Daily Current Affairs, 13th September 2018

1) PM Modi Announces Launch Of ‘Swachhata Hi Seva Movement’

•To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of 'Swachhata Hi Seva Movement'. 

•The mission, which also celebrates the fourth anniversary of the Swaccha Bharat Mission will take place across the length and breadth of the country and will continue till Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary on October 2. The initiative will see people from all walks of life taking part in various cleanliness drives across the length and breadth of the country. 

2) Cabinet Approves New Umbrella Scheme 'Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan'

•The Union Cabinet approved new Umbrella Scheme 'Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan, PM-AASHA. The Scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018 the announcement was made by the Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh in New Delhi. The Cabinet has decided to give additional government guarantee of Rs.16,550 crore making it Rs. 45,550 crore in total.

•The new Umbrella Scheme includes the mechanism of ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers and is comprised of: 
1. Price Support Scheme (PSS), 
2. Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS), and 
3. Pilot of Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme (PPPS). 

3) 1st Ever Secondary Steel Sector Awards For Contribution To National Economy

•Ministry of Steel gave away Secondary Steel sector awards, for the first time, to 26 mini steel companies in recognition of their contribution to the national economy. The awards were given by Union Minister of Steel, Chaudhary Birender Singh, at a function in New Delhi. Twelve companies were awarded Gold Certificates and 14 Silver Certificates for their performance during 2016-17. 

4) Government Approves 100% Electrification Of Railways By 2021-22

•The Union cabinet approved a proposal for the complete electrification of Indian Railways by 2021-22, reducing dependence on imported fossil fuel and saving revenue for the national carrier. The move will cost the government Rs12,134 crore. The announcement was made by the Railways Minister, Mr Piyush Goyal.

•Besides, complete electrification of broad gauge routes will have a significant impact on safety, capacity and speed. Indian Railways is one of the largest rail networks in the world with 67,368km of tracks and 22,550 trains that carry 22.24 million passengers and 3.04 million tonnes of freight every day. 

5) Sushma Swaraj Embarks On A Two-Day Visit To Moscow

•External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj left for a two-day visit to Moscow, Russia. During this visit, she will attend the meeting of 23rd India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Technical and Economic Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC). 

•It will be co-chaired by Swaraj and Yuri Borisov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. IRIGC-TEC is a standing body which annually meets and reviews ongoing activities of bilateral cooperation in the fields of investment, bilateral trade and, science and technology, culture and other issues of mutual interest.

6) India, Iran And Afghanistan Hold Tripartite Meeting To Consolidate Cooperation

•India, Iran and Afghanistan held their first tripartite meeting in Kabul, Afghanistan during which implementation of the Chabahar port project and a host of other issues including ways to deepen counter-terror cooperation were discussed. 

•The Indian delegation was led by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale while the Iranian team was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Afghan deputy foreign minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai chaired the meeting. 

7) Hunger Reached ‘Alarming’ 10-Year High In 2017: UN Report

•As per a UN report on the ‘state of food security and nutrition in the world’, the number of undernourished globally increased to 821 million in 2017, which means that one in every nine people, does not have enough to eat. Regarding adult obesity, the report highlights that the situation is also getting worse. More than one in eight adults in the world is now endangering their health from being overweight; or more than 672 million. 

•It was published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Food Programme (WFP), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The increase is mostly due to three drivers across the world: 
1. the intensification of conflict, 
2. an economic downturn, and 
3. the effects of climate change. 

8) BSNL, Unlimit Ink Partnership For IoT/M2M Services In India

•Unlimit, end-to-end IoT service provider in India announced its partnership with State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to offer comprehensive Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and services to the enterprise customers across India.

•The partnership between Unlimit and BSNL will leverage seamless wireless network footprint pan India to provide its solutions and services across industries. The solutions and services include managed connectivity, application enabling platform and device management, and advance analytics to customers across industries.