Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
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.

Notes:
In September 2018, Senior IPS officer Arun Kumar was appointed as Director General of Railway Protection Force (RPF). Kumar, a 1985 batch officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, is serving as Special Director General of Border Security Force.

Notes:
∠BCD = ∠DCA = 30°
∠DCE = 180°
∴ ∠ACE = 180° – 30° = 150°
AC = CE
∴ ∠CAE = ∠CEA =
Hence option [A] is the right answer.

Notes:
The Advanced Ultra Supercritical technology is an indigenous technology for coal-fired power plants, which requires less fuel, delivers greater efficiency and is a tad cleaner. The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is designing phases of the 800 MW advanced ultra supercritical (AUSC) boiler for coal power plant will be ready by 2019-2020.

Notes:
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was a national agency of Government of India, which was responsible to consider or give approval to FDI in India. FIPB is now abolished as announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during 2017-2018 budget speech in Lok Sabha.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched of Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana (PMYY) to scale up an ecosystem of entrepreneurship for youngsters. PMYY is MSDE’s flagship scheme on entrepreneurship education and training. The scheme spans over five years (2016-17 to 2020-21) with a project cost of 499.94 crore rupees. It will provide entrepreneurship education and training to over 7 lakh students in 5 years through 3,050 institutes. It will provide easy access to information and mentor network, incubator, credit and accelerator and advocacy to create a pathway for the youth. The institutes under the PMYY include 2,200 institutes of higher learning (colleges, universities, and premier institutes), 500 ITIs, 300 schools and 50 entrepreneurship development centres through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

Notes:
Seychelles is an archipelago and country in the Indian Ocean. Officially known as the Republic of Seychelles, it is a 115-island country. Recently, India signed an Agreement with Seychelles for the Development, Management, Operation and Maintenance of Facilities on “Assumption Island”. The agreement will be valid for 20 years, after which it can be renewed for periods of 10 years at a time.

Notes:
As per the Indian State of Forest Report 2017, the total carbon stock is estimated to be 7083 million tonnes. Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) is the largest pool of carbon followed by Above Ground Biomass (AGB), Below Ground Biomass (BGB), Litter and dead wood The report shows that the per hectare carbon stock of different states/UTs as Andaman & Nicobar Islands (170.68 tonnes) with highest carbon stock per hectare, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (148.52 tonnes), Sikkim (145.14 tonnes) and Karnataka (126.52 tonnes).

Notes:
Aquila is a solar-powered high-altitude unmanned aircraft. It is a part of Facebook’s ambitious Internet.org project, which aims at providing affordable internet access across the globe, especially to those not currently covered by high-capacity networks. Facebook has invested billions of dollars in getting more people online through the not-for-profit internet.org and by building drones.

Notes:
Cluster of Differentiation 36 (CD36) recombinant human protein is supplied as a lyophilized powder. This protein is suitable for use in analysis of protein structure the study of protein-protein interactions, and cell biology research applications.