Current Affairs 23rd October 2017

Current Affairs 23rd October 2017 - Important Points

• Sun like planet-eater discovered by - Astronomers
• 2nd World Congress on Marxism to be held in Beijing in - May 2018
• Phase 1 of RO RO Ferry Service inaugurated by - PM Modi
• WHO removes Robert Mugabe as Goodwill Ambassador on - 22nd October 2017
• Ranjit Kumar resigned as Solicitor-General of India on - 20th October 2017
• Denmark Open Superseries trophy clinched by - K Srikanth

Current Affairs 23rd October 2017 - Details

Sun like planet-eater discovered by - Astronomers

The star has been named after a Greek mythological character, Titan, who ate his own children including Poseidon, Hades (Pluto) and three daughters is 350 light years away from earth.
The researchers Semyeong Oh, astrophysicist at Princeton University in New Jersey and co-author David Hogg from the Flatiron Institute in New York stated that they didn’t intend to search a planet-eater and were instead analysing a catalog of new star data for pairs of stars with similar speeds and trajectories.
But it led to the discovery of Kronos and Krios (its lesser known brother).

Important Details

• Both the stars are identical and are formed from the same ingredient.
• Kronos had a high level of rock-forming minerals, including silicon, iron, magnesium, aluminium, chromium and yttrium.
• Both are around four billion years old which is slightly older than sun.
• Both stars orbit each other in the order of every 10,000 years or so.

2nd World Congress on Marxism to be held in Beijing in - May 2018

The 2nd World Congress on Marxism is going to be held in Peking University in Beijing with the theme "Marxism and the current world and China" in May 2018. The announcement regarding the Congress as made by the  organizing committee on 22nd October 2017.  The congress will be held from 5th May to 6th May 2017.

 Key Highlights

• The congress is expected to attract more than 300 Marxism researchers to discuss Marxism in the 21st century and its development in China.
• The congress also coincides with the 200th anniversary of Karl Marx's birth and 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up of China.
• It will be having 17 subforums covering topics like Chinese solution and modernization approach by the developing countries.
• It will be focusing on Marxism research by the global academic circle and Marxism in current China.
• It will be helping to interpret to the world academic circle the "China road, China theory and China experience.
• It is expected to be a significant event for the world Marxism research and scientific socialism.

Phase 1 of RO RO Ferry Service inaugurated by - PM Modi

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Phase 1 of the Roll on, Roll off ferry service between Ghogha and Dahej on 22nd October 2017.

This ferry service shall be trimming down the travel time between Ghogha in Saurashtra, and Dahej in South -Gujarat, from around 7-8 hours, to just an hour approximately. Ghogha located in Bhavnagar district of Saurashtra lies 32 km which is 17 nautical miles across the gulf from Dahej in Bharuch district.

The inaugurated Phase 1 enables passenger movement only for now. Once fully operationalized, this ferry service will also be enabling vehicles movement.

More about RO RO Ferry Service

• This term ro-ro is taken for large ocean-going vessels. It is just opposite to the lo-lo (lift-on and lift-off) vessels, which apply a crane to load and unload cargo.
• In India, It is a first of its kind of services in India. The RO RO ferry service will be abled to bear up to hundred of vehicles and 250 passengers linking the two ports.
• The ro-ro ferry services will be taking wheeled cargo on and off the ferry on their own wheels or using a platform vehicle.
• The wheeled cargo includes, semi-trailer trucks, cars, trucks, trailers, and railroad cars.

WHO removes Robert Mugabe as Goodwill Ambassador on - 22nd October 2017

The World Health Organisation cancelled the appointment of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's appointment as its Goodwill Ambassador for Non-communicable Diseases in Africa on 22nd October 2017. His removal as a Goodwill Ambassador came after the outrage among Western donors and rights groups at his appointment.

Mugabe was appointed in Uruguay at a global conference on Non-communicable Diseases by WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian and
the first African to lead the United Nations’ health agency WHO.

In the West, Mugabe is blamed to destroy economy of Zimbabwe and for numerous human rights abuses during his tenure of 37 years leading the country as either President or Prime Minister.

It is also believed that under Mugabe’s authoritarian rule, Zimbabwe's health care system suffered badly, with hospitals frequently lacking necessary supplies and nurses & doctors regularly left without pay.

WHO is currently struggling in dealing with the cholera outbreak in Yemen that has infected some 800000 people back in 2016. It is also dealing with the outbreak of plague in Madagascar which has killed nearly 100 people in 2 months.

Ranjit Kumar resigned as Solicitor-General of India on - 20th October 2017

Ranjit Kumar resigned as the Solicitor-General of India, the second highest ranking law officer of the Union Government on 20th October 2017. He cited personal reasons and family commitments for his decision to resign.

His resignation came within months after the government gave him an extension.His tenure of 3 years as Solicitor General ended on 6th June 2017, but the government had extended the tenure on an ad-hoc basis. His decision to leave the office comes shortly after Mukul Rohatgi resigned as Attorney-General of India in June 2017.

More about Ranjit Kumar

• A successful senior advocate, Kumar had earlier served as a counsel for the Gujarat government and represented the Gujarat government in Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
• In 2014, Kumar joined the government’s team of law officers in the Supreme Court.
• Kumar had appeared for the Union Government in the Cauvery river water sharing litigation as
• Solicitor General in which he argued that the government should take the final decision on the water-sharing scheme.
• He also represented the government in a case filed against the use of pellet guns against protestors in J&K.
• He took the initiative to frame school safety guidelines for students while representing the government in the Ryan International's Pradyuman Thakur murder case.

Denmark Open Superseries trophy clinched by - K Srikanth

Ace Indian shuttler, Kidambi Srikanth lifted the Denmark Open Superseries trophy on 22nd October 2017 at Odense, marking his 3rd Super Series win of the year and 5th overall.
The 8th seeded Srikanth defeated his opponent, South Korea's Lee Hyun-il in straight games, 21-10, 21-5. Former world number one, Lee, is placed at the 17th rank currently. It was the first time Lee and Srikanth had faced each other.
The women’s single's final was equally thrilling with Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand delivering a shocking defeat to defend champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 14-21, 21-15, 21-19 in the 66-minute final. After this win, the current 9th seeded shuttler claimed her first Superseries title in 1.5 years.

More about Srikanth

• Srikanth decimated his opponent in Super Series final in just 25 minutes.
• Previously, He had defeated 12th seeded Wong Wing Ki from Hong Kong on 21st October 2017 in straight matches of 21-18, 21-17 to book a berth in the final.
• Before that, Srikanth had delivered a shocking defeat to the reigning world number one, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the quarter finals to enter the semis.
• Srikanth had left behind the Rio Olympic bronze medallist with a 14-21, 22-20, 21-7 in 56 minutes only.