Current Affairs - March 29, 2019 Current Affairs

Vice Admiral MA Hampiholi, AVSM NM has been appointed as Director General Naval Operations (DGNO). He will succeed Satish Namdeo Ghormade. He was commissioned in the Executive Branch of the Indian Navy on 1st July 1985. The Flag Officer has experience as Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) specialist officer at onboard INShips Himgiri, Agray,and Ganga. He has experience as a Commanding officer in INS Nashak (missile vessel), INS Magar {Landing Ship Tank (Large)} and INS Talwar (stealth Frigate), Second-in-Command of INS Khukri (Missile Corvette). He commanded the National Coast Guard, Mauritius for two years (2003 - 05) and served as Commanding Officer of INS Mandovi.

First Indian Army Mountaineering Expedition to Mt Makalu (8485m) comprising five Officers, two JCOs and eleven OR was flagged off by Director General Military Training on 26 Mar 2019. In furtherance of the objective of summiting all challenging peaks above 8000M, Indian Army is launching its maiden expedition to Mt Makalu in Mar-May 2019. Mt Makalu is considered amongst the most dangerous peaks and summiting the peak is considered extremely challenging due to inclement weather conditions and freezing temperatures. The peak will test the climbers for technical acumen, mental and physical courage and their determination to reach atop Mt Makalu.

Israeli cave explorers discovered the cave named Malham, the world's longest salt cave with striking stalactites near the Dead Sea. Previously, Iran's N3 cave held the record. Malham Cave: The cave named Malham is stretched over 10 km. It runs through Mount Sodom, Israel's largest mountain, and spills out to the southwest corner of the adjacent Dead Sea. Pale salt stalactites hang from the ceilings, and some of the walls sparkle with salt crystals. Drops of salty water are visible at the tips of some of the stalactites. Iran's N3 cave: But in 2006, researchers mapped over 6 km of the N3 cave in southern Iran's Qeshm island, granting it the widely recognised status of the world's longest salt cave.

The Chairman of 15th Finance Commission of India, N.K. Singh launched the book "Indian Fiscal Federalism". The book has been written by Dr. Y. V. Reddy, former Governor of RBI and Chairman of the 14th Finance Commission of India along with Dr. G. R. Reddy, Advisor (Finance) to the Government of Telangana.

Tashigang, a Himachal Pradesh village at an altitude of 15,256 feet has now become the highest polling station in the world. Situated about 29 km from the India-China border, the polling station covers two villages, Tashigang and Gate.

The researchers at IIT-Delhi have designed an "Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based low-power electronic hardware system" to easily detect Malaria, Tuberculosis (TB), Intestinal parasite, and Cervical cancer in a few milliseconds. The research is focused on building an intelligent Neuromorphic system which can be used for healthcare access in resource-constrained areas with limited access to human specialists. The approach demonstrated by the researchers is portable, low-power and can classify with high accuracy in detection of the diseases.The long-term impact and goal of this work will be to enable potential future deployment of the platform in rural and resource-constrained areas and improve the access to diagnostic health-care. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), cervical cancer is the 4th most frequent cancer in women with an estimated 570,000 new cases in 2018 representing 6.6% of all female cancers.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen was awarded the prestigious Bodley Medal, the highest honor granted by the University of Oxford's world-famous Bodleian Libraries. The medal is awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the fields in which the Bodleian is awarded are, including literature, culture, science, and communication.

Eight newly appointed members of the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal has took oath of office which was administered by Lokpal Chairperson, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose. The four judicial members are former Chief Justices - Dilip B Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari and the Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court Ajay Kumar Tripathi. The non-judicial members are former first women chief of Sashastra Seema Bal, Archana Ramasundaram, ex-Maharashtra Chief Secretary, Dinesh Kumar Jain, former IPS officer, Mahendra Singh and ex-IAS officer, Indrajeet Prasad Gautam. Lokpal which means caretaker of people is an anti-corruption authority or body of ombudsman who represents the public interest in the Republic of India.

Rear Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar has been appointed as the Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area.He will succeed Rear Admiral Puneet Kumar Bahl, VSM. He was commissioned into the Indian Navy in Jan 1987 and he is an Anti-Submarine Warfare specialist. He has experience as Executive Officer of missile corvette INS Kirpan, and missile destroyer INS Mysore. He also holds his experience as command of missile corvette INS Kora, missile frigate INS Shivalik and the aircraft carrier INS Viraat. Also, he is a recipient of the Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund launched ICICI Prudential Bharat Consumption Scheme to get advantage from the Indian consumption market, which is considered as one of the fastest growing consumption markets globally. Nifty India Consumption Index is the benchmark for the Scheme. It will be managed by Rajat Chandak, Dharmesh Kakkad and Priyanka Khandelwal will manage the overseas investments. Minimum investment of this scheme is Rs 5,000 and in multiples of one rupee thereafter. Penalty for leaving the scheme is 1 percent if investments are redeemed within 12 months from the date of allotment.

The researchers at IIT-Gandhinagar has conducted study of 89 urban areas in India. In it, they found that though there is an absolute increase in temperature during heat waves in both urban and non-urban areas, the urban areas are relatively cooler than the surrounding non-urban areas. At 1.94?C, the absolute increase in temperature during the day in non-urban areas during a heat wave was significantly higher than in urban areas (0.14?C). According to the analysis, urban areas were found to be relatively cooler than the surrounding non-urban areas during heat waves. At 44.5?C, the non-urban areas were warmer than urban areas (43.7?C). However, during the night, all urban areas were hotter than the surrounding non-urban areas. The study suggested that the lack of vegetation cover in summer after crops are harvested in rural areas may be the cause. The study was published in the journal 'Environmental Research Communications'.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has claimed that its portfolio of nine ports and terminals handled 200 million metric tonnes (MMT) of cargo in 2018-19, becoming the first Indian port operator to achieve the milestone. The Gautam Adani-led company doubled its cargo handling from 100 MMT reached in 2013-14. About APSEZ: APSEZ- Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone It is a part of Adani Group, and is the largest port developer and operator in India. APSEZ's Mundra Port in Gujarat is India's largest private port.

The 2018 Turing Award, known as the "Nobel Prize of computing" has been given to Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, and Yann LeCun - sometimes called the 'godfathers of AI', for their work developing the AI subfield of deep learning. The trio believed in the potential of AI and brought to the world the innovations such as neural networks, self-driving cars, facial recognition, CNN and much more. About Turing Award: Initiated in 1966, this annual award is named after British mathematician Alan M. Turing, whose work laid the foundation for computer science and artificial intelligence. It honors the individual for contributing major technical importance in the computer field.

India successfully completed 'Mission Shakti' operation where it destroyed a live satellite on a low earth orbit (LEO) using an Anti-Satellite (ASAT) missile in three minutes. India has become the 4th country after the US, Russia and China in the world to achieve this historic feat. Anti Satellite weapons also called the ASAT are developed to destroy satellites. Mission Shakti is a joint programme of DRDO and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Mission Shakti will help the country in standing strong and secure. It will further protect the nation from disharmony and bring peace.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) was awarded the 'Best Sports Federation' award in the country by the Association Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM). This is another feather in the cap of the shooting sport community. They have been raising the performance bar every day over the past few years. NRAI secretary-general D.V.S. Rao and secretary Rajeev Bhatia received the trophy from Director General of SAI Neelam Kapoor and cricketer Madan Lal.

A regular river cruise will start between Kolkata, India and Dhaka, Bangladesh for the first time in the history of the two countries. The Indian ship, R V Bengal Ganga, will start its journey from a west Kolkata jetty. About 60 persons will be travelling. The return journey will take nearly two weeks from Kolkata and the ship will pass through Sunderbans on both sides of the marine border. Another ship will simultaneously start from Bangladesh, traverse the same route and reach Kolkata, taking approximately the same time. The border formalities will be completed at Sunderbans on the Indian side.

Azali Assoumani was re-elected as the President of Comoros after defeating his closest rival, Mahamadou Ahamada in the election held by the electoral commission of the Indian Ocean Archipelago. 66 years old, Azali Assoumani who first took office in 2016, was credited with 60.77 percent votes whereas Mahamadou Ahamada got only 14.62 percent votes. The Comoros is a volcanic archipelago off Africa's east coast, in the warm Indian Ocean waters of the Mozambique Channel.

According to the Skytrax World Airport Awards, Singapore's Changi Airport has been crowned the world's best aviation hub for the seventh time in a row, while New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport featured at number 59. Singapore Changi Airport is known for its rooftop swimming pool, two 24-hour movie theaters and shopping spots. At number two on the list is Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), up one place from 2018. This hub also won World's Best Domestic Airport and World's Cleanest Airport. Incheon International Airport secured 3rd position in the list. The other Indian aiports in the list were Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at 64, the Rajiv Gandhi Hyderabad International Airport at 66, and Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport at 69.

Election Commission of India has appointed Sh K K Sharma as Special Central Police Observer for the States of West Bengal and Jharkhand and Sh Mrinal Kanti Das as Special Central Police Observer for States of Tripura and Mizoram. Sh K K Sharma, an Indian Police Service officer of 1982 batch and is a Retd DG Border Security Force. Sh Mrinal Kanti Das, an Indian Police Service officer of 1977 batch and is a Retd DGP Manipur. Both these officers were allocated to supervise the deployment and other security issues in their respective states.