Assam’s Hailakandi becomes 1st district to pay cashless transactions wages

Hailakandi district of Assam has become the first district to pay wages to tea garden workers through individual bank accounts. It completed this task before the December 15, 2016 deadline set by the state government for cashless transactions of salary payments to the plantation workers. 

Key Facts 

At least 504 workers of Burnie Braes tea estate received their wages through bank accounts. The payment was made through five Banking Correspondents (CSPs) of Assam Gramin Vikash Bank. Such payments were possible due to the effort bankers, tea garden managements and mobile service providers. Following demonetisation of old high value 500 Rupees and 1000 Rupees currency notes, Assam government had set December 15, 2016 as the deadline for cashless transactions to tea plantation workers.

7th World Ayurveda Congress held in Kolkata

The 7th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) was held from December 2 to 4, 2016 at Science City in Kolkata, West Bengal. It was organised by the World Ayurveda Foundation with the support of the Union Ministry of AYUSH to facilitate development and growth of AYUSH system of medicine comprising Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy. 

Key Facts 

The focus theme of the Ayurveda Congress was “Strengthening the Ayurveda Ecosystem“. The major components of the congress were public outreach session, Ayurveda Clinics for the general public and Public Lectures. During the 7th WAC, 5 plenary sessions, 25 parallel sessions and a large number of paper presentations were also held. On behest of PHARMEXCIL and Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry, buyer seller meet was also held to boost the export potential of the Ayurvedic Industry. Besides, to facilitate development and growth of AYUSH system of medicine the AYUSH ministry also had organised AROGYA Expo. It was inaugurated by Union Minister for AYUSH Shripad Naik.

Current Affairs Today - Current Affairs 2017 4 December: Navy Day

The Indian Navy Day is observed annually on 4 December to celebrate the magnificence, achievements and role of the naval force of the country. Indian Navy is one of most potent maritime forces in the world and the most lethal in Indian Ocean. On the occasion of 45th Navy Day, President Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to all members of the Indian Navy and their families. 

Why Navy Day is celebrated?

The observance of the day commemorates the launch of Operation Trident by the Indian Navy against Pakistan on 4th December, 1971. During the 1971 India-Pakistan war, the Indian Navy had played a significant role in the bombing of the Karachi harbour, the stronghold of the Pakistani Navy. In this attack, Indian Navy sank four Pakistani vessels and ravaged the Karachi harbour fuel fields. In this operation, three missile boats of the Indian Navy, INS Nirghat, INS Nipat and INS Veer had played a pivotal role.Operation Trident had also resulted in first use of anti-ship missiles in the Arabian Sea region.

Usain Bolt, Almaz Ayana crowned 2016 IAAF World Athlete of the year award

Sprint king Usain Bolt from Jamaica has been awarded the 2016 IAAF World Athlete of the Year award in male category for sixth time. Earlier he had won it in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. He was rewarded for his blistering performance in 2016 season in which he won three gold medals (100m, 200m and 4x100m relay) at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Bolt had won three gold medals, each in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100 meters at the Rio Olympics, repeating his feats of the 2012 London Games and in Beijing in 2008. Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia won the award in women’s award category. She was presented with the award for her world-record run to win Olympic gold medal in the 10,000 meters. She is the third Ethiopian woman to win this award following Genzebe Dibaba (2015) and Meseret Defar (2007). 

Other awards 

Male Rising Star: Andre De Grasse (Canada).

 Female Rising Star: Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium). 

Coaching Achievement: Harry Marra (US).

 President’s Award: Tegla Loroupe. 

Women in Athletics: Polyxeni Argeitaki (Greece).

 About IAAF World Athlete of the year award 

The awards are presented annually by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The winners are chosen by athletics officials, athletes, journalists and an online public poll.

SC approves Centre’s Graded Response System to tackle air pollution in Delhi-NCR

The Supreme Court has approved Central Government’s Graded Response Action Plan to tackle different levels of pollution in Delhi-NCR. The apex court also has asked Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to upgrade its existing infrastructure and set up additional monitoring stations in Delhi-NCR.

Graded Response Action Plan

 The enforcement of action plan will be under orders of Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority (EPCA). All other authorities will act in aid of such direction. It has enumerated a number of measures which include closing brick kilns, stone crushers, hot mix plants, intensifying public transport services besides increase in frequency of mechanised cleaning of road and sprinkling of water on roads to tackle problem of pollution.

Common Pollution Code The action plan 

proposes common pollution code for Delhi-NCR to provide graded response to health emergencies caused by noxious air due to pollution. 

The code categorises the severity of the pollutants present in the air into four categories- moderate to poor, very poor, severe, very Severe or emergency depending upon the level of pollutants in air. 

Under it, when particulate matter (PM) 2.5 levels are above 250 to 430 micrograms per cubic metre in the ambient air it will be termed as “severe” levels of pollution.

 After air pollution reaches such alarming proportions, immediate steps will be taken. It includes ban on construction activities and implementation of road space rationing schemes. 

China’s capital city Beijing also has a similar pollution code where regular colour-coded alerts are issued based on the levels of toxic particles in the air. 

Russian Scientist develop new cheap way to produce nuclear fuel using electricity

Scientists from Russia have developed a new unique, low-cost method for producing high-quality nuclear fuel using electricity. It is alternative novel method that forms the basis of powder metallurgy and involves electric pulse sintering under pressure. The main type of fuel for nuclear power reactors is the uranium oxide pellet composition. It is produced from a powder by granulation, pressing, and sintering (coalescing into a solid or porous mass by heating) with the subsequent control of the quality and size of the pellets.

Key Facts

 In the new method, the mould is heated by passing electric current with the uranium oxide pellet powder placed in. 

The uranium oxide fuel is simultaneously influenced by the powerful pulse discharge and mechanical pressure

 Advantages

Products of high quality are obtained in low cost. 

Reduces number of production stages without increasing the cost.

Fuel pellets can be produced even from uranium dioxide powder, which is not suitable for the conventional technology.

Israeli scientists create world’s first water-wave laser

Scientists from Israel have created the world’s first ‘water-wave laser’ that emits a beam through the interaction of light and water waves. The study conducted by team of researchers from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology led by Professor Tal Carmon. 

Significance of this research 

A typical laser can be created when the electrons in atoms become “excited” by energy absorbed from an outside source causing them to emit radiation in the form of laser light. However, the water-wave laser for the first time showed that water wave oscillations within a liquid device can also generate laser radiation. It also successfully demonstrated nonlinear optics and water waves, two areas of research that were previously considered unrelated to one another. 

How it works?

 In this case, researchers had created a device in which an optical fibre delivers light into a tiny droplet of octane and water. The energy is emitted by the droplet when light waves and water waves pass through each other many times (about one million times) inside the droplet The interaction between the fibre optic light and the miniscule vibrations on surface of the droplet creates an echo i.e. interaction of sound waves causing it to emit radiation. Event when minute pressure is applied by light it can cause droplet deformation that is a million times greater than in a typical optomechanical device. It may offer greater control of the laser’s emissions. In order to increase this echo effect in the device, highly transparent, runny liquids was used to encourage light and droplet interactions. 

Potential Applications 

The ‘water-wave laser’ may be used in ‘lab-on-a-chip’ devices to study cell biology and test new drug therapies. It can be used in tiny sensors that combine light waves, sound and water waves. It also offers scientists a playground for studying the interaction of light and fluid at a scale smaller than the width of a human hair.