Current Affairs 20th April 2018

Current Affairs 20th April 2018 - Important Points

• Which country opened its first movie theatre after 35 years - Saudi Arabia

• 34 global technology firms sign Cybersecurity Tech Accord on - Cyber-security matters

• Chandrayaan-2 launch postponed to - October-November 2018

• Updated QR code for offline Aadhaar verification launched by - UIDAI

Current Affairs 20th April 2018 - Details

Which country opened its first movie theatre after 35 years - Saudi Arabia

On 18th April 2018, Saudi Arabia opened its first public movie theatre after a gap of 35 years. Before that it was prohibited due to religious reasons.

Special Screening of film Black Panther was held in Riyadh. This was attended by Saudi Culture and Information Minister Awwad Alawwad along with other guests. More movie theatres will be opened in coming years. By 2030 there will be roughly 350 cinema screens.

All films which will be screened will be subjected to censorship as per media policy rules of Kingdom.

34 global technology firms sign Cybersecurity Tech Accord on - Cyber-security matters

34 leading global technology organisations including Facebook, Microsoft, HP, ARM, Cisco, and Oracle
have signed Cybersecurity Tech Accord to work together on cyber-security matters.  Under it, signatory
firms have agreed to cooperate on stronger defence systems, no-offensive cyber-attacks, and defend
against tampering of their products, capacity building and collective action. The participant firms view
Tech Accord as Digital Geneva Convention.
4 Principles of Cybersecurity Tech Accord
1. Safeguard subscribers and customers everywhere
2. Defend cyber-attacks on innocent citizens and initiatives
3. Empower subscribers, clients and developers to toughen cyber-security
4. Partner with each other and same minded collections to enhance cyber-security
Features of Accord

• The 4 principles of cyber-security Tech Accord intended at advancing online security and resiliency
  across the earth. Signatory firms decided to mount tougher defence against cyber-attacks, regardless of motivation underlying them. They promised not to assist governments launch cyber-attacks against blameless citizens or enterprises.
• They will defend their products and services from any exploitation that could permit their usage in cyber- attacks. They will authorize developers, and people who practice technology products to advance their capacity to preserve against cyber-attacks.  It comprises combined work on developing stronger security practices.
• Under this harmony, signatory firms object to take cooperative action to found formal and informal
  partnerships with industry, civil society and security researchers, to advance association for disclosure of weaknesses and other threats. The aim is to diminish potential for introduction of malevolent code.

Chandrayaan-2 launch postponed to - October-November 2018

The ISRO has suspended release of India’s second lunar mission ‘Chandrayaan-2’ from April 2018 to
October-November 2018. The release was suspended for additional tests recommended by national
level committee to review Chandrayaan-2.
More about Chandrayaan 2

• Chandrayaan-2 is 2nd mission of India towards Moon and is more advanced version of previous Chandrayaan-1 mission that was released earlier in 2008.
• It has been established in India by Indian Space and Research Organisation. It consists of Spacecraft, Lander and Rover configuration.
• In this mission, Indian Space and Research Organisation will for 1st time effort to land a rover on moon’s southern pole.
• It will be released on board of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III.
• It is Indian Space and Research Organisation’s 1st inter-planetary mission to land rover on any heavenly body. 
• The orbiter weighs approximately 3,290 kilograms and it will orbit around moon and achieve purposes of remote sensing moon.
• Once Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-F10 put spacecraft in 170 kilometres x 20,000 kilometres elliptical orbit, spacecraft will be manoeuvred towards 100 kilometres lunar orbit by firing thrusters and then lander housing the rover will separate from spacecraft.
• The 6 wheeles rover will run on the surface of moon and will gather soil, rock samples for on-site
  chemical investigation to collect scientific data on moon’s topography, mineralogy, lunar exosphere and signatures of hydroxyl, water & ice. The information will be transmitted to Earth through spacecraft.
• The rover will circulate around landing site in semi-autonomous mode as defined by the ground instructions.

Updated QR code for offline Aadhaar verification launched by - UIDAI

The UIDAI has announced updated ‘QR code’ for offline Aadhaar verification to boost its privacy measures during any use. The updated ‘QR code’ is intended at adding an additional privacy layer to Aadhaar after Unique Identification Authority of India announced the concept of virtual identification.
 Key Points

• The restructured ‘QR code’ will only reveal non-sensitive details including name, address, photo, and date of birth.
• It can be utilised for offline subscriber verification without disclosing 12-digit Aadhar identification number.
• The fresh QR code has photo and can be utilised in offline mode to protect against any tampering of documents.
• Aadhaar card bearers can download and print their biometric ID with QR code from Unique Identification Authority of India website or its mobile application. Subscribers also can manually blacken Aadhaar number and utilise printout with new QR code for launching their identity, offline too.
• The printed QR code when scanned will only read non-sensitive information without revealing 12-digit Aadhar identification number.
  QR code
• Quick Response code (QR) is two-dimensional machine-readable bar code made-up of black and white square.
• This code can be read by the smartphone cameras.
• It is utilised for storing other data that connects directly to text, emails websites phone numbers. It is talented of 360 degrees high speed reading.
• Quick Response Code can store about 7089 digits as compared to conventional bar codes which can store max 20 digits.
• It encrypts same amount of information in one-tenth the space of a traditional bar code.
• It carries data both horizontally and vertically. It has error rectification capability and data stored in
  it can be stored again, even if it is incompletely damaged or dirty.