Current Affairs Assam – December 2018
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the month of December 2018 )
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November 10
Assam Governor Professor Jagdish Mukhi inaugurated Manuscript Conservation Centre
- Governor Mukhi inaugurated Manuscript Conservation Centre at KK Handique Government Sanskrit College, which came as a result of collaboration between the Heritage Conservation Society, Assam and the National Manuscript Mission, Government of India.
India test fires Agni-V missile off Odisha coast
- India successfully test fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable ballistic missile Agni-V off the Odisha coast on 10th December.
- The surface-to-surface missile having a strike range of 5,000 km was launched at 1.30 p.m. from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Abdul Kalam Island in Bhadrak district.
- The missile developed by the Strategic Forces Command and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is the most advanced in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine.
- This was the seventh trial of the state-of-the-art Agni-V ballistic missile. It was last tested on June 3, 2018.
FACTILE – Agni -V
- It is an intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India.
- Agni V is part of the Agni series of missiles, one of the missile systems under the original Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.
- The DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat initially declined to disclose the exact range of Agni-V.Later, however, he described Agni V as a missile with a range of 5,500–5,800 km.
INDRA NAVY-18 bilateral maritime exercise between Indian Navy and Russian Federation Navy
- The tenth edition of exercise INDRA NAVY will be conducted off Visakhapatnam from December 9-16. Russian Federation Navy (RuFN) ships Varyag, Admiral Panteleyev and Boris Butoma arrived in Visakhapatnam on 9th December to participate in INDRA NAVY-18.
- The primary aim of the exercise is to increase inter-operability amongst the two navies, develop common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations.
- Initiated in 2003, the INDRA NAVY exercise has matured over the years with the increase in scope, complexity and level of participation.
- The INDRA NAVY exercise would be held in two phases this time.
- The Harbour Phase would be held at Visakhapatnam from December 9-12 and encompass planning conferences, professional interactions, cultural visits, sports fixtures and formal calls between Flag Officers and senior officers of the participating navies.
The Sea Phase of the exercise would be conducted in the Bay of Bengal from December 13-16. - At INDRA NAVY-18, the Indian Navy would be represented by INS Ranvir, a guided missile destroyer, INS Satpura, an indigenous frigate, INS Kadmatt, an indigenous anti- submarine warfare (ASW) corvette, IN Ships Kuthar and Khanjar both indigenous missile corvettes and INS Jyoti.
- In addition, one Sindhughosh-class submarine, Dornier maritime patrol aircraft, Hawk fighter aircraft and other integral rotary wing helicopters would be taking part in the exercise.
- The Indian Navy ships would be under the command of Rear Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Fleet.
- Ships of the Russian Federation Navy (RuFN) would be commanded by Rear Admiral Mikhailov Edward Evgenievich, Chief of Headquarters, Submarine Forces, Pacific Fleet, and ships from the Pacific Fleet, based at Vladivostok.
Skoch Gold Award for Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited
- The Skoch Group has conferred the prestigious ‘Skoch Gold Award’ under OIL and Gas sector to the Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited for setting up India’s first Green and Clean Fuel Pilot Project of Methanol Cooking Stove.
- RatulBordoloi, Managing Director, APL received this award on behalf of Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited at the ceremonial function held in Constitution Club, New Delhi.
- Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited, a State Government undertaking located at Namrup is a pioneer petrochemicals industry of the entire north-eastern region.
- Skoch Group is a think-tank dealing with socio-economic issue with a focus on inclusive growth since 1997. It is also known for instituting India’s highest independent civilian honour in the field of governance, finance, technology, economics and social sector.
Patent granted to two Assam professors for microbial management of a disease of brinjal
- The Patent Office of the Government of India has granted a patent to Professor MC Kalita, former head of the department of biotechnology, Gauhati University, and DrGargi Chakravarty, former research scholar of the department of biotechnology, Gauhati University.
- The patent granted for an innovation for microbial management of a disease of brinjal is expected to boost brinjal production in the State and bring revenue to brinjal growers by reducing pre harvest loss.
- The bacterial wilt disease has long been a serious problem due to its wide distribution and unusually broad host range.
- Biological control is being considered as an alternative or a supplemental way of reducing the use of chemicals in agriculture and attention is diverted towards exploring the potential of beneficial microbes, for plant protection measures.
- The patent claims a bioformulation involving the bacterial biocontrol agent and suitable substrate carrier with increased shelf life and broad spectrum of action with consistent performance under field conditions.
- It could pave the way for reduction of pre-harvest loss of the brinjal crop and increasing the yield. Already, two other patents have been granted to Prof Kalita and another five patents have been filed.
November 11
Endangered migratory bird species sighted in Manipur after 92 years
- The yellow-breasted bunting (Emberiza aureola), a critically endangered migratory bird, was sighted for the first time after 92 years in Manipur last month. The bird was last sighted here last in 1926, as per British ornithologist Stuart Baker’s records.
- The bird, locally known as Lam-Sendrang, as sighted at the proposed area of Thinungei Bird Sanctuary in Bishnupur district on November 28 last.
- The size of a common sparrow, the yellow-breasted bunting breeds in north-eastern Europe and across northern Asia. It spends the winter in large flocks in wetlands or tall grasslands, preferring to roost near streams that irrigate rice-fields with tall grasses in south-east Asia, India and southern China.
- This bird, is now having status of Critically Endangered as per Birdlife International and International Union for Conservation of Nature Redlist, is following in the footsteps of the Passenger Pigeon, which became extinct in 1914 due to hunting during its migratory route in Central Asia.
FICCI sets up Assam State Council
- The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has constituted its first Assam State Council to focus on four core areas – manufacturing, agro food processing, tourism and skill development and entrepreneurship.
- The council would comprise prominent business leaders, professionals and entrepreneurs and would be headed by Ashish Phookan, managing director, Jungle Travels India and chairman, Assam Bengal Navigation.
- The Assam State Council has decided to constitute five sub-committees on manufacturing, agro-food processing, tourism, skill development and entrepreneurship, and policy and taxation.
World Bank praises India’s renewable energy success
- The World Bank praised India’s success in renewable energy auctions that delivered record-setting low prices for solar power and said that the number of countries with strong policy frameworks for sustainable energy more than tripled — from 17 to 59 — in the eight years till 2017.
- Many of the world’s largest energy-consuming countries significantly improved their renewable energy regulations since 2010.
- The report was released on the sidelines of the 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24).
- Among the countries covered by RISE, only 37 per cent had a national renewable energy target in 2010. By 2017, that had grown to 93 per cent.
- By last year, 84 per cent of countries had a legal framework in place to support renewable energy deployment, while 95 per cent allowed the private sector to own and operate renewable energy projects.
Nissan Motors opens Global Digital Hub in Kerala
- Nissan opened country’s first global digital hub at the Technopark campus Trivandrum.
- Which will be ramped up to 500 by the end of this financial year, and has plans to scale up the employee strength to 1,500 in the next two years, according to the company.
- Inaugurating the facility, Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan said that Nissan coming to Thiruvananthapuram marks the beginning of a new era for Kerala IT and he will do our best to ensure Kerala proves to be Nissan’s second home after Japan.
- This centre at Technopark will be the first of kind in a number of software and information technology development centres in Asia, Europe North America and Latin America.
- The hub will allow Nissan to provide application portfolio management, best-in-class user experiences, product development capabilities, data science, cyber security and connectivity as the automotive industry evolves, with growing use of autonomous, connected and electric vehicle technology.
Voyager 2 space probe entered in interstellar space
- Forty-one years after it left Earth, NASAs Voyager 2 probe has now become only the second human-made object to enter interstellar space after its twin Voyager 1 did in 2012.
- The instrument on Voyager 2 that detects plasma from the Sun, also called solar wind, has not observed solar wind, indicating that it has left the heliosphere, “the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields created by the Sun.”
- Voyager 2 is now some 18 billion kilometers away compared to Voyager 1 at 21.6 billion kilometers, both offering a measure of how far the empire of the Sun stretches.
- It will take Voyager 2,300 years to enter the inner edge of the Oort Cloud, a collection of small objects still affected by the Sun’s gravity.
- Voyager 2 continues to send data and what is extraordinary about it is that for the first time scientists will have some measure of interstellar space.
- Each probe contains a golden record embedded with snapshots of Earth’s sounds, images and messages in the hope that another civilization may someday chance upon it and learn about human civilization.
FACTFILE – The Voyager program
- It is an American scientific program that employs two robotic probes, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, to study the outer Solar System.
- The probes were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
- Although their original mission was to study only the planetary systems of Jupiter and Saturn, Voyager 2 continued on to Uranus and Neptune.
- The Voyagers now explore the outer boundary of the heliosphere in interstellar space; their mission has been extended three times and they continue to transmit useful scientific data.
- Uranus and Neptune has been visited by only Voyager
- On 25 August 2012, data from Voyager 1 become the first human-made object to enter interstellar space, traveling “further than anyone, or anything, in history”.
- On 5 November 2018, data from Voyager 2 indicated that it also had entered interstellar space.
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