Current Affairs April 26, 2019

In this post, GKToday presents Current Affairs of April 26, 2019 in Short Notes form for preparation of IBPS, Banking, CLAT, SSC, Railway, UPSC, IAS/PCS, UPPSC, BPSC, MPPSC, RPSC, TNPSC, MPSC, KPSC and all other competitive examinations of India.

1. The UAE Space Agency and Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) have recently announced that 85% of the Hope Probe project has been completed. Hope Probe is an ambitious dream project of UAE to send a mission to Mars. Hope Probe is scheduled to be launched in July 2020. With a successful launch, UAE hopes to become the first Arabic and Islamic country to make the Mars Mission dream a reality. The Hope Probe has been developed in accordance with Mars Exploration Programme Analysis Group (MEPAG), the global scientific community which is working on Mars exploration and coordinated with international entities to ensure the best results. The objectives of the Emirates Mars Mission will be to add to the global efforts to explore space and the surrounding planets. For the first time, a Mars exploration project will be able to take a global picture of the Martian atmosphere. It will do so by taking an integrated picture of the atmosphere throughout the day and for a long period of time, helping to create a better understanding of the planet’s atmosphere in different seasons of the year.

2. India's largest IT services company, Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) has partnered with the Department of Posts (DoP) to modernise a network of more than 1.5 lakh post offices across the country. The multi-year digital core programme will transform the DoP into a multi-service digital hub, modernise the delivery of mail and packages, enhance customer experience and launch innovative services that will drive new revenues. At the heart of this transformation is the Core System Integration (CSI) program designed and implemented by TCS. This involved deploying an integrated ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution that caters to mail operations, finance and accounting, and HR functions. Besides, it will also connect the network of more than 1.5 lakh post offices to make this largest distributed ePostal network in the world. The integrated solution is built to cater to the Department’s immense scale, and future needs. It supports the HR needs of over 500,000 employees, services over 40,000 concurrent users, and processes over 3 million postal transactions a day.

3. Iran and Pakistan have decided to set up a Joint Border Reaction Force (JBRF) following a number of deadly attacks by militant groups on their frontier. The announcement comes following tensions between the two countries who have in recent months accused each other of not doing enough to stamp out militants allegedly sheltering across the border. The The Iran-Pakistan border skirts the volatile southeastern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan which has been the scene of frequent attacks on Iran’s security forces.

4. The Ministry of AYUSH has recently signed a MoU with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR –New Delhi) for cooperation in research and education in areas of traditional systems of medicine and its integration with modern science. Under the MoU, both organizations shall jointly endeavor to pursue: R&D covering fundamental research; AYUSH specific diagnostic tools; linking microbiome, gene expression and prakriti; multi-ingredient herbal formulations, including their standardization; exploring modern scientific methods for integration with traditional Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM); linking disease signatures, etc.

5. The researchers have finally detected the most ancient type of molecule in our universe in space for the first time ever. They used NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) to detect helium hydride in a planetary nebula NGC 7027 about 3,000 light-years away from Earth. Helium hydride ion (HeH+) was the first molecule that formed when, almost 14 billion years ago, falling temperatures in the young universe allowed recombination of the light elements produced in the Big Bang. At that time, ionised hydrogen and neutral helium atoms reacted to form HeH+. Despite its importance in the history of the early Universe, HeH+ has so far escaped detection in astrophysical nebulae — cloud of gas and dust in outer space. Hence, the detection of this special molecule brings a long search to a happy ending, and eliminates doubts about understanding of the underlying formation and destruction of the early universe. SOFIA is the joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to construct and maintain an airborne observatory. Being the world’s largest airborne astronomical observatory, the telescope has the ability to produce a higher resolution image, three times higher in quality than those captured by other observatories.

6. The world's tallest 131 ft indoor waterfall has opened for the general public at Singapore's Jewel Changi Airport.. The waterfall is housed inside a dome-shaped complex which has gardens growing over four storeys, more than 280 retail and food outlets, a hotel and a movie theatre. The structure also has a botanical garden with 120 species of plants. The dome-shaped glass structure was designed by Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie.

7. The World Book and Copyright Day (WBCD) is observed every year on April 23 to recognise the scope of books which are seen as a link between the past and the future, a bridge between cultures and generations. It is an occasion to promote the joy of books and the art of reading. Through this day, UNESCO aims to champion books and celebrate creativity, diversity and equal access to knowledge. 23rd April was selected by UNESCO to pay tribute to great literary figures including William Shakespeare, Miguel Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega who died on this day in 1616.

8. The World Book and Copyright Day (WBCD) is celebrated worldwide on 23rd April to pay tribute to the veteran literary figures like William Shakespeare, Miguel Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso De La Vega. It is a symbolic date in world literature. On this day, UNESCO and organisations representing publishers, booksellers and libraries select World Book Capital (WBC) for a year to maintain the celebrations of books and reading. For the year 2019, Sharjah, UAE has been declared as the World Book Capital. It will be preceded by Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the year 2020.

9. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) has established the Amartya Sen Chair in Inequality Studies to honour the Indian-born economist, philosopher and Nobel laureate. The chair will provide coordination and strategic leadership on the inter-disciplinary analysis of inequalities at LSE. Besides, it will connect research on inequalities across the School, engage with the public and policy-makers, and develop and supports new world-class research. Amartya Sen served as a professor in the economics department at the institute from 1971-82. It was in the year 1998, Amartya Sen won the Nobel Prize in the field of Economics. He also won National Humanities Medal in the year 2012. Amartya Sen’s main areas of work include welfare economics, social choice theory, development economics, political philosophy and economic theory. The holder of the Amartya Sen chair, will also serve as Director of the LSE International Inequalities Institute (III).

10. The Asian Tea Alliance (ATA), a union of five tea-growing and consuming countries, was launched on Friday in Guizhou in China. The members of the alliance are the Indian Tea Association (ITA), China Tea Marketing Association (CTMA), Indonesian Tea Marketing Association, Sri Lanka Tea Board and Japan Tea Association. ATA plans to work towards enhancing tea trade, cultural exchanges, technology exchanges as well as globally promoting tea. It will also work towards enhancing global consumption of tea, while creating a sustainability agenda for the future of Asian tea. The forging of this alliance comes in the aftermath of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December 2018 between the Indian Tea Association and China Tea Marketing Association. The two associations signed the pact to promote green and black tea consumption in major tea markets of Europe, the U.S., Russia and West Asia, besides India and China.


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