Current Affairs - May 11, 2019 Current Affairs

The Indian Army is commemorating '2019' as the 'Year of Next of Kin'. As a part of this commemoration, the Army has planned to reach out to the next of kin of battle casualties, ex-servicemen and serving soldiers to resolve their pension related issues and to let them know of their entitled financial benefits, welfare schemes. The issue has gained importance because most of the next of kin of the late soldiers were unaware of their entitled financial benefits. The Indian Army has stated that the issue has worsened due to non-digitised personal records, and also because of complications from various policy provisions and their multifarious interpretations.

Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella has announced the launch of "ElectionGuard", a free open-source Software Development Kit(SDK) to help nations to carry out secure and verifiable voting. Developed by Galois, "ElectionGuard" is a supplement to paper ballots. It is verifiable as it allows the voters and third-party organizations to verify election results. "ElectionGuard" provides a voter a unique code. During the process of voting, voters have an optional step which allows them to track their votes from the moment he/she casts it, after the voter has verified the selections are correct to the final step of counting the votes. It does not work with vote-by-mail systems and is not designed to work with internet voting schemes as it can be easily hacked.

Artificial Intelligence based HR solutions provider, Talocity will provide Yes Bank its touchless technology in hiring process for Yes bank. This is done to enhance the hiring process with unbiased HR outcomes and to attain high-quality talent. In the process of recruitment, candidates are interviewed by an AI bot on a one-way video platform. Talocity's machine learning and AI capabilities will create personality report of each job applicant. This creates a unique evaluation platform which is effective without any human involvement and helpful in large volume hiring.

Indian Navy Ships (INS) Kolkata and Shakti carried out Group Sail with naval ships of Japan, Philippines and the United States of America in the South China Sea from May 03 to May 09, 2019. This week long military exercise had a participation of six combatants from the four participating countries - India, USA, Japan and Philippines. The ships undertook various exercises enroute which included formation manoeuvering, underway replenishment runs, cross-deck flying and exchange of Sea Riders. The Group Sail exercise with naval ships of Japan, Philippines and United States showcased India's commitment towards operating with like-minded nations to ensure safe maritime environment through enhanced interoperability.

With the eighth position, the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad has been ranked among the top ten best airports in the world. The survey was conducted by AirHelp. The Hamad International Airport in Qatar has topped the list followed by Japan's Tokyo and Greece's Athens International airports.

Scientists from Stanford University, Shanhui Fan along with Masashi Ono have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to produce a measurable amount of electricity in an infrared photodiode from the coldness of the universe.The infrared semiconductor uses the temperature difference between Space and Earth to produce the electricity. The study was published in a journal named Applied Physics Letters. The new device has generated about 64 nanowatts per square meter. According to the theoretical calculations, the device can generate almost 4 watts per square meter, roughly one million times what practically generated. In the new technology, the negative illumination effect allows electrical energy to be harvested as heat leaves a surface.

The first case of Monkeypox Virus was reported in Singapore recently. As per the authorities, the virus was brought in by a Nigerian man who arrived in Singapore in April 2019. The virus is similar to the human smallpox.

Iran announced it will pull out of some commitments under 2015 international nuclear agreement signed with world powers, called Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA). Iran said it will stop suppressing its stocks of enriched uranium and heavy water, as these are needed by certain types of the reactor for nuclear fission to take place. It mentioned that such actions are required from Iran as the European Union (EU) and other countries did not have the power to resist US pressure. The move is to secure Iran's rights and bring back the balance after the United States exited from an agreement in 2018.

WHO (World Health organization) collaborated with the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) to eliminate industrially produced trans fat (iTFA) from food supply worldwide by 2023. Trans fat-intake leads to coronary heart disease, due to which globally 5,00,000 deaths occur every year. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO had a meeting with the IFBA representatives, that included CEOs (chief executive officers) from around 12 companies comprising IFBA. The meeting stressed on the steps that are needed to be taken to eliminate industrial trans fats, decrease salt, sugar and saturated fats in processed foods. Decision was taken by the IFBA members to make sure that the amount of industrial trans fat in their products does not go beyond 2 gram of iTFA per 100 gram fat/oil globally by 2023. This aligns with the WHO's mission of its REPLACE action package, developed and launched in 2018.

Japan is testing the fastest-ever shinkansen bullet train, capable of speeds of as much as 400 kilometers (249 miles) per hour. Called the Alfa-X, the train is scheduled to go into service in 2030. Rail company JR East plans to operate it at 360 kilometers per hour. That would make it 10 kph faster than China's Fuxing Hao, which links Beijing and Shanghai and has the same top speed.

Australian flight carrier, Qantas operated the world's first zero-waste commercial flight named QF739 from Sydney to Adelaide which disposed of all waste through compost, reuse or recycles. This airline has substituted over 1000 single-use plastic items with more environment-friendly items which have helped the airline to achieve zero-waste during a commercial flight. The Australian airline Qantas has planned to eliminate 100 million single-use plastics by the end of 2020 and also to reduce 75% of airline's waste by the end of 2021.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), United States has approved first vaccine named Dengvaxia for the prevention of dengue disease but with certain conditions that use dengue vaccine only in people who have a previous history of the disease. The vaccine is also known as CYD-TDV and made by company Sanofi Pasteur. The vaccine is a live, attenuated dengue virus. Under the vaccination, 3 doses will be provided to the patient and after 1st dose there will be a difference of 6 months between 1st dose and 2nd dose and also a difference of 6 months between 2nd dose and 3rd dose.

India's Esha Singh and Akull Kumar won silver in junior mixed air pistol event in the International Shooting Competition at Hannover, Germany. They secured 5.4 points and defeated by the German pair of Jan Luca Karstedt and Vanessa Seeger. It was the second mixed medal for Esha, after the one she won recently with Anmol Jain in Plzen, Czech Republic.

National Technology Day is observed every year on the 11th of May in India. It is a reminder of the anniversary of Shakti. The aim of the celebration is to highlight the achievements of the scientists and engineers of India in the field of science and technology. It also helps to encourage students towards science and technology field.

Indian actress Dia Mirza and Alibaba chief Jack Ma have been appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as the new advocates for the UN's ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They will be among the new class of 'SDG Advocates', which includes 17 influential public figures.

Amul has announced to sponsor Afghanistan team in upcoming World Cup 2019 which will be held in England and Wales from May 30, 2019. Amul's logo will be visible on the leading arm of jerseys of the Afghanistan players in international match and also in training kit throughout the world cup.

Ireland became the second nation in the world after Britain to declare a climate emergency. The Irish Parliament accepted an amendment to a parliamentary report declaring the emergency without a vote. The parliamentary report also called upon the parliament to examine how the Irish government can improve its response to the issue of biodiversity loss. The decision was hailed by environmental campaigners who called it as historic.

TIME magazine features Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the headline 'India's Divider in Chief' in its May 20, 2019 edition. The headline pertains to the story "Can the World's Largest Democracy Endure Another Five Years of a Modi Government?" by journalist Aatish Taseer.

India and Vietnam reiterated their commitment to build a peaceful Indo-pacific region, with respect to each other's national sovereignty and international law. The announcement regarding the same was made after delegation level talks between Indian Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and his Vietnamese counterpart Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. Vice President Naidu is on a 4-days visit to Vietnam. During the talks, both the sides deliberated on cooperation in various areas and anticipated for a consensus of concerned countries on a code of conduct in the South China Sea.

India's first 'mega-science' exhibition 'Vigyan Samagam' was inaugurated in Mumbai. It is organised by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM). After Mumbai, the exhibition will move to Bengaluru from 7 July, and on to Kolkata and then New Delhi.