CURRENT AFFAIRS :  11-11-2020

Table of Content :

1. Kalka–Shimla railway 

2. special borrowing window

3. India - Bangladesh Border.

4. Hunar Haat 

5. Chinese port Jingtang

6. System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research

7. Peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan

8. Asteroid Apophis

1. KALKA–SHIMLA RAILWAY

In Maharashtra, the Central Railway workshop at Parel in Mumbai has manufactured a fifth Narrow Gauge locomotive which will chug between Kalka to Shimla route, a UNESCO World Heritage Railway.

About:

• The Kalka–Shimla railway is a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow-gauge railway in North India which traverses a mostly-mountainous route from Kalka to Shimla. Kalka railway station is located in Haryana.
• The railway was built under the direction of Herbert Septimus Harington between 1898 and 1903 to connect Shimla, the summer capital of India during the British Raj, with the rest of the Indian rail system.
• On 8 July 2008, UNESCO added the Kalka–Shimla railway to the mountain railways of India World Heritage Site.

Additional Information :

A narrow-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in). Most narrow-gauge railways are between 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) and 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in).

Source :Times of India

2. SPECIAL WINDOW FOR BORROWING

After Puducherry, Congress-ruled Rajasthan last week became the latest Opposition-ruled state to opt for a special borrowing window for meeting its compensation shortfall under Goods and Services Tax (GST).

About:

• The Finance Ministry had said last month that the Centre would borrow from the market and then act as an intermediary to arrange back-to-back loans to pay the GST compensation shortfall of Rs 1.1 lakh crore to state governments. This arrangement will not reflect in the fiscal deficit of the Centre, and will appear as capital receipts for state governments.

How has the scheme progressed so far?

• Under the special window, the Centre has already borrowed Rs 12,000 crore in two equal instalments and passed it on to 21 states and three Union Territories on October 23 and November 2.
• The second round of borrowing was done at an interest of 4.42%, and the first round at 5.19%, lower than the cost of borrowing for states.

Source : Indian Express

3. INDIA-BANGLADESH DEFENCE RELATIONS

The Indian army gifted 20 horses and 10 dogs to the Bangladesh army on Tuesday. The handing over was done in a ceremony at the Benapole-Petrapole Integrated Check Post (ICP) on the India - Bangladesh Border.

About:

• The fully trained military horses and mine detecting dogs were gifted to Bangladesh in order to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.
• These equines and canines were trained by the Remount and Veterinary Corps of Indian Army.
• The Indian Army has also trained Bangladesh Army personnel for training and handling these specialist dogs and horses.

Source : All India Radio

4. HUNAR HAAT

Hunar Haat will restart from November 11, 2020 after a gap of about seven months due to the Corona pandemic.

About:

• Minority Affairs Minister will inaugurate the Hunar Haat at Delhi Haat at Pitampura. The theme of this event is Vocal for Local where indigenous exquisite products made from Maati (clay), Metal and Machiya (wooden and jute products) will be the major attraction.
• Objective: Hunar Haat is being organised across the country by the Ministry of Minority Affairs under a mission to provide market and opportunity to master artisans and craftsmen.
• Ministry of Minority Affairs is also working to establish “Hunar Hub” across the country to provide a platform to master artisans and craftsmen to display as well sell their products.

Source : All India Radio

5. SYSTEM OF AIR QUALITY AND WEATHER FORECASTING AND RESEARCH (SAFAR)

The air quality in Delhi continues to remain in 'severe' category. The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research, SAFAR has advised people to avoid all physical activity outdoors.

About:

• Agencies involved: It was indigenously developed by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune and is run by India Meteorological Department (IMD).
• Objective: To provide Real-time air quality index on 24x7 basis with colour coding along with 72-hour advance weather forecast; To issue Health advisory to prepare citizens well in advance.

Parameters monitored:

• Pollutants: PM1, PM2.5, PM10, Ozone, CO, NOx (NO, NO2), SO2, BC, Methane (CH4), Non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), Black Carbon, VOC’s, Benzene and Mercury.
• Meteorological Parameters: UV Radiation, Rainfall, Temperature, Humidity, Wind speed, Wind direction, solar radiation.

Source : Times now

6. JINGTANG PORT

China has cited COVID-19 regulations for denying departure to a stranded Indian merchant ship loaded with Australian coal. The ship named Jag Anand been awaiting anchorage at the Chinese port Jingtang near Tangshan in China's Hebei province since June this year.

About:

• The Port of Jingtang is an artificial deep-water international seaport on the coast of Tangshan Municipality, Hebei, in Northern China.
• It is part of the Tangshan port complex, which consists of Jingtang, Caofedian and Fengnan ports. Combined, they constitute the 9th largest port in China.
• Jingtang port is located in Bohai bay (Bohai sea) close to the port of Tianjin.

Source : All India Radio

7. PEACE DEAL BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN

Russia brokered a new peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the two countries that have been in a military conflict for over six weeks over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus.

About:

• As per the new peace deal, both sides will now maintain positions in the areas that they currently hold, which will mean a significant gain for Azerbaijan as it has reclaimed over 15-20 per cent of its lost territory during the recent conflict, the AFP reported.
• Further, under this agreement, all military operations are suspended, Russian peacekeepers will be deployed along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor that connects the region to Armenia.
• Straddling western Asia and Eastern Europe, Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but most of the region is controlled by Armenian separatists.

Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO)?

• Russia’s role in the conflict has been somewhat opaque since it supplies arms to both countries and is in a military alliance with Armenia called the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).
• CSTO is an intergovernmental military alliance that was signed on 15 May 1992.
• In 1992, six post-Soviet states belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States signed the Collective Security Treaty (also referred to as the "Tashkent Pact" or "Tashkent Treaty").
• Its 6 members are: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
• Headquarters: Moscow, Russia.

Source : Indian Express

8. APOPHIS

Asteroid Apophis, which was expected to pass extremely close to Earth, may now hit the blue planet in 2068 due to a phenomenon called Yarkovsky effect. This effect has eventually accelerated the asteroid's flow and also changed its path.

About:

• Discovered in 2004, Asteroid Apophis, named after the Greek God of Chaos, is a 1,120-foot-wide (340-meter-wide) asteroid. That’s about the size of three-and-a-half football fields, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said.
• According to a recent report, the sun can heat an asteroid in a non-uniform way, causing the space rock to radiate heat energy asymmetrically. This can cause a thrust or a tiny push in a certain direction, sometimes changing the path of the asteroid. This effect is called the Yarkovsky acceleration.
• Before the discovery of Yarkovsky effect, the possibility of the collision was impossible. The detection of this effect acting on Apophis means that the 2068 impact scenario is still a possibility.
• As per the new calculations by astronomers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, asteroid Apophis, which will also be extremely close to Earth on April 13, 2029, is deviating from its actual orbit and may crash into Earth in 2028.

Source : India Today

9. THIRTY METER TELESCOPE

2020 Physics Nobel Laureate Prof. Andrea Ghez had worked closely with Indian astronomers on the design of back-end instruments and possible science prospects of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project being installed at Maunakea in Hawaii.

About:

Who are involved? TMT project is an international partnership between CalTech, Universities of California, Canada, Japan, China, and India; through the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

Name: “Thirty Metre” refers to the 30-metre diameter of the mirror, with 492 segments of glass pieced together.

Significance:

• Once completed, it would be three times as wide as the world’s largest existing visible-light telescope. The larger the mirror, the more light a telescope can collect, which means, in turn, that it can “see” farther, fainter objects.
• It would be more than 200 times more sensitive than current telescopes, and would be able to resolve objects 12 times better than the Hubble Space Telescope.
• Application: One of its key uses will be the study of exoplanets, many of which have been detected in the last few years, and whether their atmospheres contain water vapour or methane — the signatures of possible life.
• Opposition against its construction: Already the site of a number of observatories and 13 large telescopes, Mauna Kea is considered sacred by native Hawaiians who believe that such constructions defile the Mauna Kea mountain.
• Way ahead: If the Thirty Metre Telescope cannot be built on Mauna Kea mountain in Hawaii, Spain’s Canary Islands is a backup site.

Source : LiveMint

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