9 PM Current Affairs Brief – September 30th, 2019

National Nutrition Survey

News:The first-ever comprehensive National Nutrition Survey has been conducted by the Government of India.

Facts:

About the National Nutrition Survey:

• The survey has been conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) to measure malnutrition.
• The survey recorded not only micronutrient deficiencies but also details of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol and kidney function in children and adolescents.

How is it different from National Family Health Survey(NFHS):

• The National Family Health Survey(NFHS) is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India.
• The National Nutrition Survey is different from the NFHS as it collects data to measure the prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight and household dietary intake to measure deficiencies.
• Moreover,the survey collects data only for the age groups of 1-5 years and adults and not for school going children between the ages of 5 and 19 years.

Key takeaways from the survey:

• The survey has found that nearly 10% of children in the age group of 5-9 years and adolescents in the age group of 10-19 years are pre-diabetic.
• Further,5% of the children and adolescents in the same group are overweight and another 5% suffer from blood pressure.
• The survey has also found the prevalence of indicators of non communicable diseases alongside indicators of undernutrition in the same age group.

Additional information:

UNICEF

• UNICEF stands for United Nations Children’s Fund.It was created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1946.It is headquartered in New York,USA.
• It is a special program of the United Nations (UN) devoted to aiding national efforts to improve the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children.

Note: Stunting- low height for age, Wasting- low weight compared to height, Underweight- low weight for age. Malnutrition includes both under and over nutrition.

INS ‘Nilgiri’

News:Defence minister has launched Navy’s first new stealth frigate,INS ‘Nilgiri’ at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in Mumbai.

Facts:

About INS Nilgiri:

• INS Nilgiri is the first of the Indian Navy’s seven new stealth frigates with enhanced stealth features,weapons and sensors. 
• It is the first ship of the P-17A frigates.

Project 17-A:

• The Project 17A is a follow-on of the Project 17 Shivalik-class frigate for the Indian Navy. 
• The ships have been named after the first major warships to be built in India which in turn were named after hill ranges in India.
• A total of seven ships will be built under this project 17-A.The four ships will be constructed by Mazagon Dock Ltd in Mumbai and three by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers in Kolkata. 
• The seven ships under this project are (a)INS Nilgiri (b)INS Himgiri    (c)INS Udaygiri (d)INS Dunagiri (e)INS Taragiri (f)INS Vindhyagiri and (g)INS Mahendragiri.

Kerala CM launches capacity development programme for women entrepreneurs

News:Kerala Chief Minister has launched the Kerala edition of WING-Women Rise Together.

Facts:

• WING is an initiative by Startup India,Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT).
• The programme aims to identify and support aspiring and established women entrepreneurs by providing them access to incubation, investors and various business support services. 
• Kerala Startup Mission(KSUM) along with LetsVenture has been given the responsibility by Invest India  to run this programme in all the southern states of India.

Additional information:

Invest India:

• Invest India’ is India’s official agency dedicated to investment promotion and facilitation.It is under Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• It was formed in 2009 under Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956
• It was set up as a joint venture company between the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), and State Governments of India.
• Invest India provides sector-specific and state-specific information to a foreign investor, assists in expediting regulatory approvals, and offers hand-holding services.

Election Commission cuts short disqualification term for Sikkim Chief Minister

News:The Election commission has reduced the Sikkim chief minister disqualification period by almost five years under a provision of electoral law.

Facts:

Background:

• Prem Singh Tamang was appointed as Sikkim Chief minister in May, 2019.But he needs to be elected to the Assembly within six months of his appointment.
• However,he was barred from contesting polls as he has been convicted in a corruption case.
• Under the Representation of the People Act,1951,those convicted and imprisoned under the Prevention of Corruption Act are disqualified from contesting elections during the period of incarceration and until six years after release.

Section 11 of the RP Act,1951

• Section 11 of the Representation of the People Act,1951 empowers the Election Commission(EC) to remove or reduce the period of disqualification.
• Earlier,the EC had exercised its powers under Section 11 to remove or reduce disqualification of a convicted person.
• In 1977,EC had reduced the period of disqualification of two Uttar Pradesh MLAs who were convicted of criminal offence.

Galo Community

News:The members of the Galo community in Arunachal Pradesh can recall the name of their ancestor from 20 generations ago i.e. right up to the founder of their clan.This is made possible by their system of naming.

Facts:

About Galos:

• The Galos belong to the Tani group inhabiting Assam and Arunachal Pradesh,besides Tibet.
• They are one of the 26 major communities of Arunachal Pradesh.They are listed as Scheduled tribe since 1950.
• They trace their common origin to a primeval ancestor named Abotani. But unlike the other communities,only the Galos maintain genealogy through given names.
• They have a system of prefixing the second syllable of a father’s name to that of a son who passes on the suffix in his name to his son.
• Hence,they can trace the names of ancestors from the first syllable or prefix of our names. 
• Mopin is the main festival in Galos which is celebrated in the month of April for the prosperity and wealth of the villages

Mont Blanc

News:Experts have warned that a section of the Planpincieux glacier on the iconic Mont Blanc in Italy is at the risk of collapsing.

Facts:

About Mont Blanc:

• The Mont Blanc glacier is Western Europe’s highest mountain range.
• It has 11 peaks above 4,000m in France and Italy and attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.
• The border between Italy and France passes through the summit of Mont Blanc making it both French and Italian.
• The rising global temperatures are causing the melting of mountain glaciers and the retreat of polar ice sheets.

Industry 4.0

News:A Pilot Project for ushering in ‘Industry 4.0’ in the railways has been launched at the Modern Coach Factory (MCF), Raebareli.

Facts:

About the project:

• The pilot project would be undertaken under the aegis of “Technology Mission for Indian Railways(TMIR). 
• It would be implemented by a consortium of Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Human Resource Development and Ministry of Science & Technology. 
• The project would be implemented on an investment sharing model for taking up identified railway projects for applied research and use on Indian Railways for advancement and modernization. 

Additional information:

Industry 4.0:

• The fourth Industrial Revolution describes the present technological age ongoing in 21st century that has come up since the first such revolution took place in the 18th century.
• It is a name given to the current trend of automation, inter-connectivity and data exchange in manufacturing technologies to increase productivity.
• The 4th industrial revolution includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, big data analytics, cloud computing, cognitive computing, artificial intelligence, 3-D printing, and autonomous vehicles among others.

India and 4th industrial revolution:

• India has become the fourth country in the world where World Economic Forum has opened its centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution. 
• Hence,India is preparing for a massive digital and technological transformation.
• The centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution works as a network that includes USA, China and Japan. 
• The centre would be based in Maharashtra and it has selected drones, artificial intelligence and blockchain as the first three project areas.
• NITI Aayog will coordinate the partnership on behalf of the government and the work of the centre among multiple ministries.

International Astronomical Union names asteroid after Pandit Jasraj

News:The International Astronomical Union(IAU) has named an asteroid, discovered in 2006 after Indian classical singer Pandit Jasraj.

Facts:

About Asteroid:

• Asteroid are relatively small, inactive, rocky body orbiting the Sun.They can be as small as 1 kilometer(km) across or as large as 940 kilometers (about 583 miles) across. 
• There are thousands of asteroids in our Solar System.Most of them can be found in an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

What are asteroids composed of?NASA has classified asteroids based on their composition.Here is the classification:

• C-type (chondrite): such asteroids are made up of clay and silicate rocks
• S-types (stony): these are composed of silicate materials and nickel-iron
• M-types: such asteroids have a metallic composition.

Additional information:

About International Astronomical Union(IAU):

• The International Astronomical Union (IAU) was founded in 1919. 
• Its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation.
• It serves as the internationally recognized authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and surface features on them.

About Pandit Jasraj:

• Pandit Jasraj (b. 1930) is an exponent of Indian classical vocal music.
• Jasraj is the recipient of numerous awards,honours and titles including the prestigious Padma Vibhushan and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.