19th January 2018 The Hindu and PIB Daily Current Affairs

1) ASER 2017  Report highlights India’s digital divide- 

• It compared states by focusing on rural youth in the 14-18 age group in 28 rural districts across 24 States in India.
• The patterns are a pointer to the south’s lead and the eastern States’ backwardness in rural digital access.
• Kerala seems far ahead of all Indian states - Ernakulam was the only district among those surveyed across India where a third of the rural youth had used an ATM.
• West Bengal seems right at the bottom in terms of the rural youth’s access to the Interrnet, computers and mobiles
• Nationally, 63.7% of the rural youth surveyed had never used the Internet, the figures were much higher in districts in West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and Assam

2.Agni-V test fired

• With a strike range of over 5,000 km, it is India’s longest range ballistic missile and can reach most parts of China and other parts of Asia, Europe and Africa, making it the mainstay of India’s triad to deliver nuclear weapons.
• It is most advanced missile having new technologies in terms of navigation systems [Ring Laser Gyro based Inertial Navigation System (RINS) and Micro Navigation System (MINS) ] and guidance, warhead and engine.
• It is also a fire and forget missile, which once fired cannot be stopped except by interceptor missiles which only US, Russia and Israel have.
• It carries Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRV)

3)Disaster warning system for Odisha 

• Early Warning Dissemination System (EWDS) is a first­-of­-its-kind automatic public address system in the country.
• It will help the State to warn a vast population residing along its coast from the State headquarters through loud sirens from towers in the event of occurrence of natural disasters like a tsunami or cyclone
• The EWDS for last mile connectivity is being implemented under a World Bank project.

4) Government planning to setup "Cyber Warrior Police Force" (CWPF) & "Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre" (I4C) 

AIM: To tackle internet related crimes such as cyber threats, child pornography and online stalking.

CWPF: 

It will operate under National Information Security Policy and Guidelines of MHA's CIS (Cyber & Security Information) Division (created in Nov,2017)

CWPF will be raised on lines of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF)

5)ICC ODI Cricketer of the year 2017 and recipient of Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Cricketer of the year- Virat Kohli

6)International Solar Alliance Forum at World Future Energy Summit, Abu Dhabi

Future World Energy Summit (WFES) is a signature event of a global initiative, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week

• India to set up $350 mn fund for solar projects to meet renewable energy target.
• Installed renewable power capacity is currently about 60GW, and India plans to add a further 115 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022.

About ISA

• The Paris Declaration establishes ISA as an alliance dedicated to the promotion of solar energy among its member countries. 
• Major objectives : Global deployment of over 1,000GW of solar generation capacity and mobilisation of investment of over US$ 1000 billion into solar energy by 2030.
• The ISA tends to reduce prices through bulk purchase, and promote collaborative solar R&D and capacity building.
• When the ISA Framework Agreement entered into force on December 6th, 2017, ISA formally became a de-jure treaty based International Intergovernmental Organization, headquartered at Gurugram, India.

7) ‘2017 was the second or third warmest year’

• Average surface temperatures were 1.1°C above pre­industrial levels.
• The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said 2017 was the warmest year without an El Niño.
• Temperatures in both 2016 and 2015 were lifted by an El Niño, a natural event which can disrupt weather patterns worldwide every few years and releases heat from the Pacific Ocean into the atmosphere.
• Extreme weather events last year:

-The Caribbean and the United States suffered a battering from hurricanes (Harvey, Maria, Irma)

-Arctic ended 2017 with the least sea ice for mid­winter 

 -Tropical coral reefs suffered from high water temperatures.