Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Sep 08, 2017

ANSWER: Viveck Goenka

Explanation:
Viveck Goenka, Chairman and Managing Director of the Express Group, and N. Ravi, former Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, were on Sept 7, 2017 unanimously elected Chairman and Vice Chairman of Press Trust of India, the country’s largest news agency.

Mr. Goenka (60) succeeds Riyad Mathew, who is Senior Assistant Editor and a member of the Manorama management. Mr. Ravi (69) succeeds Mr. Goenka as Vice Chairman.

Viveck Goenka: Know More

• Mr. Goenka, an engineer by qualification and a publisher by profession, is also a director of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) besides being a member of the Advertising Association, India Chapter.
• He also served as Chairman of United News of India news agency, as a Council Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation and was one of the youngest past Presidents of the Indian Newspaper Society.
• He is also a wildlife photographer and an avid student of conservation.

N. Ravi: Know More

• Mr. Ravi, an award-winning journalist with an illustrious career in India and the United States, is a Director at Kasturi & Sons Ltd, which publishes The Hindu.
• Mr. Ravi joined The Hindu in 1972, and served as reporter, leader writer and Washington Correspondent until 1980 when he became a Deputy Editor.
• He was Editor from 1991 to 2011 and Editor-in-Chief from October 2013 until January 2015.
• He has a Master’s degree in economics and a bachelor’s degree in law. He has previously been Chairman of the Press Trust of India, and President of the Editors’ Guild of India.
• He was a member of the Indian government’s National Security Advisory Board from 2006 to 2008.

Other Members

• The other members of the PTI Board are:
• Mahendra Mohan Gupta (Dainik Jagran),
• K.N. Shanth Kumar (Deccan Herald),
• Vineet Jain (Times of India),
• Aveek Kumar Sarkar (Anand Bazar Patrika),
• M.P. Veerendra Kumar (Mathrubhumi),
• R. Lakshmipathy (Dinamalar),
• Vijay Kumar Chopra (The Hind Samachar Ltd),
• Rajiv Verma (Hindustan Times),
• Hormusji N. Cama (Bombay Samachar),
• Justice R.C. Lahoti,
• Prof. Deepak Nayyar,
• Shyam Saran
• J.F. Pochkhanawalla.

PTI posted a revenue of INR 172.76 crore during 2016 - 17 as against Rs.166.36 crore in the preceding year, an increase of INR 6.4 crore.

The PTI Board took a major decision last year to split the roles of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Editor-in-Chief (EIC), which were traditionally held by one person, to meet growing challenges resulting from the changing media landscape.

The editorial team is now led by a new Editor-in-Chief, Vijay Joshi. The CEO is Venky Venkatesh.

ANSWER: Andhra Pradesh

Explanation:
The Los Angeles-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Andhra Pradesh government to develop a ' super fast' short-distance transport facility between Vijayawada and the state's upcoming capital, Amaravati.

The project will employ HTT's patented technology to bring down travel time to less than 5 minutes.

During the initial phase of the project, HTT will conduct a six-month long feasibility study from October.

The firm will subsequently introduce its Hyperloop Transportation System for the first time in India as the project enters Phase 2.

According to the state government, the project would take off from Amravati.

HTT is among the few companies to offer the Hyperloop Transportation System that is based on magnetic levitation. Other than HTT, Tesla and the Elon Musk-owned Boring Company are actively involved in providing similar solutions.

While the Hyperloop technology was conceived to shorten travel time between locations that are far from each other, the state government has decided to use the technology for short distances at the initial stage.

The company will be partnering with the state government to build regulatory standards necessary for the safe and efficient operation of the technology in India. For this, HTT plans to take inputs from various local stakeholders as well.

HTT: Know More

• HTT was co-founded by CEO Dirk Ahlbom and chairman Gesta in 2013.
• It has a large design and execution team consisting of more than 800 engineers.
• It is also drawing support from 40 other corporate and university partners.

ANSWER: Parali 1 Island

Explanation:
One of the biodiversity-rich uninhabited islands part of Lakshadweep has vanished due to coastal erosion and another four such territories in the sea are shrinking fast, claims a new study.

Parali I island, part of Bangaram atoll, which was 0.032 km2 in 1968 has been eroded to an extent of 100 per cent, resulting in its inundation, says R M Hidayathulla in his research work.

Hidayathulla, carried out studies on assessment of the biodiversity confining to five uninhabited islands - Bangaram, Thinnakara, Parali I, II and III, of which Parali I has been inundated - of Bangaram atoll in Lakshadweep, an archipelago of 36 islands in the Lakshadweep sea.

The study said the complete erosion and inundation of Parali I was pointing to the gravity of issues associated with coastal erosion within the atoll.

On an overall assessment of the changes in the aerial extent of islands using RS/GIS, it has been noticed that all the five islets of Bangaram atoll had undergone coastal erosion, it said.

The data obtained were processed using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) softwares, Harilal said.

One island has submerged. We can say Lakshadweep now is not an archipelago of 36 islands.

The assessment of the extent of geo-morphological changes associated with each island for a period of 45 years was carried out using geospatial techniques.

Since the absence of this island (Parli I) is noticed in both observations carried out in 2003 and 2007, it is assumed that the island has been subjected to complete erosion during 1968-2003 periods and an assessment of the exact year of its inundation requires data analysis for a span of 35 years extending from 1968.

The magnitude of such events was higher in Parali group, evidenced by the complete erosion and inundation of the island Parali I, the study said.

It is now widely recognised that islands and coastal areas are going to get eroded and inundated due to rising sea levels because of increasing global temperature.

India’s coasts and islands, which are densely populated, are highly vulnerable.

The magnitude of net erosion was higher in Parali I island (100 per cent), which resulted in its inundation.

Apart from Parali I, net erosion was higher in Parali II (80 per cent), followed by Thinnakara (14.38 per cent), Parali III (11.42 per cent) and Bangaram (9.968 per cent), the study said.

ANSWER: 51st

Explanation:
The 51st International Literacy Day is being celebrated on 8th September, 2017 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi and the theme announced by UNESCO is `Literacy in a digital world’.

The programme would include; felicitation to the dignitaries, distribution of Saakshar Bharat Awards to the best performing States, Districts, Gram Panchayats and NGOs.

International Literacy Day

• The International Literacy Day is celebrated on 8th September every year throughout the world.
• On this day, in the year 1965 the World Congress of Ministers of Education met in Tehran for the first time to discuss the programme of education at the international level.
• The UNESCO in its 14th Session in November, 1966, declared 8th September as the International Literacy Day.
• Since then, ILD is celebrated on 8th September every year by most of the member countries.
• The key aspect of the observance of ILD is to mobilize public opinion in favour of struggle against illiteracy.
• ILD is a forum to disseminate information on literacy and raise the public awareness and the significance of literacy for individual and national development.
• The National Literacy Mission Authority started celebrating International Literacy Day every year from 1988 onwards.
• The eradication of illiteracy has been one of the major national concerns of the Govt. of India since independence.
• The occasion of ILD is used for raising public awareness to eradicate illiteracy and create environment in favour of adult education programmes.
• From 1996 onwards some new elements were introduced to make the programme more attractive. In the year 1996 a ‘Mashal March’ was organized involving school students and literacy functionaries.

ANSWER: Yudh Abhyas

Explanation:
As part of the ongoing Indo-US defence cooperation, a joint military training, Exercise Yudh Abhyas - 2017 is being conducted at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington, USA from 14 to 27 September 17.

Exercise Yudh Abhyas is one of the largest joint running military training and defence corporation endeavours between India and USA.

This will be the 13th edition of the joint exercise hosted alternately between the two countries.

Yudh Abhyas: Know More

• Exercise Yudh Abhyas will provide an opportunity to the armed forces of both countries to train in an integrated manner at Battalion level with joint planning at Brigade level.
• Multiple scenarios will be rehearsed during the joint exercise with a view to understand each-other’s organisational structure and battle procedures which would result in a higher degree of jointmanship that would further facilitate interoperability between the armed forces of both countries to meet any unforeseen contingency across the globe.
• The exercise is also an ideal platform to learn from each-other’s experiences of planning and execution of operations.
• Both armies will jointly train, plan and execute a series of well-developed operations for neutralisation of threats of varied nature.
• In the end a joint exercise will be undertaken by both countries in an operational setting under a UN mandate.
• Experts from both sides will also hold expert academic and military discussions to share each other’s experiences on varied topics for mutual benefit.

ANSWER: 7th

Explanation:
The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh released the 7th edition of the Vigilance Manual of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on Sept 7, 2017.

The edition released today is the 7th edition of the Vigilance Manual.

The 1st edition was released in 1968, 2nd edition of the Manual was released in 1971, 3rd edition in 1974, 4th edition in 1982, 5th edition in 1991.

The last edition of the Vigilance Manual was released in the year 2005 and a need was felt to undertake a comprehensive review of the existing Vigilance Manual.

The present edition of the Vigilance Manual is a public document accessible through CVC’s website www.cvc.nic.in. The online version has been released along with the printed version for the first time.

The 2017 edition of the Vigilance Manual incorporates 567 Paras divided into 11 Chapters with appropriate citations. Eleven chapters include: Vigilance Administration, Appointment, Role, Functions & Responsibilities of Chief Vigilance Officers, Complaints, PIDPI complaint, Preliminary Enquiry, CBI, Disciplinary Proceeding and Suspension, Vigilance Management in PSB & PSIC, CTEO, Preventive Vigilance and some relevant issues.

It has been made a complete document by hyperlinking orders/circulars cited in the Manual (in the online version).

This Manual will be a reference for almost all aspects of vigilance administration.

The Central Vigilance Commission will constantly update it based on the suggestions received from all stakeholders.

Previous Modifications/amendments were carried out through Circulars, Guidelines, Instructions etc. issued by the Central Vigilance Commission / DoPT / MHA etc.

These changes have been incorporated in the Manual so as to make it comprehensive and user friendly.

ANSWER: mobile analytics firm

Explanation:
The most active smartphone users in India spend more than 4 hours every day - the equivalent of half a standard workday - on mobile apps.

India was among the top 5 markets in terms of total time spent on apps on Android phones in May 2017, according to a study by app analytics firm App Annie.

India's top 20% (the most active Android users) was close behind the top 20% in South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan, whose users spent about 5 hours.

Even the least active users in India spent at least 1.5 hours. The median (those in the middle) spent close to 2.5 hours a day.

This indicates strong adoption of apps even for the least avid users in these countries, thanks to widespread adoption of apps such as WhatsApp and an emerging mobile-first lifestyle.

App Annie looked at the ten biggest Android using countries for its study.

In terms of categories, shopping apps, travel, and games emerged as the top categories where people were spending most of their time.

Indians were second in terms of average time spent per month per user on mobile shopping, with close to 90 minutes.

South Korea was just ahead with more than 90 minutes.

For finance apps, a user on an average spent 30 minutes per month in India, behind Brazil (45 minutes) and South Korea (60 minutes).

The rest of the users, including the ones in well-established markets like the US, UK, and France were spending less than 20 minutes.

ANSWER: 13 billion miles

Explanation:
The farthest record of Earth and humanity is approximately 13 billion miles from our planet, traveling out of the solar system on its way toward the unknown, perhaps intelligent life.

The Voyager 1 spacecraft was launched 40 years ago Tuesday, carrying with it a “Golden Record” of what Earth has produced.

This ranges from the raucous 2:38 recording of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” and Azerbaijani bagpipes recorded by Radio Moscow in the 1970s, to images of human cities and people, to greetings to the rest of the universe recorded in 55 different languages.

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum held a celebration of the 40th anniversary Tuesday morning. (Voyager 2 had been launched a few weeks prior, on Aug. 20, 1977).

The twin spacecraft were originally aimed to explore Jupiter and Saturn, with their 8-track recording devices and each with a copy of the Golden Record.

But they are currently far beyond those objectives, probing far out along the frontier where our solar system meets interstellar space.

Scientists who helped launch the mission have reportedly said that the long-lived missions have surprised even them.

Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune, and was the first to send back pictures of the rings of those two planets, as well as Jupiter.

The two spacecraft discovered active volcanoes on Io, multiple moons at Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, and also lightning on Jupiter.

They two crafts continue to send back information daily. They are currently measuring cosmic rays and galactic magnetic fields in interstellar space, as well as solar wind termination shock

This was our chance to create a kind of Noah’s Ark of human culture.

ANSWER: Both b and c

Explanation:
On the tarmac, the X-37B, as it is called, looks tiny, standing not much taller than a person. Its wingspan measures less than 15 feet, and it weighs in at just 11,000 pounds.

But over the course of six flights, it has proved to be a rugged little robotic spacecraft, spending a total of nearly six years, probing the hard environment of the high frontier.

On Sept 7, 2017, after a successful morning launch at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the X-37B headed yet again to the vital real estate known as low Earth orbit, home to the International Space Station and all sorts of military and commercial satellites.

The mission is slated to last 270 days, but the Air Force warned in a statement that “the actual duration depends on test objectives, on-orbit vehicle performance and conditions at the landing facility.”

The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold: reusable spacecraft technologies for America's future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth.

On this flight, the mission is to carry small satellites, demonstrate greater opportunities for rapid space access and on-orbit testing of emerging space technologies.

The service also said it would test experimental electronics in a weightless environment.

The mission is also significant because it marked the first time SpaceX has been chosen to launch for the Air Force - a coup for the California firm started in 2002 by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.

The X-37B was launched on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX also successfully landed the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a landing pad on the Cape, a bit of rocket artistry that Musk and others have said could help dramatically lower the cost of space travel.

Background

• For nearly a decade, the United Launch Alliance, the joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, had a monopoly on Pentagon launches.
• SpaceX filed suit against the Air Force for the right to compete.
• In 2015, the parties settled and SpaceX was ultimately allowed to compete against ULA, opening up a potentially lucrative source of revenue.
• Since then, SpaceX has won two of three contested launch contracts.
• X37B marks SpaceX's first military mission after years of launching payloads for NASA and commercial satellites.
• All four of the X-37B's previous launches were aboard ULA's Atlas V rocket.
• The last X-37B flight lasted almost two years, setting a new endurance record for the drone. Over the course of five missions, it has spent almost six years in space.
• The reusable, solar-powered “orbital space vehicle” was developed by Boeing Co. BA, +0.72%.

ANSWER: Solar storm

Explanation:
Two high-intensity solar flares were emitted, the second of which was the most intense recorded since the start of this sun cycle in December 2008, NASA said.

These radiation flares, which can disrupt communications satellites, GPS and power grids by reaching the upper Earth atmosphere, were detected and captured by the US Space Agency's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

According to the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), these so-called category X eruptions disrupted high-frequency radio communications for one hour on the Earth's side facing the sun and low-frequency communications used in navigation.

The two eruptions occurred in an active region of the sun where an eruption of average intensity occurred on September 4.

The current cycle of the sun, which began in December 2008, saw the intensity of solar activity decline sharply, opening the way to the “solar minimum.”

Solar Cycles and Solar Flares: Know More

• Solar cycles last on average eleven years.
• At the end of the active phase, these eruptions become increasingly rare but still can be powerful.
• Solar storms result from an accumulation of magnetic energy in some places.
• These jets of ionized matter are projected–at high speed into and beyond the crown of the sun– hundreds of thousands of kilometres outward.
• NASA has recorded the biggest solar flare for 12 years as the sun unleashed an X-Class flare on September 6.
• The flare, which peaked at 8.02am EDT, caused a radio blackout following the “shock arrival” of radiation from the sun.
• The solar flare was the largest recorded since September 2005, when an X17 was released.
  X-class represents the most intense solar flares, with an X2 being twice as intense as an X1.
• The largest solar flare ever recorded was an X20 in April 2001.
• Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however - when intense enough - they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

CME and Solar Flares

• CMEs and solar flares are different phenomena but often occur at the same time when it comes to the strongest solar flares.
• Both are created when the sun’s interior contorts its own magnetic fields—as the magnetic field snaps like a rubber band it releases a huge amount of energy into space.
• The flash of light and high energy particles released is the solar flare, while the solar matter from the magnetic contortions are CMEs.
• A huge solar storm in 1859 - known as the Carrington Event - caused telegraph systems across Europe and North America to fail and auroras associated with the solar winds could be seen as far south as the Caribbean.
• If a similar sized storm hit today, it is estimated it could cost around $2 trillion.