Latest Current Affairs – October 03 2018
1. Barca world’s 1st sports club to surpass $1 bn in revenues
Spanish club FC Barcelona became the first sports team in the world to surpass the $1 billion mark in revenues. The Spanish club, which presented its annual accounts on Tuesday, claimed that it earned $1.05 billion (€914 million) for the 2017-18 season. Barcelona revealed it is the eighth straight year in which the club has closed with a profit.
2. Frances Arnold, George Smith, Gregory Winter win Chemistry Nobel
The 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded one half to Frances Arnold from the US and the other half jointly to US’ George Smith and UK’s Gregory Winter. Arnold was awarded for the directed evolution of enzymes, while Smith and Winter won the accolade for drug research that can neutralise toxins, counteract autoimmune diseases and cure metastatic cancer.
3. Justice Ranjan Gogoi takes oath as 46th Chief Justice of India
Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday took oath as the 46th Chief Justice of India (CJI) in front of President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Justice Gogoi succeeds Dipak Misra and is the first CJI from a North Eastern state. Earlier in January, he held a press conference with three other Supreme Court judges questioning the SC’s functioning.
4. PM Modi receives United Nations’ highest environmental honour
PM Narendra Modi was presented with United Nations’ highest environmental honour ‘Champions of the Earth’ in Delhi by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. PM Modi was recognised for his leadership of the International Solar Alliance and pledge to eliminate single-use plastic in India by 2022. He was among six winners including French President Emmanuel Macron.
5. HyperloopTT unveils 1st full-scale hyperloop passenger pod
High-speed transportation system developer Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) unveiled its first full-size passenger capsule called Quintero One in Spain. Weighing around 5,000 kg, the pod is 32 metres (105 feet) long, while the passenger cabin measures around 15 metres (50 feet). HTT believes that the capsule will be ready to convey passengers before the end of 2019.
6. Cabinet approves big hike in MSP for Rabi crops
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs enhanced MSP for Rabi Crops of the current season. MSP for Wheat has been increased by 105 rupees to 1840 rupees per quintal.
This is 112.5 percent above the cost of production of 866 rupees per quintal. Barley will earn an MSP of 1440 per quintal for farmers, up 30 rupees, which is 67.4% above the cost of 860 per quintal.
Gram brings in an MSP of Rs. 4620 per quintal, up 220 rupees, yielding a 75.2 percent return on cost of Rs. 2637. Similarly MSP of masur is up 225 rupees per quintal at 4475 giving a return of 76.7percent on 2532 rupees cost. The new rates will encourage farmers to produce and earn more.
7. Asiatic lions of Gir reserve faces tough challenge
Asiatic lions of Gir are facing a tough challenge in Gujarat. It appears that Canine Distemper Virus has taken the life of some of the lions that died mysteriously in last one month. According to forest experts this disease spreads to Lion when they eat cats and dogs affected with the deadly virus. Gujarat government is also importing a specific vaccine from USA to deal with the emergency.
8. Manipur won the 24th Senior Womens National football championships
Manipur won the 24th Senior Women’s National football championships for the 19th time in Cuttack, Odisha. Manipur beat Odisha by securing 2-1 in the final. In the semifinals, Manipur had beaten Railways 4-3 in a penalty shootout, while Odisha dethroned Tamil Nadu 4-3.
9. Researchers developed spacesuits for microbes
Researchers from the University of California (UC) Berkeley developed spacesuits, a patchwork of mesh-like pieces called a Metal-Organic Framework (MOF), for bacteria which might allow the microbes to survive space environments that would otherwise kill them. The protective suits pair up with a living bacteria with light-absorbing semiconductors in order to capture carbon dioxide and convert it into chemicals that can be used by industry or, someday, in space colonies.
The system mimics the photosynthesis process in plants. The hybrid system captures CO2 and light to make a variety of carbon compounds, depending on the type of bacteria. The bacteria used in the experiment are anaerobic, which means they can live in environments without oxygen.
10. Odisha government launched own food security scheme
Odisha government launched its own food security scheme on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the scheme at four different districts through video conferencing from the State Secretariat, Bhubaneswar. This scheme will benefit 25 lakh people who were left out of the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
The beneficiaries will get 5 kg of rice per person per month at the rate of Rs.1 per kg. The State government will spend Rs.443.5 crore per annum to support the scheme and Rs. 221.75 crore in the current financial year. This move is after the refusal of the Centre to its request to add additional beneficiaries under the NFSA.
11. OPPI re-elected A Vaidheesh as President for 2nd term of Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI)
The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) re-elected A Vaidheesh as President for the second consecutive term.
He is working as Vice President, South Asia & Managing Director, in GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals. It represents the research-based pharmaceutical companies in India.
12. Lonar Lake and St. Marys Island are announced to be geoparks
Lonar Lake, an ancient circular lake created by a meteorite strike, in Maharashtra and St. Mary’s Island, a hexagonal mosaic of basaltic rocks in an island off Udupi are poised to become global geoparks, under the plan of Geological Survey of India (GSI). Lonar Lake in Maharashtra and St. Mary’s Island and Malpe beach in coastal Karnataka are the GSI’s candidates for UNESCO Global Geopark Network status.
St. Mary’s Island which was declared a national geo-heritage site in 1975 is estimated to be an 88-million-year-old and Lonar crater became a geo-heritage site in 1979. It is around 50,000 years old.
13. Mahatma Gandhi awarded the US Congressional Gold Medal
It is the highest civilian honour given by the US Congress very few foreigners have received this award.
The resolution is co-sponsored by four Indian American lawmakers Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal.
Tulsi Gabbard is the current co-chair of the House Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans and also one of the co-sponsors of the resolution. Out of the 6 US lawmakers, four were Indian Americans.
14. India ranked 5th in pictorial warnings on cigarette packets: Canadian Cancer Society
According to a report released by the Canadian Cancer Society named Cigarette Package Health Warning International Status Report 2018, India ranked 5th among 206 countries.
This was released in Geneva at the 8th session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). There are now 55 countries/jurisdictions that require at least 65 per cent (on average) of the package, front and back, be covered with a warning.
15. Rangachari Sridharan appointed as Chairperson of NFRA
The former IAS officer Rangachari Sridharan as chairperson of the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), an entity which will function as an independent regulator for the auditing profession. He is a retired 1983 batch IAS officer of the Karnataka cadre.
16. India and Uzbekistan signed 17 Agreements and MoUs
The agreements were signed in the field of law, tourism, military education, agriculture, science and technology, commerce and industry, pharmaceutical, national security and illicit trafficking.
