TNPSC Current Affairs February 01, 2018

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs February 01, 2018 (01/02/2018)

 

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Topic: Indian culture, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times

Medaram Jatara

The four-day ‘Sammakka – Saralamma Jatara’ at Medaram in Telangana has begun.

Considered the biggest tribal festival across South Asia, the Jatara witnesses a huge number of devotees thronging the village to take the blessings of Goddess Sammaka-Saralamma.

About the Medaram’s Sammakka-Sarakka/Saralamma Jatara:

Sammakka-Sarakka Jatara held by forest dwelling Koya tribe of Telangana and surrounding States, is the biggest Tribal festival in Asia which is attended by one crore people on an average.

Why is it held?

The event is held bi-annually to honour the twin goddesses Sammakka and her daughter Sarakka.

Several communities in Telangana society support Jatara as it is also a mythical narrative of two tribal women leaders who fought against the Kakatiya rulers who tried to annex their land and forests.

According to the myth it was Sammakka’s curse which caused gradual decline and death of Kakatiya rule.

Key Facts:

Medaram is a remote place in the Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary, a part of Dandakaranya, the largest surviving forest belt in the Deccan.

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Topic: Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism

Democracy Index

The Economist Intelligence Unit has released 2017 Democracy Index report.

The report shows that democracy is in decline across the world. It is the worst performance since 2010-’11 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

Performance of various countries:

Top and bottom countries:

Norway, Iceland and Sweden are the top three on the list while Chad, Syria and North Korea bring up the bottom.

Performance of India:

The total score of 89 countries fell when compared to their ranking in 2016.

India was one of the countries whose score declined the most.

In the ‘media freedom ranking’, India ranked 42 out of 167 countries that the index covered.

Continents:

Asia recorded the biggest decline compared to other regions of the world. According to the index, Asia (5.63) lagged behind North America (8.56), Western Europe (8.38) and Latin America (6.26).

Indonesia was the worst-performing nation, falling to 68th position from 48th rank.

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Topic: Important Geophysical phenomena

Super Blue Blood Moon

Large parts of the globe experienced a rare ‘Super Blue Blood Moon’ on January 31st, 2018.

A supermoon, a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse took place at the same time.

So, what is a Super Blue Blood Moon?

A ‘Super Moon’ is simply a moon that is closer to the Earth than normal. As a result, it appears bigger and brighter in the sky.

A ‘Blue Moon’ is also simple and means the second full moon in a calendar month.

A ‘Blood Moon’ happens when sunlight passes through the atmosphere above the Earth, casting a dark colour across the surface of the moon.

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Topic: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology

LiFi technology

In a recent pilot project, the ministry of electronics and IT successfully tested a technology called LiFi (Light Fidelity), which uses LED bulbs and light spectrum to transmit data at speeds as high as 10 GB per second over a 1-km radius.

Indications are strong that it will be soon launched in India on a commercial basis.

The idea is to connect difficult terrains of the country that can’t be reached by fiber but have access to electricity.

The technology can be used to connect hospitals where regular internet signals interfere with certain equipment as well as to provide underwater connectivity.

What is Li-Fi?

Li-Fi, or light fidelity, invented by German physicist and professor Harald Haas, is a wireless technology that makes use of visible light in place of radio waves to transmit data at terabits per second speeds—more than 100 times the speed of Wi-Fi.

Advantages:

Li-Fi could make a huge impact on the internet of things too, with data transferred at much higher levels with even more devices able to connect to one another.

Li-Fi offers great promise to overcome the existing limitations of Wi-Fi by providing for data-heavy communication in short ranges.

Due to its shorter range, Li-Fi is more secure than Wi-Fi.

Since it does not pollute, it can be called a green technology for device-to-device communication in the Internet of Things (IoT).

Li-Fi systems consume less power.

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Topic : Profile of States, Latest Diary of Events

Floating island to come up on Neknampur Lake

A floating island of 2,500 sq.ft with about 3,500 wetland plants will be introduced on the Neknampur Lake in Hyderabad on the eve of World Wetland Day on February 2nd.

It will be introduced by Dhruvansh, a voluntary organisation working for protection of water bodies.

The ‘island platform’ has been designed using styrofoam, bamboo, gunny bags, coir and so on and could bear the weight of four persons, according to Madhulika Choudhary of the body.

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Topic : The National and Defense Activities

Third Scorpene submarine ‘Karanj’ Launched at Mazagon Docks

The third Scorpene class submarine named “Karanj” constructed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited for the Indian Navy, was launched on 31 January 2018.

Scorpene submarines can undertake multifarious types of missions i.e Anti-Surface warfare, Anti-Submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, area surveillance etc.

Last year, on 14 December 2017, INS Kalvari, the first Scorpene class submarine was commissioned.

Khanderi, the second Scorpene class submarine was launched in January 2017.

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Topic : Sports and Medals, Persons in News, Latest Diary of Events

Khelo India School Games

Khelo India School Games (KISG), meaning Play India School Games, held annually beginning from 31 January 2018, are the national level multidisciplinary grassroot games in India for the under-17 years school kids.

Every year best 1000 kids will be given an annual scholarship of INR500,000 for 8 years to prepare them for the international sporting events.

Small state of Haryana (108 medals including 38 golds, 26 silver and 38 bronze) was the top team in 2018, followed by Maharashtra (110 medals including 36 golds) and Delhi (94 medals including 25 golds).

Key facts:

On 31 January 2018, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, declared open the inaugural Khelo India School Games at the opening ceremony based on Guru–shishya tradition held at Indira Gandhi Arena.

Performance of Tamil Nadu:

In this game, Tamil Nadu won 6 gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze Medals.

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Topic : Places in news, Latest Diary of Events

Mayon Volcano in Philippines spews lava fountain & Ash plumes

Mayon Volcano or Mount Mayon, is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol Region, on the large island of Luzon in the Philippines.

Mayon has the classic conical shape of a stratovolcano.

It is the most active volcano in the Philippines. Since 1616, Mayon has erupted 47 times.