CURRENT AFFAIRS  18-08-2020

RAKESH ASTHANA

What is in news?

1984 batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana has been appointed as the Director General of Border Security Force, BSF.

About:

• According to a Personnel Ministry order issued, he will be in the post up to 31st July, 2021, the date of his superannuation.

• Mr Asthana is at present working as the Director General of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, BCAS. He will continue to hold the additional charge of DG, Narcotics Control Bureau.

Border Security Force (BSF):

• The Border Security Force (BSF) is the primary Border guarding force of India and has been termed as the First Line of Defence of Indian Territories.

• It was raised in the wake of the 1965 War on 1 December 1965.

• It is a Union Government Agency under the administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs.

• The BSF has its own cadre of officers but its head, designated as a Director-General (DG), since its raising has been an officer from the Indian Police Service.

• Border Security Force (BSF) is one of the 7 recognized Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), the other 6 being Assam Rifles (AR), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Security Guard (NSG) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

DIGHA-GOPALPUR  COASTAL  HIGHWAY

What is in news?

Digha-Gopalpur coastal highway is under construction in Odisha and West Bengal.

About:

• The Coastal Highway project will link Gopalpur in Odisha and Digha of West Bengal.

• Digha-Gopalpur coastal highway would act as an economic corridor between the two major ports of Paradip and Dhamra.

• The coastal highway project, announced by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in April 2015, spreads over 415 kilometres from Gopalpur to Digha.

• As per the proposal, this 451-km-long coastal highway will be named as 516-A.

• Besides facilitating transportation of agri goods and fishery products, the coastal highway would play a crucial role in the supply chain during natural calamities like cyclones and floods.

NATIONAL  CADET  CORPS (NCC)

What is in news?

Defence minister has approved a proposal of the National Cadet Corps for a major expansion scheme to meet the aspirations of youth in all the border and coastal districts.

Expansion scheme:

• The proposals of the scheme were announced by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address on 15 Aug.

• A total of one lakh cadets from 173 border and coastal districts will be inducted in the NCC. One-third of the Cadets would be girl Cadets. More than 1000 schools and colleges have been identified in border and coastal districts where NCC will be introduced.

• As part of the expansion plan, a total of 83 NCC units will be upgraded (Army 53, Navy 20, Air Force 10), to impart NCC training to the cadets in the border and coastal areas.

• Army will provide training and administrative support to the NCC units located in the border areas, Navy shall provide support to NCC units in the coastal areas and similarly Air Force will provide support to the NCC units located close to the Air Force stations.

• The expansion plan would be implemented in partnership with the States.

Facts to remember :

• The NCC, which was formed in 1948, currently has a strength of around 14 lakh cadets from Army, Navy and Air Force wings. It enrolls cadets at high school and college level and also awards certificates on completion of various phases.

• Headed by a Director General of three-star military rank, the NCC falls under the purview of Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is led by serving officers from the Armed forces at various hierarchical positions.

• The NCC currently has 17 regional directorates which govern the NCC in units in various states or groups of states and union territories.

SWASTHYA

What is in news?

Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda inaugurated the e-portal on tribal health and nutrition named 'Swasthya'.

About:

• The portal provides all health and nutrition related information of the tribal population of India on a single platform.

• Swasthya will also curate innovative practices, case studies, and best practices collected from different parts of India to facilitate the exchange of evidence, expertise and experiences.

Facts to remember :

• Ministry of Tribal Affairs released ‘ALEKH’, a quarterly e-newsletter on health and nutrition of Tribals in India.

WORLD’S  TALLEST  PIER  BRIDGE

What is in news?

Indian Railways is constructing the world’s tallest pier bridge in Manipur.

About:

• The bridge which is being constructed across river Ijai near Noney is an engineering marvel because the tallest pier height will be 141 meter.

• It will surpass the existing record of 139 meter of Mala - Rijeka viaduct, Montenegro in Europe.

• The Manipur bridge is located at the hilly terrain of Marangching village in Noney district, about 65 km west of Imphal. It will be completed by March 2022.

• The bridge is a part of Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal new BG line project. The total length of the bridge will be 703 meter. The piers of the bridge are constructed using hydraulic augers, the tall piers needed specially designed “slip-form technique" to ensure efficient and continual construction.

Facts to remember :

• A pier, in architecture, is an upright support for a structure or superstructure such as an arch or bridge. Sections of structural walls between openings (bays) can function as piers.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

What is in news?

President Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to the change in name of the Ministry of Human Resource Development as Ministry of Education. A gazette notification published said the President had given his nod to change the name of the Ministry.

About:

• The name change was among the key recommendations of the draft new National Education Policy, NEP which was cleared by the Union Cabinet last month.

• In 1985, the Ministry of Education was renamed as the HRD ministry when Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister. P V Narasimha Rao was appointed the first HRD minister by PM Rajiv Gandhi.

• In 2018, the idea to change the name of HRD Ministry was also proposed by Ram Bahadur Rai, chairman of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and also chairman of the joint organising committee of the Conference on Academic Leadership on Education for Resurgence.