Daily Current Affairs 9th September, 2016

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS – 9th September, 2016

1. Results of recent Swachh surveys done in Rural areas by Quality Council of India(QCI) :
   

• Sindhudurg District of Maharashtra – cleanest among 53 well performing districts in plains
• Mandi District of Himachal Pradesh – cleanest among 22 well performing districts of Hills
• Parameters of Survey –
• Households having access to safe toilets & their usage
• Households having no litter around
• Average score of cleanliness around public places
• Households having no wastewater around
• About QCI
• Set up in 1997
• Jointy by Govt.of India and the Indian industry represented by –
• Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India(ASSOCHAM)
• Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
• Federation of Indian chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)

2. Reduction in Infant Mortality Rate awards given by Union Health and Family welfare Ministry :

• Among Small states – Nagaland & Tripura
• IMR of Nagaland – 17 per 1000 live births
• IMR of Tripura – 21 per 1000 live births
• Among large states – Haryana & West Bengal
• IMR of Nation – 40 deaths per 1000 live births
• INFANT MORTALITY RATE – No of deaths between the age group of 0-1 year per 1000 live births
  

3. Risk of Spread of ZIKA VIRUS in Kerala :

• Vector borne Zika Virus, first identified in Uganda in 1947
• There is no vaccination or medicine for ZIKA
• CAUSE – Large no of travellers from Singapore & Latin America at international airports in Kerala
• High Mosquito Density
• EFFECTS – Risk for Pregnant women since it is linked to children being born with abnormally small head and brain development
• Along with it, Dengue virus strains (IV DENV3) found in South Kerala which are closely related to those found in Singapore

4. Clean Yamuna Project : Collaboration with Netherlands :
   

• Budget – 21 Crore
• OBJECTIVES –
• Setting up plant along the drain that will produce biogas & generate water that can be used for agriculture
• To bring the levels of Biochemical Oxygen Demand(BOD) from 70mg per litre(existing) to 5mg per litre
• Setting up a network of Sewage Treatment Plants
• Participating Institutes of India –
• Indian institute Of Technology, Delhi (IIT)
• The Energy and Resources Institute
• Participating Institutes of Netherlands –
• Delft University of Technology
• Wageningten University
• The Vrije Universeit of Netherlands
  

5. President gave Assent to Goods & Service Tax(GST) :

• Constitution Amendment Bill
• GST – It is a single Indirect tax that will subsume most Central and State taxes
• Will be effective from 04.2017

6. Rio Paralympics Opens :

• Opening of 15^th Summer Paralympic games at Maracana Stadium, RioBrazil
• In the presence of New Brazil President – Michel Temer
• About Paralympics –
• Major international multi –sport event
• Held after every 4years in Summers as well as winters but not in the same year
• For athletes with disabilities
• governed by International Paralympic Committee
• from 07.09.2016 – 18.09.2016
• 16^th Summer paralympic games to be held in Tokyo, Japan in 2020

7. Stuart Blackburn won M.M.Bennetts Award in U.K for historical fiction 2016 :
   

• Award presented at the HNS Conference in Oxford
• For novel “Into the hidden valley”
• Based on the story of Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh during the colonial period of British India
• Published by “Speaking Tiger”

8. NASA’s OSIRIS – REx spacecraft boost into orbit on 08.09.2016 (09.09.2016 in India) :

• Set to Bennu, an Asteroid
• Launched from Space Launch complex 41 at Cape Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida (US)
• Will reach there in 2018
• Will b brought back to Earth in 2023 after 7 years
• Objective –
• to get clues about Bennu”s Origin
• it will help to improve understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth

9. Launch of INSAT-3DR at Sriharikota on 08.09.2016 by ISRO :

• Orbit – Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO)
• Launch cost – 400Crore
• About ISRO –
• Indian Space Research Organisation
• Established on 15 August 1969
• Headquarters at Bangalore, Karnataka
• Chairman – A S Kiran Kumar
• Vision – Harness Space technology for national development
• Managed by the Dept of Space which reports ti Prime Minister of India
• About SRIHARIKOTA –
• A barrier island
• Off the Bay of Bengal coast
• Located in Andhra Pradesh , India
• About GSLV Rockets –
• GSLV MK-II – GSLV Rockets using the indigenous Cryogenic upper stage engines are called GSLV MK-II
• Cryogenic Engines – Rocket Engines fuelled by liquid oxygen and hydrogen
• Significant points of Mission –
• Multispectral imager – will generate images of the Earth every 26 minutes from a geostationary altitude of 36000 km.
• Provides information about sea surface, temperature, snow cover,cloud motion winds
• 19 channel sounder– which will provide information on the vertical profiles of temperature, humidity and integrated ozone
• Data Relay Transponder – will provide service continuity to ISRO’s previous meteorological missions
• Areas covered – Large part of Indian Ocean, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal,Seychelles, Srilanka, Tanzania
• Upcoming Events of ISRO –
• Chandrayaan -2

Joint mission With NASA