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  • Current Affairs 21st August 2018

    Updated : 21-Aug-2018

    Current Affairs 21st August 2018 - Important Points

    • FSSAI constitutes B Sesikeran Committee to review food labelling standards on - 17th August 2018
    • War-torn Korean families to reunite briefly starting from - 20th August 2018
    • World's first-ever 4D printing for ceramics developed by - Researchers
    • Saurabh Chaudhary wins gold, Sanjeev Rajput wins silver in - Asian Games 2018

    Current Affairs 21st August 2018 -Details

    FSSAI constitutes B Sesikeran Committee to review food labelling standards on - 17th August 2018

    The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) constituted a group of experts from health and nutrition sector to look into the issue of food labelling on 17th August, 2018. B Sesikeran, former director of NIN (National Institute of Nutrition) headed this panel and it also comprises Hemalatha and Dr Nikhil Tandon . The panel will be studying in detail the concerns of the industry and make recommendations.

    The FSSAI CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal made this announcement regarding the constitution of the Committee while addressing a national consultation on the draft regulation on food labelling organised by the CUTS International.

    He also made it very clear that FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) will be going ahead with the labelling norms even if there is no full  consensus on the matter after the panel's suggestions.

    War-torn Korean families to reunite briefly starting from - 20th August 2018

    Around 180 families, who were torn apart by the 1950-53 Korean War, will be temporarily reunited in North Korea starting from 20th August, 2018. The move comes after  the two Koreas renewed exchanges in 2018 following the decades-long standoff over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

    Important Highlights

    • The reunions, the first in three years, will be taking place in the North’s tourist resort on Mount Kumgang, as agreed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in during their first summit in April.
    • On 19th August, the South Korean family members reached at the coastal border city of Sokcho to be briefed by officials on the reunion and for a brief health check-up, before crossing the border on 20th August.
    • About 89 South Koreans crossed the military demarcation line to enter into North Korea on 20th August. The group is scheduled to return to the South on 22nd August. 
    • A group of 83 North Koreans will also be reunited with relatives who live in the South from 24th August to 26th August at the same resort.

    More about the Korean War

    • War-torn Korean families to reunite for the brief time after 65 years
    • The Korean War, which took place between 1950 and 53, was a war between North Korea and South Korea.
    • It took place during the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union.
    • As a product of the Cold War, Korea got splitted into two sovereign states with their governments to claim to be the sole legitimate government of all  of Korea and din't even accept the border as permanent.
    • The conflict escalated into a full-scale war when the North Korean forces, assisted by China and the Soviet Union, crossed the 38th parallel which is the boundary between the two Koreas and invaded the South on 25th June, 1950.
    • The United Nations Security Council authorised the formation and dispatch of UN forces to South Korea repelling the North Korean invasion.
    • Twenty-one member countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the US to provide around 90 percent of the military personnel.
    • The fighting ended with an armistice was signed on 27th July, 1953.
    • However, no peace treaty was signed. In April 2018, the leaders of North and South Korea met at the demilitarized zone and agreed to sign a treaty by the end of the year to formally end the Korean War.

    World's first-ever 4D printing for ceramics developed by - Researchers

    Researchers from the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) have developed the world's first-ever 4D printing for ceramics successfully that can be used to create complex, shape-changing objects.

    Key Highlights

    • The researchers made use of the elastic energy stored in the stretched precursors to morph shape.
    • Once the stretched ceramic precursors are released, they undergo self-reshaping.
    • The precursors turn into ceramics after heat treatment
    • Ceramic has a high melting point, so it is difficult to use conventional laser printing to make ceramics.
    • They can have a high compressive strength-to-density ratio and can come in large sizes with high strength as compared to other printed ceramics.
    • Researchers developed a novel 'ceramic ink', which is a mixture of polymers and ceramic nanoparticles, to overcome these challenges.

    More about the Research Team

    It took the team over two and a half years to overcome the limitations of the existing materials and and to develop the whole 4D ceramic printing system.

    Saurabh Chaudhary wins gold, Sanjeev Rajput wins silver in - Asian Games 2018

    The Day 3 of Asian Games 2018 started with shooters Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma and Sanjeev Rajput while adding three more medals to India’s medal account, and hencforth taking the total medal tally to 8, including 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals.

    Saurabh Choudhary who is 16 years old Indian Shooter won gold in 10m Air Pistol event with Asiad record, while Abhishek Verma won bronze. on the other hand, India’s Sanjeev Rajput claimed the silver by finishing second in the finals of the 50m rifle 3 positions men’s event.