(FREE) UPSC Current Affairs 2024 PDF

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 21 May 2014

Stolen items and Foreign Museums

The Idol Wing of the Tamil Nadu CB-CID has sought help from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to ascertain the antecedents of four ancient idols, allegedly stolen from Tamil Nadu, that have been spotted in museums abroad.
Of the four idols, three are made of bronze and one is crafted from stone. While the bronze idols — two figures of the Tamil Saivaite saint Gnanasambandar and one of Hindu god Murugan — belonged to the 12th century, the stone idol of Kali belonged to the 11th century.
In a letter to G. Maheswarai, Superintending Archaeologist ASI, Chennai Circle, Pon Manicakavel, DIG, Idol Wing, wanted to know whether these idols were presented before the ASI expert advisory committee for examination for issuance of ‘non-antiquity declaration certificate’ any time before 1994. He also wanted to know whether any appeal was pending before the appellate authority.
The letter follows after the ASI, Chennai Circle, sent data about 41 traders and 121 objects suspected to be antiques, covering the period between 2004 and 2014 to the CB-CID.
Bronze, marble, stone idols, wood carvings and all other handicrafts meant for export should be submitted before the advisory committee of the ASI to obtain mandatory ‘non-antiquity declaration certificate’ before export. Inspection of such items is made at the ASI office once in a month or 20 days, depending on the requirement.
The ASI has already issued notices to those who could not get a clearance certificate, seeking status of the objects including whether they have been registered or whether appeals have been made.

Fourth time CM in Odisha

Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Odisha for the fourth consecutive term in Bhubaneswar recently.
As many as 21 other Members of the new Council of Ministers headed by Mr. Patnaik were also sworn-in at a well-attended ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan premises.
Mr. Patnaik had become the Chief Minister for the first time on March 5, 2000 when the BJD-BJP alliance came to power when the people ousted the Congress.

New Google doodle

Internet giant Google has celebrated the 215th anniversary of the birth of British palaeontologist Mary Anning with a special doodle.
The Google homepage shows Mary Anning hunting for fossils with the fossilized remains of the animals making up Google's letters.
Anning is best known for her work collecting fossils from the Jurassic period near her home in Lyme Regis Dorset.
Born on May 21st 1799, Anning contributed to fundamental changes that occurred during her lifetime in scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the history of the Earth. Her first discovery was a skull, when she was just twelve, along with her brother Joseph.
Despite her popularity in Britain, Europe and America, Mary Anning couldn't make it to the Geological Society of London on account of her gender.

World's top brand

Google has knocked Apple off the perch as the world's top brand in terms of value in the latest rankings released by global market research agency Millward Brown.
The internet search giant may occasionally tick off the public and regulators across the globe with regards to its data collection activities but it hasn’t dented its brand value, according to Millward Brown’s 2014 100 Top BrandZ report.
Google's brand value shot up 40 per cent in a year to $US158.84 billion ($A171.86bn), while Apple has seen its brand value drop by 20 per cent to $160bn.
As the report highlights, Samsung, HP and Sony -- all product-dominated companies -- have put in a far less impressive performance than the likes of Tencent, Facebook and Baidu.
The latter are up 97 per cent, 68 per cent and 46 per cent respectively, while the former have moved up 21 per cent, 19 per cent and, in Sony’s case, a drop of 1 per cent.
Meanwhile, Twitter and LinkedIn are the latest entrants into the top 20 list, with brand values of $14bn and $12bn respectively.

Tests of Rio water pollution

Any hope Brazil would be able to clean up the sewage-filled bay soon was quashed in a document obtained by The Associated Press recently.
In a May 7 letter to sports minister Aldo Rebelo, Rio´s state environment secretary Carlos Francisco Portinho acknowledged in a best-case scenario that pollution flowing into the bay could be cut to “over 50 percent” — well below the promised reduction of 80 percent.
Alastair Fox, head of competitions for the international sailing federation, told the AP the body is likely to test on its own, hoping to allay athletes´ health concerns.
The tests could also push Rio organizers to move more quickly on the problem.
It is hoped that the International Olympic Committee would do independent testing, although the IOC indicated it had no such plans.

World's smallest, fastest nanomotor

Researchers have built the smallest, fastest and longest-running tiny synthetic motor to date.
The team's nanomotor is an important step toward developing miniature machines that could one day move through the body to administer insulin for diabetics when needed, or target and treat cancer cells without harming good cells.
With the goal of powering these yet-to-be invented devices, UT Austin engineers focused on building a reliable, ultra-high-speed nanomotor that can convert electrical energy into mechanical motion on a scale 500 times smaller than a grain of salt.
The team's three-part nanomotor can rapidly mix and pump biochemicals and move through liquids, which is important for future applications.
With all its dimensions under 1 micrometer in size, the nanomotor could fit inside a human cell and is capable of rotating for 15 continuous hours at a speed of 18,000 RPMs, the speed of a motor in a jet airplane engine. Comparable nanomotors run significantly more slowly, from 14 RPMs to 500 RPMs, and have only rotated for a few seconds up to a few minutes.

2 medals for Indian archers

Indian men's recurve archers went down fighting against Korea in the final of the World Cup Stage II at Medellin, Columbia recently.
The Indian team of Atanu Das, Thupuvoyi Swuro and Sanjay Boro fought gallantly to go down in the tiebreak and claim the silver medal.
The Indian mixed team of Das and Laishram Bombayla Devi won the bronze medal by beating their Mexican rivals. The Korean side began strongly winning the first two sets to go 4-0 up.