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Daily Current Capsules - 6th May 2019

Geophysical phenomena
Extremely Severe Cyclone Fani reached Odisha Coast
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about cyclones and about Fani) + Mains ( GS I important geophysical phenomena)


What's the NEWS
  • Cyclonic Storm ‘Fani' reached Odisha Coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali around Puri on May 03, 2019 with maximum sustained wind speed of 170-180 kmph gusting to 200 kmph.
  • The cyclone Fani is being tracked by Doppler Weather Radars Vishakhapatnam and Machilipatnam.
Know! some facts about Cyclone Fani
  • Cyclone Fani is a massive cyclonic formation over the south of Bay of Bengal. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that Fani's speeds ranging up to 180 kilometres per hour causing heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of the State.
  • IMD also warned of storm surge of about 1.5 meter height which may inundate low lying coastal areas of Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts of Odisha at the time of landfall.
  • Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief and rescue operations. Army and Air Force units in the three States have also been put on standby.
  • NDRF has deployed 12 teams in Andhra Pradesh, 28 teams in Odisha and 6 teams in West Bengal. Additionally 32 teams have been kept on standby. The teams are equipped with boats, tree cutters, telecom equipment etc.
Know! about the name Fani
  • The name of the Cyclone 'Fani', pronounced as 'Foni' was suggested by Bangladesh. It means 'Snake' or 'hood of snake'.
  • The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has devised a mechanism where countries submit a list of names from time to time. Names of cyclones are chosen from this pool.
  • India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan and Thailand send names of tropical cyclones developing in the North Indian Ocean to the regional committee.
  • Presently, each country has suggested eight names for cyclones occurring in future.
  • The name ‘Fani' was decided from a list containing 64 names.
International Affairs
World Press Freedom Day-2019
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about World press freedom day )

What's the NEWS
  • The 26th celebration of World Press Freedom Day is jointly organized by UNESCO, the African Union Commission and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
  • The main event has taken place in Addis Ababa, on May 03, 2019 at the African Union Headquarters.
  • This year's theme is - "Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation"- discusses current challenges faced by media in elections, along with the media's potential in supporting peace and reconciliation processes.
  • The overall theme of the event is the role of media in elections and democracy. A wide range of sessions (plenaries, debates, lightning talks, etc.) addressed different aspects of the overall theme.
Know! more about World Press Freedom day
  • World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO's General Conference. Since then, 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day.
  • It is an opportunity to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; assess the state of press freedom throughout the world; defend the media from attacks on their independence; and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
  • UNESCO marks World Press Freedom Day by conferring the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize on a deserving individual, organisation or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger.
  • Created in 1997, the prize is awarded on the recommendation of an independent jury of 14 news professionals.
  • It is named in honour of Guillermo Cano Isaza, a Colombian journalist who was assassinated in front of the offices of his newspaper El Espectador in Bogotá, Colombia on 17 December 1986.

Space Awareness
Chandrayaan-2
Relevance IN - Prelims (about chandrayaan-2) + Mains (GS III awareness in the field of space)


What's the NEWS
  • The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that India's second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 is scheduled to be launched between July 9 and 16 2019.
  • The Chandrayaan-2's lander will touch down near Moon's south pole on 6th September 2019.
Know! all about Chandrayan-2
  • It is India's second lunar mission. It would be launched using India's most powerful rocket GSLV MKIII from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
  • Its payloads will collect scientific information on lunar (moon) topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, lunar exosphere and signatures of hydroxyl and water-ice.
  • It has three modules (a detachable self-contained unit of a spacecraft) namely namely Orbiter, Lander named Vikram and Rover named Pragyan.
  • The Orbiter and Lander modules will be put together as an integrated module and accommodated inside GSLV MK-III a three stage launch vehicle equipped to lift heaviest satellites into orbit.
  • The Rover is enclosed inside the Lander. Once spacecraft is launched into earth bound orbit by GSLV MK-III, the integrated module will reach Moon orbit using Orbiter propulsion module.
  • Then, the Vikram Lander would separate from the Orbiter and will make soft landing at a predetermined site close to lunar South Pole.
  • The wheeled Pragyan Rover will roll out for carrying out scientific experiments on lunar surface.
  • Instruments are mounted on Lander and Orbiter for carrying out scientific experiments.
  • The data collected by them would be relayed to earth.
  • Chandrayan-2 mission would land on southern pole of the moon, which is still unexplored by any of the countries. Therefore landing of spacecraft near lunar's south pole would be historically significant as it would give ISRO opportunity to name that site on the moon.
  • All the three modules namely Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) & Rover (Pragyan) are developed by India.
Economic Awareness
RBI penalises Vodafone m-pesa, PhonePe and three others over regulatory violations
Relevance IN - Prelims (about the regulatory violations + about PPI)

What's the NEWS
  • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a monetary penalty on five Pre-Paid Payment Instrument (PPI) issuers which include Vodafone's m-pesa and Phonepe, for violating its regulatory guidelines under provisions of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
  • Other facing Penalty includes, Western Union Financial Services Inc., MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc, (both are US rms) for compounding of contravention and non-compliance of RBI guidelines and on Mobile Payments and Private and GI Technology.
Know! about Pre-Paid Payment Instrument (PPIs)
  • PPIs are instruments which come with a preloaded value and in even with pre-defined purpose of payment.
  • PPIs facilitates financial services, inter-personal remittance transactions (like sending money to friend or a family member), purchase of goods and services (G&S), etc., against amount stored on such instruments.
  • Examples of PPIs: any smart cards (or chip card), magnetic stripe cards (or swipe card), internet accounts (like PayPal), internet wallets, mobile accounts, mobile wallets, paper vouchers (like travel and food vouchers) and any instruments used to access prepaid amount.
Three types of PPIs issued in India are:
     1. Closed System PPIs:
  • Issued by an entity for facilitating purchase of G&S from that entity only and do not permit fund transfer or cash withdrawal. . They can be used only at specific locations.
  • These do not require RBI approval. Ex- a brand specific gift card(Amazon/Pantaloons gift card).
     2. Semi-closed System PPIs:
  • Issued by banks (approved by RBI) and non-banks (authorized by RBI) for purchase at merchant locations which have specific contract with issuer to accept PPIs as payment instruments.
  • These are not restricted to a single entity and can be used for fund transfer. Ex- e-wallets like Oxigen, Mobikwik, PayTm.
     3. Open System PPIs:
  • Issued only by banks (approved by RBI) and are used at any merchant for purchase and also for cash withdrawals at ATMs, Points of Sale (PoS) terminals and Business Correspondents (BCs). Ex- Vodafone mPesa.

Prelims Practise Questions
Consider the following statements about Chandrayan-2
1. It is India's first lunar mission. It would be launched using India's most powerful rocket PSLV -DL from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
2. Its payloads will collect scientific information on lunar (moon) topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, lunar exosphere and signatures of hydroxyl and water-ice.
3. It has three modules (a detachable self-contained unit of a spacecraft) namely namely Orbiter, Lander named Vikram and Rover named Pragyan.
Find the correct statement from the option given below
a. 2 and 3
b. 1 and 3
c. 1 2 and 3
d. None

Consider the following statements regarding Pre-Paid Payment Instrument (PPIs)
1. PPIs are instruments which come with a preloaded value and in even with pre-defined purpose of payment.
2. PPIs facilitates financial services, inter-personal remittance transactions (like sending money to friend or a family member), purchase of goods and services (G&S), etc., against amount stored on such instruments.
3. There are generally three types of PPIs issued in India i.e Closed System PPIs , Semi-closed System PPIs and Open System PPIs
Find the correct statement from the option given below
a. 1 and 2
b. 2 and 3
c. 1 2 and 3
d. None

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