Tatva Current Affairs

4th International Yoga Day Celebrations main event to be held in Dehradun               The Union Ministry of AYUSH has announced that m Tr ain event of 4th International Yoga Day celebrations (IDY-2018) will be held on 21 June 2018 at  Dehradun, capital city of Uttrakhand. Key Facts The event is going to be Mass Yoga Demonstration that will attended by Prime Minister Narendra  Modi. Three places- Forest Research Institute (FRI), Gorkha  aining Centre (GTC) and Maharana Pratap Stadium have been identified for the event. On  this occasion AYUSH Ministry is also planning to give two Yoga Awards known as PM Yoga Award to national and international participants. International Yoga Day (IYD)               The idea of celebrating the International Yoga Day was pitched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations  General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2014. Later in December 2014, UNGA unanimously adopted India-led resolution to observe 21st June as  ‘International Day of Yog

Coast Guards of India and Pakistan hold talks in New Delhi                     India and Pakistan held meeting of their coast guard officials (Indian Coast Guard and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency) held in New Delhi. They  addressed issues pertaining to boundary violations by fishermen from both sides and enhancing cooperation in area of maritime search and rescue and  and combating pollution at sea.  Background                       Indian Coast Guard and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) had signed Memorandum of Understanding  (MoU) in October 2005 for envisaging cooperation between ICG and PMSA. The MoU was extended for five years in 2016.The MoU envisages cooperation  exchange of information on Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) violations, marine pollution, apprehended vessels, natural disasters and calamities,  smuggling, illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and piracy and coordination in search and rescue and return sea passage. It also established  communication

Election Commission to launch App to help voters to share malpractice proof                      Election Commission of India (ECI) is launching multi-lingual mobile application called Model Code of Conduct Violation Reporting App ahead of the  2019 Lok Sabha polls. The app aims at empowering people across the country to share evidence of malpractice by political parties, their candidates  activists directly with ECI.  Key Facts                       Through this mobile app, ECI intends to encourage larger public participation in checking corrupt practices  in elections and ensure free and fair election process. The app will be launched across the country as part of steps taken by ECI to prevent abuse of  money and muscle power.                   The app allows sharing of photos and short audio and video clips related to electoral malpractices from spot itself. It also records geo-location of  reported incidents and the officials concerned will immediately receive the alerts.

Former SC judge CK Prasad appointed as Chairman of Press Council of India             Government has appointed former Supreme Court Judge CK Prasad as Chairman of Press Council of India (PCI) for second term. His nomination was  approved by three-member committee headed by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. He was earlier appointed to post in November 2014 after Justice Markanday  Katju stepped down.  Press Council of India (PCI)              PCI is a statutory body with mandate to act as watchdog to oversee conduct of the print media.  It derives its mandate from Press Council Act, 1978. Composition : It consist of Chairman (who has by convention, been a retired judge of Supreme Court) and 28 other members off whom 20 represent press,  five are nominated from two Houses of Parliament and three represent cultural, literary and legal fields. Functions: It is statutory, quasi-judicial body acting as watchdog of press. It adjudicates complaints against and by the press for violatio

GRACE-FO satellites: SpaceX launches NASA satellites to track Earth’s water Cycle                Elon Musk-led SpaceX has successfully launched twin NASA satellites GRACE-FO (Follow-On) that will track Earth’s water Cycle i.e. water movement and  icemelt. It was launched onbaord of SpaceX’s preflown Falcon 9 Rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US. GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On)                 GRACE-FO is joint project between National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and German Research Center  for Geosciences (GFZ). It is follow-on mission to original GRACE mission, which had mapped Earth’s water and ice by measuring changes in Earth’s  gravity field from 2002 to 2017.                    GRACE-FO will pick up where GRACE left off to continue study of rising sea levels, melting of glaciers and   caps and other changes in distribution of water on Earth. The two GRACE-FO satellites will orbit together at 490km altitude n

e-Visa Scheme: Government earns Rs.1,400 crore According to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government has earned Rs1,400 crore as revenue from highly successful e-Visa scheme since its launch in  2014. 19 lakh tourists made use of e-Visa scheme in 2017 and fees are divided into four slabs of zero, $25, $50 and $75, which were fixed on  reciprocity and depending on nationality.  e-Visa scheme  e-Visa scheme provides pre-authorization of visa to foreigners prior to travel to India.  The scheme is implemented by foreigners division of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to improve efficiency and transparency of various services being  provided to foreign nationals. The facility is now available for nationals of 163 countries for entry into India through 25 international airports   and five sea ports. Under the scheme, an applicant, when submits online application, receives e-mail authorising him or her to travel to India after  approval. The tourist can travel with printout of this au

UJALA scheme: EESL distributes over 30 crore LED bulbs across the country               State run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has distributed over 30 crore light emitting diode (LED) bulbs across country under zero-subsidy  Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) scheme. The distribution of 30 crore LED bulbs has led to energy savings of over 38,952 million kWh,  annually, amounting to energy savings of Rs. 15,581 crore.  Key Facts                 The implementation of scheme has increased penetration of LED in domestic  to 10% from mere 0.4% earlier. It has also increased India’s share in global LED market to 12% from a mere 0.1%. It has increased annual LED  domestic production rom 30 lakh bulbs to over 6 crore bulbs, simultaneously creating 60,000 jobs. Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA)  Scheme                   It is zero-subsidy scheme that aims promote efficient lighting, enhance awareness on using  efficient equipment which reduce electr

First International Rail Coach Expo held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu             The first-ever International Rail Coach Expo (IRCE) was in Chennai, Tamil Nadu from 17th to 19th May 2018 to focus on Rail Coaches and train sets. Many reputed rail car and equipment builders showcased their technology and products in this expo. Key Facts            The three day expo was hosted by Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai, under the Ministry of Railways, in coordination with CII  (Confederation of Indian Industries) and RITES Ltd. It provided unique platform to bring different suppliers under one roof and create synergy for  “Make in India”. It saw participation of train enthusiasts, railway suppliers, designers, developers, and general public Integral Coach Factory (ICF)            ICF is manufacturer of rail coaches located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was established in 1952. It is owned and  operated by Indian Railways. It primarily manufactures rolling stock for Indian Rai

World’s second oldest rock discovered in Odisha Scientists have discovered world’s second oldest grain of magmatic zircon (a mineral that contains traces of radioactive isotopes) from Champua from  Singhbhum rock sample in Odisha’s Kendujhar district. It is an estimated 4,240 million years old, making it world’s second oldest rock ever to be  discovered. It is oldest magmatic zircon on earth.  Key Facts The isotopic analysis of Singhbhum rock sample with magmatic zircon was done used Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) at the Chinese  Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, China. The analyses confirmed the presence of two zircon grains that were 4,240 million and 4,030 million  years old. The oldest zircon older than this discovery was found in Jack Hill, Western Australia. It is 4,400 million years old and is the oldest  known rock sample. It is metamorphosed sedimentary rock.  Significance This rock sample was recovered nearly eight years ago and has put

Rythu Bandhu Scheme: Telangana government launches investment support scheme for farmers             Telangana government has launched Rythu Bandhu (friend of farmers) Scheme, an investment support scheme to support livelihood of farmers. It is first of its kind investment support scheme for farmers to be launched by any state in India,  Key Facts            Under this scheme, farmers will directly get financial support twice every year to maximise agricultural production and productivity. They will get  investment support of Rs 8,000 per acre every year (Rs. 4000 each for monsoon and Rabi season) as crop investment support. About 58 lakh farmers who  till over 1.42 crore acres of land in the state are expected to be benefitted from the initiative. The state government has already set aside Rs  12,000 crore in the 2018-19 budget exclusively for this scheme.

Google launches Android Things for IoT platform                   Alphabet Inc’s Google launched Android Things (codenamed Brillo), a variant (or spinoff) of Android operating system for Internet of Things (IoT)  devices such as smart home appliances and other smart machines. Its goal is to enable IoT machines developers to be built faster, cheaper and more secure.  Android Things                     It is Android-based embedded operating system (OS) platform developed by Google. It is aimed  be used with low-power and memory constrained Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which are usually built from different microcontroller unit (MCU)  platforms.                      Android Things as an IoT OS it is designed to work as low as 32–64 MB of RAM. It will support Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi. Google also introduced  Weave protocol along with Android Things, which will be used by these devices, will use to communicate with other other. Every Android device can  automatically rec

APSTAR-6C: China launches communication satellite                                                  China successfully launched “APSTAR-6C”, a new communication satellite into orbit. It was launched onboard of Long March-3B carrier rocket from  Xichang Satellite Launch Center. This was overall 273rd mission of Long March rocket series. Both satellite and rocket were developed by China  Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. APSTAR-6C                  The user of APSTAR-6C satellite is Hong Kong-based APT Satellite Co. Ltd. With is successful launch, it joins fleet of four fully  operational satellites belonging to APT Satellite Co. It will replace the in-orbit Apstar-6 satellite.                 The Apstar-6C satellite is based on DFH-4 platform. It is equipped with 45 transponders in C, Ku, and Ka bands, with designed service life of 15 years. The satellite will provide TV transmission, Internet, communication and multimedia services to customers across Asia-Pacific reg

3 May: World Press Freedom Day              May 3 is celebrated as World Press Freedom Day every year to celebrate fundamental principles of press freedom as well as to evaluate freedom of  around the world. It serves as occasion to defend media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who died while doing  their profession.  2018 Theme           The theme for year 2018 is ‘Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and The Rule of Law’. It highlights importance of enabling legal environment for  press freedom and prosecution of crimes against journalists. It also addresses role of media in sustainable development, especially during elections  as watchdog fostering transparency, accountability and rule of law. It also explore legislative gaps with regard to freedom of expression and  online, and risks of regulating online speech  World Press Freedom Day             World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in De