Current Affairs - 2019-20

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:
The Egypt squash team has won the boy’s title at the 6th WSF-World junior squash team championship 2018 by defeating England by 2-0 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on July 29. Egypt’s Marwan Tarek, who lost the individual championship final, defeated Nick Wall of England in straight games. Czech Republic and USA finished third and secured the bronze medal. Host India finished 11th overall.

Notes:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has recently given its approval for the development of Advanced Ultra Super Critical (AUSC) technology for thermal power plants. 

Notes:
Enceladus is a moon of Saturn. It’s the sixth-largest moon of Saturn, with a diameter of about 500 kilometers (310 miles). Enceladus is mostly covered by fresh, clean ice, making it one of the most reflective bodies in the Solar System.  Enceladus is Saturn’s brightest moon and has the highest albedo (reflectivity) of any body in the solar system. Scientists have discovered that there are oceans, or sub-surface oceans beneath the icy surface of the moon. The ocean should be relatively rich in dissolved phosphorus, an essential ingredient for life.  Enceladus was recently in the news after NASA’s Cassini aircraft revealed several secrets about the ongoing geologic activity on it.

Notes:
The Department of Disinvestment has been renamed as Department of Investment and Public Asset Management or ‘Dipam’. This step is aimed at proper management of Centre’s investments in equity including its disinvestment in central public sector undertakings. The new department has been mandated to "advise the government in the matters of financial restructuring of central public sector enterprises and for attracting investment through capital markets".

Notes:
Recently, Scientists have discovered a new planet called Ross 128b that could possibly sustain life. This planet is located just 11 light-years away. It is a temperate planet that orbits a “quiet star”. It gets its name from the fact that it doesn’t spew out life-threatening bursts of radiation. The planet was discovered using ESO’s unique planet-hunting HARPS instrument.

Notes:
Till now, only Highways, ports, inland waterways and railways were part of the planned multi-modal logistics hubs in India. But recently Aviation sector has been also included as the part of multi-modal logistics hubs in India. With this step the government will integrate all kinds of logistics hubs. It has been included as a part of India Integrated Transport and Logistic policy. The integrated policy would include construction of 50 Economic Corridors and upgrading key feeder and inter corridor routes to improve overall efficiency of freight movement. It also includes developing 35 multimodal logistics parks to serve as centres for freight aggregation and distribution, multimodal transportation, storage and warehousing and value added services.

Notes:
Recently, Government has planned to organise an international bird festival in this Dudhwa tiger reserve. The bird festival is being organized jointly by the state forest department and Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). This region is home to 450 bird species, including the endangered Bengal florican and vulnerable bird species like swamp partridge, also called swamp francolin, sarus crane and herons.

Notes:
The recently found exoplanet, named LHS 1140b, is about 1.43 times larger than the Earth. It has a diameter of 11,322 miles (18,221 km), compared to the Earth’s diameter of 7,918 miles (12,742 km).

Notes:
The BRICS nations have adopted the “New Delhi Declaration on Education”, resolving to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all. The declaration was adopted at a conference of Education Ministers of the BRICS nations-Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.