Current Affairs 9th September 2017

Current Affairs 9th September 2017 - Important Points

• India refuses to sign Bali Declaration over Rohingya issue on - 7th September 2017
• MoU signed for Hyperloop between Vijaywada and Amravati by - Andhra Pradesh
• Who has been appointed as Chairperson of NACWC ? - Inder Jit Singh
• Images of strongest Solar Flare captured by - NASA

Current Affairs 9th September 2017 - Details

India refuses to sign Bali Declaration over Rohingya issue on - 7th September 2017

India refused to sign Bali Declaration adopted at the World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development in Indonesia on 7th September 2017.
The Bali Declaration was referring to the violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

More on Bali Declaration

• It is called on all parties to contribute to restore stability and security in the region.
• The Declaration urged everyone to “exercise maximum of self-restraint from using violent means,
  respect all the people's human rights in Rakhine state irrespective of their faith and ethnicity, and as facilitate and guarantee safe access for humanitarian assistance”.

MoU signed for Hyperloop between Vijaywada and Amravati by - Andhra Pradesh

The Andhra Pradesh Government joined hands with a US-based company to introduce the futuristic Hyperloop transportation system in the state capital region, Amravati on 6th September 2017.
This will be the first Hyperloop project to be implemented in India, if everything goes as per the plan.

Important highlights

• The Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board and US-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies signed the MoU in Amaravati.
• However, the companies have not disclosed the probable cost of the project.
• HTT chairman and co-founder Bibop Gresta and EDB CEO J Krishna Kishore signed this MoU jointly.
• The project will be taken up in the public-private-partnership mode with the funds coming primarily from the private investors.
• Hyperloop is proposed to be introduced between routes of the Amaravati and the city centers of Vijayawada. It will be covering the distance of more than 35km only in five minutes.
• As the MoU terms, the HTT will be conducting a feasibility study from October 2017 to analyse the surrounding city scapes to create the best route between the two cities.
• After the feasibility study of six-months, the first Hyperloop will be constructed in India.

Do you know?
A hyperloop is a proposed mode of passenger and/or freight transportation, comprises a sealed tube or system of tubes through which a pod may travel free of air resistance or friction conveying people or objects at optimum acceleration and velocity.

Who has been appointed as Chairperson of NACWC ? - Inder Jit Singh

Inder Jit Singh was given the additional charge of the post of Chairperson of National Authority Chemical Weapons Convention (NACWC) on 7th September 2017. Singh is serving as the Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat at present and will be continuing to hold this post. Inder Jit Singh is of Kerala cadre, a 1985-batch IAS officer .

About National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention (NACWC)

• Established on 29th April 2017, NACWC was set up as an office of the Cabinet Secretariat to fulfil the obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
• It acts as the national focal point for an effective bond with the Organisation to Prohibit the
  Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and other State Parties on matters relating to the Convention.
• It has a Chairperson and three Directors. The Directors comprise the Joint Secretary in NACWC,
  DG of Directorate of Revenue and Intelligence and Joint Secretary of the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals also.

Images of strongest Solar Flare captured by - NASA

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly captured the images of two
significant Solar Flares emitted by Sun on 6th September 2017. These are powerful bursts of radiation. These solar flares are seen as the strongest ones ever in a decade.

Key Highlights of the Solar Flares

• Sun emitted two strong solar flares. The first flare is called as an X2.2 flare and the second one is an X9.3 flare.
• Both the flares erupted from an active region which also produced a mid-level solar flare on 4th September 2017.
• The X9.3 flare was the biggest flare in the current solar cycle, started in December 2008, and now is minimizing in intensity and heading towards 'Solar Minimum'.
• 'Solar Minimum' is such a phase of the solar cycle when these eruptions on the sun are unexpectedly rare, but they can be intense. The radio black out from this particular flare has already passed.
• The harmful radiation of a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere, hence human beings are not affected with this. However, when these flares are intense enough, there is a probability of them to disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.