Unique IAS Academy – TNPSC Current Affairs May 2019 UNIQUE IAS ACADEMY The Best Coaching Center in Coimbatore NVN Layout, New Siddhapudur, Gandhipuram, Coimbatore Ph: 0422 4204182, 98842 67599 ************************************************************************************ NATIONAL NEWS ULTRASENSITIVE QUANTUM THERMOMETER: The researchers at Jamia Millia Islamia (New Delhi) have developed an ultrasensitive quantum thermometer using graphene quantum dots. The thermometer can precisely measure a wide range of temperature: 27°C to –196°C. It has high sensitivity when measuring different temperatures and can measure very minute (micro Kelvin) changes in temperature. It showed extremely quick response time of just about 300 milliseconds to register a change in temperature from 27°C to –196°C. AWARENESS PROGRAMME ON GST : The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has launched an awareness programme on Goods and Services Tax (GST) in collaboration with Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Institute Limited to help small scale businesses. The purpose of the GST programme is to impart basic knowledge and skills required to fulfil various requirements under the GST Act. It would be beneficial to people who are engaged in maintaining accounts and filing of various indirect tax returns. Those who have passed Class 12 are eligible for the course, which will be offered in January and July cycle of admissions. RAKESH KUMAR SINGH BHADAURIA HAS BEEN APPOINTED AS THE NEW VICE CHIEF OF INDIAN AIR FORCE (IAF): Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria has been appointed as the new Vice Chief of Indian Air Force (IAF). He succeeded Air Marshal Anil Khosla. Prior to this post, Bhadauria was head of IAF‘s Bengaluru-based Training Command. 0422 4204182, 9884267599 NVN layout, Gandhipuram, Coimbatore Page 1 Unique IAS Academy – TNPSC Current Affairs May 2019 He went on to hold several important positions such as Commandant of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Senior Air Staff Officer at the Central Air Command and Deputy Chief of the Air Staff from January 2016 to February 28, 2017. E-MOBILITY: The Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) have signed a MoU for cooperation on various projects related to e-mobility. BHEL's unique strength as technology developer and implementer and ARAI's advanced facilities and expertise in design, testing and certification of mobility products, will generate synergies in implementing solutions for Electric & Trolley Bus, EV Chargers, Battery & Charger testing, etc. ARAI : The Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) is an autonomous body affiliated to the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises (MoHI&PE). objectives of the Association are Research and Development in automotive engineering for industry, product design and development, evaluation of automotive equipment and ancillaries, standardization, technical information services, execution of advanced courses on the application of modern technology and conduct of specific tests. IIT HAS DEVELOPED AN EASY OCR SYSTEM FOR READING BHARTI SCRIPT: Dr. Srinivasa Chakravathy and his team at IIT Madras has developed a unified script for nine Indian languages, named the Bharati script. The team has developed a method for reading documents in Bharati script using a multi-lingual Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scheme. In collaboration with TCS Mumbai, the researchers have found a way for persons with hearing disability to generate signatures using this finger-spelling technique. The scripts that have been integrated include Devnagari, Bengali, Gurmukhi, Gujarati, Oriya, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil. NATIONAL CLEAN AIR PROGRAMME : The Union Environment Ministry has constituted a committee to implement the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which aims to reduce particulate matter (PM) pollution by 20%- 30% in atleast 102 cities by 2024. 0422 4204182, 9884267599 NVN layout, Gandhipuram, Coimbatore Page 2 Unique IAS Academy – TNPSC Current Affairs May 2019 The committee will be chaired by the Secretary, Union Environment Ministry,. The NCAP is envisioned as a five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year and 2017 as base year. There would be a review every five years. The purpose of the committee is to ensure inter ministerial organisation and cooperation, share information and resolve issues that could arise between ministries. The NCAP requires cities to implement specific measures such as ensuring roads are pothole- free to improve traffic flow and thereby reduce dust (within 60 days) or ensuring strict action against unauthorised brick kilns (within 30 days). CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR WASTE TO WEALTH TECHNOLOGIES: To commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India and IIT Delhi have signed an MoU to set up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to Wealth Technologies for implementation of sustainable, scientific and technological solutions for waste management, through validation and deployment of available technologies for transformation of waste to wealth. The waste to wealth mission project has been approved under the recently constitute Prime Minister‘s Science Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC). FORMER ISRO CHIEF HAS BEEN BESTOWED WITH FRANCE'S HIGHEST CIVILIAN AWARD: Former ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar has been conferred with France's highest civilian award -Chevalier de l'Ordre national de la Lgion d‘Honneur - for his contribution to India- France space cooperation. VARUNA 19.1 The first part of the Indo-French joint naval exercise - Varuna 19.1 – has started off the Goa coast from 1 to 10 May 2019. The exercise will see the participation of the French Navy's aircraft carrier FNS Charles de Gaulle, two destroyers, FNS Forbin and FNS Provence, the frigate FNS Latouche, the tanker FNS Marne and a nuclear submarine. From the Indian side, the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, destroyer INS Mumbai, the Teg- class frigate, INS Tarkash, the Shishumar- class submarine, INS Shankul, and the Deepak- class 0422 4204182, 9884267599 NVN layout, Gandhipuram, Coimbatore Page 3 Unique IAS Academy – TNPSC Current Affairs May 2019 fleet tanker, INS Deepak, are taking part in the exercise. The exercise is being conducted in two phases First phase - Harbour phase -The harbour phase at Goa would include cross-visits, professional interactions and discussions and sports events. Second phase- Sea phase -would comprise various exercises across the spectrum of maritime operations. The second part of the exercise - Varuna 19.2 - is scheduled to be held in May end in Djibouti. INDIA‘S BIGGEST STUCCO SCULPTURE : Archaeologists in Telangana have recently unearthed a rare life-sized stucco sculpture from a Buddhist site at Phanigiri in Suryapet. It is considered to be the biggest stucco sculpture found in the excavations in the country till date. The sculpture is about 1.73 metres in height and 35 cm in width. WATER AND POWER CONSULTANCY SERVICES (INDIA) LIMITED (WAPCOS) : The Dredging Corporation of India Limited (DCIL) has inked a MoU with Water & Power Consultancy Services (India) Limited (WAPCOS) to jointly identify suitable future projects and carry out geotechnical investigation and engineering consultancy. The two firms will work together to explore projects in water resources, power and infrastructure, port and harbour dredging, shallow water dredging, beach nourishment, lake rehabilitation, flood management, erosion control, river morphology and other related sectors. WAPCOS: Water and Power Consultancy Services (India) Limited is a mini ratna PSU under the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. The headquarters of WAPCOS is located at New Delhi. INDIA‘S TOP CRUDE OIL SUPPLIER : For the second year in a row, Iraq has become India‘s top crude oil supplier in 2018-19 fiscal year and meet more than a fifth of the country‘s oil needs. Iraq sold 46.61 million tonnes (Mt) of crude oil to India during April 2018 and March 2019, which is 2% more than 45.74 Mt it had supplied in 2017-18 fiscal 0422 4204182, 9884267599 NVN layout, Gandhipuram, Coimbatore Page 4 Unique IAS Academy – TNPSC Current Affairs May 2019 Saudi Arabia also maintained its position as the 2nd-largest crude supplier to India during the year followed by Iran and United Arab Emirates (UAE) which toppled Venezuela to become India's fourth largest crude supplier. Despite US sanctions on Iran, the country‘s crude oil supply to India increased 6.24% to 24 MT in 2018-19. MAWMLUH CAVE : In Meghalaya, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) North Eastern Region (NER) has recently installed two geological display boards at two important geological sites mawmluh cave and therrighat in the State with geoscientific information which will help in creating awareness among visiting tourists, students and the general public. The stalagmite in the Mawmluh cave has been tagged a Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP). It makes it first formally ratified marker of a geological time period in India. There is also a high level of iridium metal from the boundary which marks catastrophic event when a giant meteorite hit earth. The Meghalayan Age period began about 4200 years ago experienced an abrupt mega-drought and cooling around the world. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA (SEBI) BARRED THE NATIONAL STOCK EXCHANGE On 30th April 2019, Market regulator Securities and Exchange