Current Affairs 12th September 2018

Current Affairs 12th September 2018 - Important Points

• Three projects inaugurated jointly by India and - Bangladesh
• Haryana Government inks MoU with IOC to stop straw burning by - Ethanol plant
• United States announces closure of Palestinian mission in Washington by - 10th September 2018
• India, Mongolia joint exercise held in Ulaanbaatar in - Nomadic Elephant 2018
• Haryana Assembly passes two Bills to rename universities on - 11th September 2018
• RBI intervenes as rupee hit 72.5 against  - US dollar

Current Affairs 12th September 2018 - Details

Three projects inaugurated jointly by India and - Bangladesh

India, Bangladesh jointly inducted 3 projects associated to power supply rehabilitation of present railway section. These projects were jointly initiated by PM Narendra Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina via video conference.
Main Projects
1. Rehabilitation of Kulaura-Shahbazpur section of Bangladesh Railways: Under this project, bridge and
bridge structure was built, station with platform and shed along with reorganization of level crossing and railway line were also constructed. Mainline of 44.77 kilometres and loop line of 7.77 kilometres were also refurbished.
2. 500 MW additional power supply from India to Bangladesh: It will be relocated through present
Bheramara-Baharampur interconnection. With the accomplishment of this project, India will be
providing approximately 1.16 GW of power to Bangladesh. This project declared during his Prime
Minister Modi’s visit to Bangladesh in 2015.
Akhaura–Agartala Rail Link: This railway project was hypothesized in 2010. Far ahead, both the nations
had inked Memorandum of Understanding on this railway project in 2013. It is supposed that railway line will become operational in 2019. The railway project consists of building 15.054 kilometres long railway line. It will provide another relationship in the cross-border connectivity between the both nations by connecting Akhaura in Bangladesh with Agartala via Nischintapur in Indo-Bangla border. It will assist to develop socio-economic and cultural tie between both neighbouring nations.

United States announces closure of Palestinian mission in Washington by - 10th September 2018

The USA declared the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's mission in Washington DC, on
September 10th, 2018.
Explaining the initiative, the United States state department informed that the Palestine Liberation Organisation leaders had failed to participate with United States efforts to carry about peace with Israel and endeavoured to prompt an investigation of Israel by the International Criminal Court. 
The initiative is the latest in a series of measures by the Trump administration against the Palestinian leadership.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation, the internationally-recognised demonstrative of the Palestinian people, unbolted the mission in 1994.
Crucial Reasons

• The USA State Department informed that the PLO office was unsuccessful to take steps to advance the twitch of direct and meaningful discussions with Israel.
• The PLO leadership has convicted a United States peace plan they have not yet seen and declined to engage with the United States government with respect to peace efforts and otherwise.
• The department further held responsible the Palestinians for being reluctant to negotiate.
  Palestinian Reaction
• Palestinian leaders labelled the United States passage of closing the Palestinian mission in Washington as a war announcement on peace efforts by the President Donald Trump administration. 
• Palestine Liberation Organisation Secretary-General Saeb Erekat named the decision as a dangerous escalation. He added that this is yet another confirmation of the Trump administration policy to jointly punish the Palestinian people.
• The Palestinian Authority informed that the initiative would permit Israel to continue their policies against the Palestinian people and land.

India, Mongolia joint exercise held in Ulaanbaatar in - Nomadic Elephant 2018

India, Mongolia’s joint exercise Nomadic Elephant 2018 inaugurated at Mongolian Armed Forces Five
Hills Training Area in Ulaanbaatar which is the capital of Mongolia. Nomadic Elephant is a yearly bilateral military exercise initiated in 2006. It is fabricated to fortify partnership between Indian Army and Mongolian Armed Forces.
More about Nomadic Elephant 2018

• Present year, it is 13th edition of exercise focused at evolving mutual understanding and respect
  between armies of both the nations and simplify in attempting the world-wide phenomenon of terrorism.
• The twelve days long joint exercise will be directed from 10-21st September 2018.
• This exercise will look forward to advance tactical and technical skills in joint counter rebellion and
  counter terrorist activities in rural and urban scenario between two nations under UN mandate.
• Indian contingent is represented by contingent of 17 PUNJAB Regiment while Mongolian contingent is denoted by Unit 084 of Mongolian Armed Forces.
• During the workout, armies of two nations will jointly train, plan and perform series of well-developed strategic drills for neutralisation of possible threats that may come across in urban warfare scenario.

Haryana Government inks MoU with IOC to stop straw burning by - Ethanol plant

Government of Haryana has inked MoU with Indian Oil Corporation to build ethanol plant at Bohali village in Panipat district with an outlay of more than Rs. 900 crores. The Memorandum of Understanding will be effective for 1 year. This plant will inspire farmers in its 50 kilometres area to
manage crop remainder and prevent straw burning and thus, help to fulfil raising requirement of ethanol and also bio-fuels for clients of petroleum product.
Important Facts

• The planned capacity of this ethanol plant will be of producing 100 kilolitres of ethanol/day. It will assist to accomplish crop residue and prevent straw burning before upcoming paddy season.
• Ten cooperative and 3 private sugar mills in the state will deliver raw fuel to this plant.
•  There will be regular supply of raw material to this plant as paddy crop remainder will be provided as raw material after end of paddy season in October and November and after that sugarcane crop remainder will be delivered in cyclic method.
  More about Bioethanol
• It is an alcohol derivative by procedure of fermentation typically from carbohydrates of agricultural
  remainder and feedstocks. It acts as a quasi-renewable energy, which can be easily combined with
  petrol/diesel, thus making it supportable transport fuel.
• Its long-term use will aid to decrease emissions and dependency on trade-in fossil fuel. It will profit farmers economically, as they will be paid for their agro-based produce to abstract bio-ethanol.
• It would also benefit in avoiding loss of fertility of soil and harm to environment by decreasing air pollution caused by burning of waste agro-based produce.

BARC’s Apsara Reactor recommissioned after 9 years

India’s oldest research reactor Apsara which earlier was power failure enduringly in 2009 for repair, was recommissioned with a much higher capacity on September 10th, 2018 at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay. The renovated version of the reactor is termed as ‘Apsara-upgraded’ or Apsara-U.
More about Apsara-U research reactor

• This swimming pool kind off research reactor with much advanced capacity comes under renovation approximately 62 years after Apsara came into presence.
• The reactor is developed in India, which utilises plate type dispersion fuel elements made of Low Enriched Uranium.
• This reactor will upsurge indigenous production or radio-isotopes for medical application by approximately 50%.
• It would also be widely utilised for research in nuclear physics, material science and radiation shielding.
• The progress re-emphasises the capability of Indian scientists and Engineers to develop complex provisions for healthcare, scientific education and research.

Haryana Assembly passes two Bills to rename universities on - 11th September 2018

On September 11, 2018, the Haryana Assembly approved 2 Bills in their present assembly session.
They are-
1.YMCA University of Science and Technology, Faridabad (Amendment) Bills, 2018
2.The Haryana Vishwakarma Skill University (Amendment) Bills, 2018.
The 1st bill was named again as YMCA University to the JC Bose University of Science and Technology, YMCA, Faridabad.
The 2nd bill was named again as Haryana Vishwakarma Skill University to Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, Haryana.

RBI intervenes as rupee hit 72.5 against  - US dollar

The rupee broken to 72.5 against a dollar mark and reached an all-time lowest price of 72.67 intraday trade. The present account shortfall widened to 5 years highest in the 1st quarter of the present financial year to $15.8 billion or 2.4% of the Gross Domestic Production.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley informed that the downfall in rupee is due to global reasons. He further added that apart from the dollar, the rupee has fortified or remained in a range against all other moneys. RBI has intervened as rupee depreciation continued persistent.