Current Affairs 12 January 2018

1. World's largest solar thermal plant to be built in South Australia The world's largest solar-thermal power plant has been g...

1. World's largest solar thermal plant to be built in South Australia

The world's largest solar-thermal power plant has been given development approval by the South Australian government.

• Construction on the 150-megawatt Aurora plant, to be built by utility-scale solar power company Solar Reserve, will begin in 2018 at an estimated cost of $509 million.
• It will have the capacity to power 90,000 homes with eight hours of full load storage.

2. Indian Air Force Conquers ‘Seven Summits’

An expert team of IAF mountaineers had successfully scaled highest peaks of six different continents earlier and had recently embarked upon its culminating expedition to Mt Vinson in Antarctica to complete Mission Seven Summits.

• A five member team led by Gp Capt RC Tripathi VM(G) was flagged off by Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa PVSM AVSM YSM VM ADC, Chief of Air Staff, on   08 Dec 17.
• The team now has returned successfully after proudly flying the Tricolour and IAF flag on the highest peak of Antarctica on 25 Dec 2017 at 1845 hrs and thus created yet another glorious moment for the IAF.
• With this, Indian Air Force becomes the first organisation in India to have completed ‘Seven Summits’, indeed a rare feat to achieve.

3. Ministry of Railway launches SFOORTI Application

In a major digital initiative to help plan the traffic flows and optimize freight operations, Ministry of Railways have launched Smart Freight Operation Optimisation & Real Time Information (SFOORTI) App.

• This is an app for Freight Managers which provides features for monitoring and managing freight business using Geographic Information System (GIS) Views and Dashboard.

4. GAIL to Set Up India's 1st Coal-to-gas Conversion Plant

India's first plant to convert coal to synthetic gas is to be set up in Odisha under the supervision of state-run gas transmission utility GAIL, the Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.

• This synthetic gas is expected to be cheaper than natural gas," the Minister said.
• According to sources here, GAIL has roped in other public sector undertakings like Coal India, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers and Fertilizer Corp of India for the project, which will generate ammonia synthesis gas from coal.

5. ISRO to launch 100th satellite on 12 January

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch its 100th satellite at 9.29 am on January 12 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

• The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C40), on its 42nd mission, will carry ‘Cartosat-2’, a weather observation satellite and 30 other satellites.
• With the countdown for lift-off already underway, this is ISRO’s first launch in 2018.
• It is also the first after the unsuccessful mission of IRNSS-1H in August last year.

6. India top borrower from China-sponsored AIIB in 2017

India has emerged as a top borrower from the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) with USD 1.5 billion worth of loans last year and USD three billion more in the pipeline.

• Next to India, Indonesia has emerged as the second largest borrower with about USD 600 million loans.

Points to Remember

• India is the second largest share holder in the bank which has an authorised capital of USD 100 billion.
• China is the largest shareholder with 26.06 per cent voting shares in the bank. India is the second largest shareholder with 7.5 per cent followed by Russia 5.93 per cent and Germany with 4.5 per cent.
• Its headquarters is in Beijing. Jin Liqun is the president of AIIB.
• AIIB has 61 members. It was established on 25 December 2015.

7. Kajol named ambassador for Swachh Aadat Swachh Bharat

Actress Kajol, an active supporter of eradicating preventable deaths from hygiene-related issues, has become an advocacy ambassador for a Swachh Aadat Swachh Bharat initiative.

• Kajol took to Twitter to urge people to become "swachhta doot" and contribute to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

8. Shahrukh Khan to get Crystal Award at WEF Davos Summit

Bollywood megastar Shahrukh Khan will get the Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, along with Hollywood star Cate Blanchett and legendary musician Sir Elton John.

• Khan will get the award for "his leadership in championing children's and women's rights in India," the World Economic Forum (WEF) said.
• The past awardees from India include Amitabh Bachchan, Mallika Sarabhai, A R Rahman, Shabana Azmi, Ravi Shankar and Amjad Ali Khan.