Current Affairs - April 18, 2018 Current Affairs

The World Bank has projected India's growth rate at 7.3% for 2019 and 7.5% for 2020. The bank also noted that Indian economy has recovered from the effects of demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The World Bank in its twice-a-year South Asia Economic Focus report in Washington stated that growth is expected to accelerate from 6.7% in 2017 to 7.3% in 2018 and to subsequently stabilise supported by a sustained recovery in private investment and private consumption. India should strive to accelerate investments and exports to take advantage of the recovery in global growth. World Bank acknowledged that disruptions from demonetisation and events surrounding the implementation of the GST led to a setback in economic activity and a potentially larger negative effect on the poor and vulnerable.

Scientists at Northwestern University, USA, headed by an Indian, have developed "Memtransistor", an electronic device that can mimic the human brain. It has been designed by Dr Vinod Kumar Sangwan (Indian), a post-doctoral researcher at Northwestern University and a team of scientists. Memtransistor combines the functions of a memristor and a transistor. The memtransistor has great potential in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Dr Vinod Kumar Sangwan said that, their work is presently at fundamental level. They are working on a realistic design for a full neural-network system. This device is said to have futuristic applications in health sector.

Noted journalist and former Chief Editor of The Statesman and The Indian Express, Surendra Nihal Singh passed away on 16th April. He was the founding editor of The Indian Post in 1987. He was awarded the prestigious International Editor of the Year Award in New York for opposing the Emergency imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The New York Times and The New Yorker have jointly won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service on April 16 for explosive reporting that brought down Harvey Weinstein and spawned a cultural watershed on the issue of sexual harassment. The prestigious prize was awarded to the Times team led by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey and New Yorker contributor Ronan Farrow, for reports that ruined the career of the Hollywood mogul and sparked movements such as #MeToo and Time's Up. Apart from this, The Washington Post won the investigative reporting prize for revealing decades-old allegations of sexual misconduct against Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama. The New York Times also shared a second prize with The Washington Post for coverage of Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Each winner will receive a certificate and a $15,000 cash award.

In order to improve the conviction rate, Gujarat police introduced the digital platform called Pocket Cop Project, under which 4900 smartphones will be contested with real-time information of 68 lakh criminals. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani launched the innovative application as a part of police modernization. Speaking at the function, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that the technological intervention will strengthen the state police force for curbing Morden days crimes. He mentioned that Pocket Cop will improve the efficiency of state police in handling key law and order issues and cybercrime. On this occasion, the Chief Minister announced that all the major districts will be under the surveillance of CCTV ecosystem. Rupani stated that digital platform will safeguard all the criminal records and other information essential for investigation. The Chief Minister expressed that new innovation will fine tune the affairs of state police in curbing criminal activities.

On 16th April 2018, the biannual Indian army commanders conference began in New Delhi. The Biannual Army Commanders' Conference is held for 6 days. Discussions will be made on management of the extant security dynamics, mitigation of future security threats and enhancement of combat edge over potential adversaries. The opening address was delivered by Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre. The conference is chaired by General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff. Senior commanders will also discuss issues related to Army formations and Army as a whole.

A power plant worth Rs 502 crore will be set up in Bandhwari village of Gurugram district, Haryana, to produce electricity from waste under the Integrated Solid Waste Management Scheme. The plant will be set up by August 2019. It will generate 25 MW of electricity. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar laid the foundation stone of the plant in Bandhwari village on 13th April 2018. He said that the plant will be set up as per the conditions of the National Green Tribunal. Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain said the plant will be installed in Gurugram and Sonipat clusters to generate electricity from waste.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) launched new products like pre-approved credit card and UPI solution to mark its 124th foundation day. PNB also announced its UPI partnership with WALNUT, an expense management app, that has features like bill reminders, bill-split and instant paperless loans. PNB conducted blood donation camps in 200 blood donation centres in 76 circle offices covering more than 6,500 branches in all states and union territories. The camp was inaugurated at PNB head office in New Delhi by Sunil Mehta, MD and CEO of PNB.

Fashion retailer Myntra announced that it has acquired Witworks, a Bengaluru based technology startup, involved in developing smart wearable devices and their underlying software. As a part of the acquisition Myntra has inducted the team into its Innovation Labs. Witworks launched the Blink Watch wearable device in 2016. It operates on their voice-based platform, Marvin OS. The platform integrates native and third-party services with the potential of innovative voice and visual interactions, designed exclusively for wearable devices. This acquisition will facilitate Myntra to develop wearable products for their in-house brands and to utilise the technology to enhance consumer engagement.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM 2018) has started in London, United Kingdom with theme 'Towards a Common Future' from April 16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take part in the event on 19th and 20th of April. The biennial event has brought together delegates from 53 Commonwealth nations. The focus will be on ensuring that the Commonwealth is responsive to global challenges and delivers a more prosperous, secure, sustainable and fair future for all its citizens, particularly its young people.

Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that India, China and other Asian countries will work together to voice against the "Asian Premium" being charged by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). OPEC sells oil to Asian countries, including India, at a higher price as compared to America and European countries. The price differential is referred to as 'Asian Premium'. Mr. Pradhan has stated that his Ministry has nominated Indian Oil Corporation Chairman Sanjiv Singh to coordinate with the head of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and frame a suitable strategy for getting better price for oil exports from OPEC countries.

Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha launched here the DARPAN (Advancement of Rural Post Office for a New India)-PLI App, which will help in collection of premium for Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) policies at Branch Post Offices anywhere in India, with online up gradation of the policies. Further, with the launch of this App, indexing of maturity claims in respect of PLI and RPLI policies can be done at Branch Post Office itself, upon which the insurant will immediately be provided with the request number for further references.

Chinese scientists have developed 'Artificial Transpiration', a new device of 3D hollow-cone structure that can greatly increase the solar-thermal conversion efficiency. 'Artificial Transpiration' device was named by Zhu Jia and his team members in Nanjing University. An article published online by the National Science Review said that, 'Artificial Transpiration' was named so inspired by the transpiration process of trees. It comprises a special 1D water path within it. It can reduce the energy loss in conduction. The cone structure, based on a graphene film, can collect more sunlight throughout the day compared to a flat device. This device can improve solar-thermal conversion rate to 85%. The scientists first applied this structure to solar waste-water treatment.

Pakistan successfully test fired 'Babur Weapon System-1 (B)', an enhanced version of indigenously-built Babur cruise missile on 14th April 2018. This enhanced version on Babur, has a strike range of 700 km and can deliver conventional and non-conventional weapons. It is equipped with advanced aerodynamics and avionics (Terrain Contour Matching - TERCOM and all time Digital Scene Matching and Area Co-relation - DSMAC technologies) which enables it to strike targets both at land and sea with high accuracy.

China will launch Fengyun-II 09 satellite, a new meteorological satellite, in 2018 to enhance its weather forecasting capabilities. The Fengyun-II 09 satellite is the last in the Fengyun-II series. It will collect meteorological, maritime, and hydrological data to help weather forecast in China and neighbouring regions. The satellite will be launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan Province of China. The Fengyun satellites are a series of remote-sensing meteorological satellites developed by China. Fengyun-I and Fengyun-III are polar orbiting weather satellites. Fengyun-II and Fengyun-IV function in geostationary orbit.

Tech giant Google is set to launch a new security layer for its mailing service Gmail that will help users to purge a mail or text after a period of time. The 'confidential mode' will enable users to set a passcode to open emails, which will be generated through text message. In addition, one can set an expiration date for sent emails. The new Gmail mode will available after its revamp. Google will offer Gmail users the ability to try the redesign through an early access program soon.