KARNATAKA

Vaastu, astrology outside the ambit of anti-superstition Bill

The Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Bill, 2017, which was tabled in the Legislative Assembly recently, focuses primarily on rituals and practices that cause bodily harm, and threaten or are seen as contrary to the dignity of people.
The Bill, among other things, bans the controversial ‘made snana’ ritual, which was prevalent in religious places such as Kukke Subramanya temple. However, it steers clear of attempting to regulate vaastu and astrology, besides several rituals that are performed at home or in religious places and temples. All religious celebrations, festivals, prayers, processions and so on are not covered under the Bill.

The Bill proposes appointment of police officers as vigilance officers to monitor violations of the provisions of the law and its rules.

Persons who obstruct the discharge of duties of the vigilance officers would be punished with an imprisonment of not less than three months and a fine up to ₹5,000 or both.

INTERNATIONAL

Saudi Arabia approves Yoga as a sports activity

Saudi Arabia has officially approved Yoga as a sporting activity under its Ministry of Trade and Industry.

So, anyone who now wishes to practice or teach yoga can do so by applying for a licence.

The Crown Prince known as MBS launched the new vision 2030 that focuses on development and investing in youth.

· Founding Ceremony of International Solar Alliance Held in Germany

A Curtain Raiser Event for the Founding Ceremony of the International Solar Alliance (ISA)was held in Bonn, Germany.
Shri Anand Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy was present at the event from the Indian side.
The ISA was jointly launched on 30 November 2015 by Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and then-President of France, H.E. Francois Hollande, on the sidelines of the UNFCCC Conference of Parties 21 (CoP21) at Paris, France.

· China launches worlds first fully electric cargo ship

Chinalaunched the world’s first all-electric ship, which can travel up to 80 km with 2000-tonnes cargo after a two-hour charge.
The ship is 70.5-metre-long and weighs about 600 tonnes.
It was launched in Guangzhou in South China’s Guangdong Province.
The ship has been manufactured by the Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Limited.
It is powered by a 26-tonne lithium battery and can cruise at the top speed of 12.8 km per hour.

· Virtual Nation Asgardia Launched its First Satellite Asgardia-1 into Space

The Space Kingdom of Asgardia has launched its first satellite.
This so-called ‘virtual nation’is the pet project of Russian scientist and billionaire Igor Ashurbeyli.
In 2016, he proposed a new nation which would be based in space in order to be outside of the control of nations on Earth.
The Asgardia-1 satellite, which is about the size of a loaf of bread, and contains half a terabyte of data.
It was launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia aboard a Cygnus spacecraft on an Orbital ATK Antares rocket.

NATIONAL

West Bengal Gets GI Tag for Rosogolla

West Bengal has won a long-drawn-out battle over rasgulla when Chennai-based Geographical Indications (GI) Registry announced that one of India’s signature sweets originated in the state and not Odisha.
Bengal and Odisha have been locked in this fight over the GI registration of rasgulla since 2015.

West Bengal CM Mamta Benerjee expressed her happiness as Bengal has been granted GI (Geographical Indication) status for Rosogolla.

· First Ever APCERT Conference in New Delhi

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under the aegis of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology organized the Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team (APCERT) Conferencein New Delhi.
This is the 15th Conference of APCERT and first ever conference in India and South Asia.
The conference theme is “Building Trust in the Digital Economy”.
This was inaugurated by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Minister of Electronics & Information Technology, and attended by over 300 cybersecurity professionals.

· NIOT to build Indias first offshore desalination plant near Chennai coast

National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) Satheesh C Shenoy scientists from NIOT will build India’s first offshore desalination plant about 40km from the Chennai coast.
This desalination plant is estimated to cost Rs. 2,000 crore. It will be designed and built by NIOT scientists off the shores of Ennore.
The capacity of the plant will be 10 million liters of water per day.
The plant will operate on Low-Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD), a low cost and environment-friendly technology to get potable water.
The technology is based on the temperature difference in seawater at different depths.

KPSC Notes brings Prelims and Mains programs for KPSC Prelims and KPSC Mains Exam preparation. Various Programs initiated by KPSC Notes are as follows:-

For any doubt, Just leave us a Chat or Fill us a querry––