Current Affairs July 05-06, 2019
In this post, GKToday presents Current Affairs of July 05-06, 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. NASA has recently announced its New Frontiers program, called Dragonfly mission, to explore Saturn's largest moon - Titan. It's the only moon in our solar system that has an atmosphere.The rotorcraft will fly to dozens of promising locations on Titan looking for pre-biotic chemical processes common on both Titan and Earth. The mission will launch in 2026 and will reach Titan by 2034. Titan is the 2nd-largest natural satellite in our Solar System, and is larger than the Moon and the planet Mercury. As it orbits Saturn, Titan is about 886 million miles (1.4 billion km) away from the Sun, about 10 times farther than Earth. Because it is so far from the Sun, its surface temperature is minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 179 degrees Celsius). Its surface pressure is also 50% higher than Earth’s. Titan has a dense, nitrogen-based atmosphere like Earth. Unlike Earth, it has clouds and rain of methane. Other organics are formed in the atmosphere and fall like light snow.
2. In Uttar Pradesh, the state government has launched a toll-free Chief Minister helpline No. 1076 that will enable people from across the state to register their complaints and will ensure a time-bound action on the complaints also. The CM helpline number 1076 will work 24x7 and anyone from any part of the state can call on this number anytime. The 500-seater call centre has been established for the helpline and it has the capacity to handle 80,000 inbound and 55,000 outbound calls on a daily basis. When the complainant calls the helpline, he/she will get an SMS informing that the complaint has been sent to the department concerned.
3. Indian sprinter Hima Das clocked 23.65s to win gold in women's 200 metres at the 2019 Poznan Athletics Grand Prix in Poland. Hima is the world junior champion and national record holder in 400m. This was Hima's first competitive 200m race of the year. She has a personal best of 23.10s, which she clocked in 2018. While national record holder shot putter Tajinder Pal Singh Toor bagged a bronze in the ongoing tournament. Another Indian, V K Vismaya finished third with a personal best time of 23.75 seconds in the race at Poznan.
4. The world's largest “Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute" has started functioning in Dhaka from 4th July 2019. The 500-bed hospital with 50 ICU and 12 operation theatres will provide advanced treatment to burn patients in Bangladesh. The institute has been built at a cost of over 500 crore Taka.
5. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has recently released its report titled- Working on a Warmer Planet – The Impact of Heat Stress on Labour Productivity and Decent Work'. It stated that working hours will be lost because it is too hot to work or because workers work at a slower pace. The UN report said India will be the most affected country. It said because of its large population, in absolute terms, India is expected to lose the equivalent of 34 million full-time jobs in 2030 in productivity. India is projected to lose 5.8% of working hours in 2030 due to global warming, particularly impacting agriculture and construction sectors. The projections are based on a global temperature rise of 1.5 degree Celsius by the end of the twenty-first century, and labour force trends. Most of the impact in India will be felt in the agricultural sector. But, increasing working hours are expected to be lost in the construction sector, where heat stress affects both male and female workers. Heat stress is defined as generally above 35 degrees Celsius, in places with high humidity.
6. The United Nations’s Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day (MSME) Day is observed every year on 27 June to raise public awareness of their contribution to sustainable development. These types of enterprises are responsible for significant employment and income generation opportunities across the world and have been identified as a major driver of poverty alleviation and development. MSMEs tend to employ a larger share of the vulnerable sectors of the workforce, such as women, youth, and people from poorer households. MSMEs can even sometimes be the only source of employment in rural areas. The 2019 theme is 'Big Money For Small Business: Financing the SDGs'.
7. The South Central Railway (SCR) has recently commissioned the longest electrified tunnel of 6.6 km built at a total cost of Rs 460 crore between Cherlopalli and Rapuru stations. The tunnel is part of the 113-km new railway line completed recently between Obulavaripalli– Venkatachalam – Krishnapatnam Port. The electrified tunnel is constructed in the shape of ‘Horse Shoe’ on New Australian Tunnelling Method. The height of the tunnel (rail level to roof) is 6.5 metres and the minimum height of the contact wire is maintained at 5.2 metres. The new line would facilitate direct and viable connectivity between South Coast and West Coast Railway and improve freight revenue of the zone.
8. The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) has selected Mastercard CEO and President Ajay Banga and Wipro Chairman Azim Premji for its 2019 Global Excellence Awards. The prestigious award will be presented to both the business leaders at its 2nd Annual Leadership Summit in Washington on July 11. The leadership summit will highlight areas of bilateral cooperation like trade and investment, strategic energy ties, manufacturing and innovation partnership.
9. The book titled 'Whispers of Time' has been authored by Dr Krishna Saksena. The story witnesses three generations in the author's long life of 90 years in which she found a great difference. If the first was too strict and severe in clinging hard to traditions, the second had softened down to new values of love and helpfulness. In a way it was a beautiful world of togetherness. But this world soon dwindles into a world of selfishness and deceit. The series of events are developed in a powerful manner that makes the novel both real and revealing. The book has recently unveiled by Smriti Zubin Irani, the Union Minister of Textiles & Minister of Women and Child Development (WCD), at India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi.
10. The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) has collaborated with public sector enterprise Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) on a pilot project to supply sanitary napkins to 11,516 students free of cost through a team of volunteers and female teachers of 75 schools in Gandipet, Moinabad, Rajendranagar, Serilingampally and Shamshabad mandals of the State. The project involves creating awareness on menstruation and menstrual hygiene among children in government schools in Telangana. It is being taken up with a funding of Rs 71.82 lakh given by the BDL as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The aim of the project is to create awareness on hygiene along with sociological and environmental issues, and removing the stigma associated with menstruation among rural adolescent girls. The NIRDPR is an Indian institute for research in rural development. It is located in Rajendranagar near Hyderabad.
