Daily Current Affairs
Daily Current Affairs (23 Nov 2017)
November 22, 2017
Russia finds 1,000-times normal level of radioactive isotope after nuclear accident
- Russia's meteorological service had measured pollution of a radioactive isotope at nearly 1,000 times normal levels in the Ural Mountains.
- Extremely high pollution of ruthenium 106 found in samples from two meteorological stations in the southern Ural Mountains region.
Background::
- The data appears to support a report by the French nuclear safety institute IRSN.
- IRSN said on November 9, a cloud of radioactive pollution over Europe had indicated that an accident had taken place at a nuclear facility either in Russia or Kazakhstan in the last week of September.
- Neither Russia nor Kazakhstan has acknowledged any accident.
What is ruthenium-106?
- Ruthenium-106 is a radioactive form of the rare heavy metal ruthenium, which is a "platinum group" metal similar to platinum.
Where does ruthenium-106 come from?
- Ruthenium-106 is produced from the fission or splitting of uranium-235, the type of uranium used in nuclear fission reactors, so it's found in spent nuclear fuel.
- It's also used in medicine for cancer radiation therapy, especially for eye and skin tumours, so it may be produced for that purpose.
- And it's used in radioisotope thermoelectric generators that power satellites.
Topic- GS-3- International Relations
Source- The Hindu + CBC
India hosts international congress on military medicine
- India for the first time hosting the World Congress of the International Committee of Military Medicine (ICMM).
- The five-day event is being organised for the first time in India, and is the largest medical conference ever organised by the AFMS (Armed Forces Medical Services).
- The theme of this 42nd World Congress is “Military Medicine in Transition: Looking Ahead.”
- The World Congress is going to provide an excellent opportunity for all participating nations to exchange ideas and experiences, thereby enhancing the collective intellectual assets of Military medicine.
International Committee of Military Medicine (ICMM)
- The ICMM is an international inter-governmental organisation created in 1921
- Tts secretariat is at Brussels in Belgium.
- Currently it has 112 nations as members.
Topic-
Source- The Hindu + UNI India
Udan-2: About 92 new flight routes will be opened in North-east
- To provide a major boost to air connectivity in the North-east, 92 new routes will be opened in the region in the second round of the government’s ‘Udan’ scheme.
UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik)
- It is a regional airport development and "Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)"
- Indian prime minister Narendra Modi launched the scheme on 27th May 2017.
- The scheme was flagged off the regional flights between Delhi and Shimla, and also between Kadapa-Hyderabad-Nanded.
Don’t confuse with UDAAN
UDAAN
- It provides exposure to the youth of J&K to the best of corporate India and corporate India to the rich talent pool available in the State.
- The scheme not only provides skill enhancement and job opportunity but also connects these bright youths from the J&K with the vibrant corporate sector of India.
Topic- GS-3- Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
Source- Indian Express
Mohra hydroelectric project
- A revival of Jammu and Kashmir’s first hydroelectric project in Mohra, constructed in 1905, is on the state government’s radar.
- The Mohra HEP, was constructed as run-of-river scheme back in 1905, with the initial installed capacity of 4 megawatt (MW).
- Under the modernisation & rehabilitation proposal of the Mohra Hydroelectric project, the JKSPDC (J&K State Power Development Corporation) seeks to utilise the available fall of 114 metres for the 9 MW installed capacity from the flows of the River Jhelum.
Topic- GS-1 Indian Geography
Source- Indian Express
NASA's Mars 2020 Mission Performs First Supersonic Parachute Test
- An ambitious NASA Mars rover mission set to launch in 2020 will rely on a special parachute to slow the spacecraft down as it enters the Martian atmosphere at over 12,000 mph (5.4 kilometers per second).
- The mission's parachute-testing series, the Advanced Supersonic Parachute Inflation Research Experiment, or ASPIRE, began with a rocket launch and upper-atmosphere flight October 2017 from the NASA Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia.
Parachute
- A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag.
- Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong fabric, originally silk, now most commonly nylon.
- A variety of loads are attached to parachutes, including people, food, equipment, space capsules, and bombs.
Topic- GS-3- Science and Technology
Source- NASA
An app “M-STRiPES” to get tiger numbers right
- Field data collection for tiger enumeration in the country is set to go digital in order to reduce human error and provide more reliable estimates.
- In the forthcoming All-India Tiger Estimation, the authorities plan to eliminate the process of manual recording of signs of the carnivore and other habitat details.
- Instead, an app named M-STRiPES (Monitoring System for Tigers-Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) developed by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, will be used for the first time.
- Though the app has already been in place in some national parks, its usage and application has been made mandatory only now, for the fourth All-India Tiger Estimation.
National tiger estimates
- The national tiger estimates are conducted once in four years, with the first conducted in 2006.
- The last nationwide assessment, held in 2014, pegged the tiger figures across the country at 2,226.
- Karnataka alone was home to 400 tigers, a bulk of them in Bandipur and Nagarahole.
Topic- GS-3- Science and Technology, Bio Diversity
Source- The Hindu
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