Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
The 56th Liberation Day of Goa was celebrated with great pomp & show in Panaji on December 19, 2017. Several programmes and events have been organised to mark the occasion. The state was liberated on this day in 1961 from Portuguese control after almost 450 years of colonial rule. The armed action “code name – Operation Vijay” was carried out by the Indian Armed Forces in December 1961. The operation involved air, sea and land strikes for over 36 hours, and was a decisive victory for the Republic of India that ended 451 years of rule of Portugal over its remaining exclaves in India. The engagement lasted two days resulting in twenty-two Indians and thirty Portuguese killed in the fighting. The brief conflict drew a mixture of worldwide praise and condemnation.

Notes:
The percentage difference in expenditure on housing and transport = (15 – 5) % = 10%
The required difference

Hence option [B] is the right answer.

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 agenda or budget slogan for the Union Budget- 2017 is Transform, energise and clean India.

Notes:
Recently, the Karnataka government approved “Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy 2017”. With this, Karnataka became the first state to roll out an Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy in the country. Important Facts about the Policy

• It aims to bring down pollution levels and push the “Make in Karnataka” initiative.
• This policy would not only help at boosting sales of EVs, but also in setting up charging infra and special manufacturing zones.
• The policy aims to attract investments worth Rs31,000 crore
• Under this policy, the state government has proposed to set up new EV manufacturing zones, charging stations in public and private spaces including airports, railway stations, metro stations and encourage start-ups to develop business models
• The state government estimates that the new policy will help to create employment for 55,000 individuals over the next few years in the state.

Notes:
Recently, the Ministry of Science & Technology has launched Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana to formulate and implement appropriate S&T. The scheme is initially launched on pilot basis under which the Department of Science and Technology (DST) will adopt few clusters of villages in Uttarakhand and transform them to become self-sustainable in terms of science & technology with the help of available local resources and skills. Practice of agriculture, agro-based cottage industries and animal husbandry in an eco-friendly manner will be emphasized during the implementation of the project.

Notes:
Recently, the Union Ministry of Culture has chosen Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh, as the venue for the Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav, the biggest national cultural festival in the country. The major objective of the annual festival is to popularise and showcase the cultural diversity of India through arts, artisans, various dance forms, handicrafts, flavours etc. from across the country. The festival is a five-day festival, which would be celebrated at Tawang during March 2-6, 2017, and is expected to be attended by almost 600 artistes from all over the country.

Notes:
The Global Cyber security Index (GCI) is released by International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is a multi-stakeholder initiative to measure the commitment of countries to cyber security. Cyber security has a wide field of application that cuts across many industries and sectors. Each country’s level of development will therefore be analyzed within five categories: Legal Measures, Technical Measures, Organizational Measures, Capacity Building and Cooperation. India has been ranked 23rd out of 165 nations in the Global Cyber security Index (GCI) 2017.

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.