Tatva Current Affairs

SRIJAN idea competition for 635 Stations Development launched at MyGov portal                Ministry of Railways has launched SRIJAN (Station Rejuvenation through Joint ActioN), an idea competition for development of 635 railway stations. It was launched on MyGov portal by Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC). Key Facts                IRSDC has taken up massive redevelopment of around 600 major Railway stations across the country. In this mega exercise, it will take  assistance and involve all stakeholders i.e. railway passengers, urban planners, architects, engineers. For this, it has extended pen invitation for  developing concept and master plans for redevelopment of stations firms & professionals interested for Station Development. The winners in the SRIJAN  competition will get certificates and worthy ideas will be incorporated in the designs.  MyGov Portal              It is a citizen engagement platform launched by Central Government

Prime Minister launches Amma two-wheeler scheme in Tamil Nadu              Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched subsidised Amma two-wheeler Scheme meant for working women on the occasion of former Chief Minister  Jayalalithaa’s 70th birth anniversary. He also launched 70-lakh tree sapling planting  drive. Amma two-wheeler Scheme            Under the scheme, every beneficiary will be given 50% of cost of a two-wheeler or grant of Rs. 25,000. It will cover one lakh working women every year. The subsidised scooter scheme for working women is an electoral promise of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. During the 2016 Assembly  election, she had promised 50% subsidy for women to purchase two-wheelers.

Dhanush missile successfully test fired                                    Nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Dhanush ballistic missile was successfully test-fired from naval ship off Odisha near Paradip in the Bay of  Bengal. The missile test was carried out by Strategic Forces Command (SFC), the tri-services military command that controls all of India’s nuclear  weapons and their associated delivery systems. Dhanush missile                   Dhanush missile is also known as Prithvi-III.  It is naval variant of indigenously-developed Prithvi-II missile. Its design features  customisations to Prithvi platform to make it suitable for launch from ship. It is short-range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear as  as conventional warheads. It has length of 8.53 meters and 0.9 metre wide is capable of carrying a payload of 500 kg and is capable of hitting both land and sea-based targets. It can be used for both ship-to-ship and ship-to-surface strikes. It has declared strike

Avani Chaturvedi: First woman fighter pilot to fly fighter jet               Flying officer Avani Chaturvedi (24) created history by becoming first Indian woman pilot of Indian Air Force (IAF) to complete a solo flight in a  MiG-21 Bison fighter aircraft. She had achieved this feat by completing half-an-hour long solo flight in                         Russian-origin jet in the skies over Jamnagar Air Base, Gujarat. The first  solo flight is just initial step in exhaustive operational syllabus that transforms rookie pilots into full-fledged fighter pilots capable of  handling high-voltage combat flying. Avani Chaturvedi                      She is from Rewa district, Madhya Pradesh and was born on 27 October 1993. She is posted to No. 23 Squadron (Panthers) based in Suratgarh in Rajasthan. She is from first batch of three women officers who were commissioned as fighter pilots in IAF. She has completed her training at Hyderabad Air Force  Academy.                          Prio

42 Indian languages heading towards extinction                      42 languages or dialects in India are considered to be endangered and are believed to be heading towards extinction as only few thousand people speak  them. According to report of Census Directorate, there are 22 scheduled languages and 100 non-scheduled languages in country, which are spoken by  number of people  — one lakh or more. There 42 languages are spoken by fewer than 10,000 people.  A list prepared by UNESCO also has mentioned them as critically endangered languages.  The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore is working for protection and preservation of these languages under central scheme Protection  and Preservation of Endangered Languages of India. 42 endangered languages or dialects include            States                                                     Endangered languages Andaman and Nicobar Islands (11)                Great Andamanese, Jarawa,                           

  Indian engineer Vikas Sathaye part of team awarded Sci-Tech Oscar             Pune-born Indian engineer Vikas Sathaye was awarded Scientific and Engineering Academy Award at Oscars Scientific and Technical Awards 2018. He was  bestowed award along with his three other team for their contribution towards conceptualisation, design, engineering and the implementation of the  ‘Shotover K1 Camera System’.  Shotover K1 Camera System             The system is a camera mount that is used for aerial filming. It is six-axis stabilised aerial camera moun that can be attached to base of a  helicopter, which carries the camera and lens. Its camera mount ensures steady footage by eliminating any vibration from reaching camera. This helps  in enhancing ability to frame shots while looking straight down, enables greater creative freedom and results in clear, unwavering photography and  videography. Cinema cameras can be mounted on it and can used to capture challenging aerial shots  Sci-T

Malacidins: Scientists discover new class of antibiotics from soil                                Scientists from The Rockefeller University in New York have reported discovery of a new class of antibiotics called malacidins. It has been produced by microorganisms living in soil and dirt and is capable of killing off several antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Discovery                The new family of antibiotics comes from molecules present in large variety of soils. Scientists had analysed more than 1000 unique soil samples  US to better understand how new class of antibiotics is produced and how it can be exploited for fighting bacteria. They had used DNA information  that encodes production of antibiotic in daptomycin to study it. This discovery could be a useful weapon in field of medicines. Significance              Malacidins are distinctive class of antibiotics that are commonly encoded in soil microbiomes. They have never been reported in  culture-based NP (Natural Pr

Cyril Ramaphosa sworn in as new President of South Africa               Cyril Ramaphosa, head of ruling African National Congress (ANC) has sworn in as new President of South Africa. He was elected as new president by the  ruling party politicians dominating 400-member parliament after the resignation of scam-tainted Jacob Zuma. He will have remaining one year term of  of his predecessor. Prior to this, he was deputy President since 2014.  Cyril Ramaphosa                He was born in Soweto, Johannesburg, in 1952. He was detained in 1974 and 1976 for anti-apartheid activities. He had launched the National Union of Mineworkers, largest workers union in South Africa in 1982. He was Chairman of the National Reception Committee  which prepared for Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990. In 1994, he became MP and chairman of constitutional assembly. He had moved full-time into business in 1997, becoming one of South Africa’s richest  businessmen. He was on Lonmin board duri

Progress MS-08: Unmanned Russian Cargo Ship launched to Space Station                                      Russian space agency Roskosmos has successfully launched Progress MS-08, an unmanned cargo spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS). It was launched onboard of Soyuz-2.1a rocket from Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. Soyuz-2.1a has four strap-on boosters an d core engine, all fueled by mix of kerosene and liquid oxygen. Key Facts                   The Progress-class capsule was carrying 2.7 tons of food, fuel, and other supplies. It was also carrying equipment for the German-Russian  ICARUS research project aimed at studying wildlife-migration patterns. The robotic cargo capsule is docking with ISS’s Zvezda service module.                      The capsule is packed with 1,390 kilograms of equipment, scientific hardware, food and supplies for orbiting lab’s six-person crew, plus 890 kilograms of propellant for station, plus 420 kilograms o

Three new eel species discovered in Bay of Bengal                Scientists from Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have discovered three new species of eel along northern Bay of Bengal coast. They are Gymnothorax  pseudotile, Gymnothorax visakhaensis and Enchelycore propinqua.  Key Facts Gymnothorax pseudotile: It was discovered at the Digha coast of the Bay of Bengal. It has dark brown and white dots on the dorsal side. It is about  1 feet to 1.5 feet long. Gymnothorax visakhaensis: It was discovered from the Visakhapatnam coast of the Bay of Bengal. It is uniformly brown. It is about a foot long. Enchelycore propinqua: It was also discovered from Visakhapatnam coast. It is reddish brown body mottled with irregular creamy white spots. It is the s mallest of three measuring less than a foot. Eels             Eels are found mostly at bottom of rivers and seas. There are about 1,000 species of eels identified so far across the world. In India, there are  around 125 speci

Government approves construction of over 1.86 lakh more houses under PMAY-Urban               The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has approved the construction of 1,86,777 more affordable houses under its flagship Pradhan Mantri  Awas Yojana (Urban). The approval was given at the 30th meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee.  Key Facts          T he latest approval takes total number of houses approved under PMAY to over 39.25 lakh. It is entailed investment of Rs 11,169 crore with central  assistance of Rs 2,797 crore. Haryana has been sanctioned maximum number of 53,290 houses in this round of approval, followed by Tamil Nadu (40,623  houses), Karnataka (32,656), Gujarat (15,584), Maharashtra (12,123), Kerala (9,461), Uttarakhand (6,226) and Orissa (5,133). Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban)               PMAY(U) provide houses to all poor in urban areas by 2022. It is new version of Prime Minister’s Housing For all  by 2022 vision.  Its o

Khelo India School Games: Haryana tops in medal tally                           The first (inaugural) edition of Khelo India School Games (KISG) was held from from 31st January to 8th February, 2018 at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium  in New Delhi. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.                          It was held under the Khelo India Programme and aimed at providing an excellent launchpad to the country’s young and promising athletes to showcase  their talent at the national level. Key Facts             2018 KISG was held across 16 disciplines in Under-17 age category. 5,000 school children from 29 states and seven union territories  participated in mega sporting event. Total of 199 gold medals, 199 silver medals and 275 bronze medals were awarded at first KISG. Medal Tally              Haryana had emerged as overall champions, finishing with 102 medals, which included 38 gold, 26 silver and 38 bronze medals. Maharashtra  finished second with 111 meda

Cabinet approves signing of India-Australia MoU for Secondment Programme              The Union Cabinet approved signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) for Secondment Programme between India and Australia.              The MoU will be signed between Department of Economic Affairs (DEA)-Indian Economic Service Cadre and The Treasury, Government of Australia for period  of three months Key Facts              Under the Secondment Programme, one officer from Australian Treasury will be seconded to DEA, Ministry of Finance and one officer from IES  (at Deputy Secretary/Director level) nominated by IES Cadre, DEA will be seconded to Australian Treasury, Government of Australia, for period of  three months he validity of both MoUs will terminate at end of the three months’ period of assignment and will not be extendable. The programme may be repeated  in subsequent years with mutual consultation and after agreement on both sides. Significance              Australia is one

Google launches ‘#SecurityCheckKiya’ campaign               Search engine giant Google has launched ‘#SecurityCheckKiya’ campaign in India to create awareness around Internet safety. It was launched on the  occasion of Safer Internet Day (6 February).               The campaign aims to protect first-time web users from account hijacking, safeguard Android devices from malicious apps and secure all their  personal data if they lose their device.  Key Facts           Under campaign, Google has recommended three simple steps for Internet safety. It includes reviewing security settings and Google account activity  with one click for all Android devices and Gmail users. The campaign is targeted at young and first-time users to protect themselves from account  hijacking. It is also aimed at shielding Android mobile devices from malicious apps.            Google Security check helps users to automatically scan for any vulnerability and guides them to keep their account safe in a few