Rajras Current Affairs August 16
 NEWS: National Committee on Trade facilitation
- Union Government has constituted a trade facilitation committee to be headed by Pradeep Kumar Sinha, Cabinet Secretary of India.
- The committee has been constituted for Trade Facilitation agreement of WTO, which India has ratified.
- Committee will be responsible for identifying required legislative changes and diagnostic tools needed for assessing compliance to TFA.
NEWS: Nickel Production facility in Jharkhand
- Facility for production of Nickel at Ghatsila in Jharkhand has been launched by Hindustan Copper Limited.
- It is India’s first Nickel production facility
NEWS: Diamond Quadrilateral up for feasibility study
- Diamond Quadrilateral is a project of the Indian railways to establish high speed rail network in India.
- Dimaond quadrilateral will connect the four metro cities in India, i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
- Feasibility study shall be undertaken for (i) Delhi-Mumbai, (ii) Mumbai-Chennai, (iii) Chennai-Kolkata, (iv) Kolkata-Delhi and both diagonals i.e. (v) Delhi-Chennai and (vi) Mumbai-Kolkata routes.
- The project is similar to Golden Quadrilateral which is a roadway project which connects the four metros by Express Ways.
NEWS: Deep Brain Stimulator
- Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology (SCTIMST), Thiruvananthapuram have agreed to join hands to develop ‘Deep Brain Stimulator’ (DBS).
- DBS involves implanting electrodes within certain areas of brain and the regular electrical pulses generated by a pacemaker-like device placed under the skin in upper chest regulates the abnormal impulses of the brain.
- Applications: DBS is used in neurological conditions of Essential tremor, Parkinson’s disease and Dystonia.
Other NEWS:
- India’s first BIO-CNG plant producing CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) from agricultural residue was inaugurated in Pune, Maharashtra.
- Greenland sharks have been named the longest-living vertebrate on Earth.
- S-400 air defence missile system has been deployed by Russia to annexed Crimea
Trivia:
Yesterday was India’s Independence Day. Why 15th of August was decided as Independence Day.
- The date was chosen by Lord Mountbatten because he considered this date to be lucky. It was on this day during the World War II, that the Japanese Army surrendered to the allies.
