GK and Current Affairs Updates

A group of scientists from the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine developed the first functional pacemaker cells from human stem cells.
●    The invention will help in paving the way for alternate, biological pacemaker therapy.
●    The study was published in December 2016 the journal Nature Biotechnology.
●    The scientists used a developmental-biology approach to ascertain a specific protocol for generating the pacemaker cells.
●    The study stated that sinoatrial node cardiomyocytes derived from human pluripotent cells function as a biological pacemaker.
●    It goes on to explain that human pluripotent stem cells can be manoeuvred in 21 days to develop into pacemaker cells, which regulate heart beats with electrical impulses.
●    The human pacemaker cells were tested in rat hearts. 
●    Pluripotent stem cells hold the potential to differentiate into more than 200 different cell types that make up every tissue and organ in the body.
●    Sinoatrial node pacemaker cells are the heart's chief pacemaker. It controls the heartbeat throughout life.
 

The foundation stone ceremony for setting up the first Second Generation (2G) Ethanol Bio-refinery in India was held on 25 December 2016 at village Tarkhanwala, Bathinda in Punjab.
●    Harsimarat Kaur Badal, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State (I/C) Petroleum & Natural Gas, and Sardar Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, jointly laid the foundation stone.
●    The approximate investment for setting up of the refinery is Rs 600 crores.  The project will be set-up by the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL).
●    The proposed Bathinda bio-refinery will be utilizing agricultural residues for production of 100 KL per day or 3.20 crore litres per-annum of ethanol. 
●    This per-annum production may be sufficient to meet the 26 per cent of the ethanol blending requirement of the Punjab.
●    With the setting up of the bio-refinery, employment for about 1200 -1300 persons will be generated in the biomass supply chain. 
●    It will also generate an additional income of approximately Rs 20 crores per annum for the farmers through purchase of their agriculture residues.

Ministry of Human Resource Development is opening a new Regional Institute of Education at Nellore (Andhra Pradesh). Its foundation-stone will be laid on December 27 jointly by Shri. Prakash Javadekar, the Union HRD Minister and Shri. M. Venkaiah Naidu, the Union Urban Development Minister. Many prominent dignitaries shall also grace the occasion.
 
●    Presently NCERT, an apex body of Government of India on School Education, has five RIEs in the country at Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysore and Shillong. The opening of the new RIE at Nellore will be give an impetus to the strengthening of School Education and Teacher Education in the region and benefit not only Andhra Pradesh but also the adjoining States of Telegana, Tamil Nadu, Pudduchery etc.
●    The opening of the RIE fulfills the long-standing demand of the region. The new institution at Nellore shall offer teacher education programmes like B.Sc/BA B.Ed, M.Ed, Ph.D etc. will undertake research and development of Resource Materials on school and teacher education, help capacity building of Teachers and Teacher Educators, strengthen implementation of Government of India Schemes like SSA, RMSA, ICT in schools, and strengthen linkages among State Education Agencies besides addressing educational needs of the States.
●    The opening of the RIE at Nellore has been possible because of the keen interest shown by the Government of Andhra Pradesh by offering land free of cost for the institute. Union Minister for Urban Development Sri Venkaiah Naidu had taken the initiative and requested the Government of Andhra Pradesh for the necessary land. The State Government allotted 50 acres of land free of cost on the National Highway at Kanupuru Bit-II, near NH-16 Venkatachalm Mandal, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh.

The Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on 25 December 2016 launched the Twitter Seva for providing passport and consular services.
●    The initiative was launched by the Union Minister of State for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh in New Delhi.
●    Twitter Seva seeks to resolve queries related to visa and passport services in a speedy manner.
●    The service acts as an umbrella platform for all the MEA-affiliated Twitter handles.
●    It is supported by 198 Twitter accounts of India’s Missions and High Commissions abroad and 29 Regional Passport Offices (RPOs) spread across India.
●    Through its Twitter handle @MEAIndia, the MEA will use this service to strengthen its primary relationship with Indian citizens by providing fast, efficient and real-time public services.
●    It will enhance scalability and speed up the process while dealing with requests by Indian and global citizens.
●    The global roll-out of Twitter Seva will enable simple, timely and transparent response to citizen Tweets in real-time.

Lt Gen Vinod Vashisht took over the reins of National Cadet Corps (NCC) as its Director General on 23 December 2016.
●    An alumnus of National Defence Academy, the General was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery on 09 June 1979. 
●    A graduate from Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, the General has attended the Higher Command Course, National Defence College, IAS Professional Course and Emergency Management Course at Melbourne, Australia.
●    He has held various staff and command appointments and has been awarded with COAS & GOC-in-C Central Command Commendation, VSM & Bar for distinguished service in command and staff assignments. 
●    He held the appointment of Additional Director General in Military Training and Additional Military Secretary (A) at the IHQ of MoD (Army). 
●    He was the Commandant, Officers Training Academy, Gaya prior to the current assignment.He succeeds Lt Gen A Chakravarty, who retired on31 August 2016.

The Minister of Shipping and Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari has said that projects worth Rs. 1 Lakh Crore under Sagarmala programme are at various stages of implementation and development. He was speaking to the press at a ceremony  to inaugurate the Sagarmala Development Company in New Delhi today. The Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) has been incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013. The company has an initial Authorized Share Capital of Rs. 1,000 Crore and a subscribed share capital of Rs. 90 Crore.
●    The main objective of the company is to identify port-led development projects under the Sagarmala Programme and provide equity support for the project Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) set up by the Ports / State / Central Ministries and funding window and /or implement only those residual projects which cannot be funded by any other means / mode.
●    The Cabinet had approved the formation of the SDC under the administrative control of the Ministry of Shipping in July 2016. The company would help in structuring activities, bidding out projects for private sector participation, identifying suitable risk management measures for strategic projects across multiple States / Regions and obtaining requisite approvals and clearances.
●    The implementation of the identified projects would be taken up by the relevant Ports, State Governments/Maritime Boards, Central Ministries, through private or PPP mode. The Company would act as the nodal agency for coordination and monitoring of all the currently identified projects under Sagarmala as well as other projects emerging from the master plans or other sources.
 

Singer who first made his name as half of pop group Wham! before going on to solo success died peacefully at home.
●    Andrew Ridgeley and Sir Elton John have led tributes to pop superstar George Michael, who has died at his home in Oxfordshire aged 53.
●    Michael, was set to release a documentary in 2017, rose to fame as half of Wham!, known for their hits Club Tropicana and Last Christmas. 
●    He had a highly successful solo career that included the songs Careless Whisper, Faith, Outside and Freedom! 90.
●    Michael – who was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou – had 11 UK No 1s and sold more than 100m albums during a career spanning almost four decades. 
●    His last album, Symphonica, was released in 2014.
●    Michael’s death prompted an outpouring of emotional tributes with musicians, celebrities and politicians posting their memories of Michael on social media.

The Union Government on 25 December 2016 launched the Aadhaar Payment App with an aim to simplify the digital transactions. This app will do away with the need of carrying plastic cards and the point of sale machines.
●    It will also do away with the additional fee payments for service providing card companies such as Mastercard or Visa.
●    There are two sides to this Aadhaar Payment app, one is the consumer app and the other is the merchant app.
●    On the consumer front, the app is just like any mobile wallet which will be used to transfer money.
●    While, merchants will require two things to use this app, one is an Android smartphone and second is a fingerprint scanner.
●    This app can also be used by a person to make payments without any phone.
●    The app was developed by IDFC Bank along with UIDAI and National Payments Corporation of India. 

Just 14 months after Yoga was declared as a sport in India, the decision has now been reversed.
●    When Yoga was recognised as a sport in India in September last year, it had the seal of approval from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
●    But on Wednesday the sports ministry communicated to all the National Sports Federations and the Sports Authority of India (SAI), that "Yoga can't be termed as a sport."
●    Yoga, in fact, was added in the list of priority sports but the government has found out that it has many dimensions and it will not be possible to conduct competitions in Yoga.
●    For any sport to be added into the priority list, it should be part of Olympics, Asian Games or Commonwealth Games but for Yoga, an exception was made.
●    The sports ministry will no longer look after Yoga and it has now gone back to the AYUSH ministry.

Scientists have identified materials that can withstand temperatures of nearly 4,000 degrees Celsius.
●    It may pave the way for improved heat resistant shielding for the faster-than-ever hypersonic space vehicles. 
●    Researchers from Imperial College London in the UK discovered that the melting point of hafnium carbide is the highest ever recorded for a material.
●    Tantalum carbide (TaC) and hafnium carbide (HfC) are refractory ceramics, meaning they are extraordinarily resistant to heat. 
●    Their ability to withstand extremely harsh environments means that refractory ceramics could be used in thermal protection systems on high-speed vehicles and as fuel cladding in the super-heated environments of nuclear reactors.
●    However, there has not been the technology available to test the melting point of TaC and HfC in the lab to determine how truly extreme an environment they could function in.