Current Affairs 9,10-11-2015: Radio Galaxy-Agni Missile system-Manipur Bills-Kosovo

Contents ·         Indian astronomers detect dying, giant radio galaxy ·         Government considers Africa route to help central PSUs ·         SADR (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) ·         Pakistan invites India for key Afghan meet ·         Agni-IV successfully test-fired ·         Controversial Manipur Bills sent for Presidential assent ·         UNESCO rejects Kosovo’s bid for membership

Indian astronomers detect dying, giant radio galaxy

·         The Radio Galaxy was discovered by National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, PUNE.

·         Radio galaxies are extremely rare galaxy of gigantic size.

·         This galaxy- located about nine billion light years away (1 light year = distance travelled by light in one year. Speed of Light = 3,00,000 Km/sec)- emits powerful radio waves.

·         Such galaxies with extremely large ‘radio size’ are called giant radio galaxies.

·         This newly discovered galaxy known was discovered using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), Pune.

·         While radio galaxies with size less than a million light years are common, giant radio galaxies are extremely rare.

·         Click Here for more Astronomy Concepts

·         http://www.pmfias.com/p/astronomy.html

Government considers Africa route to help central PSUs

·         Centre is considering a plan to help the Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) set up subsidiaries or form joint ventures with State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in poor African countries.

·         The proposal has been moved by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) of the Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises (HI & PE) ministry.

·         The DPE wants the MEA to influence African countries to replicate the ‘Nehruvian’ post-independence period industrial policy of India that heavily favoured SOEs.

·         Private companies tend to not take the risk of investing in unstable economies such as those in Africa.

·         So PSUs, with the help of African governments, can take the lead in investments and the private sector can then follow.

·         If the plan becomes a reality, many of the CPSUs, currently struggling in India due to competition from efficient private sector companies, can get a new lease of life.

·         Centre has identified 58 loss-making PSUs for either reviving or closing them down.

·         Africa is not entirely a new playing ground for Indian PSUs, especially for those in the energy sector.

·         Indian private companies including Bharti Airtel and the Tata Group also have their presence in several African countries.

·         Africa presents a great potential that neither the PSUs nor the private sector firms can take advantage of on their own.

·         In areas such as railways, oil and gas and heavy industries, the public sector has an edge.

·         However, India is far behind China in this game. China-Africa trade has surpassed $200 billion, and is almost thrice as large as the about $70 billion for India-Africa trade.

·         By 2020, China aims to double its trade with Africa to $400 billion and increase direct investment to $100 billion.

·         Read posts on India-Africa Relations http://www.pmfias.com/search/label/India-Africa

SADR (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)

·         Morocco claims the SADR, while the AU recognises it as a full state, which led Morocco to walk out of the AU in 1984.

·         India recognised the SADR in 1985, but then withdrew recognition in 2000.

·         The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 54 countries in Africa.

·         The only African state that is not a member is Morocco.

Pakistan invites India for key Afghan meet

·         Pakistan has invited External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for a crucial regional conference on Afghanistan.

·         The ‘Heart of Asia’ conference will be held on December 7 and 8, where representatives from Azerbaijan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the UAE are expected to attend.

Agni-IV successfully test-fired

·         Agni IV with a strike range of 4,000 km.

·         Successfully test-fired from the Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast.

·         It is a surface to surface variant.

·         It is operated by Army’s Strategic Forces Command tasked with handling of strategic weapon systems.

·         Ring laser gyro-based inertial navigation system along with MEMS-based Micro Inertial Navigation system guide the missile along its predetermined path.

Agni missile system

·         Agni – VI is in development stage.·         Agni—I—II—III—IV—V—VI

·         IRBM è Intermediate-range ballistic missile (Agni-II, Agni-III, Agni-IV)·         MRBM è Medium-range ballistic missile (Agni-I)

·         ICBM è Intercontinental ballistic missile (Agni-V, Agni VI)

·         Manufacturer è Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL)

·         Agni-I was developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program and tested in 1991.

·         After its success, Agni missile program was separated from the IGMDP upon realizing its strategic importance.

·         It was designated as a special program in India's defence budget and provided adequate funds for subsequent development.

·         Agni missiles are used by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the Indian Army.

·         Agni missiles are claimed to be a part of the "credible deterrence" against China and Pakistan.

Controversial Manipur Bills sent for Presidential assent

·         The acting Governor of Manipur has forwarded three Bills — the passage of which led to a month-long protest in which nine persons were killed — to the President for his assent.

·         The Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015, The Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment Bill), 2015 and The Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment Bill) 2015

·         For more read this post: Inner Line Permit controversy

·         http://www.pmfias.com/2015/09/inner-line-permit-controversy.html

UNESCO rejects Kosovo’s bid for membership

·         Members of the U.N. cultural agency have narrowly rejected Kosovo’s bid for membership.

·         It is a victory for Serbia and Russia which have long prevented Kosovo from becoming a UN member state.

·         Kosovo has been recognized by 111 countries since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

·         Russia, which backed Serbia in Kosovo’s 1998—99 war for independence, has used its U.N. Security Council veto to block Kosovo from becoming a full U.N. member.

Kosovo

·         Disputed territory and a partially recognized state.

·         It declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008 as the Republic of Kosovo.

·         Kosovo is landlocked in the central Balkan Peninsula.

·         It is bordered by the Republic of Macedonia and Albania to the south, Montenegro to the west, and the uncontested territory of Serbia to the north and east.

·         After being part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th to the early 20th century, in the late 19th century Kosovo became the centre of the Albanian independence movement.

·         As a result of the defeat in the First Balkan War (1912–13), the Ottoman Empire ceded Kosovo to the Balkan League; the Kingdom of Serbia took its larger part, while the Kingdom of Montenegro annexed the western part.

·         Both Serbia and Montenegro became a part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I.

·         After a period of Yugoslav unitarianism in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the post-World War II Yugoslav constitution established the Autonomous Province of Kosovo.

·         Long-term severe ethnic tensions between Kosovo's Albanian and Serb populations left Kosovo ethnically divided, resulting in inter-ethnic violence, including the Kosovo War of 1998–99.

·         The war ended with a military intervention of NATO, which forced the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to withdraw its troops from Kosovo.

·         In 2008 Kosovo's Parliament declared independence.

·         It has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 108 UN member states.

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