Daily Current affairs - July 29th, 2017 for all competitive exams
The 7th International Tiger
Day is observed globally on 29 July. This year’s International Tiger
Day would be celebrated with the slogan ‘Fresh Ecology For Tigers’ Protection’.
- The conference of the heads of 13 countries – where
tigers are available – held at Saint Petersburg of Russia in 2010 took the
decision to mark the world tiger day on July 29 every year.
Ministry of WCD seeks suggestions issues related to civil
aspects of “International Child removal”
The ministry for women and child development has put out in the public
domain a “concept note” on issues related to civil aspects of International Child Removal.
- A multi member committee led Chairmanship Justice
Rajesh Bindal, Judge Punjab and Haryana High Court was set-up in February
to study all aspects of the matter pertaining to Hague Convention on Child Abduction in detail and make its recommendation. Before it gives
the final report the Committee has sought suggestions on the concept note
and the various concerns raised.
“Sagar Vani” - An Integrated
Information Dissemination System
Minister of Science &
Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forests & Climate Change,
Dr. Harshvardhan launched an app “Sagar Vani” on the occasion of
Foundation Day of Ministry of Earth Sciences.
- ‘Sagar Vani’ has been launched to disseminate
ocean related information and alerts to the user community in a timely
manner for their safety.
Guidelines for Planning and Implementation of Family
Participatory Care
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has released Operational Guidelines
for Planning and Implementation of Family Participatory Care (FPC) for improving newborn
health. The new guidelines have been released by the government for improving
health of babies in special units across the country.
- The guidelines will serve as a guiding document for
those intending to introduce FPC in their facility as an integral part of
facility based newborn care.
- The operational guidelines of FPC are for all
stakeholders involved in the process of planning and delivering newborn
care.
- Under the guidelines—Operational Guidelines for
Planning and Implementation of Family Participatory Care
(FPC)—parent-attendants will be trained in newborn care through a structured
programme including an audio-visual module and a training guide. The staff
at a newborn care unit would provide continuous supervision and support.
India’s anti-China missile can’t be trusted in fights,
says CAG
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has severely criticised India’s
home-made Akash air defence missile system. As per a report by the CAG, as many
as a third of the home-made Akash surface-to-air missiles are unreliable,
unusable and untested, posing an operational risk during hostilities.
- The missiles fell short of the target, had lower
than the required velocity, and there was malfunctioning of critical
units.
- The missile systems were to be installed at six
designated sites (in northeast), between 2013 and 2015. But till date,
none of the missile systems have been installed.
- Out of 80 missiles received up to November 2014, 20
missiles were test fired during April-November 2014. Six of these
missiles, which is 30%, failed the test.
- Two of the missiles failed to even take off. These
deficiencies pose an operational risk during hostilities.
- The lifespan of some missiles had expired by March
2017.
India’s first unmanned tank Muntra
India’s first unmanned tank developed by the Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) has been rolled out of the Chennai lab.
- Muntra, the unmanned tank, has three variants –
surveillance, mine detection and reconnaissance in areas with nuclear and
bio threats. It is likely to be used in Naxal-hit areas.
- Muntra-S has been developed for unmanned
surveillance missions, whereas Muntra-M is built for detecting mines.
Muntra-N, on the other hand, will be deployed in areas where nuclear
radiation or bio weapon risk is high.
- The vehicle has been tested. It’s surveillance radar,
which has an integrated camera can be used to spy on ground target 15km
away.
NITI Aayog clears six
proposals for high-tech public transport
Mass rapid transportation
technologies such as hyperloop, metrino and pod taxis could soon be a reality
in India after Niti Aayog cleared half-a-dozen proposals of the
transport ministry exploring options to improve public transport.
- The think tank approved the proposals of the
transport ministry with a condition that the ministry
conducts trial run of all these technologies and puts in place
safety measures before the starting commercially
operation.
- Once these safety parameters are tried and tested
and the pilot run is successful, some of them
including metrino, could be up for running by next year’s end.
Sri Lanka set to sign Hambantota port deal
Sri Lanka will proceed with
the billion-dollar sale of a deep sea port to China despite protests in an
effort to slash its foreign debt.
- The Hambantota port straddles the world’s busiest
east-west shipping route and several countries, including neighbouring
India, had raised concerns China could use it for its own military needs.
- The government would sign off on the $1.12 billion
deal with China Merchants Port Holdings to jointly manage the facility.
Cash from the firm’s majority stake will be used to repay part of the
island nation’s huge foreign debt.
China produces gas from ‘flammable ice’ under South China
Sea
China has successfully produced natural gas from methane hydrate, also
known as “flammable ice”, in an experimental project in the South China Sea.
The government has promised to “actively develop” natural gas hydrate over the
2016-2020 five-year plan period.
- Flammable ice consists of methane trapped
within water crystals, and has been identified as a potential
new gas source for China, with the South China Sea thought to contain some
of the world’s most promising deposits.
- Officially known as methane clathrates or
hydrates, they are formed at very low temperatures and under high
pressure.
Iran successfully launches
satellite-carrying rocket into space
Iran successfully launched
its most advanced satellite-carrying rocket called ‘Simorgh’ into
space. The launch took place at the Imam Khomeini National Space Station
in Semnan.
- The development marks a significant step forward for
the Islamic Republic's young space program.
- It also raises alarm among the nation’s adversaries
who fear that the same technology could be used to produce long-range
missiles.
Frieda Pinto joins tiger preservation movement
Actor Freida Pinto has
partnered with an initiative by WWF and Discovery to save tigers from
extinction.
- Pinto will promote Project CAT: Conserving Acres for
Tigers, which highlights the importance of preserving wild habitats.
NPCI receives final nod from RBI to function as Bharat
Bill Payment Central Unit
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation
for all retail payment systems, has said it has received a final nod from the
Reserve Bank of India to function as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit
(BBPCU) and operate the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).
- The final clearance from RBI comes almost a year
after NPCI launched the BBPS pilot project to make payment of utility
bills easier.
- The Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an RBI
conceptualised system driven by National Payments Corporation of India
(NPCI).
- It is a one-stop
payment platform for all bills, providing an
interoperable and accessible “Anytime Anywhere” bill payment service to
customers across the country with certainty, reliability and safety of
transactions.
India among top nations with potential for digital
payments’: Digital Evolution Index
India has emerged strong, exhibiting a high potential in terms of digital
payments and has been categorised under the “break out” segment among 60
countries, according to the Digital Evolution Index 2017.
- The Fletcher School at Tufts University in partnership
with Mastercard, unveiled the Digital Evolution Index 2017.
- The Index is a comprehensive research that tracks
the progress countries have made in developing their digital economies and
integrating connectivity into the lives of billions.
- The Index measures four key drivers – supply,
consumer demand, institutional environment, and innovation.
- India has been experiencing rapid strides of
progress with an evolving payments landscape, catalysed by the
government’s demonetisation decision.
Cash awards for Punam, Smriti and Mona
The Chief Minister of
Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, announced a cash award of Rs. 50 lakh each to
India’s three women cricketers from the State, Punam Raut, (Mumbai), Smriti
Mandhana (Sangli) and Mona Meshram (Nagpur).
- The Indian team led by Mithali Raj lost the ICC Women’s World Cup final by nine runs to England.
