Current Affairs 22nd August 2018

Current Affairs 22nd August 2018 - Important Points

• Engineering colleges to improve quality of engineering education to be mentored by - IITs
• Northern states to set up joint secretariat to fight drug menace on - 20th August 2018
• World's first-ever 4D printing for ceramics developed by - Researchers
• Exercise Pitch Black 2018 concluded in Australia on - 18th August 2018
• ‘In-body GPS’ system to track tumours developed by - Researchers
• NOTA option not applicable for Rajya Sabha Elections, ruled by - Supreme Court

Current Affairs 22nd August 2018 - Details

Engineering colleges to improve quality of engineering education to be mentored by - IITs

IIT will be mentoring at least 5 engineering colleges located in its vicinity to improve the quality engineering education standard in the country. The decision was taken during the 52nd Meeting of the Council of IITs, which was held under the Chairmanship of Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi on 20th August, 2018.

Important decisions of the Council

• The council decided that the IIT – PAL, which has been designed to assist the students to prepare for the JEE Advanced Exam, would be further extended and made available along with handholding support through the SWAYAM portal.
• It is decided that the IIT will going to monitor at least 5 engineering colleges located in its vicinity in order to improve the quality and standard of  engineering education in the country.
• It has also decided that there will be no revision in the tuition fee being charged from the undergraduate students in IITs.
• The council is not considering any further changes in the JEE (Advanced) system.
• In addition to that, it was also decided that the IITs will be organising an annual ‘Tech-Fest’ demonstrating various innovations and technologies developed by them, at any  suitable venue along with participation from CEOs from leading public/private sector organisations.
• Other, the boards of Governors of the individual IITs have been empowered to decide the fee for international students.

Northern states to set up joint secretariat to fight drug menace on - 20th August 2018

The Chief Ministers of four Northern States on 20th August, 2018 unanimously decided to set up a joint secretariat at Panchkula, Haryana for data and information sharing to effectively handle the drug menace issues in their respective states.

During the Regional Conference on Drugs – Challenges & Strategies, convened here to discuss and formulate a joint strategy to fight drugs.

The decision was taken during the regional conference on ‘Drugs – Challenges & Strategies’,convened in Chandigarh to discuss, evolve and formulate a joint strategy for the drugs fighting.
The meeting observed Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattarand Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. Through video conferencing, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur also attended the meeting.

Important Highlights

• The Chief Ministers of the respective states decided to spend more resources to fight the drug problem, spread awareness and prevent people from falling prey to drugs.
• On the enforcement front, the Ministers agreed to be more proactive and facilitate a quick exchange of information on drug trends, cases registered, persons named, wanted or arrested.
• To facilitate an easy coordination for the same, the states have agreed to set up a common secretariat in Panchkula.
• They also decided that each of them will be appointing a nodal officer at the joint secretariat to coordinate and to facilitate the data sharing process.
• Further, the states decided that there will be a meeting of all Chief Ministers every six months and an officer level meeting every three months, which will be rotationally chaired by the Chief Secretary or the Director General Police of the states concerned.
• They also called upon the Chief Secretary / Director Generals of Police of the concerned States, Senior Superintendents of Police of the adjoining districts of the various states to coordinate with each other on a day to day level.
• They also extended an invitation to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and senior officials or authorities from J&K to join in the  next meeting to find a solution to the common problem.
• Senior civil and police officers from Rajasthan, Delhi, and Chandigarh also attended the meeting.

World's first-ever 4D printing for ceramics developed by - Researchers

The City University of Hong Kong (CityU) researchers have developed the world's first-ever 4D printing for ceramics that can be used in creating  complex, shape-changing objects successfully.

Important Highlights

• The researchers made use of the elastic energy stored in the stretched precursors to morph shape.
• When the stretched ceramic precursors are released, they undergo self-reshaping.
• The precursors turn into ceramics after heat treatment.
• It is difficult to use because of high melting point with conventional laser printing to make ceramics.
• They can have a high compressive strength-to-density ratio, and can come in large sizes with high strength compared to other printed ceramics.

More about the Research Team

• It took the team over two and a half years to surpass the the existing materials limitations and to develop the whole 4D ceramic printing system.
• The research team has achieved one more breakthrough by developing two methods of 4D printing of ceramics with the development of the elastic ceramic precursors.

Exercise Pitch Black 2018 concluded in Australia on - 18th August 2018

Exercise Pitch Black 2018 which is a biennial multi-national large force employment warfare exercise. It was hosted by Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from 24th July, 2018 to 18th Aug, 2018 in Darwin, Australia.

It was the largest Pitch Black Exercise ever conducted by Australia, which witnessed the participation of 16 nations and over 140 aircrafts.

More about Indian Contingent

• IAF contingent consisted of 145 personnel, including four Sukhoi Su-30 MKIs, an Ilyushin tanker, an Ilyushin Il-78 tanker, a Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super Hercules, and a Boeing C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft.
• This contingent assembled at Air Force Station Kalaikunda and departed for the exercise on 19th July, 2018 from India to Australia via Indonesia.
• The Group Captain CUV Rao led this contingent.

More about Exercise Pitch Black

• It is a multinational exercise hosted by Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
• It was started in 1981 and has expanded gradually to become the hemisphere’s largest air force training exercise.

‘In-body GPS’ system to track tumours developed by - Researchers

Researchers from the MIT(Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Massachusetts General Hospital in the US have developed a wireless 'in-body GPS' system that is capable of tracking tumours and pinpoint the location of ingestible implants inside the body.

During the tests conducted on animals, the system called ‘ReMix’ was found to be able to easily track the implants with centimetre-level accuracy. Similar implants can further be used to deliver drugs to specific regions in the body.

Key Highlights

• The researchers first implanted a small marker in animal tissues in order to test ReMix.
• Then the researchers used a wireless device reflecting radio signals off the patient to track its movement.

NOTA option not applicable for Rajya Sabha Elections, ruled by - Supreme Court

The Supreme Court ruled that the ‘None of The Above’ (NOTA) option will not be applicable for voting in the Rajya Sabha elections on 21st August, 2018. A bench of Justices comprising CJI Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud made this decision.
The bench held that the NOTA option is meant only for universal adult suffrage and direct elections and not for the polls held by the system of proportional  representation by means of the single transferable vote as it is done in the Rajya Sabha.
Did you know?
The option of NOTA was introduced in India after the Supreme Court’s judgment in PUCL v Union of India on 27th September 2013.