General - Current Affairs for October, 2015

A Chinese student, Wang He from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology has discovered a 120 million year old fossil preserving a 3 cm section of the insect’s wing at Gansu province. Most insects only have wings preserved because the body is easily decomposed. Insect fossil discovered belonged to an ancestor of the modern katydid. Structure of the wing suggests insect could sing like modern counterpart. Fossils of this orthopteran family named Prophalangopsidae have only been found in other regions of China and the world before this. These insects lived in the Cretaceous Period when the earliest flowers started appearing and they ate flowers and plant leaves.

Gujarat Meteorological Centre has requested authorities of all ports to host warning signal because of a cyclone in the state’s coast named Chapala lying centred in east central Arabian sea around 1090 km off Mumbai. As per norms, Distant Warning signal No. II (DW II) is hoisted when the system gets intensified into a storm but remains at sea.

Bowing to pressures of an ageing society and a lowered workforce, China has eliminated the one child policy. The Chinese Communist Party has allowed couples to have two children which is an advance over 2013 ruling. This is applicable only for couples where one of the parents was a single child. One child policy is meant to lower the population. As per UN estimates, close to 440 million persons in China would exceed 60 by 2050 indicating a massive decline in the labour pool. In the previous year, the working population fell between 15 to 59 by 3.71 million. A question remains if rising living costs will lead to families having more than one child. State media has noted that of 30,000 families which could benefit from the 2013, rules, only 6.7 percent have applied for a second child.

Centre has given the approval for an INR 3000 crore new international project at Mopa village in Goa. This airport will be developed in 4 phases and will have annual passenger capacity of 13.1 million within 30 years by 2045. This will serve business and tourism markets. Estimated cost of project in phase 1 is around INR 1500 crore. Tenders for new airport at Mopa will be finalised by 2015. The village is located in Northern Goa, around 35 km from Panaji.

India’s elite disaster mitigation combat force, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in October 2015 partnered 30 Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in order to develop mutual understanding and enhance capabilities to jointly tackle man-made or natural emergencies. The coordination is between NDRF and PSUs like GAIL, ONGC and Air India. This is the first initiative of its kind which involves joint action by the NDRF and the PSUs to mitigate the impact of disasters. NDRF was instituted in 2006 and currently has 11 battalion forces.

Deakin University of Australia and ISB will collaborate in several areas including research, teaching and student exchange programmes. ISB has indicated that two institutions have signed a MoA internationalising the curriculum and development of innovative teaching practices.

Young adults with increased risk of Alzheimer’s from a genetic perspective have activation patterns in brain region critical for spatial navigation. The grid cell system in the entorhinal cortex was exampled by German researchers. In this cortex, grid cells fire in spatial grid pattern. Risk carriers have a less stable grid pattern in the entorhinal cortex decades before they develop this dementia. They also moved less frequently in centre of virtual landscape which suggests altered navigation strategy.

The first global report commissioned by Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering has revealed 20% of 16 to 17 year olds from the United Kingdom and 30% from the US pursue engineering as against 80% in India, the latter being the highest in the world. The report also found India has bridged the gender divide in engineering to a low of 14% in 2015. Globally, while 66% of the men are interested in engineering, the figure is 43% for women.

Madras HC has ruled that castration should be performed on child rapists. This would curb crimes against children. In case of child sex offences, the conviction rate is just 2.4 percent and between 2008 to 2014, crimes against children increased by 400 percent. Additional punishment of castration of child rapists would prevent and contain child abuses, the court ruled. Chemical castration has now come into force in several nations including the US. The court passed the judgement on a plea from a foreigner facing pedophile charges in TN. Castration is done on child sex abusers in Poland, Russia, Estonia and nine US states including California, Oregon, Florida, Texas and Washington. S. Korea has become the first Asian nation to make castration of child sex offenders a punishment. Number of cases of child abuse rose from 38,172 in 2012 to 58,224 in 2013 and to 89,423 in 2014 in India.

Arun Vajpai and Bhupesh Kumar created history by becoming the first to climb a 6180m peak in Spiti Valley, HP named in honour of former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam. This peak is located close to Bara Shigri Glacier, the largest glacier in HP. This is the second longest glacier in Himalaya after Gangotri. In 2010, Vajpai became the youngest Indian to climb Mount Everest.

PM Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone of the new capital city of Amravati in AP at Uddandayauruni Palem village. This is one of the 3 villages were seed capital will be established, the other two being Lingayapalem and Thallayapalem. The need for a capital city became necessary as the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 mandated that Hyderabad will be the common capital for AP and Telangana for just 10 years. After this, it will remain the capital of the latter state. Amravati is derived from the capital city of the Satavahana rulers.

Pakistan will become the world’s fifth largest nuclear weapons state as per a report by a leading US based think tank which projected the country’s stockpile to rise by 250 warheads within a span of 10 years. Pakistan has estimated nuclear stockpile of close to 130 warheads up from 110 warheads in 2011, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Stock pile could rise by 250 in 2025, making it the fifth largest nuclear weapon state. Six type of currently operational nuclear ballistic missiles are also there with two more under development. Pakistan also has 2 cruise missions on the anvil.

Scientists have found that the colour of Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers is changing across time due to mixture of pigments used in the painting. The study also identified areas of the painting that should be monitored particularly closely for any changes. van Gogh (1853-1890) is known for his use of chrome/bright yellows, a class of compounds including lead, chromium and oxygen. Lighter shades had sulphur mixed in them. Three versions of the painting are currently on dupls. in London, Tokyo and Amsterdam museums.

Citizens can now register governance related grievances via mobile phones as the mobile application for the CPGRAMS/Centralised Public Grievances Redress and Monitoring System was launched on 21st October 2015. This is a central government portal which addresses grievance redressal will receive complaints which will be addressed by state, department or ministry. A QR-Quick Response code has been provided on the portal which can be scanned onto the smartphone after grievance is sent directly from phone to CPGRAMS. This is a step towards the ART of Governance spelt out as PM Modi’s Vision for Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency. The focus is on making administration responsive, transparent and responsive. The mobile app will also track grievance status. CPGRAMS was launched in 2007 by the ministry. More than 16 lakh grievances have been lodged since January 2012 and in the past 1 year, 9 lakh grievances have been launched and 6.47 lakh cases have been disposed of.

SC has held that no copyright law exists regarding the title of the literary work while criminal case against the producer of the a Bollywood movie, Desi Boyz was quashed. Bench passed the order against order of Bombay HC which had refused to quash the complaint filed by writer S. V. Devkatta.

Seong-Jin Cho, South Korea aged 21 has won the International Frederic Chopin Piano competition in Warsaw in 2015. The second prize winner was Charles Richard-Hamelin of Canada while the third prize was conferred on Kate Liu of the US. The competition is held once in 5 years and is a launching pad for internationally acclaimed pianists.

World Health Organization (WHO) on 19 October 2015 released the Global status report on road safety 2015 showing information from 180 countries and indicating that worldwide the total number of road traffic deaths has gone up to 1.25 million per year. It also showcased how road safety strategies are saving human lives. It found in past 3 years, 79 countries have seen a fall in the number of fatalities in absolute terms.

CBI has unearthed a major scam pertaining to supply of packaged drinking water Rail Neer within the railways. CBI registered a case against two Northern Railway senior officials and 7 private companies namely RK Associates Pvt Ltd, Satyam Caterers Pvt Ltd, Ambuj Hotel and Real Estate, PK Associates Pvt Ltd, Sunshine Pvt Ltd, Brandavan Food Product and Food World under Prevention of Corruption Act.

Tropical storm Olaf has intensified in eastern Pacific Ocean though it poses no threat currently. Olaf is located 2475 km southwest of southernmost tip of Baja California peninsula in Mexico. The speed of the storm’s wind is increasing to 85 kph and it is moving west at the speed of 12 mph. However, there are no coastal watches or warnings for the same.

Regardless of the 2011 census indicating a worsening sex ratio, gap between male and female registered births in India fell in 2012 and 2013. India’s Civil Registration System administered by office of Registrar General of India that conducts its decadal census constitutes officially registered birth and death data. Currently, all births and deaths must be registered within 21 days of their occurrence.RGI has estimated around 85.5% of all births are now registered in 2013 with 17 of the states registering all births and Bihar as well as UP attaining only 57.4 and 68.6 percent registrations. Sex ratio will also improve as level of registration improves. Sex ratio at birth has now fallen to 898 girls for every 1000 boys in 2013. Experts say as family size gets smaller, pressure for one of two children to be a boy escalates.

The APJ Abdul Kalam post doctoral research fellowships are for scientists lower than 35 years of age having completed their PhD or doing so in fields of environment and ecology. The fellowship will be for a period of three years and will include monthly fellowship as well as HRA. Research fellows will be selected by an expert committee headed by CSIR former DG R. A. Mashelkar.

The indigenous surface to surface cruise missile nose dived midway after being fired from the Chandipur Integrated Test Range in Balasore, Odisha. Missile missed the target within 11 minutes after it was test fired. Though the missile has a range of 750-1000 km, it nose dived following coverage of 128 km in Bay of Bengal. This cruise missile will supplement Indo Russian joint venture supersonic cruise missile BrahMos. This 6 metre two stage missile has a diameter of .52 m and a wing span of 2.7 m with a launch weight of 1500 kgs.

This report includes 200 sub reports on various countries and details actions of non state actors who have committed human right abuses and stood in the way of religious freedom. The report found that Anti-Semitism persists in the world. In the year 2014, the report also found that governments in Africa, Asia and Middle East have failed to protect citizens against abuses by non state actors such as terrorist organisations which want to destroy religious diversity. Religious and civil society groups were found to have promoted greater respect for religious diversity.

For a brand new ad for PETA during the Vegetarian Awareness Month, Indian batsman VVS Laxman has been selected. The ad has been shot by well known photographer YSN Murthy.

The 4th International Tourism Mart was inaugurated by Dr. Mahesh Sharma and was organised by Union Ministry of Tourism in association with the North Eastern States and the state of West Bengal. Sikkim is set to have its own airport by December 2016 and is going to become the first 100% organic state in the nation. Tourism is an important boost for growth and development and can contribute to 8 to 9 percent of GDP. India’s share in global tourist arrivals across the world is currently 0.68%. Tourism helps to generate jobs and promote women empowerment. Facility of e-Visa has been extended to 113 nations and will be extended to 150 nations towards the close of March in 2016.

Portugal has become the first European nation to sign an MoU on the establishment of Nalanda University at Rajgir, Bihar. The country is also the 17th overall and 4th outside East Asia summit to do so. Nalanda University was established through the Nalanda University Act 2010. It was formally inaugurated on 19th September 2014.

Ministry of Shipping and DGLL on 13th October 2015 launched a programme to develop 78 lighthouses in the following states as tourism centres under PPP- Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Land close to these lighthouses will boast hotels, resorts, maritime and heritage museums as well as galleries and Laser shows as well as spa centres to attract tourists. Lighthouse as tourism destination programme aims to develop existing lighthouses and the surrounding area into maritime landmarks and unique tourism destinations. The programme also seeks to explore viability of developing these projects under PPP mode.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will be renaming Mission Complex DRDO as the Dr. A.P. J Abdul Kalam Missile Complex on the occasion of the 84th birth anniversary of the Missile Man on 15th October 2015. Dr. Kalam was part of the Missile Complex, DRDO for close to 20 years. Mission complex includes ASL/ Advanced Systems Lab, DRDL/Defence Research and Development Lab and RCI/Research Centre Imarat. Dr. Kalam was the founder director of RCI.

Well known Bengali poet Mandakratna Sen has returned the Sahitya Akademi award which she had received in 2004, on 13th October 2015. She received the Young Writers Special Award at 30 years of age for her work on Bengali poetry.

President Pranab Mukherjee became the first Indian head to visit Palestine in a trip that lasted from 12th to 13th October 2015. Apart from meeting the president and PM, the Indian President also completed a three day visit to Jordan and Israel besides Palestine. He inaugurated India-Palestine Centre for Excellence in ICT, at Al-Quds University, Abu Dees and paid tributes to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi at Ramallah. A road and a roundabout in Ramallah were named after India as Sharia-e-Al-hind and Midan-e-Al-hind to mark the President’s visit.

Pursuing India’s Act East Policy, INS Sahyadri has entered the Sagami Bay in Japan on October 14, 2015. This ship is currently on operational deployment to the North West Pacific region and South China sea. India and Japan have links dating back to the 9th century AD and both countries established ‘Global Partnership in the 21st Century’ in 2000 and held the first ‘Comprehensive Security Dialogue’ in 2001. The 2 nations instituted the Defence Policy Dialogue in 2007 and the Maritime Affairs Dialogue in 2013. INS Sahyadri is an indigenously built warship of Shivalik Class inducted into the Indian Navy on 21st July 2012. The ship had earlier visited Da Nang, Vietnam.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has acquired ISO 9001:2008 certificate for monitoring, planning, development and maintenance of highway infrastructure as well as road transport throughout the nation on 12th October 2015. Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri. Nitin Gadkari received the certificate from IRQS CMD Arun Sharma. ISO certificate will be applied to all wings of the Ministry at the HQ in New Delhi. ISO is a globally recognised quality management system to enable demonstration of commitment to quality and customer satisfaction. ISO 9001: 2008 was slated for implementation in 2012-2013.

The ship INS Trikand will engage with the Egyptian navy in professional, sports and social engagements to enhance cooperation and understanding between the two nations. The Indian Navy is currently on the Bridges of Friendship mission for strengthening global cooperation with friendly nations and providing assistance in maritime domain awareness, search and rescue and hydrographic survey. The current visit also seeks to enhance solidarity and bonds between India and Egypt.

Jammu & Kashmir HC has ruled that A370 granting special status to the state has a permanent place in the Indian Constitution and is beyond amendment, abrogation or repeal. A35A also gives protection to current laws working in the state. Though entitled as Temporary Provision and included in the Para XXI titled ‘Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions’, the article has assumed a permanent position in the Constitution. Court also said President under Article 370 (1) is conferred with power to extend any provision of the Constitution to the State with such “exceptions and modifications” as deemed suitable subject to consultation and/or concurrence with the State government.

Well known Malayalam writer Sarah Joseph has announced that she will be returning the Sahitya Akademi award to protest against rising intolerance and murder of rationalists as well as Dadri lynching incident. Malayalam poet K. Satchidanandan has taken the decision to quit all Akademi posts in protest of the murder of rationalist M. M. Kalburgi. Another short story writer P K Parakkadavu also said he will quit the Akademi membership. Joseph won the award for her novel
Aalahayude Penmakkal (Daughters of God the Father). Three writers have been murdered and K. S. Bhagwan is also facing threats from communal forces, Joseph said.Satchidanandan was serving in the General Council, Executive Board and Financial Committee of the Akademi. Earlier, eminent writer Nayantara Sehgal and ex Lalit Kala Akademi chairperson Ashok Vajpeyi also returned their awards to protest the growing intolerance in the nation. The first literary figure to return his award to protest the murder of Kalburgi was well known Hindi writer Uday Prakash.

The right wing of a 125 million year old bird from Spain’s central region preserved the bones of the forelimb and abundant remains of plumage and soft tissues. It also revealed that despite being different from modern birds in skeletal structure, these primitive birds have similar soft anatomy. The famous Archaeopteryx is one pf the 150 million year old birds forming part of the long evolutionary history of earth’s avian species. New study has found intricate arrangement of fibres in ancient birds which is an anatomical match with complex network of muscles, tendons and ligaments in modern birds.

Union Cabinet has approved proposal for establishing three new AIIMS at Nagpur (Maharashtra), Manglagiri (AP) and Kalyani (WB) under the PMSSY at cost of INR 4949 crore. The proposed aims will have a capacity of 960 beds along with admin block, teaching block, theatre, nursing college, nice shelter, hostel and residential facilities as well as AYUSH block. Of the total expenditure of Rs 4949 crore, the cost of the new AIIMS at Manglagiri in Andhra Pradesh will be Rs 1618 crore, at Nagpur in Maharashtra of Rs 1577 crore and at Kalyani in West Bengal of Rs 1754 crore. While 6 new AIIMS have been made functional under the yojana, construction of one such unit is ongoing at Rae Barielly.

Government has approved the formation of ISDS/Indian Skill Development Service, belonging to the technical cadre of MSDE. Earlier it was known as Directorate General of Employment and Training under Ministry of Labour Employment. Cabinet also have approval of Non functional Selection Grade to 15% of SDPs in STS level as applicable in Group A Engineering Services. Cadre restructuring changes approved by cabinet include increase of a single post at SAG level and 4 posts for JAG.

This vessel was launched at the Naval Base, Visakhapatnam. Distinguished Scientist Dr. V Bhujanga Rao, Director General (NS & M) DRDO, Shri CD Malleswar, Director NSTL, Visakhapatnam, Mr. Sahay Raj, CMD of M/s. Shoft Shipyard Pvt. Ltd, Bharuch, Gujarat were among the dignitaries who attended the function. Astradharini was designed as a collaborative effort of NSTL, M/s Shoft Shipyard and IIT Kharagpur. It possesses a unique design of a catamaran hull form that significantly reduces its power requirement and is built with indigenous steel. With a length of 50 m, the vessel is capable to do speeds up to 15 Knots and it can operate in high sea states. 95% of the ship is indigenously built.

California on 5 October 2015 permitted terminally ill patients to legally end their lives under a doctor’s supervision. State governor Jerry Brown signed the Right to Die bill into law. California is now the 5th state in the US to give terminally ill patients the right to end their lives legally. Four other US states that allow such assisted suicides to terminally ill people are Oregon, Washington, Vermont and Montana. Right to Die Bill was introduced in 2007.

Chinese archeologists have excavated rare turtle shaped brick tomb which is 800 years old dates back to the mid to late Jin Dynasty (1115-1234). The tomb was discovered by a village person in Shangzhuang village of Shanxi Province in the month of April. The tomb is constructed at the height of 4 metres and consists of an octagonal burial chamber as well as 5 small rooms. Design is turtle shaped and 7 sides of the chamber are embedded with 21 brick carvings, 3 on either side.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik allowed citizens to gain access to information, request for police services and obtain a copy of FIR through the Citizen Portal. The portal can now be used to obtain character certificates, take out processions, rallies, protests and strikes and seek permission to hold events and performances. Portal can also be used for tenant verification and employee verification as well as complaint tracking.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on 3 October 2015 inaugurated an Extreme Altitude Research Centre/ DIHAR at Chang La, Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir at 17600 feet above mean sea level. This has the distinction of being world’s highest terrestrial research and development centre. Situated 75 km off Leh town in Pangong Lake, Defence Institute of High Altitude Research/ DIHAR will promote R&D in areas of food and agriculture as well as bio medical sciences for safety of soldiers in high altitude cold desert. DIHAR was formally known as Field Research Lab and it was established in the 1960s, under the supervision of India’s first PM Jawahar Lal Nehru.

With regard to Indian Navy’s overseas deployment to Africa, West Asia and Europe, INS Trikand entered Istanbul, Turkey for a 3 day visit on October 4th 2015. Indian Naval ships such as these are constantly deployed for building bridges of friendship apart from capacity building and capacity enhancement. Bilateral naval relations between India and Turkey are expected to strengthen further due to the planned visit of a Turkish warship for the International Fleet Review at Visakhapatnam, India in Feb 2016. INS Trikand is a advanced Indian Navy warship equipped with a versatile range of weapons and sensors capable of addressing threats in all the three dimensions – air, surface and sub-surface. The visiting ship is part of the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet. It is under the operational command of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, with its HQ at Mumbai.

India has decided as part of its post 2020 climate plan to anchor global solar alliance INSPA which is the International Agency for Solar Policy and Application of countries situated between Cancer and Capricorn tropics. According to World Resources Institute, per capita emissions of India equal 2.44 metric tonnes as against 8.13 metric tonnes by China. India may be the third largest GHG emitter, but it accounts for less than 7 percent of the global share. Indian government is looking to increase share of clean energy in total energy mix by close to 40% by 2030. Climate action plan is called INDC. Besides India, 147 other nations have submitted their INDCs to the UNFCCC.

Ancient Britons may have mummified their dead during Bronze age based on a microscope analysis conducted at University of Sheffield to compare the bacterial bio-erosion of skeletons from various sites across the UK with the bones of the mummified bodies from Yemen and Ireland. The mummified bones demonstrate superior levels of historical preservation. This indicates funeral rituals and beliefs during this period were very different than earlier thought.

Union Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on 30 September 2015 has announced a release of a commemorative postal stamp on Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar in celebration of his 125th birth anniversary. The ministry will also come out with a coin in memory of Dr. Ambedkar. He was posthumously awarded the highest civilian award of Bharat Ratna in the 1990s. He passed away in 1956. He is credited with framing the Indian constitution.

For the first time, WHO has indicated that everyone with HIV will be offered life saving drugs at the time of diagnosis. WHO has indicated that governments do not have to wait till the disease progresses, which was part of the earlier procedure, to initiate Antiretroviral Therapy/ART. ART is free in India under National Aids Control Programme but treatment is not provided for every HIV patient. ART was earlier initiated depending upon the infection stage. All populations and age groups are now eligible for treatment. Recent findings indicate early use of ART keeps people living with HIV alive and more healthy with less likelihood of transmitting the virus. Based on the initial recommendation, persons eligible for antiretroviral treatment will increase to 37 million from 28 million. Change in global HIV policy could avert close to over 20 million deaths and 28 million new infections by 2030.