Daily Current Affairs, 19th September 2019

1) Home Minister chair the meeting of Northern Zonal Council in Chandigarh

•Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the 29th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council. The grouping comprises states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan besides union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar is the vice-chairman and host of the meeting.

•The zonal councils discuss a broad range of issues, including boundary disputes, security, infrastructure-related matters such as roads, transport, industries, water and power besides matters pertaining to forests and environment, housing, education, food security, tourism and transport. Five zonal councils were set up in 1957 under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. The Union home minister is the chairman of each of these five councils.

2) Rajnath Singh becomes 1st Defence Minister to fly in LCA Tejas

•Defence Minister Rajnath Singh becomes the first defence minister to fly in the indigenously-built light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas. He flew in the Tejas fighter aircraft from the HAL airport in Bengaluru.

•Defence Minister was accompanied by Air Vice Marshal N Tiwari, who is also the Project Director, National Flight Test Centre, ADA (Aeronautical Development Agency) in Bengaluru.

3) Indian diaspora largest in the world at 17.5 million: UN Report

The International Migrant Stock 2019 was released by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). The report provides the latest estimates of the number of international migrants by age, sex and origin for all countries and areas of the world.

As per the report, India was the leading country of origin of international migrants in 2019 with a 17.5 million strong diaspora.

Some important findings of the report:

•The top 10 countries of origin account for one-third of all international migrants. India is the leading country of origin of international migrants with 17.5 million persons living abroad. Migrants from Mexico constituted the second largest diaspora (11.8 million), followed by China (10.7 million).
•Europe hosted the largest number of international migrants (82 million), followed by Northern America (59 million) and Northern Africa and Western Asia (49 million). India hosted 5.1 million international migrants in 2019.
•Among the international migrants in India, the female population was 48.8% and the median age of international migrants was 47.1 years.
•In India, the highest number of international migrants came from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.
•In terms of age, one out of every seven international migrants is below the age of 20 years.

4) India Post expands speed post service to 6 new foreign countries

•India Post expanded speed post service to six new foreign destinations in Asia, Europe and South America. The Department of Posts has announced commencing of International Speed Post (EMS) Service to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Lithuania and North Macedonia.

•EMS or Express Mail Service is a premium service that enables its users to send documents and merchandise faster and with the added facility of being able to track the movement of the item on the internet. This facility is expected to augment people to people contact with these countries and foster trade as EMS is a popular channel for small and medium enterprises. The EMS service to these countries will henceforth be available at major Post offices across India.

5) International Workshop for National Water Museum

•The Jal Shakti Ministry is planning to develop a National Water Museum to increase awareness among people on the conservation of the natural resource. The Jal Shakti Ministry is also organising an International Workshop which will be attended by experts from India and abroad. The outcome of the workshop will be a blueprint for establishing the proposed National Water Museum under the aegis of Jal Shakti Ministry.

•During the workshop, possible broad composition, the content of the museum including highlighting importance of water and its current state in different regions of the country, possible solutions, traditional and modern water management practices and localised success stories are proposed to be discussed.

6) GoI inaugurates 15 power projects in Jammu & Kashmir

•Union Minister of State for Power RK Singh and Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik have jointly inaugurated 15 power projects. They also laid the foundation stone for 20 other different Centrally-sponsored schemes in Srinagar.

•Under a scheme, 1 lakh LED (light-emitting diode) street lights will be installed in Srinagar city, saving ₹29 crores annually to the Srinagar Municipal Corporation. The government is working to ensure 24 hours electricity supply to all the citizens of the country, including in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh region.

7) Robert O’Brien becomes National Security Adviser of US

•Robert O’Brien has been appointed as the National Security Adviser of United States of America. Robert O’Brien will replace John Bolton as the NSA of US.

•Robert O’Brien has had a long career in foreign policy working for both main US parties and currently heading the hostage negotiations at the State Department.

8) Vinesh Phogat wins bronze medal in Wrestling World Championships

•Vinesh Phogat won the bronze medal at the Wrestling World Championships held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. She defeated Maria Prevolaraki of Greece in the 53 kg freestyle event.

•Vinesh Phogat has also won India an Olympic quota in the 53 kg freestyle event of Tokyo Olympics.

9) Beijing 2022: Paralympic and Olympic mascots unveiled

•A smiling panda and a walking Chinese lantern will be the mascots for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing, China. The mascots were revealed at a ceremony at the Shougang Ice Hockey Arena in the Chinese capital. The mascot, named Bing Dwen Dwen, is a chubby giant panda wearing a suit of ice was revealed as the official mascot for Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. Chinese lantern Shuey Rhon Rhon was declared as the official mascot for Winter Paralympics 2022.