trained as of now.
Centre Forms Six-Member Committee to Look into Haj Subsidy Issue
i. A six-member committee has been formed by the government to look into the matter of how to improve the Haj Poilcy of India and also deal with the issue of reducing and abolishing the subsidy to the pilgrims.
ii. Former Consulate General of India (CGI), Jeddah, Afzal Amanullah will be the head of the committee. Besides, Ministry Joint Secretary J Alam will serve as member secretary.
iii. Other in the committee includes, Bombay High Court judge (retd) SS Parkar, ex-Haj Committee of India chairman Qaiser Shamim, former Air India CMD Michael Mascarenhas , Muslim scholar-chartered accountant Kamal Faruqui.
iv .In 2012, the Supreme Court had the Union government to gradually reduce and abolish Haj subsidy by 2022.
v. The apex court directed the government to invest the subsidy amount of approximately Rs 650 crore a year on educational and social development of the community.
vi. The committee will review the effectiveness of the management of pilgrims’ accommodation and air travel by the Haj Committee of India. Besides, the committee will figure out whether the pilgrims can travel to Saudi Arabia paying less in the absence of the subsidy.
Bihar Introduces Third Gender Category in Board Exams
i. The Bihar government has introduced the transgender as a third category to opt for and appear in the Board exams conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB).
ii. It is for the first time that the Board will conduct the exams for the transgender category in 2017 after it was recognized by Supreme Court in 2014.
iii. According to the Board officials, total 18 students have been enrolled this year to appear in the exam. It includes 10 students of Class 12 students and 8 students Class 10.
iv. Prior to this, only two categories were recognized as valid, male and female, and the transgender were not allowed to appear in the examinations. However, from 2017 online examination forms have been introduced with provision for the third gender.The move aims to provide equal opportunity to all students.
SC asked the Centre to Prepare plan for eradication of leprosy
i. The Supreme Court bench consists of Chief Justice J S Khehar and justices N V Ramana and D Y Chandrachud instruct the centre to prepare a policy for the eradication of leprosy within four weeks on February 3, 2017
ii. It has sought a direction to the governments that drugs be made available at primary health centres and health scheme should be formulated to bring people suffering from leprosy into the national mainstream.
iii. Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are leprosy endemic states and efforts are being made to eradicate the disease said by Standing counsel Bala Subramanium who is appearing for the Centre
iv. He also said an online programme is being launched to detect the patients and their treatment.
What is Leprosy ?
♦ Leprosy or Hansen’s disease (HD) is an infectious disease that causes severe, disfiguring skin sores and nerve damage in the arms and legs.
♦ It is is a long-term infection by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis
