Current Affairs - 2019-20

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The United Nations Public Service Day is observed every year on June 23 to recognize the work of public servants and to encourage young people to pursue careers in the public sector. The day is also observed to celebrate value and virtue of public service to the community and to raise awareness regarding the contribution of public service in the development of society and honouring the work of public servants.

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Recently, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, has proposed to develop a dedicated 200 acre industrial park for the manufacture of medical devices in his state. The Park will be having a Common Manufacturing Facility Centre to act as a Hub for SME Sector to enable it to flourish as a Cluster. Focus will be on creating an Eco System for High End Medical Device Manufacturing and Import Substitution with an eye for Export Market. Though the Medical Device Park has been proposed to be set up in three states viz. Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, but Andhra Pradesh has become the first to implement the programme. The proposed medical devices park will have ‘Centre of Excellence’ in which research for medical device will be conducted.

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Gujarat’s Dahej is all set to get India’s first roll on-roll off (Ro-Ro) vessel passenger ferry services around April 2017. The Rs 550 crore projects being executed by the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), and is expected to bring down travel time between Saurashtra regions in Gujarat with its Southern parts significantly. From Ghoga in Saurashtra to Dahej in South Gujarat takes around 10-12 hours for trucks and buses, and even by cars it is not less than 6-8 hours. Once the Ro-Ro ferry service commences, this time would be dramatically shortened to one and a half hours. Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers, and railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using a platform vehicle, such as a self-propelled modular transporter. This is in contrast to lift-on/lift-off (Lolo) vessels, which use a crane to load and unload cargo. Roll-on/Roll-off or ‘Ro-Ro’ services for freight transport have being proposed to be introduced at five places – Kolkata, Sahibganj, Varanasi, Patna and Bhagalpur besides setting up small terminals at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore.

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MESSENGER was the first orbital mission around Mercury. It was a NASA robotic spacecraft that orbited the planet Mercury between 2011 and 2015. BepiColombo is a joint mission planned to be launched in October 2018. It is a joint mission by European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to the planet Mercury. The mission comprises two satellites to be launched together: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetosphere Orbiter (MMO). The mission will perform a comprehensive study on Mercury, including its magnetic field, magnetosphere, interior structure and surface. Mariner 10 was an American robotic space probe launched by NASA on November 3, 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury and Venus. Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN) is a space probe developed by NASA designed to study the atmosphere of Mars. The mission was successfully launched on November 18, 2013. Mission goals include determining how the planet’s atmosphere and water, presumed to have once been substantial, were lost over time. MAVEN has completed four years on 21 september, 2018.

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Recently, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has revised the standards on petrol and diesel as per Bharat Stage (BS) VI fuel norms from the earlier BS IV emission norms. As per new BS VI emission norms, the amount of Sulphur in both petrol and diesel in BS-VI fuel is limited to a maximum of 10 parts per million (PPM). Government has decided to implement BS VI emission norms in Delhi NCR from 1 April 2018 and in rest of the country from 1 April 2020.

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Express Wi-Fi is an initiative of Facebook in India. It is live in India and it empowers local entrepreneurs to help provide quality Internet access to their neighbours and make a steady income with the help of internet service providers and local entrepreneurs to help expand connectivity to underserved locations around the world.

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Scientists from Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have identified a soil fungus Aspergillus tubingensis that uses enzymes to rapidly break down plastic materials. The plastic-eating fungus was found Islamabad, Pakistan. The new discovery in an advance can help to deal with plastic waste problem that threatens our environment in safer and more effective way.

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As of 2023, world’s largest marine protected area is the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area, located in the Southern Ocean off the coast of Antarctica. This marine protected area covers approximately 1.57 million square kilometers (about 600,000 square miles) and was established in 2016 by an agreement among 24 countries and the European Union. The Ross Sea Marine Protected Area is intended to conserve the unique marine ecosystems of the region and to support scientific research.

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SWAYAM Portal would offer at least 350 online courses and will leverage information technology, access to high quality reading resources, participate in discussion forums; take tests and earn academic grades. Access to SWAYAM would be widened by linkage with DTH channels dedicated to education.

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The Indian government announced to adopt ‘Swiss Challenge’ method for development of railway stations and national highways in India. "Swiss Challenge" is a model of auctioning infrastructure projects in India.