Daily Current affair: Daily Current Affair 12-Apr-2019

#1 India, Netherlands vow to strengthen ties

India and the Netherlands discussed ways to strengthen bilateral political and economic ties, including boosting cooperation at the United Nations and other international fora.
The two countries held Foreign Office Consultations here, with the Indian side led by A Gitesh Sarma, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, and Johanna (Yoka) Brandt, Secretary General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, leading the Dutch delegation.
“India and the Netherlands share a multi-faceted relationship. Both countries used this opportunity to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including political, economic, commercial, scientific and cultural cooperation,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

The government needs to bring out a policy on solar module waste management and standards for use of material for manufacturing, according to consultancy Bridge To India on Thursday.
“There is an urgent need to formulate appropriate quality standards for use of environmentally sustainable materials in manufacturing of modules. This will help in minimizing potentially hazardous end-of-life module waste in India,” said a BTI statement.
Bridge To India (BTI) Managing Director Vinay Rustagi said while the solar sector continues to grow robustly, from a mere three gigawatt (GW) in 2014 to over 28 GW currently, there is still no clarity on solar waste management in India.

The telecom department has approved the merger of Tata Teleservices’ consumer mobility business with Bharti Airtel on condition the Sunil Mittalled telco furnishes bank guarantees of about ₹9,000 crore to cover spectrum charges.
The demand does not include payment of any license fees, a contentious topic in the sector. Historically, telcos have stymied efforts by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to recover annual dues such as spectrum usage charges and license fees on the grounds that the definition of adjusted gross revenue, on which they are based, was disputed in court.
For Airtel, the merger will bring in an additional 178.5 MHz of spectrum in three bands that are widely used for 4G, an area in which the Mittal-led company is expanding to keep pace with Reliance Jio Infocomm. It will add about 18 million of Tata Tele’s mobile subscribers to its over 340 million users, according to regulatory data at the end of January.

Nirmala Sitharaman praised the IAF for its flawless execution of the Balakot strikes and subsequent thwarting of the Pakistani response.
“Nirmala Sitharaman said that the IAF has proved its mettle in Exercise Gagan Shakti, 2018 and Vayu Shakti, 2019 and the same reflected in the successfully conducted Balakot strikes and air action on February 27,“ a Ministry of Defence (MoD) statement said.
She added that the IAF will play a vital role in enhancing the defence manufacturing capabilities of the nation through its acquisitions in the form of Strategic Partnership Model. She added that she is aware of the critical requirements projected by the IAF and assured that as a nation we need to build those capabilities

The new deadline – 31 October – averts the prospect of the UK having to leave the EU without a deal on Friday, as MPs are still deadlocked over a deal.
Theresa May, who had wanted a shorter delay, said the UK would still aim to leave the EU as soon as possible.
The prime minister will later make a statement on the Brussels summit to the House of Commons, while talks with the Labour Party, aimed at reaching consensus on how to handle Brexit, are set to continue.

Following the second launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, all three of the rocket’s booster cores successfully landed back on Earth. The two outer cores of the rocket touched down on SpaceX’s two concrete landing pads at Cape Canaveral, Florida near the site of the launch. The center core touched down on one of the company’s drone ships in the Atlantic Ocean.
This version is made to optimize reusability, making it easier for SpaceX to land the vehicles and then turn them around quickly for future flights.