Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
According to Mercer’s 20th annual Quality of Living survey 2018, Vienna has topped the ranking among 231 cities for the 9th consecutive year. It is followed by Switzerland’s Zurich, while New Zealand’s Auckland and Germany’s Munich tied for third place. In the 2018 survey, Hyderabad and Pune have been jointly ranked at 142, making the best Indian cities to live in. They were closely followed by Bengaluru (149), Chennai (151), Mumbai, (154), Kolkata (160), with New Delhi (162) taking the last spot as it continues to battle rising traffic congestion and air pollution. The quality of living survey is conducted to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments. The survey also identifies those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based upon internal stability, crime, effectiveness of law enforcement and relationships with other countries.

Notes:
In recent report of World Bank titled “South Asia Economic Focus – Globalisation Backlash”, it said eliminating tax evasion and corruption-the most talked objectives of junking old 500 and 1000 rupee notes. The report said that the demonetisation move will limit tax evasion and corruption, will help to curb black money, to eliminate counterfeit notes, increase transparency and promote the use of electronic payments in India.

Notes:
“Walopi” (Warning Loco Pilots) and “Chemvist” (Check My Vigilance State) are the two technologies, which have been patented by IIT-Kharagpur Professor Aurobinda Routray and his team in the Electrical Engineering department. These technologies will now be developed for Indian Railways. A globally conducted survey reveals that driver drowsiness is a major problem identified as a cause of accidents. To curb the menace in India, the research team of IIT Kharagpur has developed the two technologies. Both the technologies are based on what is globally called PERCLOS (percentage of eyelid closure over the pupil over time), and reflects slow eyelid closures (“droops”) rather than blinks. “Chemvist” uses Electrooculography (EOG) signals, which essentially give the voltage difference between the cornea and retina of the eye. Drivers will have to wear a specially-designed headband to play a “video game” on a screen. The headband will detect if the driver is fatigued or will be alert for the next few hours. “Walopi” on the other hand, checks the on-board level of alertness. It uses a camera with face-detection technology, which assesses if the driver is falling asleep.

Notes:
The Indian government has been thriving hard to get the “Data Secure status” from European Union but has not received it as of now. If the European Union provides India with “Data Protection” status, it will lift restrictions on the flow of outsourcing business to India. This would help Indian IT Industry to a great extent. India is not currently included in the list of countries considered data secure by the EU, thus preventing the flow of sensitive data, especially those related to telemedicine, to reach India.

Notes:
The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2017 (WESP) has been published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Notes:
Recently, Scientists of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have found a new species of Zingiber from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The new species indeed possesses ethno-medicinal uses. The fresh juice from the fleshy tuberous roots is used to treat abdominal pain and anti-helminthic troubles by Nicobarese and certain other tribal communities.

Notes:
“The Global Findex database for the year 2017 has been released by the World Bank. The Index depicts the global efforts to promote financial inclusion in their country. As per the report, India has witnessed the largest improvement in access to financial services over the past three years among peers, but India also has the highest share of inactive accounts among peers.

Notes:
Lalita Babar became the first Indian athlete since 1984 to reach Olympics finale in the event of women’s 3000m steeplechase at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Notes:
Simona Halep was the most active player after 2017 Wimbledon Championships. She stayed in Top 10 for most consecutive weeks. Halep also won the WTA’s Fan Favorite Singles Player in 2017 and also WTA’s Player of the Year 2018.

Notes:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has recently announced that harmful single-use plastics will be banned in the country from 2021 to reduce ocean waste. He declared it a global challenge to phase out the plastic bags, straws and cutlery clogging the world’s oceans. Currently less than 10% of plastic used in Canada gets recycled. The Canadian government said that one million birds and over 100,000 sea mammals worldwide are injured or die each year when they mistake plastic for food or become entangled. Single-use items represent some 70% of the plastic waste littering the marine environment. Canada’s move follows one by the European Union (EU), which late last year announced a similar ban. Canada, France, Germany, Britain and Italy, along with the European Union, subscribed at 2018 G7 summit in Quebec to a new charter against pollution in the world’s oceans. The non-binding Ocean Plastics Charter called on participating countries and the EU to commit to making all plastics reusable, recyclable or recovered by 2030.