Current Affairs 13th April 2017

Current Affairs 13th April 2017 - Important Points

• Russia rejects UN resolution condemning - Syria chemical attack
• Achim Steiner as new administrator of UNDP named by - UN chief Guterres
• President Pranab Mukherjee gives - Padma awards to eminent personalities
• MoU between India and Russia for cooperation in Science & Technology notified by - Union Cabinet
• Listing of 11 CPSEs on stock exchanges approved by - CCEA

Current Affairs 13th April 2017 - Details

Russia rejects UN resolution condemning - Syria chemical attack

Russia rejected a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution on 12th April 2017 that condemned the use of chemical weapons in the rebel-held Syrian town, Khan Sheikhoun and demanded a speedy investigation into the details of the attack.

The western countries believe that Bashar al-Assad-led Syrian government has a lot to do with the chemical attack, an allegation that is rejected by both Moscow and Syria.

Key Points

• While 10 nations voted in favour of the resolution, Bolivia voted against and China, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan chose to stay neutral in the process.
• Russia used its veto power to prevent the adoption of the resolution. This is the 8th time that Russia has vetoed a resolution on Syria ever since the nation got involved in its long-drawn civil war.
• The deputy Russian ambassador to the UN, Vladimir Safronkov rejected the proposal with claims stating that the western powers had pre-judged the Syrian government to be guilty of the chemical attack that killed over 90 people, before the investigation.
• The voting happened just hours after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov.

 Achim Steiner as new administrator of UNDP named by - UN chief Guterres

 Achim Steiner was named as the new administrator of UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) by the UN chief Antonio Guterres. Letter by Guterres dated 12th April 2017 said, Clark has steered the UNDP since 2009. Steiner was chosen for the position over several other candidates including the French Environment Minister Segolene Royal. Reports suggest that selection result has surprised Royal because Guterres had promised a woman would take the job at UNDP. 

More about Achim Steiner

• Born on 17th May 1961, Steiner has served the United Nations at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) from 2006 to June 2016.
• Being an expert in the environmental issues and politics, Achim had also headed the UN office in Kenya.
• Prior to joining the UNEP, Steiner has served the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as its Director General.
• He had also served World Commission on Dams as its Secretary General.
• As of September 2016, he is director of the Oxford Martin School.
• Steiner was born in Brazil in 1961 and holds German and Brazilian citizenship.

President Pranab Mukherjee gives - Padma awards to eminent personalities

President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the Padma awards to 44 people on 13th April 2017. These awards were conferred at a Civil Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Padma Vibhushan was given on three personalities including eminent Singer Yesudas, spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev were awarded Padma Vibhushan award. The award ceremony was held in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Home Minister Rajnath Singh along with some other dignitaries.

 MoU between India and Russia for cooperation in Science & Technology notified by - Union Cabinet

The Union Cabinet was notified of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Russia for cooperation in the field of Science and Technology (S&T)  on 12th April 2017.

The MoU amis at facilitating and supporting the joint scientific and research activities between scientific organizations that are subordinated to the Agency and scientific organizations and scientists of the Republic of Russian Federation.

Important Highlights

• In this this MoU, both the sides pledged to cooperate in various manners including: Exchanging information about conducted conferences, forums, exhibitions, seminars that are of mutual interest. 
• Support of conditions for the formation of scientific projects that are aimed at the conduct of joint research.
• Conducting joint scientific events (seminars, conferences, round tables) that are aimed at establishing direct connections between scientists of the two countries in the fields determined by the countries.
• Supporting establishment of direct connections between scientific organizations, scientists and specialists of the countries.
• The MoU will remain valid for 5 years. Moreover, implementation of this present MoU can be extended for next 5 year periods if neither of the parties give written intention to terminate it at least 6 months before the expiration of a given 5-year period.

Listing of 11 CPSEs on stock exchanges approved by - CCEA

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the listing of 11 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) on stock exchanges on 12th April 2017.

Important Highlights

• These 11 CPSEs will be listed through public offer of shares up to 25 per cent of Union Government's shareholding, which may include offer of fresh shares to raise resources from market. 
• The actual disinvestment with respect of each CPSE along with the mode of raising resources will be delegated for decision on a case to case basis to the Alternative Mechanism which will be headed by the Union Finance Minister.
• With a view to ensure wider participation by small investors in the CPSEs’ disinvestment program, a price discount of up to 5 percent on the issue price will be given for the retail investors and eligible employees of 11 CPSEs .
• The CCEA has also approved share reservation for the eligible employees of 11 CPSEs in accordance with the extant provisions of SEBI Regulations.