Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 22 May 2017
:: National ::
Indian Railways will now carry out a cleanliness survey of tracks on busy routes
- Widening its sanitation drive, the Indian Railways will now carry out a cleanliness survey of tracks on busy routes and rank its 16 zones based on performance.
- The railways had recently released results of a similar survey of 407 stations, carried out by the Quality Council of India.
- All-out efforts will be made to keep the tracks clean as part of the government’s ongoing cleanliness campaign, said a senior railway ministry official.
- Railway tracks at many stretches resemble garbage dump with leftover food, plastic bottles and paper boxes strewn all over. Discharge of human waste from trains is also a cause for concern.
- In fact, several railway divisions have pressed into service a mechanised system for cleaning of tracks near stations. Besides, installation of bio-toilets in several trains has reduced discharge of human waste on the tracks.
- The Indian Railways is the third largest rail network in the world, covering 66,000 km and having more than 8,000 stations.
- It was after the launch of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2, 2014, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the railways launched ‘Swachh Rail, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’.
- The railways has also made operational a ‘Swachh Rail’ portal to showcase cleanliness rankings of various stations.
Scientists have developed sensor that can detect disease markers in one’s breath
- Scientists have developed a low-cost, disposable sensor that can detect disease markers in one’s breath, giving patients an early warning sign to call the doctor.
- The device is made of a thin square of an organic plastic. “We developed this method to directly print tiny pores into the device so we can expose these highly reactive sites,” said Ying Diao, professor at University of Illinois.
- For example, monitoring the change in ammonia concentration in the breath could give patients a warning sign to go for a kidney function test.
Government is unlikely to meet its target of 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 (Register and Login to read Full News)
RBI Governor will appear before panel for briefing on demonetisation (Register and Login to read Full News)
:: International ::
U.S. President called on Middle East to combat a Islamic extremism
- U.S. President Donald Trump called on Middle Eastern leaders to combat a “crisis of Islamic extremism” emanating from the region, casting the fight against terrorism as a “battle between good and evil”, not a clash between the West and Islam.
- Mr. Trump’s address was the centrepiece of his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, his first stop overseas as President.
- During a meeting of more than 50 Arab and Muslim leaders, he sought to chart a new course for America’s role in the region, one aimed squarely on rooting out terrorism, with less focus on promoting human rights and democratic reforms.
- Even as the President pledged to work alongside Middle Eastern nations, he put the onus for combating terrorism on the region.
- Bellowing into the microphone, he implored Muslim leaders to aggressively fight extremists — “Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities.”
- Sitting alongside Mr. Trump, Saudi King Salman declared: “The Iranian regime has been the spearhead of global terrorism.”
- Mr. Trump’s welcome in the region was also put on display during a series of individual meetings with Arab leaders.
- Reinforcing his theme of U.S. economic deals, the U.S. President told Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani they would discuss “lots of beautiful military equipment because nobody makes it like the United States”.
- For Mr. Trump the visit has been a welcome escape from the crush of controversies that have consumed his administration in recent weeks.
- The President’s trip to Saudi Arabia also served as something of a reset with the region following his presidential campaign, which was frequently punctured by bouts of anti-Islamic rhetoric. He once mused that he thought “Islam hates us”.
- That ban was blocked by the courts. A second order, which dropped Iraq from the list, is tied up in federal court and the federal government is appealing.
- That speech was denounced by many Republicans and criticised by a number of the United States’ Middle East allies as being a sort of apology.