Current Affairs 13th & 14th June 2019
Important Current Affairs
Current Affairs 13th & 14th June 2019
Blight disease in rice:
Context: Scientists unravel fungus responsible for Sheath Blight disease in rice.
A strain of Rhizoctonia solani is the fungal pathogen that causes the dreaded Sheath Blight disease in rice.
The researchers have identified several genes and gene families in the strain that might account for their disease aggressiveness. This genomic insight is expected to help develop rice varieties resistant to sheath blight disease.
About Sheath Blight disease: It is a major issue in rice cultivation. It can cause up to 60 percent reduction in rice yield. It is difficult to breed disease-resistant rice varieties, as there is a lack of natural source of disease resistance
Windrush Scheme
Why in news: UK Home Secretary has issued another personal apology for the Windrush scandal, involving migrants being wrongly denied their British citizenship rights, as a latest official update revealed that hundreds more Indians were caught up in the row.
What is Windrush Scheme?
The Windrush Scheme enables Commonwealth citizens, their children, and some other long term residents of the UK to obtain documentation confirming their status free of charge.
Who is eligible for support under the scheme?
- a Commonwealth citizen who settled in the UK before 1 January 1973 or has right of abode.
- a child of a Commonwealth citizen parent who settled before 1 January 1973, where you were born in the UK or arrived in the UK before the age of 18.
- a person of any nationality who settled in the UK before 31 December 1988 and is settled in the UK.
Background:
The Windrush generation refers to citizens of former British colonies who arrived before 1973 when the rights of such Commonwealth citizens to live and work in Britain were substantially curtailed.
The name derives from the ship MV Empire Windrush, which on June 22, 1948, docked in Tilbury, Essex, bringing nearly 500 Jamaicans to the UK.
The immigrants came at the invitation of the British government, which was facing a labour shortage due to the destruction caused by World War II.
While a large proportion of them was of Jamaican/Caribbean descent who came on the ship Windrush, Indians and other South Asians were also affected by the UK government’s handling of their immigration status.
What is happening to them?
- A scandal over the treatment of members of the Windrush generation has been mounting in recent months as a multitude of reports have come out about mostly elderly people being denied services, losing their jobs and even facing deportation.
- Many of the Windrush generations had arrived as children on their parents’ passports. And although they have lived in Britain for many decades – paying taxes and insurance – they never formally became British citizens.
- Amid the tightening of the immigration rules, an estimated 50,000 long-term UK residents could now be facing problems.
Author Amitav Ghosh was conferred the 54th Jnanpith Award
Author Amitav Ghosh has been conferred the 54th Jnanpith Award. He was awarded for his contribution to the enrichment of Indian literature in English at a ceremony. The award was presented by the former governor of West Bengal Gopalkrishna Gandhi in New Delhi on 13 June. Amitav Ghosh is the first English writer to get this prestigious Jnanpith Award
Amitav Ghosh:
Amitav Ghosh is an Indian writer. He is best known for his work in English fiction. In 2007, the government of India awarded him the civilian honour of Padma Shri. He also received the Israeli Dan David Prize, together with Margaret Atwood.
His works and awards:
His book, The Circle of Reason won the Prix Médicis étranger which is France's top literary awards.
His work 'The Calcutta Chromosome' won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for 1997.
Also, his work 'Sea of Poppies' was shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize.
The book 'River of Smoke' was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2011.
Jnanpith Award:
The Jnanpith Award is an Indian literary award. It was instituted in 1961. The award was sponsored by Bharatiya Jnanpith, a literary research organization. It is presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their outstanding contribution towards literature. The award is bestowed only on Indian writers who write in Indian languages that are included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and English, with no posthumous conferral.
G. Sankara Kurup was the first who received the award in 1965. The award consists of a citation plaque, a cash prize of Rs.12 lakh (around), and a bronze replica of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge and wisdom
The 16th Asia Media Summit was successfully concluded on 13 June in Cambodia
The 16th Asia Media Summit was concluded on 13 June in Cambodia. The summit called for regulation-making to fight against fake news and cyber-crimes. The theme of the summit was Media Digitalisation - Focusing on Developing Markets.
16th Asia Media Summit:
The summit was organized by Cambodian Ministry of Information and the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD).
Participants: Around 600 media representatives from 42 countries and regions participated in the two-day summit.
Focus:
The summit focused on the spread of disinformation or fake news and its impact on governments, media, private sector and society. The discussions included the concerns caused by digital media, which requires relevant authorities to make regulations to anti-cybercrimes, fake news, and training people to raise awareness and enhance the media profession.
The summit encouraged the broadcasters and other media stakeholders to counter fake news by strengthening law enforcement, ethics, and professionalism.
Angkor Fake News Initiative:
During the summit, Angkor Fake News Initiative was launched. It is a year-long research project to find out appropriate measures to counter fake news. It was urged that fake news and cyber-crimes pose severe risks to the individual's right and security in the region as well as in the globe.
Asia Media Summit:
Asia Media Summit was established in 2004 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The summit was held subsequently in Malaysia until 2008.
The sixth round of the meeting was moved to Macau of China in 2009. It was then held in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, India and Cambodia in the following years.
It provides an opportunity for media practitioners, industry leaders, broadcasters, researchers, academia, experts and media policymakers to meet and discuss the developing media’s quality and high technological revolution.
NASA's OSIRIS REx spacecraft creates a new record
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft entered its second orbital phase around asteroid Bennu, called Orbital B on June 12, 2019. It broke its own world record for the closest orbit of a planetary body.
In the Orbital B phase, the maneuver placed the spacecraft in an orbit 680 meters above the surface of asteroid Bennu. The previous record was set by OSIRIS-REx on 31 December 2018, when the spacecraft flew 1.33 km above the asteroid’s surface during Orbital A phase.
OSIRIS-REx:
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was sent to study the asteroid Bennu and return a sample from its surface to Earth. The spacecraft is on a seven-year journey. The sample of a primitive asteroid will help the scientists understand the formation of the Solar System over 4.5 billion years ago. Sample collection has been scheduled for the summer of 2020. The spacecraft is expected to deliver the sample to Earth in September 2023
India designated as guest country at Guadalajara International Book Fair in Mexico
India designated as the Guest of Honour at the 33rd Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara (Guadalajara International Book Fair)in Mexico, the National Book Trust.
The book fair organized from November 30 - December 8,
India pavilion at the fair will showcase over 35 Indian authors and artists, along with 15 publishing houses.
India displays a wide array of its rich and composite literary and cultural heritage through literary and academic activities comprising conferences.
Ancient and rare manuscripts including "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana" will be put on exhibition, along with photo books, handicrafts, and paintings.
The exhibition will run parallel to the book fair in the pavilion
They will feature art by 40 renowned Indian women artists including Arpana Caur, Paula Sengupta, and Seema Kohli.
The "Festival of India" will showcase folk, classical and contemporary cultural programs.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
Why in news: SCO Summit 2019 is being held in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan.
About SCO:
What is it? The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, also known as the Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai.
Founding members: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The cooperation was renamed to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation after Uzbekistan joined the organisation in 2001.
The SCO’s main goals are: strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states; promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas; making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region; and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.
Presently, the SCO comprises eight member states, namely the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan;.
The SCO counts four observer states, namely the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Mongolia.
The SCO has six dialogue partners, namely the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Republic of Turkey, and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.