GK & Current Affairs June 2016

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Steinbeis GmbH Co. 
•    KG for Technologie transfer, Germany on technology resourcing in manufacturing, including sub-sectors of CapitalGoods. 
•    The MoU was signed on 25th April, 2016 during the Industrial Exhibition Hannover Messe 2016 in Hannover, Germany. 
•    Steinbeis GmbH is leading organization for applied industrial research in Europe. It will act as a Technology Resource Partner for implementing identified projects in manufacturing. 
•    The field of cooperation envisaged in the MoU are: 

a) Profiling of specific technologies; 
b) technology road mapping for specified Capital Goods sub-sectors, 
c) assessment of technology status of Capital Goods Cluster; 
d) cooperation in events on technology; and
e) upgrading existing technology institutes / setting up Greenfield institutes in India and other technology related co-operation and collaboration. 
The MoU is a framework instrument to facilitate industrial technology projects by Indian Capital Goods Sector. The MoU will provide a platform to various public sector undertakings and Capital Goods Sector units to have easy access to capabilities and expertise of Steinbeis GmbH for identifying and plugging technology gaps. 

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 22 June 2016 launched a record 20 satellites in a single mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
With this launch of 20 satellites, ISRO also managed to break its previous record of placing 10 satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008.
The Cartosat-2 series satellite is the primary satellite carried by PSLV-C34. This satellite is similar to the earlier Cartosat-2, 2A and 2B. After its injection into a 505 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit by PSLV-C34, the satellite will be brought to operational configuration following which it will begin providing regular remote sensing services using Panchromatic and Multispectral cameras.
•    LAPAN A3 of Indonesia: The micro-satellite will be used for earth surveillance and magnetic field monitoring.
•    BIROS from Germany: This is meant for remote sensing of high temperature events.
•    SKYSAT GEN 2-1 from US: It will be used for earth imaging. The micro-satellite was developed by Google Company Terra Bella's SkySat Gen2-1.
•    Dove Satellites from US: it comprises of a total of 12 Flock-2P Earth imaging satellites.
•    Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Microsatellite (M3MSAT) from Canada: This micro-satellite of Canada will be used for collection and study of automatic identification system signals from low earth orbit.
•    GHGSat-D from Canada: It is an Earth observation satellite and is meant for measuring the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases (Carbon Dioxide and Methane).
•    Sathyabamasat (Sathyabama University, Chennai): The satellite aims to collect data on green house gases.
•    Swayam (College of Engineering, Pune): The satellite aims to provide point to point messaging services to the HAM (amateur radio) community.
•    Cartosat-2 along with its 19 co-passenger satellites together weighing about 560 kg at lift-off was injected into a 505-km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit.
•    According to ISRO, the total weight of all the 20 satellites was about 1288 kg.

NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope and its extended K2 mission allowed astronomers to discover the youngest fully formed exoplanet, K2-33b. The WM Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii also helped in discovery of this new found planet. Exoplanets are planets that orbit stars beyond our sun.
The finding was published online on 20 June 2016 in journal Nature.
•    The planet K2-33b is nearly 10 times closer to its star than Mercury is to our sun, making it hot.
•    K2-33b is a bit larger than Neptune and whips tightly around its star every five days.
•    It is only 5 to 10 million years old, making it one of a very few newborn planets found to date. 
•    The discovery of exoplanet K2-33b so close to its star has given the theorists new data point to ponder. They argue that the closeness of K2-33b could be explained either through the ‘theory of disk migration or the ‘theory of in-situ formation’.
•    As per the former theory, the exoplanet might have migrated so close in a process called disk migration that takes hundreds of thousands of years. On the other hand, later theory puts that planet might have formed in-situ – right where it is.
•    The first signals of the planet's existence were measured by K2.
•    The telescope's camera detected a periodic dimming of the light emitted by the planet's host star, a sign that an orbiting planet could be regularly passing in front of the star and blocking the light.
•    Data from the Keck Observatory validated that the dimming was indeed caused by a planet, and also helped confirm its youthful age.
•    Infrared measurements from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope showed that the system's star is surrounded by a thin disk of planetary debris, indicating that its planet-formation phase is wrapping up.
•    Astronomers have discovered and confirmed roughly 3000 exoplanets since the discovery of first massive exoplant 20 years ago. However, nearly all of them are hosted by middle-aged stars, with ages of a billion years or more.

Former Spinner Anil Kumble was appointed as the head coach of Indian Cricket Team on 23 June 2016. He will hold this position for one year.
•    Kumble’s first assignment will be the upcoming away series in the West Indies, where India will play four Test matches.
•    The decision of his selection was taken in the BCCI working committee meeting in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh by the Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Saurav Ganguly and Sanjay Jagdale, the Chief Co-Coordinator.
•    Forty-five year old Anil Kumble was among 57 candidates who applied for the position advertised by the BCCI in May 2016.
•    He is only the second bowler in Test cricket to take 10 wickets in an innings. He achieved the fete in a match against Pakistan in Delhi in 1999.
•    The 45-year-old leg-spinner has mentored Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians.
•    He has been the chairman of the National Cricket Academy and BCCI’s Technical Committee.
•    His international cricket career spans 18years.
•    Overall, Kumble has to his name in first class cricket.
•    He was awarded Padma Shri and also received Arjuna Award.
•    He was Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1996.
•    He was appointed Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee in 2012, a position he still holds.
•    He was also included into the Great Hall of Fame in 2015.

In a bid to promote green energy, the world's first electric road is now under testing in Sweden. 
•    The road near the city of Gävle in central Sweden will serve as a testing ground for electrically-powered trucks which will operate under real traffic conditions.
•    The hybrid electric trucks from Scania will operate on the 2 km strip on the E16 motorway using conductive technology developed by Siemens.
•    The technology behind the concept allows the trucks to operate as electric vehicles when on the electrified road and as regular hybrid vehicles when on other stretches.
•    Scania trucks are Euro 6-certified and run on bio fuel. 
•    The vehicle receives its electrical power from a pantograph power collector which is in turn connected to overhead power lines that are above the right-hand lane of the road. 
•    The trucks are capable of freely connecting and disconnecting from the overhead wires while in motion.
•    If the truck goes outside the electrically-powered lane, the pantograph is disconnected and the truck then runs on the combustion engine or the battery-powered electric motor. 
•    The same technique applies if the driver wants to overtake another vehicle in a different lane.
•    The project is seen as a key component in achieving the country's ambition of an energy-efficient and fossil-free vehicle fleet by 2030.

World’s leading payments platform PayPal on 22 June 2016 announced the appointment of Anupam Pahuja as the Managing Director (MD) and Country Manager for its India operations.

•    Pahuja will be responsible for all aspects of PayPal's business in India. He will also be responsible for further strengthening of the company's operations in the country.
•    Prior to joining PayPal, Pahuja worked as the India MD for SumTotal Systems.
•    PayPal operates a worldwide online payments system.
•    It is headquartered in California, United States.
•    It is one of the world's largest Internet payment companies.
•    The company operates as an acquirer. It performs payment processing for online vendors, auction sites and other commercial users, for which it charges a fee.
•    The company was established in 1998.
•    In 2014, PayPal moved 228 billion US dollar in 26 currencies across more than 190 nations, generating total revenue of 7.9 billion US dollar.

The International Widow's Day 2016 was celebrated across the world on 23 June 2016. The day was celebrated to raise awareness on the troubles of widowed women.
•    The day throws light on the situation of widows which is sometimes neglected due to absent in statistics, unnoticed by researchers and is mostly overlooked by civil society organizations.
•    Generally, widow women have to suffer complete social exclusion. Abuse of widows and their children constitutes one of the most serious violations of human rights and obstacles to development today. 
•    Millions of the world’s widows endure extreme poverty, ostracism, violence, homelessness, ill health and discrimination in law and custom.
•    To give special recognition to the situation of widows of all ages and across regions and cultures, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared 23 June 2011 as the first-ever International Widows’ Day to be celebrated annually.
•    Since 2011, International Widows Day is observed to sensitize the global population for the misery of the widows.

The United Nations Public Service Day was celebrated by the United Nations (UN) on 23 June 2016.The day was celebrated to mark the invaluable contributions of public servants and administrators to build a better world for all.
•    The 2016 United Nations Public Service Day was celebrated at the United Nations Headquarters in New York with a High-level Knowledge Sharing Panel on Leaving No One Behind: Innovative Institutional Approaches and Public Service Delivery.
•    This is the first time that the Day is celebrated after the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by all United Nations Member States.
•    The UN Public Service Day is intended to celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community. 
•    It highlights the contribution of public service in the development process and recognizes the work of public servants.
•    It also encouraged young people to pursue careers in the public sector.
•    On this day, the United Nations awards the public servants with the United Nations Public Service Award, the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service. 
•    The award Ceremony was established in 2003.

Aveek Sarkar on 22 June 2016 resigned as the Editor-in-Chief of Ananda Bazaar Patrika (ABP) and The Telegraph. However, he would continue as the chairman of the group. He is succeeded by Arup Sarkar.
•    Moreover, Anirban Bhattacharya was appointed as the Editor of the Ananda Bazaar Patrika and R Rajagopalan was named as the Editor of The Telegraph.
•    Aveek Sarkar will now play an advisory role as Editor (Emeritus) and Vice Chairman of the company.
•    Aveek Sarkar, one of the most prominent personalities in the Indian publishing scene, was tutored by the legendary Harold Evans, then the editor of The Sunday Times.
•    Aveek Sarkar assumed the post of Editor of the Ananda Bazar Patrika in 1983 after death of his father Ashok Sarkar.
•    He was the moving force behind the transformation of the ABP Group from a regional house into a prominent national group and also led the group's entry into television.
•    He played vital roles during the formation of Penguin India, the Indian counterpart of Penguin Books and during the acquisition of STAR News in 2003.

Technology services provider Tech Mahindra Ltd (TechM) on 22 June 2016 acquired UK-based digital transformation firm The BIO Agency Ltd.
•    The acquisition was carried out in an all-cash deal for an enterprise value of up to 45 million pounds.
•    The payment of 22 million pounds and the surplus cash of 5 million pounds will be made upfront and the balance will be done away as deferred payments based on company performance.
•    Tech Mahindra will acquire 100 percent of shares of the company. 
•    The closing date of the transaction is expected to take place in the first week of July 2016.
•    The move will help Tech Mahindra to strengthen its digital portfolio in providing better digital strategy, services and customer experience.
•    The acquisition will also help The BIO Agency to make sizable inroads into the telecommunications and enterprise clients of Tech Mahindra. 
•    BIO Agency specializes in digital transformation across sectors such as retail, financial and travel. It offers digital strategy, service design, digital retail, connected products, product innovation and e-commerce solutions.