Daily Current Affairs March 27th- Vignan IAS

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE:
With $200 billion of India’s trade flows with Europe, North America and South America at risk due to the blockage of the Suez Canal, the Department of Commerce is planning re-routing shipments through the Cape of Good Hope.
About:
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa. Contemporary geographic knowledge instead states the southernmost point of Africa is Cape Agulhas.
When following the western side of the African coastline from the equator, however, the Cape of Good Hope marks the point where a ship begins to travel more eastward than southward.
Important Info :
Cape Agulhas
Cape Agulhas is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa.
It is the geographic southern tip of the African continent and the beginning of the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
Source : The Hindu
Geography

NISAR:
NASA and ISRO are collaborating on developing a satellite called NISAR, which will detect movements of the planet’s surface as small as 0.4 inches over areas about half the size of a tennis court.
About:
NISAR is an SUV-sized satellite that is being jointly developed by the space agencies of the US and India.
The name NISAR is short for NASA-ISRO-SAR. SAR here refers to the synthetic aperture radar that NASA will use to measure changes in the surface of the Earth.
Essentially, SAR refers to a technique for producing high-resolution images.
Because of the precision, the radar can penetrate clouds and darkness, which means that it can collect data day and night in any weather.

The partnership agreement was signed between NASA and ISRO in 2014.
NASA will provide one of the radars for the satellite, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers and a payload data subsystem.
ISRO, on the other hand, will provide the spacecraft bus, the second type of radar (called the S-band radar), the launch vehicle and associated launch services.

The satellite will be launched in 2022 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, into a near-polar orbit.
It will scan the globe every 12 days over the course of its three-year mission of imaging the Earth’s land, ice sheets and sea ice to give an “unprecedented” view of the planet.
Source : Indian Express
Science & Tech

TIGRAY:
Eritrea will pull its troops out of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, said. It is a potential breakthrough in a drawn-out conflict that has seen atrocities carried out against civilians.
About:
The Tigray Region is the northernmost of the nine regions (kililat) of Ethiopia.
Tigray is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob and Kunama peoples.
Tigray is also known as Region 1 according to the federal constitution.
Its capital and largest city is Mekelle.
Tigray is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, the Amhara Region to the south and the Afar Region to the east and south east.
Important Info :
Recent conflict:
The Tigray War is an ongoing armed conflict that began in November 2020 in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia.
It is fought between the by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF)-controlled Tigray Regional Government, and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF).
The conflict escalated in September, when Tigray held local elections in insubordination of the Ethiopian federal government. these elections were considered “illegal” by the federal government, further leading to conflict with Tigray authorities.
Source : The Hindu
International

RTI REJECTIONS:
The Centre has only rejected 4.3% of all Right to Information (RTI) requests in 2019-20, the lowest ever rate, according to the Central Information Commission’s annual report.
About:
However, almost 40% of these rejections did not include any valid reason, as they did not invoke one of the permissible exemption clauses in the RTI Act, according to an analysis of report data by RTI activist Venkatesh Nayak.
This includes 90% of rejections by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Public authorities under the Central government received 13.7 lakh RTI requests in 2019-20, out of which 58,634 were rejected for various reasons.
Rejection rates have fallen since the 13.9% rate in 2005-06 and have been steadily trending downwards since the 8.4% spike in 2014-15. In 2019-20, they hit their lowest level so far.
The Home Ministry had the highest rate of rejections, as it rejected 20% of all RTIs received. The Agriculture Ministry’s rejection rate doubled from 2% in 2018-19 to 4% in 2019-20.
The Delhi Police and the Army also saw increases in rejection rates.
Important Info :
The RTI Act allows public authorities to reject RTI requests on a number of grounds, ranging from information which would endanger life and safety to that which involves irrelevant personal information, Cabinet papers, foreign governments, copyrights, or sovereignty, security and intelligence matters.
Public authorities are expected to cite the relevant clause of the Act to invoke the exemption.
Source : The Hindu
Polity & Governance

MAHARASHTRA BHUSHAN AWARD:

Legendary singer Asha Bhosle will be presented the Maharashtra Bhushan award for the year 2020, the State government’s highest honour.
About:
A committee headed by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting earlier today in this regard.
The award, instituted in 1996 by the State government to recognise distinguished work and achievements of eminent persons from the State, representing different walks of life, carries a cash prize of ₹10 lakh and a citation.
Born on September 8, 1933, in Maharashtra’s Sangli district, Ms. Bhosle was initiated into music by her father, the renowned Marathi stage actor-singer Dinanath Mangeshkar.
Bhosle received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2000.
Important Info :
The first Maharashtra Bhushan awardee was Marathi writer P.L. Deshpande and the last winner of this award was historian Babasaheb Purandare who got it for the year 2015.
Her sister Lata Mangeshkar won the award for 1997.
Source : All India Radio
Awards

INDIAN BEAMLINE PROJECT:

The third phase of the Indian beamline project, a facility for materials research set up under India-Japan Scientific and Technological Cooperation, was initiated on March 23, 2021, with special focus on industrial application research.
About:
The phase would increase the number of young researchers from India to be trained in advanced X-ray techniques of material research.
Besides, steps will be taken to allocate more beamtime so that more researchers can get access to it. At present, only 50 % of Indian researchers who apply receive beamtime.
The Indian beamline has been constructed and maintained by Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), Kolkata and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore; in Japanese synchrotron light source Photon Factory (PF) of High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), with support from Nano Mission, Department of Science and Technology (DST).
This India-Japan Scientific and Technological Cooperation project was initiated between the DST and the KEK on 24 July 2007.
In the first phase (2009-2015) of this project, an X-ray beamline (BL18B) was constructed by SINP in PF. In the second phase (2016-2021), JNCASR and SINP jointly developed the beamline further to cater to the need of various users from India.
Source : PIB
Economy

TRIBAL TB INITIATIVE:

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched ‘Tribal TB Initiative’ in pursuit of TB Mukt Bharat.
About:
A Guidance Note on Joint Action Plan for Tuberculosis (TB) Elimination, a Special Edition of Tribal Ministry’s Publication ‘ALEKH’ on TB, and a document on Tribal Tuberculosis (TB) Initiative was also released.
Over 104 million tribal population lives in India, across 705 tribes, accounting for 8.6 % of the country’s population.
177 tribal districts were identified as high priority districts where physical remoteness, malnutrition, poor living conditions and lack of awareness contribute to the vulnerability of the tribal population to TB.
Initially, the activities of the joint plan will be focusing on 161 districts across 18 identified States. This would involve periodic TB active case finding drives and provision of TB Preventive Therapy (IPT) to identified vulnerable population and develop long term mechanisms for vulnerability reduction.
Important Info :
the Union Territories of Lakshadweep and district of Badgam in Jammu and Kashmir have been declared TB Free on World TB Day this year.
The government has already increased the Budget allocation for TB in India a four-fold in the last 5 years.
Source : PIB
Social Issues

NATIONAL CLEAN AIR PROGRAMME (NCAP):

In the presence of Union Minister of Environment the MoU was signed by representatives of State Pollution Control Boards, Urban Local Bodies and Institutes of Repute for 132 identified cities for implementation of city specific action plans under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
About:
The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) is a long-term, time-bound, national level strategy to tackle air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner.
It targets to achieve 20% to 30% reduction in Particulate Matter concentrations by 2024 (with 2017 as base year).
A National Knowledge Network comprising leading air quality specialists has also been constituted as a technical advisory group to support activities under NCAP and guide local Institutes of Repute (IoRs) in conducting air quality researches.
Source : PIB
Environment

INDO-KOREAN FRIENDSHIP PARK:

India’s First Indo-Korean Friendship Park was jointly inaugurated by Mr Suh Wook, Minister of National Defence, Republic of Korea and Rajnath Singh, Raksha Mantri, at Delhi Cantonment on 26 March 2021.
About:
It is in Delhi Cantonment.
The park’s significance is not only because of it being a symbol of strong India-South Korea friendly relations, but also as a monument to India’s contributions as part of 21 countries which participated in Korean war 1950-53, under the aegis of the United Nations.
The park has been developed in joint consultation with Ministry of Defence, Government of India, Indian Army, Delhi Cantonment Board, Embassy of Korea and Korean War Veterans Association of India.
One of the pillars in the park encompasses Nobel Laureate Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s narration of Korea as “The Lamp of the East” which was published in Korean daily “Dong-A-llbo” in 1929.
Source : PIB
Defence & Security

EXIT POLL:

Election Commission of India, in exercise of the powers under sub-section(1) of Section 126A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 has notified the period between 7:00A.M on 27th March, 2021 (Saturday) and 7.30 PM on 29thApril, 2021 (Thursday), as the period during which exit polls are banned.
About:
During this period, conducting any exit poll and publishing or publicizing the result of exit poll by means of the print or electronic media or in any other manner shall be prohibited in the ongoing General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal & Puducherry.
Further, under Section 126(1)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,displaying any election matter including results of any opinion poll or any other poll survey, in any electronic media, would be prohibited during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for conclusion of poll.
Important Info :
In multi-phase elections it is prohibited to conduct exit polls from the 1st phase till the last phase of elections to prevent influencing voters’ behaviour. After last phase one can conduct an exit poll and publish result.
This was done by bringing amending the Representation of the People Act, 1951 in 2009 which inserted Section 126A was inserted into the RPA.
Contravention of Section 126A has been made punishable under Section 126A(3) with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both.
Additionally, Section 126B has also been inserted to the RP Act, 1951 for punishment to companies who commit any offence under Section 126A.
Source : PIB
Polity & Governance

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US-based Electric car maker, Tesla has incorporated a fully owned subsidiary in Bengaluru as a first step to set up an R&D unit and a manufacturing plant for its electric vehicles in the country

• Tesla has registered its 100 per cent subsidiary, as – Tesla India Motors and Energy Pvt Ltd, according to disclosures with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
  
• It is a private unlisted company with an authorised capital of Rs 15,00,000 and a paid-up capital of Rs 1,00,000, according to the MCA filings.
  
• It will enter India with the Model 3 Sedan, expectedly priced at around Rs 60 Lakh.
  
• The vehicle is fully electric and is powered by a 60kw hour lithium-ion battery pack with a range of 500 km. In a span of only 3.1 seconds, the Sedan speeds up from 0 to 60mph and has a top speed of around 250 km.
  

Source : All India Radio

India and Japan signed MoU to enhance cooperation in the field of Information and Communications Technologies

• The Department of Telecom and Japan’s Ministry of Communications will enhance mutual cooperation in the field of 5G technologies, telecom security, submarine optical fiber cable system to islands of India, spectrum management, smart cities, high altitude platform for broadband in unconnected areas, disaster management and public safety etc.
  

Source : The Hindu

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has sought inputs from telcos and other industry experts on the sale and use of radio frequency spectrum over the next 10 years, including the 5G bands

• 5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
  
• 5G mainly works in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high frequency spectrum — all of which have their own uses as well as limitations.
  
• While the low band spectrum has shown great promise in terms of coverage and speed of internet and data exchange, the maximum speed is limited to 100 Mbps (Megabits per second).
  
• The mid-band spectrum, on the other hand, offers higher speeds compared to the low band, but has limitations in terms of coverage area and penetration of signals.
  
• The high-band spectrum offers the highest speed of all the three bands, but has extremely limited coverage and signal penetration strength.
  
• Internet speeds in the high-band spectrum of 5G has been tested to be as high as 20 Gbps (giga bits per second), while, in most cases, the maximum internet data speed in 4G has been recorded at 1 Gbps.
  

Source : Indian express

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off eight trains from different parts of the country to Kevadia in Narmada district. Out of these eight trains, the Janshatabdi Express from Ahmedabad-Kevadia has a Vistadome coach

• The Vistadome coach is a state-of-the-art coach made by Indian Railways, designed to provide passengers with travel comfort as well as an enhanced viewing experience of their surroundings.
  
• The Vistadome coach in the Janshatabdi Express has been manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
  
• It is for the first time that the Vistadome coach has been made on the Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) platform, made for passenger coaches for trains in India.
  
• Some of the features of the Vistadome coach are an observation lounge with a large window for passengers to experience the scenic route to Kevadia.
  
• The 44 recliner-180 degree rotatable seats ensure people can enjoy the view from both windows to their right and left, there are automatic sliding doors at both gates of the coach, glass rooftops offer a panoramic view, while there are five large windows on each side.
  

Source : Indian Express

Russia announced that it was leaving the Open Skies Treaty (OST)

• First proposed in 1955 by former US President Dwight Eisenhower as a means to deescalate tensions during the Cold War, the landmark treaty was eventually signed in 1992 between NATO members and former Warsaw Pact countries following the demise of the Soviet Union.
  
• It went into effect in 2002 and had 35 signatories, including key players US and Russia, along with one non-ratifying member (Kyrgyzstan).
  
• It is an accord between countries that allows participants to fly unarmed reconnaissance flights over any part of their fellow member states.
  
• Under the treaty, a member state can “spy” on any part of the host nation, with the latter’s consent. A country can undertake aerial imaging over the host state after giving notice 72 hours before, and sharing its exact flight path 24 hours before.
  
• In November, the United States left the OST first after accusing Russia of violating the pact– allegations that Russia denied. Moscow has now blamed Washington for its own decision of leaving the treaty.
  

Source : Indian Express

Legendary classical musician Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan dies at 89

• Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan (1931 – 2021) was an Indian classical musician in the Hindustani classical music tradition, belonging to the Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana.
  
• He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1991, followed by Padma Bhushan in 2006 and Padma Vibhushan in 2018.
  
• In 2003 he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
  

Source : The Hindu

In Indonesia, heavy rain is hampering the search operation for survivors following a powerful earthquake on Sulawesi island

• Sulawesi is an island in Indonesia.
  
• It is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. The Strait of Makassar runs along the western side of the island and separates the island from Borneo.
  
• Within Indonesia, it is smaller than Sumatra and larger than Java Island.
  

Important Info :

• Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where tectonic plates collide, and the country has a history of devastating earthquakes and tsunamis.

Source : All India Radio

Nine former officials who served the state of Michigan in the US, including the state’s former governor Rick Snyder, were charged in connection with a criminal investigation into the Flint water crisis

• The Flint water crisis is an ongoing public health crisis that began in 2014 when the City of Flint in Michigan changed its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint river.
  
• This switch caused the water distribution pipes to corrode, as a result of which lead and other contaminants were leached into the municipal drinking water.
  
• This led to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, a serious type of pneumonia caused by the Legionella bacteria and other health complications in thousands of its residents.
  
• According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people can get sick from this if they breathe in mist or accidentally swallow bacteria-containing water into the lungs.
  
• While the water supply was switched back in 2015, the damage was long-lasting and many residents of the city continued to suffer.
  

Source : Indian Express

More than half of Indian Army personnel seem to be under severe stress, according to the findings of a study by United Service Institution of India (USI), a Service think tank. The research was undertaken during 2019-20 by Col. AK Mor, Senior Research Fellow at the USI

• The Army has been losing more personnel every year due to suicides, fratricides and untoward incidents than in response to any enemy or terrorist activities
  
• There has been a significant increase in stress levels amongst Indian Army personnel during approximately last two decades due to operational and non-operational stressors.
  
• Prolonged exposure of Indian Army personnel to Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism (CI/CT) environment has been one of the contributory factors for increased stress levels.
  
• While operational stressors are well understood and accepted by Army personnel, the study says that non-operational stressors that add on “have compounding adverse effects on health and combat efficiency of soldiers and thus affecting their respective units too.”
  
• In this regard, officers experience comparatively much higher cumulative stress levels, compared to the Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Ranks (OR) and the stress causative factors are also different.
  
• Various management measures implemented by the Army and Defence Ministry in the last 15 years have not been able to achieve the desired results.
  

Source : The Hindu

Capital markets watchdog SEBI relaxed the framework for follow-on public offers (FPOs), a move that will help promoters of companies to raise funds more easily through this route

• The applicability of minimum promoters’ contribution norm and the subsequent lock-in requirements for the issuers making the FPO have been done away with by the regulator, as per a notification.
  
• Earlier, promoters were mandated to contribute 20% towards a FPO.
  
• Besides, in case of any issue of capital to the public, the minimum promoters’ contribution was required to be locked-in for three years.
  
• SEBI said the relaxation would be available for those companies which are frequently traded on a stock exchange for at least three years. Also, such firms should have redressed 95% of investor complaints.
  

Source : The Hindu

Recent Posts:

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