Current Affairs for IAS Exams

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 24 May 2016

India and Iran signed a series of agreements that will allow New Delhi to use the port of Chahbahar to access Central Asia and Afghanistan.
The first agreement, a bilateral, signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s May 22-23 visit, will provide India the right to develop and operate two terminals and five berths with multipurpose cargo handling capacities in the port of Chahbahar for 10 years.
India and Iran also sealed 11 other agreements, covering culture, finance and conservation, during Mr. Modi’s official meetings with the Iranian President.
Mr. Modi’s visit was preceded by those by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan when the contracts were finalised.
“The agreement to develop the Chahbahar port and related infrastructure, and availability of about $500 million from India for this purpose, is an important milestone. This major effort would boost economic growth in the region,” Mr. Modi said in his statement, following the signing of the agreement between IPGPL (India Ports Global Private Limited) and Arya Banader of Iran.

In an order with far-reaching implications, the Kochi Special Circuit Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) prohibited light and heavy diesel vehicles of more that 2000 cc engine capacity that are older than ten years from plying in six major cities of the State.
The ban, which will cover vehicles in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode, and Kannur, will come into effect in another 30 days.
Each detected violation thereafter will entail a Rs.5,000 fine as environmental compensation. The fine should be collected by the traffic police or the Pollution Control Board.
This means that out of the 96 lakh vehicles registered in the State, close to two lakh diesel vehicles, which are already 10 or more years old and have engine capacities of 2000 cc or more, have to be phased out.
These include over 98,400 light motor vehicles, 44,524 medium motor vehicles, 41,121 heavy motor vehicles and 3,700 private stage carriers.
The NGT Bench comprising Chairperson Swatanter Kumar and Expert Member Bikram Singh Sajwan has also directed the State government not to register any more diesel vehicle of 2000 cc and above, except Public Transport and Local Authority vehicles.

The test flight of the RLV-TD represented the first step towards the ISRO programme to master the reusable launch vehicle technology.
Termed the Hypersonic Flight Experiment, it was the first of a sequence of four test flights to validate various technologies.
Designed and developed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at a cost of Rs. 95 crore, the RLV-TD weighing 1.75 tonnes used a thermal protection system (TPS) including 600 heat-resistant silica tiles and a Carbon-Carbon nose cap to withstand the high temperature during atmospheric re-entry.
Taking baby steps towards developing a reusable launch vehicle capable of sending spacecraft into orbit and returning to the earth’s surface.
The technology, when developed completely, would launch spacecraft, including satellites, into space and re-enter the earth’s atmosphere withstanding extreme pressure and heat conditions and land in an intended spot, helping to cut costs on launch vehicles substantially.
The design of the air frame, development of mono propellant thrusters for guidance and control and advanced avionics for mission management were other challenges.
As many as 600 engineers from ISRO centres, National Aerospace Laboratories, IITs and Indian Institute of Science were involved in the development of the RLV-TD over a period of eight years.