Title Daily Current Affairs Capsule 30th April 2020

Daily CurrentTitle
              Affairs Capsule
             Title 2020
       30th April

US Navy to host world's largest maritime exercises ‘Rim of the Pacific’ in Hawaii again this year

The United States Navy has said that it will host the world's largest maritime exercises ‘Rim of the Pacific’ in
Hawaii again this year, but the drills will only be held at sea because of the Coronavirus.

      The Navy has held the Rim of the Pacific exercises in Hawaii every two years since the early 1970s.
      Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam will host a minimal footprint of staff for logistics and support functions.
      The drills will also be held over two weeks, from 17th to 31st August , instead of the usual five weeks of
       events from late June to early August.

ADB gives $ 346 mn loan for power sector in rural Maharashtra

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 346 million (around Rs 2,616 crore) loan to Indian
government to provide reliable power connection in rural areas of Maharashtra.

      Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India, and about half of the state’s labour force is
       engaged in agriculture and related activities in the rural areas.
      The loan will support the state government’s high voltage distribution system (HVDS) program for new
       grid-connected rural agricultural customers across the state.

   The loan will be under ADB’s results-based lending (RBL) modality, where fund disbursements are linked
       to the achievement of agreed programme results rather than to upfront expenditures.
      This first ADB-financed RBL program in South Asia’s energy sector will help in the early construction
       and installation of metered HVDS through the installation of about 46,800 kilometers of 11 kilovolt (kV)
       grid extension lines, construction and upgrading of 121 33/11 kV distribution substations.

Cauvery Water Management Authority brought under Jal Shakti Ministry

The Centre has officially brought the Cauvery Water Management Authority under the Jal Shakti Ministry.

      The officials said the CWMA was earlier under the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and
       Ganga Rejuvenation.
      However, with the Modi government forming the Jal Shakti Ministry to deal with water-related issues,
       the Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has taken the form of a department
       under it.
      Water management authorities of other rivers too have been brought under the Jal Shakti Ministry as they
       were also under the erstwhile Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
      In 2018, the Centre constituted the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to address the dispute
       over sharing of river water among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.

Amur Falcon tagging mission a success

The GPS Satellite Radio transmitters tagging on Amur Falcons which were released from Manipur in the first
week of November last year have succeeded and one falcon returned back to Manipur after covering around
20,000 km up to Somalia of South Africa.

      Manipur Forest Department in collaboration with scientists from Wildlife Institute of India (WII),
       Dehradun and local people had released five satellite tagged Amur Falcons from Tamenglong district of
       Manipur.

   One falcon named Chinwal has returned back from Somalia after staying there for three months and
       reached Myanmar.
      The bird will further fly around 5,000 km towards their breeding ground -Northern China –Mongolia
       border area.
      The mission has succeeded this time and some roosting sites in Manipur have also been identified through
       tagging this time.
      The bird reached the jungles of some part of Nagaland state and Tamenglong district of Manipur in mid
       October every year to build fate reserves.

Tripura cabinet to start ‘neighborhood classes’ besides tele-classes for students amid lockdown

In Tripura, the state cabinet has decided to start ‘neighborhood classes’ in addition to the ongoing online and
televised/aired classes to ensure every student gets an education during the lockdown period.

      In these neighborhood classes, one teacher will be teaching a maximum of five students until school
       classes resume.
      Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath said the state education department has appealed to school teachers to
       take part in the new initiative.
      The state Education Department has started distribution of free textbooks under SAMAGRA SHIKSHA
       Abhiyan among students of schools and Madrassas.

Chhattisgarh tops among other states in providing employment to workers under MGNREGS

Chhattisgarh has topped the list of states in providing employment to over 18 lakh unskilled labourers under the
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

      Around 77.85 lakh people are engaged in different work under the scheme across the country.
      The national participation of the workers working in the state is 24 per cent, which is the highest in the
       country.
      Chhattisgarh has topped the country in providing employment to 18.51 lakh workers under MGNREGS.

   Rajasthan has provided employment to 10.79 lakh workers under the rural employment guarantee scheme
       and Uttar Pradesh is at third position with around 9.06 lakh workers engaged by it.

Assam SDMA engages 14,000 citizens as 'Pratirodhi Bondhu' to fight against COVID-19

Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) has come up with a novel idea to create a cadre of
volunteers under the name and style of ‘Pratirodhi Bondhu’ using the existing volunteers from ASLRM, NULM,
Aapada Mitra, Indian Red Cross Society, Nehru Yuvak Kendra, NCC and NSS.

      Pratirodhi Bondhu are working as volunteers in creating awareness including social distancing across
       Assam.
      One such volunteer has been assigned to reach out to 100 families in his or her locality.
      The volunteers are also extending online support to the people.
      Official sources said that citizen between 18 to 50 years have been deployed as Pratirodhi Bondhu.

T. S. Tirumurti appointed as Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to UN

T. S. Tirumurti has been appointed as the next Ambassador or Permanent Representative of India to the United
Nations.

      Tirumurti is an IFS officer of 1985 batch.
      He is currently the Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.
      He replaces Sayyad Akbaruddin.

Former finance secretary Rajiv Kumar appointed PESB chairman

Former Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar was appointed Chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB)
for a period of three years.

      Kumar, 60 and a 1984 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS official, was in July 2019 designated as the Finance
       Secretary and retired in February this year.
      He will succeed the incumbent Kapil Dev Tripathi, a 1980 batch retired Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS
       official.
      He took over as the financial services secretary in September 2017 and initiated several reforms in the
       country's banking sector, to clean up the bad loan mess and to make public sector banks (PSBs) stronger.

Deepak Mittal is India's new Ambassador to Qatar, Piyush Srivastava to Bahrain

Deepak Mittal has been appointed India's next Ambassador to Qatar, while Piyush Srivastava goes to Bahrain in
the same capacity.

      Deepak Mittal is a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.
      Mittal has served as a Joint Secretary in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.
      The new appointees are of the 1998 batch of Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and both of them are expected
       to take up their assignments shortly.

Former Karnataka batsman J Arun Kumar named as USA national team coach

Former Karnataka batsman J Arun Kumar was appointed coach of the USA cricket team.

      Jak, as he is known in the cricketing circles, has worked with the Karnataka team for several years and as
       batting coach with IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab.
      Arun Kumar was also in charge of a fledgling Puducherry team before quitting in February owing to
       differences with the association officials.
      Arun Kumar, who scored over 7,200 runs in first-class cricket and over 3,000 runs in List 'A' games, had
       guided Karnataka to a treble for two successive seasons Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Irani
       Cup, in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Veteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor passes away

Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor passed away in Mumbai.

      Rishi Kapoor received the National Film Award for his debut role as a child artist in his father Raj Kapoor's
       1970 film ‘Mera Naam Joker’.
      He had his first lead role as an adult opposite Dimple Kapadia in 1973 with the film ‘Bobby’ and received
       the Filmfare Best Actor Award in 1974.
      He played leading roles as the romantic lead in many films between 1973 and 2000.
      He won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor in 2011 for his performance in ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ and
       for his role in ‘Kapoor & Sons’. He also won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2017.
      Rishi Kapoor was honoured with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.