CGK_May09

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ABBREVIATIONS

GOCE: Gravity field and steady state

Ocean Circulation Explorer.

IW: Information Warfare.

AWARDS

Hoover Medal, 2008: Former Presi-

dent Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has been cho-

sen to receive the prestigious 2008 Hoover

Medal for outstanding public service. He

has been recognized for making state-of-the-art healthcare available to the common

man at affordable prices, bringing quality

medical care to rural areas by establishing

a link between doctors and technocrats,

using spin-offs of defence technology to

create state-of-the-art medical equipment,

and launching telemedicine projects con-

necting remote hospitals to super-speciality

hospitals.

Stockholm Water Prize, 2009:

Bindeshwar Pathak, an Indian doctor whodeveloped cheap toilets to improve sanita-

tion in poor communities has been hon-

oured with the award. He will receive the

$ 150,000 cash award and a symbolic glass

sculpture. The Stockholm International

Water Institute said Pathak’s achievements

constitute one of the most amazing exam-

ples of how one person can impact the

well-being of millions. Pathak founded the

Sulabh International Social Service Organi-

sation in India in 1970 and recently startedoperations in Bhutan and Afghanistan.

Mother Teresa Award, 2009: Tamil

Nadu Governor and former Punjab Chief

Minister Surjit Singh Barnala has been

selected for the Mother Teresa Lifetime

achievement award 2009 for his contribu-

tion in the field of social work and admi-

nistration. Hillary Clinton, Sheikh Hasina,

Girija Prasad Koirala, late Rajiv Gandhi,

Jyothi Basu, Hema Malini and Rajesh

Khanna are among the earlier recipients of the award.

COMMITTEES

Raghavan panel report on ragging:

States have been ignoring the Raghavan

committee recommendations that were

accepted by the Supreme Court in 2007.

The major recommendation of the commit-

tee was that Central regulatory bodies

should take ragging situation as an impor-

tant factor in accreditation of education

institutions.

The committee had also recommendedanti-ragging cells should have been estab-

lished at Central, State and college level

and toll-free helpline should be provided

for ragging victims. Strong law against rag-

ging with responsibility to prove not guilty

lying on the perpetrator was also recom-

mended.

The committee had also suggested

that NCERT and SCERT school books

should include chapter on ragging, and

psychological counselling on anti-ragging

and human rights should be conducted athigher secondary level.

DEFENCE

Interceptor Missile tested: On

March 6, 2009, India’s Missile Defence Pro-

gramme took a leap forward as scientists

demonstrated the capacity to intercept an

enemy missiles in mid-air and destroy it.

The third test in the continuing pro-

gramme was conducted off the wheeler

island in Orissa.As part of the test, an enemy missile

was destroyed at a height of 75 km above

the earth. With this India joins a select

band of nations, such as the USA, Russia

and Israel, who have similar capabilities.

The latest test was against a moving

missile. This provides a credible defence

against long-range missiles owned by Pak-

istan having range between 400 and 2,000

km and the Chinese arsenal that varies

from a range of 300 km to 2,800 km. Coun-

tering an incoming missile is one of the biggest challenges in modern-day warfare.

Current General Knowledge

CURRENT AFFAIRS

Abbreviations

Awards

Committees

Defence

Discovery

Environment

Oil

Persons

Places

ProjectsResearch

Space

Research

Miscellaneous

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CURRENT AFFAIRS

To mimic the incoming enemy’s

ballistic missile trajectory, a

Dhanush missile was launched from

a ship about 100 km off the coast of

Orissa. This missile achieved a

height of 120 km. The interceptor

missile sensed the enemy missile

and was fired from a mobilelaun-cher located on Wheeler

island.

Phalcons to give IAF early

bird advantage: After several tech-

nical and other hiccups, IAF will

finally get its most potent force-

multiplier, the desperately awaited

Phalcon AWACS (Airborne Warning

and Control Systems), from Israel in

May 2009. The Phalcon AWACS will bolster IAFs capabilities to detect

troop build-up or aircraft move-

ments deep inside Pakistan, much

further than ground-based radars,

while flying well within Indian air-

space. An AWACS flying over Amrit-

sar, for instance, will be able to

detect and track a Pakistani F-16

fighter jet as soon as it takes off

from its Sargodha airbase. AWACS

are primarily used for detection of

incoming hostile cruise missiles andaircraft from hundreds of km away

in all-weather conditions, as well as

directing air defence fighters during

combat operations against enemy

jets.

DISCOVERY

Indian scientists find UV-

resistant bacteria: Indian scien-

tists have discovered three new bac-

teria, about 40 km above the surfaceof the earth, which can resist ultra-

violet radiation, a finding that could

throw light on the origin of life on

the planet. These three types of

bacteria that do not match any

species on earth were found in

samples collected through a balloon

sent up to the stratosphere in April

2005. This layer of earth’s

atmosphere receives heavy ultravio-

let radiation that is harmful to

almost all life on earth and typicallykills bacteria.

The balloon sent up to the stra-

tosphere was the second effort by

India after a maiden venture in 2001.

It contained probes that collected air

samples at different heights ranging

from 20 km to 41 km above the

earth’s surface.

The experiment was conducted by a team led by Jayant Narlikar,

founder director of the Inter-

University Centre for Astronomy

and Astrophysics, Pune, and Indian

Space Research Organisation (ISRO),

Bangalore.

The current belief is that ultra-

violet radiation inhibits growth of

any living system. Based on the ori-

gin of life theory, some of these

organisms may be coming from anextraterrestrial source, or it could be

mutants that have emanated from

the various earthly processes.

Though the experiment does not

conclusively establish the extrater-

restrial origin of microorganisms, it

does provide positive encourage-

ment to continue the work in a quest

to explore the origin of life.

The three bacteria have been

named Janibacter hoylei after astro-

physicist Fred Hoyle, who promotedthe theory that life evolved in space;

Bacillus isronensis that recognizes

the contribution of India’s space

agency in the balloon experiments

that led to its discovery; and Bacillus

aryabhata after India’s ancient

astronomer who postulated that the

earth revolves around the sun.

ENVIRONMENT

New greenhouse gases: Scien-tists have identified two new green-

house gases, one emitted by the elec-

tronic industry and the other used in

pest control, which are rapidly accu-

mulating in the atmosphere. Climate

scientist Dr Paul Fraser of CSIRO

Marine and Atmospheric Research

has reported the measurements of

nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and sul-

furyl fluoride (SO2F2), the two new

gases. They say countries should

consider including these gases forcontrol in the revision of the Kyoto

Protocol.

OIL

RIL’s KG basin commences

production: Reliance Industries Ltd

has announced the commencement

of gas production from one of the

world’s largest gas discoveries thattook place in 2002 in the Krishna-

Godavari (KG) basin in the Bay of

Bengal. With this, India is expected

to save $ 9 billion in annual energy

import expenditure.

Gas production from Reliance’s

$ 8.8 billion KG-D6 deepwater gas

project, of which $ 5.4 billion has

already been invested, is expected to

transform India’s energy landscape

by doubling the current level of indigenous gas production by 2010.

At $ 4.2 per million British ther-

mal unit, the KG-D6 gas is 25 per

cent cheaper than the fuel produced

by UK’s BG-operated Panna/Mukta

and Tapti fields in the Western Off-

shore and 20 per cent cheaper than

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import-

ed on long-term contracts.

The KG-D6 gas is also expected

to substantially reduce India’s

dependence on energy imports and bring down subsidy levels in the

fertilizer, transportation and other

sectors.

Besides doubling the nation’s

domestic gas production, the KG-D6

gas would substitute costly naphtha

or imported LNG as fuel at power

and fertilizer plants. The gas would

also boost power supply from idle

power plants starved of fuel and

produce cheaper urea for agricul-ture. By 2010, output from D6 will

be increased to 80 mmscmd,

doubling India’s gas production

capability.

Gas from the KG D6 deepwater

block will be piped to an onshore

facility at Gadimoga, a small village

in the East Godavari district of

Andhra Pradesh, before it is deli-

vered to the consumers. Reliance

operates D6 with a 90% stake, with

Canada’s Niko Resources holdingthe remaining 10%.





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CURRENT AFFAIRS

PERSONS

Chawla, Navin: He has been

appointed as the Chief Election Com-

missioner of India. An Indian

Administrative Service officer of the

1969 batch, he will hold charge till

July 29, 2010. He was appointed

Election Commissioner on May 13,2005. Navin Chawla has had a con-

troversial past. The Chief Election

Commissioner N. Gopalaswami, on

January 31, 2009, had sent his

recommendation regarding removal

of Election Commissioner Navin

Chawla to the President of India. The

CEC had alleged that Chawla had

discharged his duties as Election

Commissioner in a partisan manner,

seeking to further the interests of “one party”. The CEC recommenda-

tion was, however, rejected by the

Union government.

Naik, Pradeep Vasant: Air

Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik has

been appointed as the next chief of

Indian Air Force. Born on July 22,

1949, he was commissioned into the

IAF in 1969 and has 3,085 hours of

fighter flying under his belt. A

veteran of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, hehas also served as the Air Officer

Commanding-in-Chief of the

Allahabad-based Central Air

Command. He is a fellow of the

National Defence College, New Delhi,

College of Defence Management,

Secundrabad and Defence Services

Staff College, Wellington. The cours-

es attended by him include flying

instructor course, jungle and snow

survival and junior commanders’course.

PLACES

Istanbul: Government minis-

ters from 120 countries, scientists

and campaigners met in Istanbul

from March 16-22, 2009, to discuss

how to avert a global water crisis

and ease tensions between States

fighting over rivers, lakes and

glaciers.

L’Aquila: More than 250 per-

sons were killed in a devastating

earthquake that rocked central Italy

in first week of April 2009, around

the ancient town of L’Aquila. An esti-

mated 50,000 people were left

homeless. The US geological survey

reported the strength of the quake

at 6.3 saying it was centred 95 kmnortheast of Rome, at a depth of 10

km.

London: World leaders gather-

ed here on April 2, 2009 for the G-

20 Summit to discuss the ongoing

economic crisis and to find solution

to the economic woes of developing

countries.

Rome: Labour Ministers fromthe G-8 nations and six other major

economies gathered here in March

2009 for talks on the human dimen-

sion of the financial crisis sweeping

the planet. The three-day Group of

14 meeting brought together the G8

leading industrial powers with the

emerging giants China, India and

Brazil, as well as Mexico, South

Africa and Egypt.

South Africa: Indian PremierLeague (IPL) has chosen South Africa

for hosting the second edition of the

highly popular Twenty20 cricket

tournament from April 18, 2009.

The tournament had to be shifted

from India due to clash of dates with

General Elections being held in India

at the same time.

PROJECTS

Krishnapatnam Port: Thedeveloper and operator of an all-

weather, deep-water port in Andhra

Pradesh, Krishnapatnam Port Co Ltd

(KPCL) is constructing the port in

three phases at Krishnapatnam in

Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.

The first phase, built at a cost of Rs

1,400 crore, had commenced opera-

tions in July 2008. The first phase of

KPCL’s port project has a cargo han-

dling capacity of 25 million tonnes a

year. The second phase of expan-sion will take up total berths in the

port to 12 from four now, where the

company plans to reserve at least six

berths for handling coal, leaving the

rest for general bulk and container

cargo.

Mughal road project: The

prestigious Mughal road project,which will connect Kashmir valley

with the rest of India, is expected to

be completed by March 2011. The

estimated cost of the project, under-

taken under the Prime Minister’s

Reconstruction Programme (PMRP),

was Rs 225 crores in 2006. This has

been revised to Rs 639.85 crore now.

So far, at least 6 culverts are ready,

while work on 43 culverts and two

bridges is going on.

RESEARCH

Polypill passes first major

test: A single pill that contains five

life saving drugs to combat bad cho-

lesterol, high blood pressure and

clotting at one go, has come closer

to reality after passing its first big

test. Scientists have announced that

polypill, a once-a-day pill that com-

bines cholesterol-lowering statin,

aspirin and three BP-lowering drugswas as effective as drugs taken sep-

arately, with no greater side effects.

The study tested polypill on 2,053

Indians aged 48-80 years who did

not have heart disease but had a sin-

gle risk factor like raised BP, dia-

betes, obesity or smoking. It con-

cluded that if the pill was given to

this population, it would reduce risk

of heart disease by 62% and stroke

by 48%.

Green chewing gum

launched: The world’s first

biodegradable chewing gum, which

is completely environment-friendly,

has been introduced in supermar-

kets all over Britain. Chicza Rainfor-

est Gum, as it is called, is manufac-

tured in Mexico by Consorcio

Chiclero, which is a consortium of

56 co-operatives employing some

2,000 chicleros (gum farmers) andtheir families.





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CURRENT AFFAIRS

The workers extract natural

gum from the sap of the chicle tree,

which is then used to make the pro-

duct. Unlike conventional chewing

gum, which contains petrochemi-

cals, the organic chewing gum does

not stick to clothing or pavements.

Once disposed of, it will crumble todust in about six weeks, dissolving

harmlessly in water or being

absorbed into the soil.

Big step for creating artifi-

cial life: US scientists said they

have taken an important step toward

making an artificial life form by

making a ribosome that makes the

proteins that carry out key business

for all form of life.Messenger RNA carries DNA’s

genetic instructions to a cell’s ribo-

some, which then cooks up the

desired protein. Every living organ-

ism from bacteria to humans uses a

ribosome, and they are all strikingly

similar. It is not quite artificial life,

but an important step in that direc-

tion, said George Church, a profes-

sor of genetics at Harvard Medical

School, who directed the research

with a single graduate student.Normal ribosomes make some

drugs slowly, and others can’t be

made at all. However, a man-made,

or reconstituted, ribosome may be

programmable to make all kinds of

molecules.

SPACE RESEARCH

GOCE—Eye in space to

disclose earth’s secrets: A Euro-

pean satellite, GOCE (Gravity fieldand steady state Ocean Circulation

Explorer), launched in March 2009,

is to show scientists the inner work-

ings of earth, from the movements

of ocean currents to the location of

oil deposits. Its data will enable sci-

entists to detect the flows of molten

rock that underlie the movements of

tectonic plates and cause earth-

quakes. The GOCE probe will meas-

ure tiny anomalies in earth’s gravity,

caused by anything from mountainranges to subterranean lava flows or

ocean trenches.

Scientists have long known that

the earth’s gravity varies all over its

surface and that measuring those

changes could give insights into the

planet’s inner workings. However,

designing an instrument capable of

measuring them, which would alsosurvive the rigours of blast-off, has

until now proved impossible. GOCE

will yield details of the Earth’s gravi-

ty field to an accuracy and resolu-

tion that is simply unobtainable by

existing terrestrial and space tech-

niques. For geologists, perhaps the

most exciting prospect is of being

able to peer deep below the earth’s

crust.

MISCELLANEOUS

Images from moon to go

online: US space agency NASA has

entered into a collaboration with

software giant Microsoft Corp to

develop a new technology that will

make planetary images and data

accessible worldwide through Inter-

net. The joint venture will work to

develop a new technology to make

NASA’s content, including high-

resolution images and data fromMars and the moon, available on

worldwide telescope, Microsoft’s

online virtual telescope.

Under the agreement, NASA’s

Ames Research Centre in Moffett

Field, California, will process and

host more than 100 terabytes of

data, enough to fill 20,000 DVDs.

Worldwide Telescope will also incor-

porate the data and feature images

sent from NASA’s Mars Reconnais-sance Orbiter. The tool will also have

images from a camera aboard

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance

Orbiter, scheduled to be launched in

May 2009.

NSE free float-based indices

to change market-cap weightage:

When the National Stock Exchange

(NSE) calculates its bench mark

indices using the free float metho-

dology from June 2009, the marketcapitalisation (M-cap) weightage of

key companies and sectors would

undergo major changes. Sectors with

high institutional holding and com-

panies having a large number of

shares available for trading would

gain from the move. The NSE cur-

rently uses full m-cap weightage

methodology for computing its keyindices.

Free float m-cap takes into con-

sideration only those shares which

are readily available for trading in

the market. It usually excludes pro-

moters’ holding, government hold-

ing, strategic holding and locked in

shares that normally do not come to

the market for trading.

G-20: G-20 or the Group of Twenty is a forum of Finance Minis-

ters and Central Bank Governors of

the biggest industrialised and deve-

loping economies to discuss key

issues in the global economy. The G-

20 countries account for 90% of

global GDP, 80% of world trade and

two-thirds of the world’s population.

The Asian financial crisis of

1997-98 raised fears of a global eco-

nomic meltdown and world leaders

became acutely aware of the lack of a platform where key emerging mar-

ket countries and the G-7 industri-

alised nations could discuss the sta-

tus of the global economy and meas-

ures for its improvement. The G-20

was born in 1999 as a result of this

recognition.

Although the group has 19 of

the world’s largest economies as its

members, it has no formal criteria

for membership. Apart from the G-7industrialised nations, it includes

emerging economies like India,

China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa,

Mexico, South Korea, Argentina,

Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and

Australia. The 20th member is the

European Union, which is represent-

ed by whichever country holds the

EU Presidency. The IMF and the

World Bank also attend G-20

meetings. The chairmanship rotates

every year. Britain is in the chair for2009.





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