Current Affairs 14th June 2017

Current Affairs 14th June 2017

• Diplomatic ties with Taiwan cut by - Panama
• 100 AYUSH hospitals across country to be set up by - The Centre
• Management of Sahara India Life Insurance Company over taken by - IRDAI
• Exceptional Public Service Medal to Michael A'Hearn posthumously conferred by - NASA
• Indian warships arrive in Australia for bilateral maritime exercise - AUSINDEX-17
• Workers trapped in bonded labor on Indian plantations as - Uprooted by dam
•  New batch of Rs 500 notes with inset letter A issued by - RBI
•  World Blood Donors Day 2017 observed on - 14th June 2017

Current Affairs 14th June 2017

Diplomatic ties with Taiwan cut by - Panama

Central American nation, Panama has cut its long-standing ties with Taiwan and established its diplomatic relations with China. The Panamanian government informed that it recognised there was "only one China" and considered Taiwan part of it.

Important Points

• The switch was made official after Panama’s foreign minister signing a communiqué with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on 13th June 2017 in Beijing. 
• This move will leave Taiwan with just 20 diplomatic allies.
• He further added that signing up to Beijing’s “One China” principle would generate a great potential in all the areas including investment and creation of jobs.
• Chinese foreign minister talked about the development as a historic moment and said that Panama's decision was in complete accordance with the interest of its people 
• The came at a time when China has stepped up its efforts to isolate the self-governing island that it considers as a part of its own territory.

 100 AYUSH hospitals across country to be set up by - The Centre

The Centre has approved proposals for setting up of 100 Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and Homeopathy (AYUSH) hospitals across the nation. Minister of state for AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik revealed the same. The Minister said that during the last three years the Union government had approved posting of 4000 AYUSH doctors in primary health centres across the country. He added that their salaries are being paid by the Union government.

Key Highlights

• The minister further added that an AYUSH hospital equivalent to AIIMS would be opened within a month in New Delhi.
• The Union Ministry had approved setting up of two 50-bedded integrated AYUSH hospitals at Tiruvannamalai and Theni districts in Tamil Nadu.
• Funds of Rs 283.6 lakh have been released out of sanctioned amount of Rs 563 crore for development  and conservation of medicinal plants across Tamil Nadu.

Management of Sahara India Life Insurance Company over taken by - IRDAI

IRDAI (The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) has announced taking over the management of the Sahara India Life Insurance Company. Insurance regulator, IRDAI in an order issued in New Delhi on 12th June 2017 said that Subrata Roy run insurer was "acting in a manner" prejudicial to the interest of subscribers.

IRDA appointed RK Sharma (GM (F&A-NL)) as the administrator of Sahara India Life Insurance Company to manage the insurer affairs with an immediate effect by exercising the powers granted under section 52 A of the Insurance Act, 1938. The Administrator shall conduct the business management of the insurer as per applicable provisions of the Insurance Act, 1938.

Exceptional Public Service Medal to Michael A'Hearn posthumously conferred by - NASA

NASA conferred the Exceptional Public Service Medal to Michael A’Hearn, one of the world’s leading comet scientists, posthumously on 12th June 2017. A’Hearn passed away on 29th May 2017 at his home in University Park, Maryland. A’Hearn, Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland (UMD) and an astronomer was awarded posthumously at the Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG) meeting at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The exceptional service medal is for his fundamental work he did on comets and small bodies of the solar system, leadership in space missions and ensuring public access to data related NASA missions and related projects. Speaking about A’Hearn, Jim Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, who presented the award to members of A’Hearn’s family said that he devoted his entire life to exploration and his work truly transformed the understanding of comets, their composition and their interaction with the Universe.

More about Michael A’Hearn

• Born on 17th November 1940, Michael A’Hearn was an elected fellow of the AAAS.  His studies focused on comets and asteroids primarily. He had authored over 100 papers published in journals.
• He helped in the development of systems for surveying abundances in comets as well as techniques for determining the sizes of cometary nuclei that uses optical and infrared measurements.
• He was the principal investigator for the NASA Deep Impact mission, EPOXI that had the dual purpose of studying comet Hartley 2 and extra-solar planets.
•  System (PDS) that specializes in the archiving, cataloging and distributing of scientific data sets relevant to asteroids, comets and interplanetary dust.

Do you know?

A’Hearn also received the Gerard P. Kuiper Prize for his outstanding lifetime achievement in the planetary science field from the American Astronomical Society Division in 2008.

Indian warships arrive in Australia for bilateral maritime exercise - AUSINDEX-17

Three Indian warships sailed into Fremantle to participate in a week-long naval exercise, AUSINDEX-17, off the Western Australian coast on 13th June 2017. Indian Naval Ships Shivalik,Jyoti and Kamorta are on a port visit to Freemantle, Australia from 13th June to 17th June 2017. HMA Ships Waller , Newcastle and Clearance Diving Team Four represent The Royal Australian Navy.

Important highlights

• During the stay in harbor, various activities such as formal reception on board ships, official calls,guided tours for Indian naval personnel, ships open to visitors, and professional interaction between naval personnel of both the nations have been planned.
• Indian warships AUSINDEX-17 would be the second edition of the exercise.

Workers trapped in bonded labor on Indian plantations as - Uprooted by dam

Around 200 people, who were forced to leave their homes by the construction of Aliyar Dam in 1960s, are still trapped in bonded labor in plantations. Non-profit National Adivasi Solidarity Council claimed it in a report.Their research team conducted the study for six months. The research teams gained access to the farms with the intention of conducting medical camps or in some instances saying they were lost and there they identified more than 50 families, including 73 children  of those families living in debt bondage with no access to schools.

Key Highlights

• The Adivasi Solidarity Council has identified bondage in more than 30 farms and plantations in a 15 km radius of the dam in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
• People in bondage are from the Malasar tribal community and most of the families have lost their home, land and livelihoods during the construction of the dam and reservoir between 1959 and 1969.
• They lost their homes and were never compensated and driven into bondage and state has forgotten them.
• Most of the families had been trapped in bondage to pay off debts that have come down from generations. 

 New batch of Rs 500 notes with inset letter A issued by - RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced on 13th June 2017 that it has issued Rs 500 denomination notes with inset letter A. The RBI also made it clear to public that the old notes, which were introduced after Prime Narendra Modi’s demonetization drive in November 2016, will continue to remain the legal tender. RBI has also stated that it has no plans to release new denomination currencies in the near future as it is aiming to promote cashless transactions in the country.

Important Highlights

• The new batch of Rs 500 notes banknotes will have inset letter "A" in both the number panels and the signature of Urjit R Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India.
• The printing year will be '2017' on the reverse and Swachh Bharat logo printed on the backside of the banknote.
• In addition to that, some of the notes would carry an additional character in between the prefix and the number of the banknote.

 World Blood Donors Day 2017 observed on - 14th June 2017

World Blood Donors Day (WBDD) was observed on 14th June 2017. The theme of the 2017 World Blood Donor Day is Give Blood. Give Now. Give Often. with the focus on blood donation in emergencies. The World Health Organisation (WHO) with this theme is focusing on the role that every individual can play in preparing for the next unforeseen emergency by giving blood now.

Key Facts 

• High Income countries give almost half of the total blood donations all across the globe.
• Up to 65% of blood transfusions are given to children under 5 years of age in low income countries.
• Most frequently transfused patient group is over 65 years of age in high income countries.
• 67 countries report collecting lesser than 10 donations per 1000 people. Of these, 5 countries in the WHO Region of the Americas,38 are in the WHO African Region, 6 in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region, 5 in the WHO European Region, 6 in the WHO South-Eastern Asia Region, and 8 countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region.
• 57 countries collect 100 percent of their blood supply from voluntary, unpaid blood donors.
• Blood donation by 1 percent of the population can meet a nation’s most basic requirement for blood.