Current Affairs 7th January 2018

Current Affairs 7th January 2018 -  Important Points

• Aadhaar misuse traceable, system is secure, stated by  UIDAI on - 5th January 2018
• NASA to launch GOLD, ICON Missions to explore nearest space announced on - 4th January 2018

Current Affairs 7th January 2018 - Details

Aadhaar misuse traceable, system is secure, stated by  UIDAI on - 5th January 2018

The Unique Identification Authority of India on 5th January 2018 refused reports of misuse of Aadhaar card data, declaring that Aadhaar system is reliable and any mishandling can be detected as it maintains complete log of different functions. It was revealed in the past few days that Aadhaar data is being provided on payment of Rs 500 by nameless sellers on WhatsApp. On this, UIDAI informed that there has not been any Aadhaar data violation.

The authority declares that the Aadhaar details, including biometric data, is completely safe and reliable. Rather, the detailed case appears to be instance of misuse of the wrong redressal search facility.

Aadhaar data is safe and secure-

• The search solution has been made accessible for wrong redressal to appointed personnel and State government officials to aid citizens, that too only upon providing their Aadhaar number.
• Even the grievance redressal search accessibility offers only restricted access to name and other details and has no entry to biometric details.
• The Aadhaar details remains completely safe reliable with maximum encryption at UIDAI and basic display of demographic details cannot be misused without biometrics.
• UIDAI preserves the complete log and traceability of the provisions and any misuse can be located and suitable reaction can be taken thereafter.
• Aadhaar number is not a secret number, as it requires to be shared with authorised organizations whenever an Aadhaar bearer wants to avail a service or advantage of government welfare plans.
• Therefore, mere obtaining an Aadhaar number will not be a security warning or will not cause any financial or any other fraud. For a accomplishing authentication, fingerprint or eye scan of individual is also desired.

NASA to launch GOLD, ICON Missions to explore nearest space announced on - 4th January 2018

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced to launch two missions to explore 60 miles (96 KM) of area above Earth's surface on 4th January 2018.

The GOLD(Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk) mission will be launched aboard a commercial communications satellite in January 2018 itself, while the other mission Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) is expected to launch later in 2018.

Once both the missions will be launched, GOLD and ICON will be teamed up to explore the ionosphere which is the boundary area between Earth and the space which features an ocean of electrically-charged electrons and ions and strong Sun radiations.

These layers of near-Earth space are becoming a part of human domain lately as it is home for radio signals and to guide airplanes, ships and Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites.

These two missions are complementary in nature. ICON mission will be moving in low-Earth orbit at 350 miles (560 km) above Earth, will be flying through and just above the ionosphere, like a close-up camera.

While, GOLD mission will be running in geostationary orbit over the Western Hemisphere 22000 miles (about 35398 km) above the planet's surface.  It will be building up a full-disk view of the ionosphere and the upper atmosphere in every half hour.

GOLD and ICON will be cooperating with each other when ICON will be passing through GOLD's field of view and each mission will get a snapshot of the same region.

This overlap of data will be making it easier to identify what caused a certain change to the upper atmosphere in a given time. Both the missions will also be measuring how upper atmosphere changes in response to geomagnetic storms and hurricanes.
Moreover, it is expected that the scientists on this mission will find evidences for a theoretical model about El Nino's repercussions on the ionosphere.