Daily Current affairs - August 21st, 2017 for all competitive exams
The Ministry of Defence has decided to delegate administrative and financial
powers to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) right upto the level of
Chief Engineer and Task Force Commander, so as to avoid delays.
- Transformational changes are necessary in the
organization in order to improve the pace of execution of works and
to achieve the desired outcomes according to the
requirement of the Armed Forces.
- It is expected that with delegation of powers by the
Ministry of Defence to the BRO, the pace of road construction in border
areas would improve and the BRO would be able to complete ongoing/new
projects in compressed timelines.
- Ministry of Defence has now approved that for both
departmental and contractual mode of execution, a Chief Engineer of BRO
can accord administrative approval up to Rs. 50 crore, Additional
Director-General (ADG) up to Rs. 75 crore and Director-General (DG) up to
Rs. 100 crore.
- Earlier, a Chief Engineer in the BRO could give
administrative approval of works up to Rs. 10 crore and ADG up to Rs. 20
crore for departmental works. For contractual works, all administrative
approvals were given by the DGBR, who had powers only up to Rs. 50 crore.
Highways authority unveils mobile apps to facilitate
FASTags for e-tolling
The
National Highways Authority of India has come out with two mobile apps – MyFASTag
and FASTag Partner – as part of its efforts to facilitate
availability of the tag towards electronic toll payment.
- MyFASTag is
a consumer app that can be downloaded from both Android and iOS app
stores. A consumer can purchase or recharge FASTags on this app, which
also helps keep track of transactions and provides for online grievance
redressal.
- FASTag Partner is
a merchant app.
- The government is also working on making lanes of
all 371 NHAI toll plazas FASTag enabled from October 1 this year.
70-ft Buddha statue to adorn tourist project in
Ghantasala
To develop Ghantasala village in
Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh as one of the prime
Buddhist tourist spots in the State, decks have been cleared for the
construction of a Rs. 1.5-crore project, which envisages construction of 70- ft
statue of Buddha.
- A two-storied structure in Buddhist architecture
resembling a pedestal with a 100-ft wide and 70-ft high Budha in the
Mahaparinirvana posture will be a major highlight. The new facility will
be themed on the Mahaparinirvana of the Buddha. In
Buddhism, Mahaparinirvana means the ultimate state —
everlasting, highest peace and happiness — entered by an Awakened Being
(Buddha).
Stone laid for world-class
cricket stadium in Tripura
Tripura Chief Minister Manik
Sarkar unveiled the foundation stone for a world-class cricket stadium at
Narsinghgarh in Agartala.
- The unveiling followed Hindu rituals on the behest
of the construction company contracted by the Tripura Cricket Association
(TCA) to build the stadium at a cost of Rs. 200 crore.
2 New Earthworm Species Found In Kerala
Scientists have discovered two new primitive species of earthworm in the
Western Ghats mountain ranges in Kerala. They have named the new earthworm
species Drawida polydiverticulata
and Drawida thomasi.
- There had been sixteen Drawida species known from
the state with ten of them being unique. The present discovery of two new
species and five new local records further contributes to the vast species
richness of the genus in Kerala.
Ethno Medicinal research
centre inaugurated in Manipur
A North-East Centre for
Ethno-Medicinal Research has been inaugurated at Hengbung village in Kangpokpi
district of Manipur.
- ethno-medicinal treatment has been a long tradition
for healing ailments in our society.
New state of matter discovered
Scientists have discovered a potential new state of matter that may help
explain phenomena like superconductivity.
- The high-magnetic-field state of the heavy fermion
superconductor CeRhIn5 revealed a so-called electronic nematic state.
- In the new state, the material’s electrons are
aligned in a way to reduce the symmetry of the original crystal, something that now appears to be universal among
unconventional superconductors.
- The appearance of the electronic alignment, called
nematic behavior, in a prototypical heavy-fermion superconductor highlights
the interrelation of nematicity and unconventional superconductivity,
suggesting nematicity to be common among correlated superconducting
materials.
Finger length may predict
athletic ability
Your hands may predict how
good you are at sports, say scientists, who found that athletic prowess could
be related to the length of your fingers.
- Researchers explored the difference in length
between one’s index finger and ring finger, and a possible link to
muscular strength.
- They found that the ratio of the length of the index
finger and the length of the ring finger — called the “digit ratio” — is
favourably related to muscular strength in boys.
- The ring finger in males is typically longer than
the index finger, whereas the fingers are about the same length in
females, said Grant Tomkinson, a professor at the University of North
Dakota in the U.S.
- Testosterone is the natural steroid hormone that enhances sport, athletic and fitness test performance. In general, people with smaller digit ratios are better athletes, researchers said.
Worlds smallest surgical robot created
Scientists in the UK have developed the worlds smallest surgical robot with
low-cost technology used in mobile phones and space industries. The robot is called Versius. The robot is controlled by a surgeon at a console guided by a 3D
screen in the operating theatre.
- It mimics the human arm and can be used to carry out
a wide range of procedures in which a series of small incisions are made
to circumvent the need for traditional open surgery. These include hernia
repairs, colorectal operations, as well as prostate, ear, nose and throat
surgery.
- The robot is much easier to use than existing
systems, and take up about a third of the space of current machines.
AI system can decode brain
signals
Scientists have developed a
new artificial intelligence system that can decode brain signals, an advance
that may help severely paralysed patients communicate with their thoughts.
- Artificial intelligence has far outpaced human
intelligence in certain tasks.
- Researchers from the University Hospital Freiburg in
Germany showed how a self-learning algorithm decodes human brain signals
that were measured by an electroencephalogram. It included performed
movements, but also hand and foot movements that were merely thought of,
or an imaginary rotation of objects.
- The system could be used for early detection of
epileptic seizures, communicating with severely paralysed patients or make
automatic neurological diagnosis.
Artificial intelligence imperils India Inc jobs
Technology leaders are drumming up the thought that the emergence of new
technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are going to
be the new drivers of employment, especially for India’s $150 billion
information technology (IT) industry that now employs about four million
people.
- Artificial Intelligence comes from computer systems
that have been programmed to — or have learnt to — do tasks that would
otherwise require human intelligence. Many apps and software are already
making mundane work easier by doing a certain part of it for us, based on
acquired intelligence.
‘SBI, PNB account for
40% of bad loans’
The country’s largest lender
State Bank of India accounts for over 27% of the total amount owed to public
sector banks by wilful defaulters. As many as 1,762 wilful defaulters owed Rs.
25,104 crore to SBI as on March 31, putting pressure on its balance sheet.
- Punjab National Bank (PNB) is next on the list with
1,120 wilful defaulters having outstanding non-performing assets of Rs.
12,278 crore. Together these two banks account for Rs. 37,382 crore or 40%
of the total outstanding loans.
- Total outstanding loans due to PSU banks by wilful
defaulters amounted to Rs. 92,376 crore, according to the Finance Ministry
data.
- The total outstanding loans by wilful defaulters
rose to Rs. 92,376 crore at the end of financial year 2016-17, from Rs.
76,685 crore at the end of last fiscal 2015-16, up 20.4%.
Indian-origin TV star crowned
‘Child Genius’
A 12-year-old Indian-origin
boy has been crowned as the U.K.’s ‘Child Genius’ in a popular television quiz
competition, days after he became an overnight sensation after answering all
questions correctly.
- Rahul Doshi won the Channel 4 show ‘Child Genius’ by beating his nine-year-old opponent, Ronan, 10-4 in the programme’s finale.
