TNPSC Current Affairs February 19, 2020

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs February 19, 2020 (19/02/2020)

 

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Topic: Profile of States, Latest Diary of Events

Kambala

After Srinivas Gowda created a record by covering 100 metres in 9.55 seconds recently, another Kambala runner Nishant Shetty has now overtaken the former by completing the same distance in 9.51 seconds.

What is Kambala?

It is traditional slush track buffalo race held annually in coastal districts of Karnataka to entertain rural people of the area. Slushy/marshy paddy field track is used for Kambala. The sports season generally starts in November and lasts till March.

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Topic: Public Awareness and General Administration, Latest Diary of Events

Swachh Iconic Places

The 3rd Annual Review meeting on Swachh Iconic Places (SIP) was held recently at Baidyanath Dham Deoghar, Jharkhand.

About Swachh Iconic Places (SIP):

It is an initiative of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation under Swachh Bharat Mission. Aims to take iconic places and their surroundings to higher standards of Swachhata, so that all visitors benefit and also take away home the message of cleanliness. Implementation of the project: It is a collaborative project with three other central Ministries: Urban Development, Culture, Tourism; all levels in the concerned States and more importantly, Public Sector and Private companies as partners.

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Topic: Public Awareness and Latest Diary of Events

Kangaroo mother care (KMC)

It is the intervention where babies are placed in skin-to-skin contact with their mothers and exclusively breast fed. It has been recommended worldwide for stable low-birthweight newborns. WHO recommends that it be continued till baby attains a weight of 2.5 kg or till babies wriggle out.

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Topic: Profile of States, Public Awareness and General Administration

Morning Breakfast Scheme – Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu government announced that breakfast scheme for school students will be implemented all over Tamil Nadu. So far, this scheme is applying only in the Greater Chennai Corporation.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been commissioned by the State government to serve breakfast to 32,000 students in corporation schools across Chennai. “Kaalai Unavu Thittam” (Breakfast Scheme) is jointly implemented by the Greater Chennai Corporation and the Akshaya Patra Foundation.

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Topic: Discovery of New Species, Profile of States

New Species of Urban Lizard

A new species of lizard, the urban bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus urbanus) was discovered in Guwahati, Assam. The bent-toed gecko was earlier thought to be the same as the Meghalaya’s Khasi Hills lizard. Geckos are mostly small, usually nocturnal reptiles with soft skin.

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Topic: New inventions on Science and Technology

Aditya- L1 mission

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing to send its first scientific expedition to study the Sun. Named Aditya-L1, the mission, expected to be launched early next year, will observe the Sun from a close distance, and try to obtain information about its atmosphere and magnetic field.

About Aditya- L1 mission:

It is India’s first solar mission. It will be launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in XL configuration. The space-based observatory will have seven payloads (instruments) on board to study the Sun’s corona, solar emissions, solar winds and flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), and will carry out round-the-clock imaging of the Sun.

Objectives:

Study the sun’s outer most layers, the corona and the chromospheres. Collect data about coronal mass ejection, which will also yield information for space weather prediction.

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Topic: New inventions on Science and Technology

Ra’ad-II missile

Pakistan conducted a successful flight test of the air launched nuclear-capable cruise missile Ra’ad-II.

It has a range of 600 km. The system is equipped with state-of-the-art guidance and navigation systems ensuring engagement of targets with high precision. Pakistan’s development of the Ra’ad could be seen as an attempt to match India’s BrahMos cruise missile.

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Topic: Public Awareness and General Administration, Profile of States

Kala Kumbh

With an objective to promote Geographical Indication (GI) crafts and heritage of India, the Ministry of Textiles is organizing Kala Kumbh – Handicrafts Thematic Exhibition in various parts of the country through the Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts).

The exhibitions are sponsored by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH). EPCH was established under Companies Act in the year 1986-87 and is a non-profit organisation, with an object to promote, support, protect, maintain and increase the export of handicrafts.

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Topic: Profile of States, Latest Diary of Events

National Institutes renamed

Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses has been renamed as Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses. IDSA is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Defense. Dedicated to objective research and policy-relevant studies on all aspects of defense and security.

Sushma Swaraj: The Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi was renamed as Sushma Swaraj Bhawan and also the Foreign Institute in New Delhi was renamed as Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Services.

Arun Jaitley: The National Institute of Financial Management was renamed as Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management. Also, in September 2019, the Delhi Ferozeshah Kotla Cricket ground was renamed as Arun Jaitley Stadium.

The Government of India has been renaming the national institutes after late ministers. The leaders passed away in 2019 due to health issues. They were Manohar Parrikar, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj.