Nov 25th 2015-Current Affairs

>>India Railways has inked a MoU to set up a Railway Chair on Sustainable Mobility at New Delhi campus of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) University.

The chair would focusand promote research on various aspects including sustainable mobility, green energy and use of energy efficient technology initiatives by the Railways.

TERI University would impart best knowledge and its professionals in all aspects of sustainability with a multi-dimensional perspective relevant to railways.

>>Kerala to organise ‘Orange Day’ campaign to end violence against women

Kerala government organised “Orange Day” campaign to mark the international day for elimination of violence against women as stipulated by the UN General Assembly.

The UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign, managed by UN Women to end violence against women has marked out the 25th of each month to raise awareness and prevent violence against women and girls.

Orange, the bright and optimistic colour is expected to represent a future free from violence against women and girls usually committed by men under the influence of alcohol and drugs

>>The Maharashtra government to launch an accident insurance scheme for farmers named after BJP leader late Gopinath Munde, for farmers in the state.

The scheme will be implemented from 2015-16, an official said after the state Cabinet approved a proposal in this regard.

Munde Farmers Accident Insurance Scheme :

Each farmer will get Rs two lakhannual insurance cover.

The scheme will benefit 1.37 crore farmers in the 10-75 year age group.

The government will pay the premium of Rs 27.25 crorefor the scheme.

>>PM Modi was on four days visit to Malaysia and Singapore for building trade ties and attracting investments to India and to attend the ASEAN-India Summit and 10^th East Asia Summit. He also held talks with Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Indian Cultural Centre in Kuala Lumpur would be named after veteran freedom fighter and commander of the Indian National Army Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

>>147 world leaders to attend Paris climate summit: France

As per French Govt, 147 heads of state and government will attend a climate summit due to start in Paris next week. The November 30 – December 11 conference is tasked with signing the first-ever truly universal pact to curb global warming, and opens just two weeks after jihadists killed 130 people in the French capital.This would make it one of the biggest gatherings ever of world leaders outside the UN General Assembly in New York.

The previous largest climate gathering in Copenhagen in 2009, amassed some 115 world leaders.

The conference itself will gather some 40,000 delegates, journalists, observers and exhibitors.

The meeting’s goal is to produce a pact that can limit average global warming to 2 degrees Celsius over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

About 170 countries have already filed voluntary carbon-curbing pledges to underpin the future pact but scientists say the aggregate effect falls far short and Earth is on course for warming of about 3 C or more.

>>690 million children at risk from climate change: UNICEF

Two-weeks before the climate change conference in Paris, UNICEF released a report titled “Unless We Act Now” detailing how millions of children worldwide are at risk from climate change.

Approximately 530 million live in flood-prone areas, most of which are found in Asia.

Over 300 million of these children live in countries where over half of the population is poverty-stricken.

On the other side of the world, about 160 million children belong to are areas suffering from extreme drought, with more than half found in Africa.

Around 115 million live in areas where the risks of tropical cyclones are very high.

Several countries already submitted their national plans to help keep the global warming levels to2 degrees Celsius.

Report Highlights

Scientific forecasts in the UNICEF report (PDF) showed that the number of children who will be saved from climate change increases with climate change plans’ level of intensity.

Children around the world are already being affected by the amount of CO2 emitted.

Worsening weather conditions affect the children through the cause of diseases including diarrhea and malaria.

The increasing rate of malnutrition during severe weather conditions also causes much harm.

This causes a vicious cycle that increases the children’s risks of being affected heavily when faced with succeeding predicaments.

>>Tunisia declares state of emergency after bus blast

Tunisia’s President Beji Caid Essebsi declared a nationwide state of emergency and a curfew in the capital after a bomb attack on a presidential guard bus killed at least 12 people. 

The most of the agents who were on the bus are dead after the attack in Tunis, which has become a target of jihadist violence since the 2011 revolution.

>>Axis Bank, Vistara to launch travel credit card

Private lender Axis Bank has joined hands with Tata-SIA joint venture airline Vistara to launch a travel credit card next year under a strategic partnership.

The co-branded travel credit card to be unveiled early next year will offer a host of privileges and benefits to the business and leisure travellers of Vistara, Axis Bank.

The country’s third full service airline after national carrier Air India and Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Vistara last month for the first time breached the one lakh passengers mark since its launch in January this year.

Vistara :
Vistara is a joint venture between Tata Sons Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA) with Tata Sons holding the majority stake of 51 per cent in the company and SIA holding the remaining 49 per cent.

>>Nielsen launches India’s first digital advertisement measurement system

Global marketing research firm Nielsen has launched India’s first digital advertisement measurement system that will help marketers in the country to find out the return on investment of their campaigns on the internet and mobile platforms.

The Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) system can measure all kinds of display and video ads across all digital platforms except Twitter and YouTube app on mobile phones and tablets.

 Social media giant Facebook provides backend support and big data information to help Nielsen.

>>Ratan Tata invests in Singapore’s startup Crayon Data

Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata has invested an undisclosed amount in Singapore-based big data company Crayon Data.

Crayon, a portfolio company of Jungle Ventures, had previously raised 10 million Singapore dollars in seed and Series, a funding from angel institutional investors like Jungle Ventures and Spring Seeds.

Founded in 2012 by Srikant Sastri and Suresh Shankar, Crayon offers a personalisation engine to empower enterprises to deliver ultra-personalised choices to their consumers.

>>Justice M R Calla, retired judge of the Rajasthan and Gujarat high courts, has been appointed as the President of Association of Retired Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts of India.

The association, a registered society functioning since 2002, works for the betterment of legal fraternity and deliberates on various legal problems and helps seekers of justice.

>>Anju Bobby George appointed as Chairperson of TOPS

Former long jump champion Anju Bobby George designated as the chairperson of Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). She will assume her charge in the first week of December.

She will succeed BJP parliamentarian and Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Anurag Thakur.

She will look into the complaints of athletes facing difficulty in getting the requisite support and funding from the government as part of their preparation for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

About Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)

The TOP Scheme under the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) was formulated with the objective of identifying and supporting potential medal prospects for 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.

The focused disciplines of the scheme were Athletics, Archery, Badminton, Boxing, Wrestling and Shooting.

>>Nuclear-capable Dhanush missile successfully test fired

India successfully test fired one of its nuclear-capable ballistic missiles from a naval ship off the coast of Odisha. The trial was conducted from an undisclosed location, nearly 45 km from Puri and Paradip coast, Balasore, Bhubaneswar. The test was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Navy.

This was second missile test, earlier Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had conducted a developmental trial of interceptor missile Aswin Air Defence (AAD) from Abdul Kalam Island in Bhadrak district.

>>Japan successfully launches its first commercial satellite

A Japanese rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwest Japan with the national space programme’s first commercial satellite as Tokyo tries to enter a business dominated by European and Russian companies.

H-IIA carried TELSTAR 12Vcommunications and broadcasting satellite for Canadian satellite operator Telesat.

Japan wants to become a major player in the satellite launching business. It has tried to improve the H-IIA rocket to cut the cost of each launch to make its programme competitive.

>> US scientists breed GM mosquitoes using a gene editing method called Crispr to resist malaria infection

US scientists found a new way to resist malaria said that they have bred a genetically modified (GM) mosquito that can resist malaria infection.

The scientists put a new “resistance” gene into the mosquito’s own DNA, using a gene editing method called Crispr

When the GM mosquitoes mated their offspring inherited the same resistance.In theory, if these mosquitoes bite people, they should not be able to pass on the parasite that causes malaria.

They took a type of mosquito found in India  Anopheles stephensi on which to experiment.

The University of California team published the report in PNAS journal reports.

>>New species of tree frog named Ghatixalus magnus discovered in Western Ghats

A new species of tree frog was discovered and another species of bush frog was rediscovered in the Western Ghats.The discovery published in the latest issue of International Taxonomic Journal Zootaxa.

Ghatixalus magnus 

The team discovered a new species of Rhacophorid tree frog of the genus Ghatixalus. The new species is named Ghatixalus magnus after its large size making it the biggest known tree frog from the Western Ghats.

Raorchestes flaviventris:

The team has also rediscovered a frog that had been evading for the past many decades. Raorchestes flaviventris is a species of rhacophorid bush frog described from the Western Ghats by George Albert Boulenger in 1882.