Current Affairs - 2019-20

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PfKelch13 C580Y is a mutant of P. falciparum Kelch13. It was recently making news as a potential Malaria superbug spreading in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. 

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India’s first automatic coastal warning for disasters will come up in Odisha from July 2017. Through alert system, Odisha will be able to warn its coastal population by pressing a single button from a control room in the Odisha capital in the event of natural disasters like tsunami or cyclone. The loud sirens will then go off simultaneously from towers at 122 spots locations including tourist destinations, fish landing centres and coastal habitations. The new system will also enable authorities to alert people in smaller pockets, depending on the severity of the disaster.

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Rcently, the Indian Railways Organization for Alternate Fuel (IROAF) has won the 2017 Golden Peacock Award for Eco-Innovation for introducing eco-friendly and cost-saving Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) based Dual Fuel 1400 HP Diesel engines on Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) trains. This innovation will reduce emissions considerably by bringing down NOx by 16%, CO2 by 6% and Particulate Matter by 18% besides achieving economy in fuel cost by 8%. So far, 19 Engines of DEMUs have been successfully converted into CNG based dual fuel engines with this technology. The IROAF is a unique organization in the Government space which was established by Ministry of Railways to explore new environment friendly fuels/ renewable energy and eco- friendly technologies like substitution of diesel with CNG/LNG in train sets, etc.

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Judicial corporal punishment, such as whipping or caning, has disappeared from most European countries. However, it remains lawful in parts of Africa, Asia, the Anglophone Caribbean, and indigenous communities in South America.
Corporal punishment of children is legally banned in most countries in Europe and Central Asia. The latest countries to prohibit it are France (July 2019) and Kosovo (June 2019).
Corporal punishment is explicitly prohibited by several international conventions on human rights, including the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Nations’ “Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners”.

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Cambridge Analytica is a data analytics and political consulting firm set up in 2014, launched with the help of Steve Bannon, former chief strategist to U.S. President Donald Trump and former head of the alt-right media platform. Recently, Union IT minster Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Cambridge Analytica for illegally harvesting personal information from Facebook for influencing polls in several countries

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Wrestler Bajrang Punia has clinched gold in the 71kg freestyle at the 2018 Yasar Dogu International in Istanbul, Turkey. It was his second consecutive gold medal, after he recently won gold at the 2018 Tbilisi Grand Prix in Georgia. Meanwhile, Sandeep Tomar finished with silver after losing 2-8 in the 61kg final against Iran’s Mohammad bagher Yakhkeshi. In the women’s competition, Pinki was the lone gold medallist in the 55kg category with her 6-3 win over Ukraine’s Olga Shnaider. Beside this, Sangeeta Phogat (59kg) and Geeta (65kg) won bronze medals in their respective categories. Overall, Indian wrestlers returned with 10 medals, including 7 by women in the event.

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R Seetharaman, a Qatar-based Indian banker has been awarded for his contribution in environment-friendly activities and for promoting green economy for nearly two decades. R Seetharaman, group chief executive officer of Doha Bank, was honoured with the 'Green Economy Visionary award' at the 2016 Union of Arab Banks International Banking Summit held in Rome.

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First statement is correct. The scheme aims to get foreign investment and turn India into an electronics manufacturing hub. Second statement is incorrect. The scheme provides subsidy for capital expenditure – 20% for investments in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and 25% in non-SEZs. Third statement is correct. One of the major objectives of the scheme is to attain net zero imports in electronics by 2020. Fourth statement is correct. It is an initiative under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) was launched in 2012. Its first phase will end in December, 2018.

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Recently, Germany has signed an agreement with India for providing soft loan to the tune of Euro 1 billion for the Green Corridor Projects in India. Intra State transmission schemes under Green Energy Corridors (GEC) are to be funded as 20% equity of the State Govt., 40% grant from National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) and 40% soft loan, whereas, the inter State transmission schemes are to be funded as 30% equity by PGCIL and 70% as soft loan, he added.

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AIDSS stands for Advanced Indigenous Distress Sonar System (AIDSS). HUMSA-UG stands for Upgrade for the Hull-Mounted Sonar Array. NACS stands for Near-field Acoustic Characterization System. Abhay is a Compact Hull-Mounted Sonar for Small Ships & Shallow Water Crafts system.