Daily Current Affairs Of 9th October 2019

Current Affairs of Today are

1) Dr. Harsh Vardhan launches e-Dantseva website and mobile application, a big step in digital health

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched the eDantseva website and mobile application, the first-ever national digital platform on oral health information and knowledge dissemination

The Union Health Minister also released the Braille booklet and Voice over on Oral Health Education for the visually impaired individuals, along with the oral health posters for pregnant women and children.

About e-Dantseva

e-DantSeva contains information about the National Oral Health Program, detailed list of all the dental facility and colleges, Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material and a unique feature called the ‘Symptom Checker’, which provides information on symptoms of dental/oral health problems, ways to prevent these, the treatment modes, and also directs the user to find their nearest available dental facility (public and private sectors both).  The website also provides GPRS route/images/satellite images of the facility for easier access to the general population.

About Braille booklet and Voice Over

Braille is the primary reading method for visually impaired people to access information and education independently. Dissemination of Printed Braille oral health books along with the voice-over among visually impaired individuals will provide them with the opportunity to read and hear about the essentials and importance of oral health. At the event, two visually impaired children demonstrated how the Braille booklets can be useful tools for such information.

2) India announces TAP for 5 African Countries on World Cotton Day

• India will be announcing the launch of the second phase of the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme (TAP) for Africa at the Partners Conference in Geneva. 
• In the five-year-long second phase, the program will be scaled up in size and coverage and will be introduced in five additional countries, namely Mali, Ghana, Togo, Zambia, and Tanzania.
• The Cotton TAP program will now cover 11 African countries including the C4 (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali). India implemented a Technical Assistance Programme (TAP) for cotton in 6 African countries, namely – Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda from 2012 to 2018.

Mahatma Gandhi has been chosen as the icon for the World Cotton Day and to mark the celebration of the first World Cotton Day, India will gift a replica of Mahatma Gandhi’s Charkha to the WTO.

3) Ministry of Tourism organizes first of its kind Adventure Trekking Training course in Ladakh

• The Indian Institute of Skiing & Mountaineering (IISM) Gulmarg, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India in association with the Indian Institute of Travel & Tourism Management (IITTM) an autonomous body under the Ministry of Tourism has organized an Adventure Tourism Training Courses in Trekking.
• The first of its kind in the region, this 10 days training course trains local youth in various aspects of mountain trekking and also gives them hands-on experience. Over 30 local youth enrolled in the first batch which started on 24th September 2019. Approximately 90 local youth will be trained in three batches.
• The training programs will be completed by 12th October 2019. The trekking program starts with a briefing and the participants cover places like Spithuk, Then, Zinchen, Rumbak, Stok la Base, Stock within 10 days and will return to Leh. This training program is aimed at developing the basic skills of Trekking in the youth who can later use these skills for becoming guides or entrepreneurs in the future.

4) India to shift to BS-VI vehicular emission norms by April next year

• Bharat Stage Six (BS-VI), is a revolutionary step in the transformation of fuels.
• there has been an 80% reduction in Particulate Matter emissions and a 30% reduction in Nitrogen Oxide emissions in BS-IV heavy-duty diesel vehicles compared with BS III norms.
• Nearly ₹60,000 Cr were spent on switching over to BS-VI fuels.
• The Country will shift to BS-VI vehicular emission norms from BS-IV by April 2020. BS-VI petrol/diesel is already available in Delhi/NCR

Why BS-VI?

• To control the pollution in the capital region
• 46 teams of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) are taking stock of pollution levels in Delhi-NCR and will take appropriate action wherever needed

5) Shri Dharmendra Pradhan participates in a ceremony for commissioning the infrastructure facilities constructed to support the proposed oil refinery project in Mongolia

• Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan today participated in the ceremony for commissioning the infrastructure facilities constructed to support the proposed oil refinery project in Mongolia. Prime Minister of Mongolia, Mr. Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh
• The construction of the 1.5 MMT Oil Refinery Project with Indian assistance
• India has announced the additional US $ 236 million Line of Credit from India to Mongolia beyond the committed US$ 1 billion.
• The Engineers India Ltd, Public Sector Undertaking of the Ministry of Petroleum and natural gas is providing project management consultancy services for this prestigious refinery project in Mongolia.

6) India Air Force receives first Rafale in France

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh formally received the first Rafale fighter jet built for the Indian Air Force (IAF) in France.

However, the first batch of the jets will arrive in India only in May 2020.

Rafale is a French word meaning gust of wind.

By February 2021, India will receive 18 Rafale jets and by April 2022, it will get all the 36 Rafale.

About the deal

In September 2016, India and France signed a €7.87 billion Inter-­Governmental Agreement (IGA) for 36 Rafale multi­role fighter jets in fly-­away condition following the surprise announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 2015.

7) Canadian-­American James Peebles, two Swiss Michel Mayor, and Didier Queloz stargazers win Physics Nobel 

• A Canadian­-American cosmologist and two Swiss scientists won this year's Nobel Prize in Physics 
• For exploring the evolution of the universe and discovering a new kind of planet, with implications for that nagging question: Does life exist only on earth.
• Canadian ­born James Peebles, 84, an emeritus professor at Princeton University, won for his theoretical discoveries in cosmology. 
• Swiss star­gazers Michel Mayor, 77, and Didier Queloz, 53, both of the University of Geneva, were honored for finding an exoplanet a planet outside our solar system that orbits a sun­like star

8) India to work with China, Pakistan to gauge the impact of climate change on Hindu Kush Mountains

• To better gauge the impact of climate change on the Hindu Kush mountains, which includes the Himalayas, and spruce up data­gathering, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) will collaborate with meteorological agencies in China and Pakistan, among others, to provide climate forecast services to countries in the region.
• The Hindu­-Kush-­Himalayan (HKH) region is considered the Third Pole [after the North and South Poles] and has significant implications for climate.
• The data­-gathering in this region is sparse or scattered. Discussing on a system whereby countries
• can share data and improve forecasts and predictions. The WMO proposal was to have nodal centers in Islamabad, Delhi, and Beijing.

Largest store of snow

• The HKH region spans Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• The Third Pole, which contains vast cryospheric zones, is also the world’s largest store of snow and ice outside the polar region, and the source of 10 major rivers, and, therefore, particularly sensitive to climate change

9) India-Mexico Towards a strategic partnership

• Mexico and India have had 69 years of diplomatic relations based on mutual interest and understanding.
• In 2007, a Privileged Partnership was established between both countries and now working towards a Strategic Partnership
• Mexico and India have a common goal: social development and inclusion.
• To achieve this, both countries determined to promote trade and investment in priority sectors; improve market access, including for agricultural products; promote tourism;  and foster cooperation in many areas, such as energy, science, and technology.
• Mexico has become India’s top trading partner in Latin America and it is the top investor from the region in India, while India is now for the first time among Mexico’s top 10 commercial partners
• Bilateral trade between the two countries reached more than $10 billion in 2018, four times what it was in 2009

Tourism

• In 2018, Mexico attracted 41 million international tourists, 6% more than the previous year. 
• According to the WTO, Mexico is the sixth most ­visited country in the world, and it is proud home to 35 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a figure comparable to India’s.
• Indians have been among the top 20 visitors to Mexico, and Indian tourism to Mexico is exceeding that of many European countries

Both Countries has planned to joint hands upon space cooperation, social perspective to the world of technology and innovation, to shape the global agenda

10) The 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded jointly to William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, and Gregg L. Semenza

• The 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded jointly to William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza "for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability".
• The Nobel Assembly announced the prize at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm
• Their work established the genetic mechanisms that allow cells to respond to changes in oxygen levels. The findings have implications for treating a variety of diseases, including cancer, anemia, heart attacks, and strokes.

More Current Affairs

• 5th World Parliament of Science, Religion, and Philosophy will be held at the MIT World Peace University in Pune, Maharashtra.
• US actress Diahann Carroll, who won Golden Globe and was the first black woman to win the Tony Award for the best actress in 1962, passed away recently.
• Nadia Murad and Dr. Denis Mukwege have been nominated for the 'Mother Teresa Memorial Award'.
• Indian Army organizes Veer Kutumb Rally in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Pankaj Sharma has been appointed as permanent representative of India to the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, Geneva.
• Indias Vishnu Nandan among 300 researchers to join the largest-ever Arctic expedition.
• Odyssey City Card is a common city payment card system has been launched by Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar.