The Daily Brief – 17th September, 2016

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The Daily Briefs are a comprehensive update of current affairs for the day. To know more about them, read this. If you’d like to receive updates for current affairs every day, you’ll need to subscribe by entering your email address at the right side of this page. The previous Briefs can be accessed at the archives here. Also, check out our mock tests!

  • The Union Ministry of Tourism has approved projects worth 500 crore rupees for the integrated development of tourism in Jammu and Kashmir under the Swadesh Darshan scheme. 
  • The Delhi High Court, in its judgement yesterday, held that the photocopying of course packs prepared by Delhi University comprising portions from books published by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Taylor & Francis did not amount to infringement of copyright. The judgement lends clarity to the law on educational exceptions to copyright law.
  • India and Sri Lanka have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support fishing communities in Sri Lanka. Under this project, India will provide fishing and farming equipment worth USD two million.
  • Indian-born researcher Dinesh Bharadia has won the prestigious 2016 Marconi Society Paul Baran Young Scholar Award for his contribution to radio waves. He was chosen for his contribution to send and receive radio (wireless) signals, including mobile telephony and data on the same channel (wave). His duplex radio technology has disproved a long-held assumption that it is not possible for a radio to transmit and receive on the same frequency band because of the interference.
  • India declared itself free from the highly contagious avian influenza (H5N1) or bird flu from 5 September 2016. The declaration was made by the Department of Animal Husbandry under the Agriculture Ministry.
  • The World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have agreed to grant a loan of Rs. 6,325 crore to the Pune Metro Rail Project. The long-pending project has been proposed as a remedy to Pune’s traffic woes, caused by a rapidly increasing population and the number of vehicles.
  • Five Indian museums feature among the best 25 in Asia while Leh’s ‘Hall of Fame’ has topped the India list as a ‘must-visit’ place by travellers in a survey. The other top four most rated museums of India are — Bagore Ki Haveli (Udaipur), Victoria Memorial Hall (Kolkata), Salar Jung Museum (Hyderabad), and Jaisalmer War Museum (Jaisalmer). TripAdvisor will honour the ranked museums with its Travellers’ Choice awards.
  • New Chief Justices have been appointed for the Calcutta, Sikkim, Tripura, Manipur and Kerala, after Law Ministry notifications to elevate the senior most judges of these Courts to be Chief Justice.
  • All India Radio announced the launch of a multi-media and mobile app for Balochi-speaking people in the Af-Pak region and other parts of the world.
  • India signed an agreement with fellow BRICS countries to deepen cooperation in abatement and control of air and water pollution, efficient management of liquid and solid waste, climate change and conservation of biodiversity.
  • The environment ministers of India and China have agreed on an MoU and announced the setting up of a joint working group institutionalising their mutual cooperation on diverse environment related issues. Indian environment minister Anil Dave said India and China the main two countries on the either side of Himalayas, were both concerned about the degradation of Himalayan glaciers.
  • Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium is set to host India’s 500th test cricket match. The first was played in 1932 by a team led by CK Naydu. The 500th Test match will be played between against New Zealand, on September 22nd.
  • The 2016 Track Asia Cup concluded at the Cycling Velodrome in IG Stadium in New Delhi. Hong Kong topped the chart with 18 medals which comprise 11 Gold, four Silvers and three bronze. India came second, with 16 medals, including five gold, four Silver and seven bronze.
  • Ankita Raina, in partnership with Emily-Webley Smith, made the doubles final of the ITF women’s tennis tournament being held in China. They will play Chinese wildcards Hanyu Gu and Xinyu Jiang in the final.
  • National champion Saurav Ghosal, seeded second, defeated compatriot Harinder Pal Sandhu to enter the semifinals of the Macau Open badminton tournament.
  • China has successfully launched the Tiangong-2 space lab to develop expertise for a future space station and conduct experiments. The launch is a progression towards China setting up its own space station along the lines of the International Space Station (ISS).
  • United States President Barack Obama designated the country’s first marine national monument, Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, in the Atlantic Ocean. The monument aims at protecting fragile deep-sea ecosystems off the coast of New England.
Irina Bokova
  • Irina Bokova, UNESCO’s director-general, announced that Athens would be the World Book Capital for 2018.
  • Tunisian and British researchers have unearthed Stone Age tools showing humans lived in southern Tunisia nearly 100,000 years ago. The discovery could help explain the spread of Homo sapiens who appeared in eastern Africa 100,000 years earlier and emerged out of the continent around 65,000 years ago.
  • After studying Saturn, its rings and moons for more than 12 years, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has entered the final year of its epic voyage during which it will make the closest-ever observations of the planet. The conclusion of the historic scientific odyssey is planned for September next year.
  • Pakistan, which is already suspected to be expanding its nuclear weapons stockpile faster than any other nation, may be rapidly constructing a centrifuge for a reprocessing site within the Khan Research Laboratories in Kahuta, according to commercial satellite imagery.
    Today’s Quiz 
    1. The Swadesh Darshan scheme seeks to create infrastructure for tourism in which of the following regions?





    2. Which of the following courts recently held that photocopying for the purpose of creating course packs at universities does not amount to copyright infringement?





    3. The Macau Open is a tournament for which sport?





    4. India has entered into an MoU with which of the following countries, to provide fishing aid?





    5. Who won the 2016 Marconi Society Paul Baran Young Scholar Award for his contribution to radio waves?





    6. India has declared itself to be free of which of the following diseases?





    7. The World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have agreed to grant a loan to the metro rail project in which city?





    8. AIr recently launched an app in the Af-Pak region for the speakers of which language?





    9. Where will India's 500th test match be played?





    10. Who is currently serving as the Director General of the UNESCO?









 

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