Current Affairs

India and Switzerland have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish formal cooperation in the fields of skill development and vocational and professional education and training. The MoU was signed in Winterthur city in Zurich between State Secretary Mauro Dell’ Ambrogio and Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Hydrography – the key to well-managed seas and waterways The World Hydrography Day is observed every year on June 21 to create awareness about hydrography which is an essential science before undertaking any activity on or under the sea. The 2016 theme is “Hydrography – the key to well-managed seas and waterways”.

Ken Miyauchi has been appointed as the new President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group. He succeeded Nikesh Arora.

Mahasthangarh, the 3rd century BC archaeological site in Bogra, Bangladesh, has been declared as the SARRC cultural capital for 2016-17. The historic place will host festivals on literature, films, foods and dances from October 2016 to September 2017. Every year, an archeologically and culturally rich city of one of the 8- South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries is declared the cultural capital for that year to create a bridge among the people of those countries. Bamiyan, a historic city of Afghanistan, is the current SAARC cultural capital for 2015-16. 

March 2017 

The Union Government has extended the timeline for states to join Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme by a year to March 2017. The move would help states which could not enroll in or operationalise the scheme due to various reasons such as elections and regulatory approvals. Earlier, states were required to join the scheme last fiscal and issue bonds to pay off discoms’ 50 % debt in 2015-16. The main purpose of UDAY scheme is to get these discoms out of the vicious circle of debt and enable them to purchase power to increase consumption in the country.