Current Affairs 8th January 2017

Current Affairs 8th January 2017 - Important Points

• India with which country has signed six agreements - Portugal
• World Bank holds meet with India on - Indus Water Treaty
• MIT researchers develop super strong, lightweight - 3D Graphene
• Which country to set up world’s highest altitude gravitational wave telescopes in Tibet – China 

Current Affairs 8th January 2017 - Details

India with which country has signed six agreements - Portugal

Among Important National Current Affairs, India and Portugal have signed total six memorandums of understandings (MoUs) including in defence cooperation. 

However, these agreements were signed after delegation level talks Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visiting Portugal counterpart António Costa who is Chief Guest of 2017 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

List of the Six agreements are – 

• MoU on Defence.

• MoU on Renewable Energy

• MoU on Marine Research and Resources

• MoU in the Agriculture and Allied Sectors

• MoU in the field of Information Technology and Electronics

• MoU on the establishment of an ICCR Chair of Indian Studies in University of Lisbon

World Bank holds meet with India on - Indus Water Treaty

Among Important International Current Affairs, India asked the World Bank not to rush in brokering a deal on its dispute with Pakistan over Ratle and Kishenganga projects coming up in the state Jammu and Kashmir. 

However, India also conveyed its position during a meeting with World Bank representative in New Delhi. India asserted that the differences between India and Pakistan can be resolved bilaterally or through a neutral expert.

MIT researchers develop super strong, lightweight - 3D Graphene

Among Important National Current Affairs, Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed 3D version of graphene by compressing and fusing flakes of graphene, a two-dimensional form of carbon. 

However, Graphene is to be one of the strongest materials known to man but so far because of its extreme thinness it was not able for practical use. 

Also, the 3D version of Graphene was produced using a combination of heat and pressure. It produced stable structures called diatom. 

Do You Know – 

• 3D Graphene is lightweight, only 5% as dense as steel but is 10 times stronger. 

• Also this development could lead production of more lighter, stronger materials.

Which country to set up world’s highest altitude gravitational wave telescopes in Tibet – China

Among Important International Current Affairs, China is setting up the world’s highest altitude gravitational wave observatory in a Tibet prefecture close to Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India. 

However, the telescope will detect and gather precise data on primordial gravitational waves in the Northern Hemisphere. The construction work of the first telescope code-named Ngari No.1 as part of first phase has started. It is expected to be operational by 2021. 

Also, it is located at located 5,250 meters above sea level, 30kms south of Shiquanhe Town in Ngari Prefecture at China’s border with India. In the second phase series of telescopes, code-named Ngari No. 2 will be set up about 6,000 meters above sea level. 

The high altitude of Ngari observatory provides clear sky to detect tiny twists in cosmic light and has minimal human activity. This observatory will be among the world’s top primordial gravitational wave observation bases, alongside the South Pole Telescope and the facility in Chile’s Atacama Desert.