Current Affairs 1st June 2017

Current Affairs 1st June 2017 - Important Points

• Stan Wawrinka beat Mischa Zverev to clinch - Geneva Open Men’s Singles title
• Dailong village declared Biodiversity Heritage Site - In Manipur
• New glass frog species discovered in - Ecuador
• New way to slow down cancer cell growth identified by - US researchers
• NASA develops technology to help drones land safely during - Emergency
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme has - No provision for individual cash transfer
• Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara resigned on - 1st June 2017
• Who has been appointed public policy fellow to US think-tank ? - Nirupama Rao
• Extension of Metro rail from Delhi to Sonepat approved by - Haryana Cabinet
• JRR Tolkien's book Beren and Luthien published after - 100 years
•  Satellite for high-precision positioning system launched by - Japan

Current Affairs 1st June 2017 - Details

Stan Wawrinka beat Mischa Zverev to clinch - Geneva Open Men’s Singles title

Swiss top seed Stan Wawrinka successfully defended his Geneva Open Men’s Singles title with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Germany's Mischa Zverev on 27th May 2017. It is the 16th title of Wawrinka's career.

More about Stan Wawrinka

• He is a Swiss professional tennis player.
• He has reached three Grand Slam singles finals in his career, winning all of them: the 2014 Australian Open, the 2015 French Open and the 2016 US Open.
• Just prior to the 2014 French Open, he requested and the ATP granted a formal change in his name from Stanislas Wawrinka to Stan Wawrinka.

Do you know?

It's the tennis tour affiliated with an ATP Tour that was held annually in Geneva, Switzerland on the clay courts from 1980 to 1991.

Dailong village declared Biodiversity Heritage Site - In Manipur

The Manipur Government declared Dailong village of Tamenglong district as a Biodiversity Heritage Site of the state in the last week of May 2017. Kengoo Zuringla, Joint Secretary of Forest and Environment division issued a notification in this regard. The village covering an area of 11.35 square km, has been declared as Biodiversity Heritage Site under Section 37(1) of Biological Diversity Act, 2002. This declaration was made after the recommendation of Manipur Biodiversity Board.

More about Biological Diversity Act, 2002

The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 is an Act of the Indian Parliament to preserve of biological diversity in India. It gives mechanism of equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of traditional biological resources and knowledge.

Biodiversity is defined under Section 2(b) of the Act as "the variability among living organisms from all sources and the ecological complexes of which they are part and includes diversity within species or between species of eco-systems". The Act also defines, biological resources as "plants, animals, micro-organisms, their genetic material and by-products with actual or potential use or value, but doesn't include human genetic material."

New glass frog species discovered in - Ecuador

A group of researchers have discovered a new species of glass frog, of the genus Hyalinobatrachium. 

Key Points

• The frog’s heart  beating can be seen right through its chest. This new species, Hyalinobatrachium yaku was found in the Amazonian lowlands of Ecuador. 
• The frog boasts green spots across its back and a red heart is fully visible due to the transparent membrane around its organs.
• ZooKeys published the discovery of the new glass frog. 
• Hyalinobatrachium yaku is not the only see-through species in existence, unusual call, its markings, and reproductive behavior set it apart from the rest.

New way to slow down cancer cell growth identified by - US researchers

Researchers in the United States have reportedly identified a new way to slow down cancer cells growth, according to reports released on 28th May 2017.

Key Points

• The research belonging to the University of Rochester in the US, has been published in the latest issue of the journal, Science.
• The new method involves the gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 and a protein called Tudor-SN.
• Researchers after a detailed study discovered how Tudor-SN is significant in the initial phase of the cell cycle, the period when the cell gets ready to divide.
• Elaborating on the discovery, Reyad A Elbarbary, lead author of the study, said that protein is more in cancer cells than in the healthy ones. So, targeting the protein could help in slowing down the fast-growing cancer cells.
• Elbarbary is also a Research Assistant Professor in the Center for RNA Biology and the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.
• The findings were made in cervical and kidney cancer cells in the laboratory and though they are still a long way from being applied on people, researchers believe that they could be the basis of a treatment option in the future.

NASA develops technology to help drones land safely during - Emergency

NASA scientists announced on 25th May 2017 that they are developing a technology to help drones land safely during emergencies. This technology has made it to safe landing zones like swamps or drainage ditches to crash instead of on top of people’s cars after eight flights. 

Key Highlights of the technology

• This crash-landing software for drones was developed by Patricia Glaab and her fellow NASA colleague and husband Lou Glaab. Both are aerospace technologist at NASA Langley Research Center.
• The software links on-board drone components like batteries and motors to keep a check onto their health.
• The technology help them identify when anything on the drone goes wrong and puts the aerial vehicles in a crash-landing mode.
• After releasing, a pre-installed database of nearby safe zones is checked by the software and identified one of safe landing.
• The software also incorporates technology that lets drones to recognize and avoid objects on the ground using on-board cameras.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme has - No provision for individual cash transfer

The Union Ministry of Women & Child Development (MWCD) clarified on 1st June 2017 that the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme has no provision for individual cash transfer component .

It focuses on women empowerment issues on a life cycle scale, not a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara resigned on - 1st June 2017

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara resigned from his post on 1st June 2017. He is also the State Congress Committee chief. He resigned earlier during the day, as the Party High Command wanted him to resign and focus solely on party matters and on the preparation for the upcoming 2018 Assembly elections.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah received his resignation letter on his arrival from Mysuru.

Do you know?

Dr. Parameshwar is the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president since 2010.

Who has been appointed public policy fellow to US think-tank ? - Nirupama Rao

Nirupama Rao,former Indian Ambassador to the United States has been appointed as the public policy fellow to a top American think-tank based in Washington. Rao would be working on Indo-China relationship on a project. 

She will be affiliated with the  Wilson Center's Asia program and would be spending three months in residence at the Wilson Center, which is a key non-partisan policy forum for dealing with global issues, beginning in June 2017. Commenting on the development, the Wilson Center stated that Rao will be working on a book project on Sino-Indian ties and will be contributing to the Wilson Center's activities on India including its India in Asia Initiative.

More about Nirupama Rao

• She is 1973 batch Indian Foreign Service officer.
• The 66-year-old woman was India's first woman ambassador to China.
• She became the second woman in July 2009 and served till 2011, after Chokila Iyer to hold the India's Foreign Secretary post, the head of the Indian Foreign Service.
• She is also the first and so far the only woman spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
• Not only China, she served as India’s Ambassador to several other countries including Sri Lanka, Peru and the United States.
• She became India's first woman High Commissioner to Sri Lanka in August 2004, the same year when the country was hit by the devastating tsunami.
• She oversaw and administered all the relief operations launched by India for the affected areas of Sri Lanka.
• She has taught at an undergraduate seminar at the Brown University called 'India in the World'.

 Extension of Metro rail from Delhi to Sonepat approved by - Haryana Cabinet

The Haryana Cabinet, headed by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar approved the extension of Metro Rail from Narela in Delhi to Kundli in Sonepat district of Haryana on 1st June 2017. Revised funding pattern of Metro projects is also approved by the cabinet in Haryana. Under this, 50 percent of funds for DMRC projects will be contributed by the Haryana Infrastructure Development Board, 20 percent by the Haryana Urban Development Authority, 18 percent by state government and 12 percent by the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corp.

Key Highlights 

• The 4.86-km long extension will have three stations- Kundli , Narela Sector 5 and Nathupur. All of the three stations will be elevated.
• The project will be financed by the State and Central governments jointly, with Haryana providing 80 percent of the funds and the Center will be responsible for the rest 20 percent.
• Haryana Government will contribute Rs 968.2 crore as per its share.
• This similar funding pattern was adopted for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) extension to Faridabad,Gurugram and Bahadurgarh in Haryana.
• Narela-Kundli extension construction will start in April 2018 and will end by March 2022.

JRR Tolkien's book Beren and Luthien published after - 100 years

Beren and Luthien, a book by Lord of the Rings author John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (JRR Tolkien), was published on 1st June 2017, 100 years after it was first conceived.

Harper Collins published by the last Middle Earth book 'The Children of Hurin' on the 10th anniversary . His son Christopher Tolkien edited the book.

More about Beren and Luthien

• Beren and Luthien is a love story that was partially inspired by JRR Tolkien's wife Edith.
• The story is about lovers fate Beren and Luthien, a mortal man and an immortal elf who together try to steal from the greatest of all evil beings Melkor called Morgoth.
• Alan Lee's illustrations featured by book.
• Beren and Luthien is described as a very personal story that JRR Tolkien forecasted after returning from the Battle of the Somme.
• Beren and Luthien names are carved on the gravestone Tolkien and his wife share in Wolvercote cemetery at Oxford.

 Satellite for high-precision positioning system launched by - Japan

Japan launched a satellite to help build a high-precision Geo-location system that will complement the US operated Global Positioning System (GPS) on 1st June 2017. The rocket carrying the Michibiki No. 2 satellite, H-IIA was launched from the Tanegashima space center in Kagoshima Prefecture, Southern Japan. The footage recorded by Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency confirmed the same.

Important Highlights

• The satellite geolocation systems, which were initially designed for the US military, power countless applications including car navigation and internet browsing on mobile phones.
• Japan is aiming to build its version with four satellites focusing on the country and wider region.
• The nation had launched its first Michibiki satellite into space on a trial basis in 2010 .
• It is planning to launch two more satellites by March 2018, after which at least one satellite will be flying over Japan for eight hours daily.
• The Michibiki system can cover the Asia-Oceania region.
• When combined with the US-operated GPS, the Japanese system would increase the stability of receiving radio waves and increase the precision of position information. 
• The US GPS has error margin of about 10 meters but together with the Japanese system positioning error will be reduced to only a few cms.
• The system is expected to be used for activities such as tractors without drivers in farming and also to help develop automated construction machines.
• Though GPS is widely used in Japan, having extra satellites is important in a country where mountain terrain and high buildings may interfere with GPS signals.
• The Japanese government is planning to launch seven satellites into orbit and secure Japan's own GPS system without depending on the US system by 2023.