Current Affairs 6th September - 11th September 2019
Important Current Affairs
Current Affairs 6th September - 11th September 2019
Two new species of ginger was discovered from Nagaland
Research Scientists from the biological science Survey of India (BSI) have discovered 2 new species of ginger. Zingiber prenense has been discovered from the Peren district of Nagaland and Zingiber dimapurense was found within the Dimapur in Nagaland on 11th Sept.
About Two new species:
Zingiber dimapurense:
The first new species Zingiber dimapurense is looking with the flower in white color with dark- red blotches and its leafy shoot is about 90-120 cm tall.
Zingiber perenense:
The second species Zingiber perenense reach up to 70 cm tall with the lip of the white flower with purplish-red streaks.
Collection of species:
The specimen of genus Zingiber dimapurense was collected in October 2016 from the Hekese village. The genus Zingiber perenense was collected in Sep 2017 in peren, Nagaland. They began flowering in June 2018. The Zingiber has 141 species distributed throughout Asia and more than 20 species are found in northeastern India.
PM Modi lanched National Animal Disease Control Programme
PM Narendra Modi launched the National Animal Disease Control Programme for Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. The government has announced that it will fund the Rs.12,652 crore for the programme for a period of 5 years till 2024.
Aim:
The programme aims at vaccinating over 500 Million livestock including cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, and pigs against foot and mouth disease (FMD). It also aims to vaccinate 36 million female bovine calves annually in its fight against Brucellosis disease.
The programme has two components:
♦ to control the diseases by 2025
♦ to eradicate FMD by 2030
FMD and Brucellosis:
FMD and Brucellosis diseases are very common among the livestock cow-bulls, buffaloes, sheep, goats, pigs etc. If a cow/buffalo gets infected with FMD, the milk loss is up to 100% which could last for four to six months.
If it is affected by Brucellosis the milk output reduces by 30%, during the entire life cycle of the animal. Brucellosis also causes infertility amongst the animals. The infection of brucellosis can also be transmitted to the farmworkers and livestock owners. Both the diseases will cause a direct negative impact on the trade of milk and other livestock products.
India participated in the 84th TIF in Greece
The 84th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) was held in Greece. The fair is being held from 7 September- 15 September 2019. TIF was organized by TIF-Helexpo. The 9-day event is expected to bring approximately 80 enterprises from various sectors of the Indian economy including technology and primary production to Thessaloniki. India is the honoured country in the international trade fair.
Aim:
TIF aimed to deepen the long diplomatic relations of Greece and India. It stressed the need to further support the two countries’ economic relations.
Indian Delegation:
The Indian delegation was led by Minister of State (MoS) for Commerce and Industry, Hardeep Singh Puri. The delegations included senior officials of Indian Government from the Ministries of Commerce and Industry, Electronics & Information Technology, and Tourism, and officers of Embassy of India in Greece, International Trade Promotion Organisation, India Brand Equity Foundation and Confederation of Indian Industry as well as prominent Indian entrepreneurs.
Also, exhibitors including National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Agricultural Produce Export Development Authority (APEDA), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), companies from the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector and tiles and ceramics industry and handicrafts participated.
Oscars of science awarded to Event Horizon Telescope Team
The Event Horizon Telescope Team consists of 347 scientists produced the world first image of a black hole. They were felicitated with breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. The prize is known as the Oscars of science with prize money $3 million. The team published the image of black hole circled by a flame-orange halo of white-hot plasma on the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy.
Directed by Shep Doelman at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the team spent over a decade simulating an Earth-sized computational telescope that combined the signals received by eight radio telescopes working in pairs around the world with their sights trained on the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy, 55 million light-years away.
Through this technique, they were able to achieve an unprecedented resolution and observe the black hole's silhouette for the first time in history, confirming theoretical predictions about these celestial objects.
The event horizon of a black hole is the point at which its gravitational effects are strong that light cannot escape its pull.
The Breakthrough Prize was launched by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to recognize and reward the world's top scientists.
They will be recognized at a gala awards ceremony on November 3, at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.
Fifteenth Indo-US military training Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2019
The 15th edition of the biggest joint military exercise Yudh Abhyas 2019 took place between Indian and the United States(US) at Lewis McChord Joint Airforce Base,Washington(US) continue till 18th September.
The main objective is to facilitate interoperability between two nations and train at Battalion level as well as brigade level.
The US side represented by a company of 5-20 Infantry Battalion of the US Army and the Indian side was represented by The Assam Regiment. The Indian army welcomed by Major General of US, Xavier Brunsen.
The two armies at the end of the exercise will undertake a joint exercise under a UN(United Nations) mandate where expert academic and military discussions.
Kochi to host 22nd India International Seafood Show after 12 years
The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) joined with the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) is organizing the 22nd edition of India International Seafood Show (IISS) .
Their aim is to provide an ideal platform for an interaction between Indian Exporters and overseas importers of Indian marine products, an opportunity for display and sale for manufacturers and suppliers of processing machinery, packaging systems, processing ingredient dealers and cold chain systems and also an opening for service providers like the logistics and certifying/testing segments..
Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)
They will highlight the technological advances and sustainable practices followed in seafood processing sector in India.The 22nd edition will have technical sessions by national and international experts. IISS 2020 will have over 250 stalls spread over 7,000 square metres (sq m), showcasing a wide range of products based on automated and IT aided technology, and energy efficient systems for value addition.They planned to have buyer delegations from countries focused on mutual tie-ups in the area of seafood processing and value addition.The delegates would include seafood processors, buyers and stakeholders from other related sectors representing firms from India and aboard. It is also planned to have buyer delegations from countries focused on mutual tie-ups in the area of seafood processing and value addition
UNESCO ties up with Rajasthan to promote states intangible cultural heritage
UNESCO and the Rajasthan government joined to promote the state's intangible cultural heritage. Their main aim is to promote music, art and craft forms, and other intangible cultural heritage of the state to spur socio-economic growth of several artist communities.
The project which will run for around three-and-a-half years will be implemented in Jodhpur, Barmer, Jaisalmer and Bikaner districts.
India and the Rajasthan government's tourism department today signed a partnership agreement to promote community-based responsible tourism based on the rich intangible cultural heritage of the state.
UNESCO Project
The project will focus on cultural heritage and traditions, such as pottery, weaving and other crafts, as well as music traditions, in order to create community-led and community-benefiting tourism opportunities.
The project plans on developing 10 cultural hubs across the four districts, which will help promote diverse types of cultural heritage through hosting of events, performances, and sale of handicrafts. It will also build capacities of local communities to manage and promote their intangible heritage.
A Memorandum of Understanding signed between Eric Falt, Director, UNESCO Office in New Delhi and Rajasthan's Minister of Tourism Vishvendra Singh in Jaipur at an event held at Paryatan Bhawan.
This agreement represents a historic moment because it is the first time we are signing such a document with an international organization. Most importantly, it will revive traditional cultural heritage and improve livelihoods.
The Walled City of Jaipur was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
India is second to none when it comes to intangible cultural heritage and Rajasthan undoubtedly constitutes its number one asset. We are very pleased to sign this agreement which aims at promoting long-standing Rajasthani traditions and adding new cultural destinations for tourists to visit.
The project will be implemented by UNESCO with an NGO, Contact Base, and it aims to identify appropriate cultural heritage practices which are unique to the state.
The numerous palaces, forts, and museums, an average tourist usually stays in the state only for one to two days.
The Rajasthan project is based on a model successfully developed by UNESCO and Contact Base over the last six years in West Bengal rejuvenated 22 different art forms, provided clear economic benefits to 15,000 artists and households and converted 18 marginalized villages into vibrant cultural destinations.
First Mega Food Park was held in Telangana
The first Mega Food Park in Telangana was held at Lakkampally village in Nizamabad district. It was inaugurated by the Union Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal. The food park was promoted by Smart Agro Food Park. The Smart Agro Mega Food Park was set up in 78 acres of land at a cost of Rs.108.95 crore.
The facilities in the park include a 5,000-tonne warehouse each for raw materials, finished goods, and commodities, 500-tonne deep freeze, Turmeric-Curcumin, Oleoresin Extraction unit of 5 tonnes a day, quality control lab and other related food processing facilities.
Aim:
Mega Food parks aimed to facilitate the doubling of farmer’s income by 2022. The scheme functions along with the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi which is a government initiative in which all small and marginal farmers will get up to Rs.6,000. Mega Food Parks will reduce post-harvest losses and hedge the farmer’s risk.
The Ministry aims to boost the food processing industry. If the agriculture sector grows exponentially, it will become a major contributor to double the farmer’s income and Make In India initiative of the government.
Benefits:
The Mega Food Park leveraged an additional investment of about Rs.250 crore in 22 food processing units. It generated a turnover of about Rs.14,000 crore. It is also expected that the Mega Food Parks will also provide 50,000 direct and indirect jobs and benefit about one lakh farmers.
Financial assistance:
The Mega Food Park Scheme is implemented to boost the food processing sector. The government provides financial assistance up to Rs.50 crore per Mega Food Park project.
Russia to conduct 2019 Exercise TSENTR
Exercise TSENTR 2019 is a component of the annual exercises part of the Russian Armed Forces like an annual coaching cycle. Exercise TSENTR 2019 is conducted by the Central military commission of Russia. This year the exercise is planned to be held between 9-23 September at Donguz coaching ranges in Russia.
Aim:
TSENTR 2019 aims to evolve drills and give practice to the participating armies in the fight against the scourge of international terrorism. It also aims to ensure military security in the strategic Central Asian region. The exercise will also focus on evaluating the preparedness of the level of the troop, the acquisition of the required skills and raising the level of interoperability and demonstrate the readiness of the participating armies.
Participants:
Apart from Belarus, China, Mongolia, Russia invited 9 other countries for the Exercise TSENTR 2019. In the annual military exercise, military contingents from China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan will be participating.
Exercise TSENTR 2019:
The exercise TSENTR 2019 comprises of 2 modules:
First module: It aims to embody counter-terror operations, repellant airstrikes, intelligence operation operations, and defensive measures.
Second module: It aims to specialize in offensive operations.
Russian military exercise:
Russia holds a significant military exercise once a year at one of its four military Commands namely Vostok (East), Zapad (West), TSENTR (Centre) and Kavkas (South). In 2017, Russia conducted ZAPAD-2017 and in 2018 it conducted VOSTOK-2018.
Forty new Vande Bharat Express trains by 2022
India will have 40 new Vande Bharata Express trains by 2022. Indian Railways finalized the timeline for manufacturing them again and started a tendering process for the purpose.
The production was stopped over allegations of favoritism and lack of transparency, earlier this year. The railway board has now started the tendering process for resuming manufacturing after railway minister Piyush Goyal’s intervention.
A tender will be out by October for the propulsion system of the trains.
Two rakes of Vande Bharat Express are currently available for operations and one of them runs between Delhi and Varanasi.
New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharata Express
The New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharata Express or Train 18, India’s first locally built semi high-speed train that can run up to a maximum speed of 160 km/hour.The delivery by mid-2022 and by the end of that year, 40 more Vande Bharat Express trains should be up and running.Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory which manufactured the first two rakes, scrapped all tenders in June for a third one amid the controversy.
Goyal met representatives of manufacturers on July 2 and promised a level playing field to all of them in a transparent manner.
The industry’s feedback, the railways agreed to give reasonable time for submission of bids. The manufacturers have been told that Make in India policy has to be followed and some import could be permitted provided that the manufacturing units must be set up in India eventually.The new guidelines make it mandatory for the production units to follow the specifications of the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO).
The tender will be floated on October 20 and by July 2021, the supply of rakes will begin.
A third railway official admitted that there was a problem with the first train. He added that the entire process will begin from scratch to overcome that. On the day of its launch in February, the train broke down upon its return from Varanasi because of stray cattle on the tracks. Indian Railways plans to introduce more Vande Bharat Express trains and has identified the Bangalore-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Ahmedabad, and Kolkata-Patna as possible routes.
India ranks 9th among the top 10 individual nations in gold reserves
The World Gold Council (WGC) released the 2019 list of gold reserves. The country who topped the list was the United States(US). They have gold reserves of 8,133.5 tonnes, followed by Germany (3,366.8 tonnes) at second place. India entered the top 10 list this year ranking at 10th spot surpassing the Netherlands (612.5 tonnes) it ranked 9th position in terms of individual countries with 618.2 tonnes, as the International Monetary Fund(IMF) ranks third (2,451.8 tonnes) in the gold reserve list.
Last Year India Report
India’s gold reserve grown from 357.8 tonnes in the first quarter of 2000 to 618.2 tonnes at present. India’s neighbouring country Pakistan 45th position (64.6 tonnes) in 2019 list.
Top 5 Rank Country
1- United States
2- Germany
3- International Monetary Fund
4- Italy
5- France
India ranks 34th in 2019 world travel and tourism competitiveness index
According to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) for the year 2019 released by the World Economic Forum(WEF). India ranked at the 34th spot from 6 places from the 2017 report (40th rank). The index topped by Spain It is followed by France and Germany in the second and third places.
Around 140 countries were ranked based on four sub-indexes. They are ranked mainly on the basis of
- Infrastructure
- Travel and Tourism policy enabling conditions
- Natural and cultural sources and
- Enabling environment.
India needs to improve in the enabling environment, tourist service infrastructure and environmental sustainability as it ranks 98th, 109th and 128th respectively.