9 PM Current Affairs Brief – May 24, 2019

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India votes in favour of UNGA resolution demanding UK withdraw from Chagos Archipelago

1. India was among 116 nations to vote in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution on “Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965”.
2. The resolution demanded that the UK should withdraw its colonial administration from the Chagos Archipelago unconditionally within six months enabling Mauritius to complete the decolonization of its territory as rapidly as possible.
3. The resolution has also welcomed the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice(ICJ).The ICJ has ruled that the UK should hand over the administration of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius in order to legally complete its decolonisation.
4. The British government had ruled Mauritius from 1810 to 1968.But,under an agreement struck in 1965, in return for compensation to Mauritius and fishing rights, Britain has maintained control of the Chagos islands.It has continued to do so despite efforts by Mauritius to regain control and UN resolutions requiring it to complete the decolonisation of Mauritius.
5. The UN General Assembly in 2017 had adopted a resolution presented by Mauritius and backed by African countries asking the ICJ to offer legal advice on the island fate and the legality of the deportations.
6. The Chagos Islands are home to the U.S. military base of Diego Garcia, under lease from the United Kingdom since the 1960s.

Pakistan successfully test-fires ballistic missile Shaheen-II capable of hitting India

1. Pakistan has successfully test-fired surface-to-surface ballistic missile called as Shaheen-II.
2. The Pakistan Army has said that the launch was aimed at ensuring operational readiness of the Army Strategic Forces Command.
3. Shaheen-II Missile is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads up to a range of 1,500 kilometers which brings major Indian cities under its range.
4. Further,Pakistan has already test-fired the Shaheen-III nuclear-capable missile with a range of up to 1,700 miles enabling it to strike all corners of India and reach deep into the Middle East including Israel.
5. Ballistic missile follows a ballistic trajectory to deliver one or more warheads on a predetermined target.These weapons are guided during relatively brief periods of flight and most of their trajectory is unpowered, being governed by gravity and air resistance if in the atmosphere.

Affiliation of ICG ship Shaurya with 3rd(Naga Hills) battalion of Assam Rifles

1. Assam Rifles and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has signed an Affiliation Charter in an effort to enhance inter armed forces cooperation and utilise each other’s assets for training and sports.
2. The charter was signed between 3rd (Naga Hills) Battalion of Assam Rifles and Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Shaurya’.
3. The charter will facilitate greater understanding of operational ethos, sharing of best practices from each other, building camaraderie and utilization of one another’s assets for training, sports and adventure.
4. Indian Coast Guard Ship Shaurya is an indigenously built ship at Goa Shipyard Limited.It is a modern state of the art 105 mtrs long Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) commissioned on 12 Aug 2017.
5. The ship is extensively developed for Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surveillance and other duties as enshrined in the Coast Guard charter to safeguard the Maritime Interest of India.
6. The Assam Rifles is the oldest paramilitary force of India.Assam Rifles operates in the North Eastern part of India and complements the Indian Army in countering the insurgency and guarding the borders.
7. The Assam Rifles functions under the Ministry of Defence while its administrative control is under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
8. The Indian Coast Guard was established in 1978 by the Coast Guard Act,1978 of as an independent armed force of India.The organization is headed by the Director General Indian Coast Guard (DGICG).

I&B advisory to TV channels; asked to comply with respective undertakings of carrying news or non-news content

1. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued an advisory regarding carrying of news and current affairs content on TV channels.
2. The advisory states that in accordance with the Policy Guidelines for Uplinking of Television Channels From India,2011,I&B Ministry will give permission for uplinking of TV channels under two categories:
3. Non-News & Current Affairs Channel: A Non-News & Current Affairs TV channel means a channel which does not have any element of news and current affairs in its programme content.
4. News & Current Affairs Channel: A News & Current Affairs TV channel means a channel which has any element of news and current affairs in its programme content.
5. Further,the advisory says that news channels are mandated to carry news and current affairs content while Non-News and Current Affairs channels are not mandated to carry any news and current affairs content.
6. Besides,at the time of applying for a Non-News TV channel,the applicant company should give an undertaking that the proposed channel is purely an entertainment channel and does not have any news or current affairs based programme.
7. The communication going from a satellite to ground is called downlink and when it is going from ground to a satellite it is called uplink.When an uplink is being received by the spacecraft at the same time a downlink is being received by Earth,the communication is called two-way.

U20 leaders call on G20 to accelerate SDG goals progress

1. Recently,Tokyo has hosted the second U20 Mayors Summit.The summit took place one month ahead of the G20 Osaka Summit.
2. Mayors of 30 major cities from across the world has urged the Global leaders to act fast on climate change, social inclusion and sustainable economic growth.
3. The issues highlighted by the mayors and city governors will be represented in the United Nations-mandated sustainable development goals,the deadline of which is 2030.
4. The mayors have also urged the G20 leaders to ensure greenhouse gas emissions reduce substantially by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050, ensure access to adequate housing to all populations.
5. Urban 20 (U20) is an initiative developed in 2017 under the leadership of the Mayor of Buenos Aires and Mayor of Paris, and convened by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) in collaboration with United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).
6. U20 seeks to develop a joint position and collective messages to inform and enrich the discussions of national leaders at the G20 Summit through unique urban perspectives.
7. Urban 20 is composed of 25 global cities: Beijing, Berlin, City of Buenos Aires, Chicago, Durban, Hamburg, Jakarta, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Melbourne, Mexico City, Milan, Montreal, Moscow, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, São Paulo, Seoul, Sydney, Tokyo, and Tshwane.

Tree Ambulance launched in Chennai

1. The Vice President of India has Inaugurated ‘Tree Ambulance’ in Chennai,Tamil Nadu.
2. It was inaugurated on the occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) celebrations.The Tree Ambulance initiative is a campaign to save trees.
3. According to its founder, it has been conceived, designed, fabricated and equipped to provide first aid treatment to trees, aid tree plantation, assist the shifting of trees, carry out seed ball distribution etc.
4. A plant expert and helpers who are armed with gardening tools, water, manure and enzymes will travel in the Tree Ambulance.
5. The ambulance can be availed through the helpline.People can also register themselves as volunteers by logging on to the website.
6. International Day for Biological Diversity 2019 was celebrated on May 22,2019 with the theme “Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health”.

IAF successfully test fires aerial version of BrahMos missile

1. Indian AirForce (IAF) has successfully test fired the BrahMos air version missile from its Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft.BrahMos missile is a 2.5 ton supersonic air to surface cruise missile with ranges of close to 300 km.
2. A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled (till the time of impact) guided vehicle that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path.
3. Its primary mission is to place an ordnance or special payload on a target.Supersonic cruise missile travels at a speed of around 2-3 Mach which means it travels a kilometre approximately in a second.
4. BrahMos is a joint venture between India and Russia.It is named after Brahmaputra and Moscow rivers.It is capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against surface and sea-based targets.
5. The land and sea variants of BrahMos are already operational with the Army and Navy.The Army has deployed three BrahMos regiments on the Western and Eastern borders.
6. Further,BrahMos missile provides Indian Air Force a much desired capability to strike from large standoff ranges on any target at sea or on land with pinpoint accuracy by day or night and in all weather conditions.