Current Affairs 24th March 2017

Current Affairs 24th March 2017

• Four teams sent to Antarctica by - ISRO
• World Bank signs Health Care Deal for - Uttarakhand
• French Mathematician Yves Meyer won - Abel Prize 2017
• 4G business of Tikona Networks acquired by - Bharti Airtel
•  SaCReD Project to protect environment of Majuli Island launched by - Assam 
•  World Tuberculosis Day 2017 observed globally on - 24th March 2017 
• Five Indian cities included in World Heritage List on -22nd March 2017

Current Affairs 24th March 2017

Four teams sent to Antarctica by - ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced in March 2017 that it has sent four teams to install stakes on ice for Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) to validate the glacier surface velocity. The teams will mount the stakes around Indian station known as Maitri and Bharati.

Important highlights

• One team is from Space Application Center and the second team is from National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC).
• The third and fourth team belong to IRS Dehradun and Space Physics Laboratory.
• These teams will be studying and collecting the data from the satellite.
• Based on the data collected, the teams will validate the glacier surface velocity in order to measure the snow thickness over the land and sea using GPRS.
• The teams will also be verifying the situations of snow over the sea and land ice.
• The Indian Antarctic Program is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional program.
• The newest Indian base at the Bharati continent, was commissioned in 2015. It is constructed with 134 shipping containers.

 World Bank signs Health Care Deal for - Uttarakhand

The World Bank signed a USD 100 million credit agreement with the Union Government and Uttarakhand to improve quality of healthcare services in all 13 districts of Uttarakhand on 23rd March 2017. The agreement for the project was signed by Joint Secretary in Union Ministry of Finance, Raj Kumar; Project Director for the Uttarakhand Health Systems and World Bank India Operations Manager, Neeraj Kharwal and Acting Country Director Hisham Abdo Kahin.

Important Highlights

• The project focuses to reduce the financial risk for its citizens and make affordable and quality health care available to all. 
• The loan will be from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank with a maturity of 25 years, and it includes 5-years grace period.
• Most of the public health facilities in the middle and upper mountainous areas of Uttarakhand are unable to function optimally because of large-scale vacancies of health staff.
• In 2013, 48 per cent of the posts of general duty medical officers and 75 per cent of the specialists posts were vacant in the state despite a liberal government policy in terms of hiring contractual doctors.

French Mathematician Yves Meyer won - Abel Prize 2017

Yves Meyer, born 19th July 1939 of French nationality has been awarded with the Abel prize on 21st March 2017. 

Interesting Highlights

• After graduating, Meyer completed his military service as a teacher in a military school. He did his Ph.D. in 1966 from the University of Strasbourg.
• He became a professor of mathematics first at the Universite Paris-Sud and retired in 2008.
• He has been a member of the French Academie des Sciences since 1993.
• His prizes include the Salem (1970) and Gauss (2010) prizes.
• The Gauss prize is awarded jointly by the German Mathematical Society for advances in mathematics and International Mathematical Union that have had an impact outside the field.Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters awards the Gauss prize.
• The choice of laureate is based on the recommendation of the Abel Committee, which is composed of five internationally recognized mathematicians.
• The members of the current committee are - John Rognes (chair), Marta Sanz-Sole, Luigi Ambrosio, Marie-France Vigneras and Ben J Green.
• The Abel Prize and associated events are funded by the Norwegian Government.

 4G business of Tikona Networks acquired by - Bharti Airtel

 Bharti Airtel acquired 4G business of Tikona Networks including the Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) business and 350 sites across 5 circles of Tikona Digital for Rs 1600 crore on 23rd March 2017.

Important Points

• Tikona has 20 MHz spectrum in the 2300 MHz band in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh circles currrently.
• Post this acquisition, Airtel will be second company after Reliance Jio to have pan-India presence in 2300 Mhz band. 
• With this deal, Airtel will have 30 MHz in the 2300 MHz band in 13 circles.
• It acquired spectrum from Videocon Telecommunications in 1800 MHzin 2016.
• This will be Bharti Airtel’s fourth acquisition in last one year that is from March 2016 to March 2017.

Do you know?

 The 2300 Mhz band has second largest ecosystem of 4G devices.

 SaCReD Project to protect environment of Majuli Island launched by - Assam 

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched the Sustainable Action for Climate Resilient Development in Majuli (SaCReD, Majuli) initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Majuli district on 21st March 2017. It was launched to mark the International Day of Forests in Guwahati.

On this occasion, the Chief Minister also launched the ‘Forests are Lives’ campaign to show the importance of Assam’s rich flora and fauna.

More on SaCReD, Majuli

• The project aims to reduce the impact of climate change in India’s first island district Majuli.
• The idea is to make Majuli as India’s first ever carbon neutral district in next 3 years that is by 2020.
• This is a part of the French Development Agency-assisted Assam Project on Forest and Biodiversity Conservation to oversee the implementation of the project.
• A district level committee is set up under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner.

 World Tuberculosis Day 2017 observed globally on - 24th March 2017 

The World Tuberculosis (TB) Day 2017 was observed worldwide on 24th March 2017 with the theme Unite to End TB: Leave no one behind.This year, WHO places a special focus on uniting efforts to Leave no one behind, including actions to address discrimination,marginalization,stigma and overcome barriers to access care. The strategy focuses to help ensure that countries implementing it adhere to sound ethical standards to protect the rights of all those affected.

Key Highlights

• It aims in building the public awareness about the tuberculosis.
• It is also an opportunity to mobilize political and social commitment for the further progress in efforts to end TB.
• In the report shared by WHO in 2016, it was stated that 10.4 million people fell ill with TB and there were 1.8 million TB deaths in 2015, making it the top infectious killer worldwide.

 Five Indian cities included in World Heritage List on -22nd March 2017

The Union Government informed that five Indian cities were included in the Tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The information was shared by the Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge) Dr. Mahesh Sharmain in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

The five Indian cities are – Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mumbai and Delhi

Below is the criteria for inclusion in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

• To show a masterpiece of human creative genius.
• To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design
• To bear a unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared.
• To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history
• To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use, which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change
• To be directly or indirectly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.
• To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.
• To be an outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features
• To be an outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals
• To contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-site conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation