Current Affairs 12th August 2017

Current Affairs 12th August 2017 - Important Points

• YouTube competitor called 'Watch' launched by - Facebook
• Millions of black holes in Milky Way found by - Scientists
• Center to detect cyber security threats made operational on - 9th August 2017
• Law passed to ban Chhaupadi in Nepal on - 9th August 2017
•  Veteran poet Vijay Nambisan passed away on - 10th August 2017
• International Youth Day 2017 observed globally on - 12th August 2017

Current Affairs 12th August 2017 - Details

YouTube competitor called 'Watch' launched by - Facebook

Facebook launched a new video programming platform 'Watch' for creators and publishers on 9th August 2017. This program is expected to compete with Google-owned YouTube. Watch will going to be available on mobile, desktop, laptop as well as in TV apps.

Important Highlights

• Watch is a great platform for all publishers and the creators to help them in finding the right audience, build a community of passionate fans, and earn money for their work.
• Other than to help the viewers connect with friends, they can see comments while watching the show and also allows them to be a part in a dedicated Facebook Group for the show.
• Watch also has a Watchlist to help the viewers to keep up with the shows they follow, so that they never miss out on the latest episodes.
• Viewers can watch shows engaging fans and community, live shows, shows that follow a narrative bend or have a consistent theme and live events to bring communities together.
• It is introduced to a limited group of people in the United States in the initial phase and will be introduced to more people soon.

Millions of black holes in Milky Way found by - Scientists

A study conducted by a group of scientists at the University of California (UCI) has recently
revealed that there may be as many as 100 million black holes in the Milky Way galaxy.

The UCI researchers has launched the celestial census after the first ever detection of gravitational waves in the year 2015. It was basically launched to investigate the ‘weirdness of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) discovery.’ As per the discovery, the gravitational waves were created by the collision of two 30-solar-mass black holes.
Important highlights

• The celestial census was started more than a year and a half ago, shortly after the news that the Laser LIGO had detected ripples in the space-time continuum which were created by the distant collision of two black holes, each of the size of 30 suns.
• Scientists assumed that most stellar-remnant black holes will be about the same mass as the Sun.
• This new study was an attempt to interpret the gravitational wave detections through the lens of what is known about galaxy formation and to form a framework to understand future occurrences.
• The number of black holes of a given mass per galaxy usually depends on the galaxy size. It is because larger galaxies have many metal-rich stars, and smaller dwarf galaxies are dominated by big stars of low metallicity.
• Stars containing a lot of heavier elements normally lose a lot of that mass over their lives. When it comes time for one to end it all in a supernova, there is not as much matter left to collapse in on  itself, resulting in a black hole of lower mass.
• Big stars with low metal content do not shed as much of their mass over time. Therefore, when one of them dies, almost all of its mass will get winded up in the black hole.
• The researchers then found the number of black holes based on what they know about star formation in different type of galaxies.

Center to detect cyber security threats made operational on - 9th August 2017

India has made the National Cyber Coordination Center's first phase operational to scan the country's web traffic and detect cyber security threats. The Minister of State for Electronics and IT, PP Chaudhary shared this information in a reply to the Lok Sabha on 9th August 2017.  The minister further said that the center would be scanning the cyberspace in the country for cyber security threats at metadata level to generate situational awareness.

Along with this, the center would scan the internet traffic coming into the country to detect real-time cyber threats and alert various organizations and internet service providers for timely action.
As per provisions of section 69B of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Rules notified there under needed powers have been issued to NCCC.

The multi-stakeholder body will get implemented by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) at Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
In addition to this, the government has also made operational botnet and malware cleaning center, which will be detecting malicious software in citizens devices and clean them too.

Law passed to ban Chhaupadi in Nepal on - 9th August 2017

Nepal’s Parliament unanimously passed a law on 9th August 2017 that The three-month jail sentence or a 3000 Nepali rupee fine or both will be penalized for anyone forcing a woman to follow the custom.
The law was passed through unanimous voting and will come into effect in a year's time.

Chhaupadi is a custom linked to Hinduism in Nepal in which women are considered untouchable during menstruation as well as after childbirth. In this tradition, many communities of the country view menstruating women as impure and in some remote areas, they are forced to sleep in a hut called Chhau Goth away from home during their periods.
During this period, these menstruating women, are also barred from touching religious icons, food, cattle and men.
The Supreme Court outlawed Chhaupadi in 2005 of Nepal, but the tradition has been slow to change and is still followed in parts of Nepal, especially in remote western districts.

 Veteran poet Vijay Nambisan passed away on - 10th August 2017

Noted poet and writer Vijay Nambisan passed away on 10th August 2017 following a prolonged illness. Nambisan’s poem 'Madras Central' which was published in 1988, won him his first All India Poetry Competition award and it was organized by the British Council and Poetry Society of India.

More about Vijay Nambisan

• A graduate from IIT-Madras, Nambisan co-authored his first poetry book 'Gemini' with Dom Moraes and Jeet Thayil.
• He joined The Hindu in October 1992 and worked with the Literary Review section then he left the paper in July 1996, but continued to write for the newspaper.
• He also translated the work of devotional poetry of Poonthanam and Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri.
• Some of his popular books are 'Bihar is in the Eyes of Beholder' and 'Language as an Ethic'whereas his last book of poems was titled Infinities.

International Youth Day 2017 observed globally on - 12th August 2017

The International Youth Day was observed across the world with the theme 'Youth Building Peace' on 12th August 2017. This year, the Day is aimed to celebrate young people’s contributions to prevent conflicts and bring about transformations along with social justice, inclusion and sustainable peace.

Key Highlights

• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed The International Youth Day on 17th December 1999 through its resolution 54/120.
• The Day came into existence through the recommendation of the World Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth in August 1998 that 12th August should be declared as International Youth Day.
• The General Assembly also adopted the World Program of Action for Youth to provide a policy framework and practical guidelines improving the situation of young people, also encourage promoting the active involvement of youth to maintain peace and security.
• The UN celebrated the first International Year of Youth in 1985.