Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 29 October 2017

::NATIONAL::

Liquefaction a threat to cargo vessels

• Across the merchant marine community, fingers have been pointed at the cargo that the ill-fated Emerald Star was carrying — 55,000 tonnes of nickel ore.
• Under certain conditions [fine particle cargo, containing high levels of moisture], nickel ore may become like a semi-solid or liquid, in a process termed as liquefaction. Then it starts moving like liquid inside the hold [cargo area] of a ship.
• If the hold is partly filled in such a condition, the effect [free surface effect] on ship stability will be bad. In this context, it may be noted that liquid cargo in bulk is carried by tanker ships, which are specially designed, considering safety requirements.
• DNV GL, an international accredited registrar and classification society that certifies that a ship is built and maintained as per set standards and is seaworthy, has acknowledged that the Emerald Star was DNV GL class.
• In shipping parlance, “clean class” would mean the ship had no deficiency and all its certificates and surveys were in order. This lends credence to the opinion that structural deficiency was likely not an issue, especially since the Emerald Star , built some seven years ago, was a relatively young ship.
• In a 2015 paper, DNV lists six accidents due to nickel ore and notes that they coincide with the period when South East Asia sees storms. Three of them happened in 2010 and two in 2013, and all the ships were carrying nickel ore from either Indonesia or Philippines.
• Earlier this year, Stellar Daisy , with a cargo capacity of 2,66,000 tonnes, sank off the coast of Uruguay, reportedly after the iron ore it was carrying liquefied.
• The DNV paper notes that nickel ore is 99% clay-like soil and the ore is likely to liquefy under the impact of a ship’s motion if the moisture exceeds a certain level. It also notes recent changes to international codes governing such cargo.
• A Transportable Moisture Limit (TML) is specified to limit the maximum moisture content ores can have before loading on a ship, but the paper notes that the moisture level of the ores can change after measurement in laboratories.

India’s air pollution crisis

• Many major Indian cities, including Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata, grapple with air pollution. However, India’s air pollution crisis is largely due to the noxious, winter air quality in Delhi and some cities in north and central India.
• In 2016, the World Health Organisation put 10 Indian cities on the list of the world’s most-polluted. Reports from monitoring stations across Delhi, for at least a day after Deepavali this year, reported very high concentrations of particulate matter.
• The six-rung colour-coded Air Quality Index showed that pollution levels had shot up to ‘severe’ on October 20 — a sign that the air was toxic enough to warrant even the healthy to stay inside — but in a few hours the needle eased down to ‘Very Poor,’ or a level that’s typical of Delhi winters and risky to those with underlying respiratory problems.
• Several other north Indian cities on the Gangetic plains, including Agra and Allahabad, are affected too as particulate matter persists throughout autumn and winter. Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata see pollution spikes but, primarily aided by geography, see them being flushed out too.
• A confluence of interdependent factors is responsible. Winter in north India means a drop in wind speeds and high moisture levels from a retreating monsoon that prevent dust and particulate matter from being quickly flushed out.
• Further, the burning of agriculture stubble in Punjab brings toxic and unburned carbon particles into Delhi’s atmosphere. The city’s high emissions from cars, road dust and industrial waste contribute to the high pollution loads that rank it among the world’s most-polluted.
• In other cities, the weather may be friendlier but rising pollution from industry, burning of coal and vehicles means that no fast-growing urban city in India is even close to the WHO-dictated air quality standards.
• For one, India bears the burden of the maximum number of air pollution-linked deaths in the world. A report by The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, involving over 40 international health and environmental authors, reported that air pollution killed 1.09 million in India in 2015.
• Though the Indian government has disputed this number, it’s incontrovertible that a wide variety of sources of air pollution abound.
• These include ambient air pollution, which is outdoor air pollution comprising gases and particulate matter; and household air pollution from the burning of wood, charcoal, coal, dung or crop waste indoors; and ambient ozone.
• Such pollution is strongly linked to heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD).
• This also imposes a financial cost. The same report says the financial cost of such pollution is between 1% and 1.5% of the GDP of middle-income countries.
• The Supreme Court banned the sale of crackers in Delhi as an “experiment” to check its impact on air quality.

India at 100th position in Ease of business

• The DIPP also had the Prime Minister's support to coordinate across Ministries, the source said. “That was critical. For a federal democracy with messy coordination, as opposed to China or Russia, this coordination was quite a feat.
• The development will be a shot in the arm for the NDA government that has been facing a barrage of criticism due to its sudden demonetisation exercise and the ‘hurried’ implementation of the Goods and Services Tax regime that made it difficult for firms, particularly the small and medium ones, to do business.
• After taking charge as the Prime Minister in 2014, Narendra Modi was keen to ensure that India finds a place in the top 50 ranks, and had soon after made this a priority.
• Speculation has been rife about a significant improvement in India’s rankings following top government officials including Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu recently hinting at some “good news” on the ease of doing business front.
• India will leapfrog 30 places to the 100th position out of 190 countries in the World Bank's Doing Business Report.
• According to a source involved in the exercise — the report is expected to be released on October 31 — “India will hit a century.”
• This huge jump in the country's ranking is thanks to reforms in areas such as ‘starting a business’, ‘dealing with construction permits’, and ‘resolving insolvency’, where it was placed a lowly 155, 185 and 136 respectively last year.
• The source said, “The low rank last year galvanised India to act. There was an explicit order from the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) to ensure faster reforms to improve India’s rankings.” India was ranked a poor 130 overall last year, up by just one place from the 131 rank in the previous year.
• On the future prospects for India, the source said, “If India maintains this momentum, it can jump to a rank in double digits next year,” adding that Mumbai and Delhi — the two cities covered in the Report — had responded well to the government’s call for improvement.
• The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion systematically worked with the line ministries and State governments to “get things done on the ground”, the source said.

::INDIA AND WORLD::

India losing its bid for Farzad B gas field

• Even as Iranian government officials have said that India is close to losing its bid for the Farzad B gas field, Indian officials in the Petroleum Ministry downplayed the situation, saying it is all part of the negotiation process.
• A senior Iranian diplomat handling the negotiations said that they were disappointed that India had not shown “flexibility” in its bids for the Farzad B gasfield, and may have to offer it to others like Russian oil major Rosneft, which has put in a better bid for other parts of Farzad B.
• “Given the lack of flexibility on pricing from India, we may be left with no choice, and India could lose the Farzad B project entirely,” the diplomat said.
• The Petroleum Ministry official explained that the negotiations between India and Iran meant that the bids had been updated on a number of factors such as the time period of the contract, the depreciation element, or the taxation element, and the royalty payments.
• “For any overseas investment, the internal rate of return (IRR) is very important,” the official said. “The IRR requirements have to be met, and it has to be recognised that Farzad B is the most difficult field because of the sour gas, and other considerations such as the impurities in the gas.”
• While officials said the plan for the Chabahar Port was on course, with transport minister Nitin Gadkari promising to complete development of its berths by 2018-end, other discussions — on expanding banking facilities, offering India railroad projects, on the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) LNG pipelines, have not made much progress.

Offer of talks turn down by India regarding transit trade to Afghanistan

• India has rejected an offer from Pakistan for talks on transit trade to Afghanistan, diplomats.
• The offer was made by the Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed when he met President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul. During discussions on the renewal of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA), that lapsed in 2015, President Ghani repeated concerns that trade with India over the Wagah border had been blocked by Pakistan, despite being agreed to in the APTTA.
• President Ghani is understood to have conveyed the conversation to New Delhi through the Indian Embassy in Kabul. However, days later, Indian officials at the SCO Afghanistan-Contact group meeting in Moscow, told the Afghan delegation that it would not take up the offer for talks.
• The APTTA is a bilateral agreement. It is not working because of unilateral decisions by Pakistan not to honour it.
• Pakistan has consistently refused to allow any Indian goods to travel over land Afghanistan, insisting that India use the sea-route via Karachi.
• India and Afghanistan are now working on strengthening alternative routes, including the air cargo corridor launched in June this year, and the Chabahar sea route. While the development of Chabahar will take at least another year, India’s first major shipment of 1,30,000 tonnes of wheat via Chabahar will be dispatched.
• In addition, the conversation was held in the backdrop of the U.S.’s newly announced South Asia Policy for Afghanistan, ensuring greater Indian involvement in development projects in Afghanistan.

::ENVIRONMENT::

Several species awarded highest protection

• Several species of vultures, including four that have India on their migratory routes, were awarded the highest protection by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
• The whale shark, which inhabits the Indian Ocean, got global protection too. However, the proposal to extend additional protection to the chinkara or Indian gazelle was withdrawn.
• The week-long convention in Manila concluded with approvals for protection of 34 species in submissions made by 24 countries from Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania.
• Delegates from 91 countries had attended the summit, the next edition of which will be held in India in 2020.
• The Asian vultures that are set to get collaborative international protection are the red-headed vulture, white-rumped vulture, Indian vulture and slender-billed vulture. They are faced with threats such as poisoning, hunting, collision with electricity cables and habitat degradation.
• A subspecies of the black noddy, the yellow bunting and the lesser and great grey shrike are the other avians on the protected list.
• Widespread over-fishing is driving many shark species, including the whale shark, to extinction. India is among 121 nations whose waters are home to sharks threatended with near extinction. The major threats are by catch in nets and vessel strikes.
• Proposals for conservation of the blue shark and common guitarfish have also been accepted. A resolution to develop and manage protected area networks within the ASEAN region has been adopted.
• Proposals submitted by Mongolia to protect two of Central Asia’s rarest species, Przewalski’s horse and the Gobi bear, also got the nod.
• The Caspian seal has also been identified for conservation. It is the only marine mammal found in the world’s largest inland sea, where its migration is prompted by ice formation and foraging.
• The summit held in Manila has been the largest in the 38-year history of the Convention, which is also known as the Bonn Convention after the German city in which it was signed.

Indigenous Mudhol breed dogs for the Army

• It is a Make In India initiative with some bite. The lean and lanky indigenous Mudhol breed of hunting hound is all set to be drafted by the defence forces for guard duty by the end of the year.
• This dog variety was initially bred by Ghorpade kings of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mudhol (now in Bagalkot, North Karnataka) back in the 1920s, by crossing Persian and Turkish varieties with local dogs.
• It will be the first Indian breed to serve the nation. All these years, the armed forces used Labrador, German Shepherds and Belgian Shepherds.
• Mudhol hounds, can complete a task in 40 seconds, which takes a Labrador or Shepherd 90 seconds. RVC has trained Mudhols to sniff out research and development explosive (RDX).
• Mudhols could track enemy movements along the border, sniff out drugs and weapons, do guard and assault duty, explosive detection, search and rescue and infantry patrolling.
• These dogs, however, do not tolerate very low temperatures. CRIC scientists think they would adapt in two generations.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Liquid with extreme water repellent, superhydrophobic properties developed

• Nanocellulose-based liquid dispersion that renders the coated surface extremely water repellent — superhydrophobic with water contact angle more than 160 degrees — has been developed by a team of researchers led by Prof. T. Pradeep from the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.
• The material can be coated on a variety of surfaces including glass and paper. It has several distinct properties such as high mechanical durability and chemical stability. Like other superhydrophobic materials, the dispersion-coated surface exhibits microbial resistance thus preventing biofouling.
• The researchers used cellulose nanofibres (5-20 nm wide and more than 500 nm in length) and functionalised them with flurosilane in water over six-seven hours at room temperature. The linkage of fluorosilane with cellulose happens through the hydroxyl groups present on cellulose.
• The functionalisation makes the long fibres of cellulose, resembling bamboo poles of molecular dimensions, to be covered with fluoroalkyl groups. This reduces the surface energy of cellulose fibres.
• The coating exhibited superior mechanical durability even when subjected to a variety of abrasion tests — scratches using a knife, peel-off test and sand paper abrasion.
• Even when exposed to organic solvents such as hexane and ethanol, the coating exhibited chemical stability and retained its extreme water-repelling property.
• The coating remains stable even when subjected to extreme temperatures of 200 degree and –80 degree and exposed to direct sunlight.
• Since ink has organic components, the coating allows the ink to diffuse. Unlike normal paper where the ink washes off when exposed to water, the ink on the coated paper remained intact even when in contact with water.

FDA-approved molecule that shows enhanced anti-kala-azar activity

• Combining structure-based drug designing methodology with in vitro studies, scientists have been able to identify a FDA-approved molecule that shows enhanced anti-kala-azar activity.
• Three active inhibitor molecules were selected from the PubChem database and one of them showed the highest stability in binding to the active sites of the target enzyme (UDP-galactopyranosemutase or UGM) which helps in the formation of glycoprotein, beta-Galf.
• After binding to the UGM, the molecule inhibits the enzyme activity thereby reducing the virulence, parasite survival and transmission of disease. The results were published in the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry.
• Treatment for kala-azar (disease caused by Leishmania infection) is limited due to high toxicity to human cells, low efficacy of the drug, high cost and drug resistance making the development of novel anti-kala-azar drugs a priority.
• India has around 3,000 people afflicted with kala-azar, accounting for 50% of the global burden. It is endemic in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
• Beta-Galf is a major cell surface component of Leishmania parasite and is responsible for the virulence of the pathogens and plays an essential role in parasite survival and transmission of disease.
• Beta-Galf is also found in Mycobacterium tuberculosis that causes TB and Trypanosomacruzi parasite that causes sleeping sickness but is absent in humans. Like beta-Galf.
• UGM enzyme is also absent in humans but is critical for the biosynthesis of beta-Galf thereby making the UGM enzyme an attractive drug target. Deletion of the gene encoding for the enzyme in L. major resulted in a decrease in virulence.
• One of the three chosen inhibitors was evaluated in vitro for anti- Leishmania activity and found to significantly inhibit the growth of Leishmania donovani (which causes damage to visceral organs such as liver and spleen).

::SPORTS::

England won the U-17 World Cup

• England won its maiden FIFA Under-17 World Cup crown in style defeating old rival Spain 5-2 in the final, with a spectacular turnaround in the second half.
• A capacity crowd of 66,684 watched in awe as England pulled off a stunning comeback, scoring four goals in the second session. The match was a battle of two halves, where Spain dominated the first to lead 2-1, but paled after the break when the Englishmen raised their game.
• Individual awards: Golden Ball: 1. Philip Foden (England), 2. Sergio Gomez (Spain), 3. Rhian Brewster (England).
• Golden Boot: 1. Rhian Brewster (England) 8 (penalty 1); 2. LassanaNdiaye (Mali) 6; 3. Abel Ruiz (Spain) 6 (penalty 2).
• Golden Glove: Gabriel Brazao (Brazil).
• Fair play award: Brazil.

::BUSINESS AND ECONOMY::

Bharat 22 ETF

• The Centre will unveil the ‘Bharat 22’ Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), managed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, to garner about Rs. 8,000 crore.
• The new fund offer (NFO) will open for anchor investors on November 14, while subscription for retail investors will begin from November 15 and continue till November 17, ICICI Prudential MF said in a statement.
• An upfront discount of 3% will be offered to all category of investors. Bharat 22 comprises 22 scrips of public sector units, banks and entities in which the government holds a minority stake.
• Bharat 22 ETF is an excellent avenue for investors to participate in some of the best companies with high future growth potential. The ETF is well diversified with investments across six core sectors — basic materials, energy, finance, FMCG, industrial and utilities.
• It offers good opportunity and prospects for investors and we are confident of an overwhelming response to this NFO.
• It also includes government’s strategic holding in Axis Bank, ITC and L&T held through SUUTI (Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India). The other central public sector entities on the list are Bharat Electronics, Engineers India, NBCC, NTPC, NHPC, SJVNL, GAIL, PGCIL and NLC India.

Revised guidelines by RBI on digital wallets likely to accelerate mergers and acquisitions

• The revised guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on pre-paid instruments and wallets (PPI) recently are likely to accelerate mergers and acquisitions among digital payment brands.
• The RBI had issued revised Master Directions governing PPIs on October 11, overhauling the regulatory framework of the PPIs.
• The current move of the central bank is likely to prompt many digital payment companies to consider mergers and acquisitions as the cost of doing business would rise exponentially.
• The new guidelines stipulate that wallet operators must have net owned funds of Rs. 5 crore to be increased to Rs. 15 crore within three years. Existing wallet issuers must comply with the norm by March 31, 2020.
• The RBI also moved towards full KYC (know your customer) norms for wallets. Most wallets have, so far, been issued under the limited KYC route i.e. needing only name and mobile number. The RBI has now put in place a layered KYC requirement: wallets with a monthly limit of Rs. 10,000 may be issued with limited KYC. However, no fund transfers are allowed and all such wallets must migrate to a full KYC within 12 months.

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