CHROME IAS ACADEMY | DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

1st – 4th Jan’18

NEWS

MISSION TO ‘TOUCH’ SUN ON NASA’S 2018 LIST

 NASA is turning 60 in 2018 and the agency is looking forward to launching a slew of
important missions in the coming year, including one to “touch” the sun.
 NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is scheduled for launch in 2018 to explore the sun’s outer
atmosphere.
 The probe will use Venus’ gravity during seven flybys over nearly seven years to
gradually bring its orbit closer to the sun.
 The Parker Solar Probe will perform its scientific investigations in a hazardous
region of intense heat and solar radiation.
 The primary goals for the mission are to trace how energy and heat move through
the solar corona and to explore what accelerates the solar wind as well as solar
energetic particles.
 In 2018, NASA will also add to its existing robotic fleet on Mars with the InSight
lander designed to study the interior and subsurface of the red planet.
 The U.S. space agency’s first asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx, is
scheduled to arrive at the near-Earth asteroid Bennu in August 2018, and will return
a sample for study in 2023. A survey satellite to search for planets outside the solar
system is also to be launched.
Relevance : Prelims

GOOGLE’S NEW AI SYSTEM CAN ARTICULATE LIKE HUMANS

 In a major step towards its “AI first” dream, Google has developed a text-to-speech
artificial intelligence (AI) system that will confuse you with its human-like
articulation.
 The tech giant’s text-to-speech system called “Tacotron 2” delivers an AI-generated
computer speech that almost matches with the voice of human.
Relevance : Prelims
 ON THE TRAIL OF A HUMPBACK WHALE
 After leaving the Gulf of Oman two months ago, Luban, a satellite-tracked humpback
whale, is currently visiting Kerala waters.
 Luban was one of the 14 whales that was tagged by the Environment Society of Oman
under the Renaissance Whale and Dolphin Project.
 University of Kerala has been partnering with the Omanese society in tracking the
animal as part of the efforts for documenting the marine biodiversity of Indian
waters, said Dr. Kumar. Satellite data revealed that the animal was heading steadily
towards south at a pace of 5km/hr.
 The humpback whale is one of the four species of baleen whales occurring in Indian
waters and it is one of the least studied species in India.
Relevance : Prelims

KEY MINISTRIES DISAGREE OVER CAMPA FUND RULES

 Differences between the Environment Ministry and the Finance Ministry have
become a roadblock to the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and
Planning Authority (CAMPA).
 This authority was envisaged as an independent body that would manage a corpus
— collected from industries that have used forest land for projects — that
accumulates around ₹6,000 crore annually and is already worth around ₹42,000
crore.
 These funds are meant to be used by states to implement agro-forestry in non-forest
land to compensate for felled forest. In spite of Parliament — after a fractious debate
— signing CAMPA into law last year, it is yet to come into existence.
 Power to disburse the funds should be with the CAMPA, however the Finance
Ministry says it should be routed through the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI).
That’s not ideal as it could allow States to use it for purposes other than afforestation.
 The CFI is the repository of government revenues and taxes and all funds channelled
through it require Parliamentary approval. Currently funds collected under CAMPA
directly go into the Public Account and from thereon to the states. By way of example,
the education cess that the government collects never necessarily gets spent on
education.
Relevance : Prelims, GS 3
 SCIENTISTS IDENTIFY FOUR NEW BALSAM SPECIES
 Throwing fresh light on the uncharted biodiversity in India’s north-eastern region,
researchers have reported the discovery of four new species of balsam from various
locations in Arunachal Pradesh.
 Commonly known as jewel weeds because of the diverse colour of the flowers,
balsams are distributed throughout the Eastern Himalayas and the Western Ghats,
Sri Lanka, South East Asia, Africa and Madagascar.
 The genus is called Impatiens, signifying the impatient nature of the fruits which
explode when touched.
 India is home to more than 230 balsam species.
Relevance : Prelims

RAJYA SABHA CLEARS BILL TO RAISE NABARD’S CAPITAL

 Rajya Sabha passed a bill to increase authorised capital of Nabard by six time to Rs
30,000 crore and enable exit of RBI after the government assured that there is no
plan to have private holding in it.
 RBI is the regulator for the Nabard and it would continue to be so.
 At present the authorised capital of Nabard is Rs 5,000 crore and there is a proposal
to increase it to Rs 30,000 crore.
 RBI’s 0.4 percent equity will be transferred to the Centre and as a result, 100 percent
equity will come to the government.
Relevance : Prelims
 POLL BONDS LIFE 15 DAYS, DONOR NAME SECRET BUT KYC MUST
 The government unveiled key features of electoral bonds which will have a shelf-life
of 15 days and can be purchased only from specified branches of State Bank of India.
 Electoral bonds can be bought for any value, in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs
1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh or Rs 1 crore.
 An Indian citizen or body incorporated in India will be eligible to purchase the bond.
 Electoral bonds would have a life of only 15 days during which it can be used for
making donation only to the political parties registered under section 29A of the
Representation of the People Act, 1951 and which secured not less than one per cent
of the votes polled in the last general election to the House of the People or a
Legislative Assembly.
 The bonds would bring in “substantial and significant amount of transparency” in
electoral funding where there is “nil transparency” as of now.
 These bonds can be bought only after fulfilling all the existing Know Your Customer
(KYC) norms and by making payments from a bank account.
 These bonds will not carry the name of the payee.
 The bonds will be available for purchase for 10 days each in the months of January,
April, July and October. The window would be for an additional 30 days in the year
of general election.
 A political party can encash these bonds only through “a designated bank account
with the authorised bank.”
 These bonds would be an interest-free bearer instrument in the nature of a
promissory note.
Relevance : Prelims, GS 2

CABINET NOD FOR RS 6,809-CRORE ZOJILA TUNNEL PROJECT

 The Cabinet approved the construction of a 14.2 km tunnel in Zoji La, to provide all-
weather connectivity between Ladakh and Kashmir, while also giving a strategic
edge to the armed forces in the region.
 The project is said to be Asia’s longest bi-directional tunnel.
 is estimated to cost Rs 6,809-crore. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister
Nitin Gadkari said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend the bhoomi poojan
in May-June this year.
 Situated at an altitude of 11,578 feet on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway,
Zoji La remains closed from December to April due to heavy snowfall and avalanches,
cutting off the Ladakh region from Kashmir.
 The 14.1 km two-lane bi-directional single tube tunnel will have a parallel 14.2 km
egress tunnel.
Relevance : Prelims, GS 3

NITI AAYOG WORKING TO ADOPT AI, BLOCKCHAIN IN GOVERNANCE

 Having completed three years since its formation, the Niti Aayog is now working
towards adoption of frontier technologies such artificial intelligence and blockchain
in the areas of governance.
 The government think-tank believes that such technologies will result in significant
benefits if deployed in the areas of education and health, among others.
 Blockchain technology allows digital information to be distributed but not copied.
 Further, It is like a distributed ledger. Suppose, you have made 50000 photocopies
of a book and you make some change in the original book, then the blockchain
technique allows you to replicate the change in all the copies by changing just the
original book.
 Blockchain technology was originally used to create crypto-currencies such Bitcoin,
but is now being expanded for being used in other fields.
 NITI is exploring ways in which blockchain can transform governance for India.
 NITI is parallely working on a platform called ‘IndiaChain’, which will be a shared,
India-specic blockchain infrastructure for India utilizing the power of the Jan-Dhan-
Yojana, Aadhaar, and mobile trinity and enable blockchain developers to build social
applications.
 The Aayog said it is also leading the initiative of making India a leader in the global
space on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) research with focus on adopting AI to address
problems faced in developing countries.
Relevance : Prelims, GS 2, 3
PPPS AT STATE-RUN PORTS: SLEW OF STEPS TO BOOST INVESTOR CONFIDENCE
 The Cabinet approved a slew of steps to spur private investments via the public-
private partnership (PPP) route in the country’s major state-run ports.
 Other steps announced include easier exit akin to what investors in highway projects
enjoy.
 A dispute resolution mechanism — Sarod-Ports — has also been provided for, again
on the line of the one for PPPs in the highways sector.
Relevance : Prelims, GS 3

GOVT TO INFUSE RS 7,577 CRORE INTO SIX WEAK PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS
 Decks are being cleared for capital infusion of Rs 7,577 crore into six weak public
sector banks (PSBs) — which are reeling under huge bad loans — as part of the
government’s recapitalisation plan to clean their balance sheets. The boards of three
banks on Wednesday approved the recapitalisation plan.
 The recapitalisation is under the Indradhanush plan of the government which
promised Rs 70,000 crore over period of four years ending March 2019.
 While the government decides the mode for recapitalisation of all state-run banks, it
advanced the release of funds to these six banks to help them meet their equity
requirements and enable them to resume normal business and help them come out
of prompt corrective action (PCA) of the Reserve Bank of India.
 The RBI initiates PCA when a bank falls short of certain regulatory requirements
such as minimum capital, returns on asset and size of non-performing assets.
 In April, the RBI said that capital, asset quality and profitability would be the basis
for the PCA framework on which the banks would be monitored and has defined
three kinds of risk thresholds.
 The PCA framework would apply without exception to all banks operating in India,
including small banks and foreign banks operating through branches or subsidiaries
based on breach of risk thresholds of identified indicators.
 The RBI can ask the banks to prepare a time-bound plan and commitment for
reduction of NPAs, restrict or reduce credit expansion for borrowers below certain
rating grades or unrated borrowers, unsecured exposures, loan, concentration of
loans in identified sectors or borrowers.
 In October 2017, finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced an unprecedented Rs
2.11 lakh crore two-year recap plan to strengthen the PSU banks which reeling under
 high non-performing assets (NPAs). The plan includes floating recapitalisation
bonds of Rs 1.35 lakh crore and raising Rs 58,000 crore from the market by diluting
government’s stake.
Relevance : Prelims, GS 3

GREEN CLEARANCES: CENTRE BATS TO EMPOWER STATES

 Looking to fast-track irrigation and other development works, the Centre has
proposed to decentralise its power by increasing the ambit of state government
authorities to grant environmental clearances (ECs) to projects involving irrigation
and mining of non-coal minerals and minor minerals.
 The environment ministry has come out with a draft notification, suggesting
amendment to the Environment Impact Assessment notification of 2006, which will
reduce the burden on central authorities by all such tasks that can be handled by the
states for speeding up works.
 At present, irrigation projects involving cultural command area (CCA) of more than
10,000 hectares are to be cleared by the Centre (environment ministry expert panel),
whereas area of 2,000-10,000 hectares are cleared by state authorities.
 The draft proposal, however, has expanded the range of projects for states. Irrigation
projects involving CCA between 5,000 and 50,000 hectares will now be cleared by
state authorities. The Centre’s panel will step in only for projects of more than
50,000 hectares of CCA. CCA of less than 5,000 hectares will not require EC at all.
 This will help in fast-tracking projects under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee
Yojana, which aims to complete all 99 irrigation projects across the country by 2019.
 As far as non-coal mining projects are concerned, the environment ministry will
grant green clearance to only projects requiring 100 or more hectares of land lease.
At present, the ministry’s panel is required to clear all such projects which involve
50 or more hectares.
Relevance : Prelims, GS 3
 OVERSEAS VOTES
 The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill of 2017, introduced by the
government during the winter session of Parliament, proposes to allow non-resident
Indians (NRIs) to emerge as a decisive force in the country’s electoral politics on
their own terms.
 The amendment paves the way to remove an “unreasonable restriction” posed by
Section 20A of the Representation of the People Act, which requires overseas
electors to be physically present in their electoral constituencies to cast their votes.
 This amendment proposes facilitating an external mode of voting, that is, voting by
proxy, whereby such electors can exercise their franchise from their places of
residence abroad.
 If the Bill is passed, overseas voters can appoint a proxy to cast their votes on their
behalf.
Relevance : Prelims, GS 2

ONLINE PORTAL ‘NARI’ FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

 The Government – both Central and State – has implemented a number of schemes
& legislations for women to provide them equal rights, economic opportunities,
social support, legal aid, housing etc. However, there is often a lack of awareness of
these provisions and difficulties in accessing their benefits.
 However, information related to women centric schemes/legislations are all
scattered on different websites/portals. In order to make this information more
easily accessible in one place, the NARI portal summarizes over 350 government
schemes and other imp
 tant information for the benefit of women, with more being added everyday. It
provides links to the Ministries, Departments and autonomous bodies offering these
schemes as well as easy access to online applications and grievance redressal.
 Through e-Samvad portal, NGOs and civil society can provide their feedback,
suggestions, put up grievances, share best practices etc. Senior Officers within
MWCD will be able to view the inputs/suggestions received for their concerned
subject areas and appropriately respond to NGOs. This will help in formulation of
effective policies and measures for welfare of women and children.
Relevance : Prelims, GS 1, 2
 USE OF BIO-DIESEL IN RAILWAYS
 Indian Railways has tested the bio-diesel of different feed stock (Jatropha, Mahua,
pongamia, waste cotton seed, Fish Oil, Soyabeen oil, Palm stearin etc.)
 The power performance of engine has been found satisfactory without any adverse
impact on engine working.
 Besides, bio-diesel is found to reduce certain emission parameters which would
have otherwise caused pollution in environment.
 Key Advantages of Bio-Diesel:
o Renewable Energy source
o Derived from Vegetable oil
o Non-toxic & Biodegradable
o Contains no sulphur that causes acid rain
o Higher Cetane number, better ignition quality
o Used directly in unmodified Diesel engines, neat or blended in any ratio with
HSD
o Higher Lubricity – Can prolong engine life
o Flashpoint higher than HSD-safer to store & transport
o Environment friendly-less emissions
o Has rural employment potential.
Relevance : Prelims, GS 3
 IMPORTANT FACTS IN THE NEWS
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh emerged as the second State in the Northeast, after Sikkim, to be
declared Open Defecation Free. Arunachal has 21 districts and the State attained the feat
much before the national deadline of October 2, 2019.
Core sectors
The eight infrastructure/core sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products,
fertilizers, steel, cement, and electricity constitute 40.27% of the total industrial
production.
Base rate
Base rate is the minimum rate set by the Reserve Bank of India below which banks are not
allowed to lend to its customers.
Dhanu Yatra
The famous Dhanu Yatra of Bargarh in Odisha, believed to be the largest open-air theatre
in the world, concluded with the death of tyrannical king Kansa and coronation of Ugrasen.
Bargarh town was made to resemble Mathura -- the birthplace and homeland of Lord
Krishna.
Barak
Barak 8 also known as LR-SAM or as MR-SAM is an Indian-Israeli surface-to-air missile
(SAM), designed to defend against any type of airborne threat including aircraft,
helicopters, anti-ship missiles, and UAVs as well as ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and
combat jets. Both maritime and land-based versions of the system exist.
Speed breeding
Inspired by NASA’s experiments to grow wheat in space, Australian scientists have
developed the world’s first ‘speed breeding’ technique that can boost the production of the
crop by up to three times.
Nalabana
The Nalabana Bird Sanctuary is inside the Chilika lake. Migratory birds fly across
continents from the Caspian Sea, the Baikal Lake and remote parts of Russia, Mongolia and
Siberia and come to marshy lands of the Nalabana Bird Sanctuary inside the Chilika Lake.
Chilika Lake is Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon.
 Iceland
Iceland has become the first country to make it illegal to pay men more than women.The
move is part of a bid to eradicate the gender pay gap by 2022 in the Nordic nation, where
38% of parliamentarians are women.
Ash content
Ash content of coal produced in the country is generally 25 to 45 % whereas average ash
content of imported coal varies from 10 to 20 %. Indian Coal has comparatively higher ash
content than imported coal due to drift theory of formation of coal deposits in India. Coal
seams formed due to drift theory contains higher ash as compared to in-situ theory of
formation.
Relevance : Prelims

IMPORTANT TERMS IN THE NEWS EXPLAINED

Hot jupiters
 Hot Jupiters are a class of gas giant exoplanets that are inferred to be physically
similar to Jupiter but that have very short orbital period (P<10 days).
 The close proximity to their stars and high surface-atmosphere temperatures
resulted in the moniker "hot Jupiters".
 Hot Jupiters are the easiest extrasolar planets to detect via the radial-velocity
method, because the oscillations they induce in their parent stars' motion are
relatively large and rapid compared to those of other known types of planets.

Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

 The Ministry of Extern organizes Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (RPBD)
periodically( annually) outside India to connect with the Indian Diaspora in specific
regions, familiarize them with the policies and programmes of the Government,
enable them to contribute to India’s development and growth, and address their
concerns.
 This Ministry organizes Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (RPBD) to allow
participation of the Indian diaspora who are unable to attend annual Pravasi
Bharatiya Divas in India.
 So far, 10 Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas have been held; the latest is being helf at
Singapore ( Asean-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas).

‘Speed breeding’ technique

 Inspired by NASA’s experiments to grow wheat in space, Australian scientists have
developed the world’s first ‘speed breeding’ technique that can boost the production
of the crop by up to three times.
 The NASA experiments involved using continuous light on wheat which triggered
early reproduction in the plants
 The speed breeding technique has largely been used for research purposes but is
now being adopted by industry.
 Using the technique, scientists have achieved wheat generation from seed to seed in
just 8 weeks. These results appear today in Nature Plants. This means that it is now
possible to grow as many as 6 generations of wheat every year.
 This technique uses fully controlled growth environments and can also be scaled up
to work in a standard glass house. It uses LED lights optimised to aid photosynthesis
in intensive regimes of up to 22 hours per day.
 LED lights significantly reduce the cost compared to sodium vapour lamps which
have long been in widespread use but are ineffective because they generate much
heat and emit poor quality light.
 The speed breeding technique can be used for a range of important crops. They have
achieved up to 6 generations per year for bread wheat, durum wheat, barley, pea,
and chickpea; and four generations for canola (a form of rapeseed). This is a
significant increase compared with widely used commercial breeding techniques.
 Speed breeding as a platform can be combined with lots of other technologies such
as CRISPR gene editing to get to the end result faster.

Monsoon Mission
 If the variations in monsoon rainfall are known well in advance, it would be possible
to reduce the adverse impacts related to excess or deficient rainfall, providing us
prior information about droughts and floods.
 Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has launched 'National Monsoon Mission' (NMM)
with a vision to develop a state-of-the-art dynamical prediction system for monsoon
rainfall on different time scales.
 MoES has bestowed the responsibility of execution and coordination of this mission
to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.
 For this national mission, IITM is collaborating with NCEP (USA), MoES
organisations and various academic institutions/organizations under NMM.

PMEGP
 Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) is implementing Prime
Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), which is a major credit-
linked subsidy programme, aimed at generating self-employment opportunities
through establishment of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector by helping
traditional artisans and unemployed youth.
 Any individual above 18 years of age is eligible. For setting up of projects costing
above Rs.10 lakh in the manufacturing sector and above Rs. 5 lakh in the business
/service sector, the beneficiaries should possess at least VIII standard pass
educational qualification.
 The maximum cost of projects is Rs. 25 lakh in the manufacturing sector and Rs. 10
lakh in the service sector.
 Benefit can be availed under PMEGP for setting up of new units only.
 The PMEGP Scheme was launched during 2008-09.

Global Nutrition Report

 The Global Nutrition is an independently produced annual report of the state of the
world’s nutrition.
 The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) oversees the production
and dissemination of the Report.
 It tracks global nutrition targets on maternal, infant, and young child nutrition and
on diet-related non-communicable diseases that member states of the World Health
Organization adopt along with the governments’ delivery against their commitments
 The World Health Organization is a Global Nutrition Report Partner
 In order to determine the significant burden of malnutrition in every country, the
report uses three important trends as indicators. These are as follows:
o Childhood stunting
o Anaemia in women of reproductive age
o Overweight adult women
 Majuli
 Majuli is a river island in the Brahmaputra River, Assam.
 In 2016 , it became the first island to be made a district in India.
 It has lost significant area to erosion as the river surrounding it has grown.
 It is recognised as the world's largest river island.
 The island is formed by the Brahmaputra river in the south and the Kherkutia Xuti,
an anabranch of the Brahmaputra, joined by the Subansiri River in the north.
 It was formed due to course changes by the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries,
mainly the Lohit
Relevance : Prelims