Current affairs notes on 11/09/2018-12/09/2018

1.Exercise Nomadic Elephant is an annual, bilateral exercise since 2006 which is designed to strengthen the partnership between Indian Army and Mongolian Armed Forces. The 12 days long Indo-Mongolia joint exercise Nomadic Elephant-2018, commenced at Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF).

2.Australian Open 2018 tournament concluded in January 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. Roger Federer of Switzerland won in the men's Singles category after defeating Marin Cilic of Croatia. In women's singles category, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark defeated Simona Halep of Romania.

3.The first of its kind university in the country in the transport sector, the National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI), started operations. Currently, it is functioning out of the National Academy of Indian Railways, Vadodara.

4.The Airports Authority of India (AAI) cancelled the proposed water aerodrome project at Chilika Lake in Odisha as it would have a negative impact on the ecosystem and the surrounding human population at the world's second largest brackish water lake. 

5.The 2018 Global Summit on Climate Action will be held at San Francisco in California, United States from September 12 to 14, 2018. The 2018 Global Summit on Climate Action will be held at San Francisco in California, United States from September 12 to 14, 2018.  It will serve as a starting point for broader and more effective global commitments, to reduce the impacts of climate change and achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement. 

6.India and France have signed an implementation agreement on Mobilise Your City (MYC) programme in New Delhi on September 7. The aim of MYC is to support three pilot cities – Nagpur, Kochi and Ahmedabad – in their efforts to reduce their Green House Gas (GHG) emissions related to urban transport by implementing urban mobility plans at local level.

7.the Haryana government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to set up an ethanol plant in Panipat.The pact will be valid for one year.

8.The Indian Air Force has successfully carried out the first-ever mid-air refuelling of the indigenously build fighter aircraft Tejas MK 1 with an IL-78 MKI tanker of the 78 Sqn. 

9.The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has recently re-commissioned an upgraded version of nuclear research reactor ‘Apsara-U’ with a higher capacity.‘Apsara-U’ uses plate type dispersion fuel elements made of Low Enriched Uranium (LEU). . Apsara was the Asia’s first research reactor that was made operational in Trombay campus of BARC on 4th August 1956. 

10.The World Meteorological Organisation forecast “a 70% chance of an El Nino developing by the end of this year.”El Nino is a climatic cycle characterised by high air pressure in the Western Pacific and low air pressure in the eastern. El Nino affects global weather. It favours eastern Pacific hurricanes and tropical storms. The rise in sea surface temperature may be intensified by global warming. 

11.NITI Aayog has collaborated with Intel and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) to set up a Model International Center for Transformative Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI). It is towards developing and deploying AI-led application-based research projects.

12.Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) is gearing up to undertake sea trials of India’s first missile tracking ship by the first week of October.It has the capacity to carry 300-strong crew with hi-tech gadgets and communication equipment.

13.Union Ministry of Railways has launched Rail Sahyog web portal.It will provide platform for Corporates and PSUs to fund creation of amenities at railway stations through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.

Thank You...