Current Affairs 29th & 30th August 2019
Important Current Affairs
Current Affairs 29th & 30th August 2019
International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances is observed on 30 August
The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances is observed on 30 August every year. The Day was established by the international organization General Assembly resolution.
Aim:
The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances aims to lift awareness on enforced or involuntary disappearances that occur with arrest, detention, abduction or deprivation of the State with support by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate.
Enforced disappearance became a global issue as it was not restricted to a particular region of the world. It is also concerned to stop the rising issues concerning the ill-treatment, harassment, and intimidation of witnesses of disappearances or relatives of persons who have disappeared.
History:
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution because of its concern to the increased enforced or involuntary disappearances in various regions of the world. The reason for the disappearances included arrest, detention, and abduction. The Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. It then decided to declare 30 August the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. The day was first observed in 2011.
National sports day was celebrated on 29 August
The National Sports Dayis celebrated nation-wide on 29 August 2019. The Day is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand. 2019 National Sports Day marked the 114th birth anniversary of Major Dhyan Chand.
Aim:
The Day aims to raise awareness about staying fit and healthy. The Day spreads awareness on the importance of sports and daily activities in every individual's life.
Dhyan Chand:
Dhyan Chand is popularly known as the Wizard of Indian Hockey. He secured over 400 goals in 22 years during the period 1926 to 1948. He is regarded as India's greatest hockey player ever. Under his leadership, the Indian Hockey team achieved several victories. He led India into 3 Olympic gold medals in 1928, 1932 and 1936.
Tamil Nadu 150-year-old Dindigul locks and Kandangi sarees secure GI tag
The Geographical Indication Registry of India finally gave Geographical Indication (GI) tag to the state of Tamil Nadu for Dindigul lock and Karaikudi Kandangi sarees.
The handmade Dindigul locks are known for their traditional design, superior quality. They are manufactured in more than 3,125 units in Dindigul District of Tamil Nadu and they are concentrated in the villages of Nagal Nagar, Nallampatti, Kodaiparailpatti, Kammalapatti, and Yagappan Patti. The manufacturing unit is 150 years old. It is introduced by the Sankaralinga Acharya brothers.
There are around 50 types of locks manufactured by the industry. Each lock has its own special unique name such as Mango Lock, Almirah Lock, Export Lock, and In 2013.
An application filed by the Dindigul Lock, Hardware and Steel Furniture Workers Co-operative Society Ltd. These Sarees are the symbol of entire Karaikudi taluk of Sivaganga district. The hand-woven Kandangi sarees are characterized by brilliant color large contrast borders. These sarees have a tradition of 150 years. Rajiv Gandhi Handloom Weavers Co-operative Manufacturing & Sales Society Limited had applied for a tag for these sarees in 2013. The GI tagging help rural artisans & highly skilled weavers, who possess unique knowledge of traditional practices and methods. They can make & market their products domestically and internationally.
Peacock Parachute Spider was sighted in Tamil Nadu
Researchers of the Puducherry-based Indigenous Biodiversity Foundation (IBF) discovered a Peacock Parachute Spider or Gooty Tarantula in the Pakkamalai Reserve Forests close to Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu. The species was found at totally different locations within the reserve forests.
The species was cross-matched with photographic proof printed by the installation reaching Organisation and life data Liaison Development Society. The spider was found in 1899 by Reginald Innes Pocock on the premise of one feminine specimen in Gooty, Andhra Pradesh. After 102 years later this species has been recorded at a degraded forest between Nandyal and Giddalur, Andhra Pradesh.
Peacock Parachute spider:
The Scientific name of the species is Poecilotheria Metallica. It is commonly known with the name Peacock Parachute Spider or Gooty Tarantula. The natural habitat of the species is a deciduous forest in Andhra Pradesh. It is the only species that is covered with blue hair. It is less chromatic when it is young and turns blue as it matures.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified it as Critically vulnerable. This species is endemic to India. Species of the genus are supported on the undersurface of the legs.
Rajnath Singh inaugurated 26th Ladakhi Kisan Jawan Vigyan Mela in Leh
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated 26th Ladakhi Kisan Jawan Vigyan Mela in Leh on 29 August. The Mela was organized by Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR).
The Ministry of Defence has asked DIHAR to work on the challenges in High Altitude Region (HAR- failure) in the coming 3 years. It is expected that DIHAR should turn the failure into JEET (Victory).
DIHAR:
The Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) is a constituent laboratory of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO). DIHAR was set up in 1962 in Leh. It is located at an altitude of 3,500 m above the Mean Sea Level (MSL). The institute has core competence in cold arid agro-animal technology.
The institute aims to meet fresh food requirement of the soldiers at high altitude cold desert condition. It is also responsible to make the region reasonably green. The research stations of the institute are located at Ranbirpura, Ladakh; Partapur, Siachen Sector; Base Laboratory in Chandigarh and the world’s highest terrestrial R&D Centre at Changla, Ladakh.
Maitri: A mobile app to connect kids at orphanages with old age homes
Five Indian women have developed a mobile app named Maitri. The app connects kids at orphanages with old-age homes. The app was developed for the people affected by loneliness, depression. The app permits users to volunteer and present to old-age homes and orphanages.
Developed by:
The developers of the mobile app Maitri are Ananya Grover, Vanshika Yadav, Vasudha Sudhinder, Anushka Sharma and Arefa like twelve students of Amity International college in Noida. The app is available on Google play.
The girls participated in the Technovation Challenge, the world's largest technology and entrepreneurship program for ladies in the USA and won the trophy for the innovative app.
Maitri:
The Maitri app has seen over 1000 downloads and has thirteen old-age homes and seven orphanages connected through it. Maitri permits facilities to register and provides contact details and map locations for help to contact them.
Technovation Challenge:
The Technovation Challenge is the world's largest technology and entrepreneurship program for ladies to run across more than 100 countries. It was supported by Salesforce.org, Google.org, the Adobe Foundation, Uber, Samsung, BNY Mellon.
India Israel to develop new crop varieties
India and Israel plan to develop new crop varieties and share post-harvest technology in the success of the 10 years Indo-Israeli Agriculture Project (IIAP). The project has accomplished growing cherry tomatoes in Haryana and rejuvenating mango orchards demonstrating to Indian farmers progressive irrigation technologies.
Indo-Israel agriculture cooperation:
The Indo-Israel agriculture cooperation project was launched in 2008. The implementing partners are Israel’s agency for international development cooperation and Indian state governments that facilitate discovered centers of excellence as per their native desires.
Every year about 10,000 and 20,000 farmers visit these centers. Around 8.6 million hectares area is below the micro-irrigation projects compared to a possible 69.5 million hectares.
In India, the unit water-stressed areas like Karnataka, Telangana, and Gujarat are currently using these techniques for simple water handiness. The 2018 budget for this technique claimed an Rs.5,000 crore for micro-irrigation fund.
India Launches Worlds First Ever Facial Biometric Data Based Seafarer Identity Document
India became the first country in the world to issue Biometric Seafarer Identity Document (BSID), capturing the facial biometric data of seafarers. Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, MoS (I/C) Shipping and Chemical & Fertilizers launched the project in New Delhi. He also handed over the new BSID cards to five Indian seafarers.
The new facial biometric technology is a marked improvement over the two finger or iris based biometric data, with modern security features. It will make the identification of the SID holder more reliable and efficient, while protecting their dignity and privacy. India made a presentation on this technology at ILO .
The country is moving ahead rapidly under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The shipping sector is seeing major developments in the areas of coastal shipping, inland waterways and other maritime activities.The generation of employment in the sector, which is evident in the growing number of Indian seafarers in the international shipping industry. The total number of Indian seafarers who were employed on Indian or foreign flag vessels increased from 154349 in 2017 to 208799 this year, showing an unprecedented increase of 35%.
The development is very significant against the backdrop of the increase in seafaring activities . The new document will give a foolproof identification to our seafarers which will facilitate their movement, provide ease of getting jobs and help in identifying them from any location in the world.
The International Labour Organisation on BSID. India ratified the Convention in October 2015.The BSID introduces modern security features. It will have a biometric chip embedded in it. The security of the BSID card is ensured at various levels and through different methods. At the time of data capturing the live face is cross matched through passport photo using a face matching software.
The card two optical security features- Micro prints/micro texts and Unique Guilloche pattern. A software has been developed for capturing the facial biometrics and its authentication through the public key infrastructure.
A record of each SID issued will be maintained in a national database and its related information will be internationally accessible.
The BSID project has been taken up in collaboration with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), Mumbai. The Government notified the Merchant Shipping (Seafarers Biometric Identification Document) Rules in 2016. The issuance of SID involves the collection of biometric and demographic details of the seafarers, their verification and then issuance of the card to them.
The nine data collection centers have been setup at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Noida, Goa, New Mangalore, Kochi, Vizag & Kandla for issue of BSID. Every Indian seafarer who possesses a valid Continuous Discharge Certificate issued by Govt. of India will be eligible for issue of a BSID.
The total number of existing Indian seafarers who will be required to be issued BSIDs is around 3,50,000 . All the existing seafarers will be given BSID within the next 2 years. After this, it is estimated that around 15000 new seafarers will be issued BSIDs annually.
International Day against Nuclear Tests is observed on 29 August
The International Day against Nuclear Tests is observed across the world on 29 August. The day aims to provoke the world organization, youth networks, and the media against nuclear testing. The day highlights the importance to ban nuclear tests as a valuable step towards achieving a safer world. Poisoned groundwater, cancer, leukemia, radioactive are caused by the toxic legacies of nuclear testing.
History:
UN General Assembly (UNGA) after the 64 sessions of the world organization meeting declared 29 August as International Day against Nuclear Tests. It unanimously adopted resolution 64/35 on Dec 2, 2009. The inaugural commemoration of the International Day against Nuclear Tests was marked in 2010.
Kazakhstan initiated the resolution with the support of a large number of sponsors to commemorate the closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test site on 29 August 1991.
Nuclear Test:
Nuclear weapons testing began on 16 July 1945. So far, nearly 2,000 test has taken place. The countries that have tested the nuclear weapons so far are USA, USR, UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea.