Current Affairs 24th december 2015

• China country has launched DAMPE satellite to shed light on mysterious dark matter

The Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) Satellite to shed light on mysterious dark matter was launched by China.

It was launched on a Long March 2-D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. It was the country's first space telescope. 

The motive of the satellite is to look for smoking-gun signals of dark matter, invisible material that are responsible for making up the most of the universe as per the scientists.

DAMPE will be placed at a height of 500 kilometers in a sun-synchronous orbit to notice the direction, energy and electric charge of high-energy particles in space.

It was named after the Monkey King with penetrating eyes in the Chinese classical fiction Journey to the West named "Wukong".

• India’s first indigenously designed & built frigate INS Godavari decommissioned

India’s first indigenously designed warship INS Godavari has been decommissioned after 32 years of service.

It was decommissioned at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai (Maharashtra) after it completed its full life cycle, meeting all responsibilities and duties assigned in 3 decades of service.

After decommissioning, the ship would be used as a target to practice missile firing for final burial at sea.

About INS Godavari

• INS Godavari was the first of the three in her Class of guided-missile frigates and was commissioned into Indian Navy on 10 December 1983.
• The ship was considered as a symbol of India’s growing military might and self-reliance. It was first of three Godavari Class frigates, others being Ganga and Gomati
• Naval Operations: In its three decades of service, the warship took part in major naval operations including Operation Jupiter (1988) in Sri Lanka,Operation Shield and Operation Bolster (1994) for de-induction of Indian Army from Somalia, Patrol of Gulf of Aden (PoG) in 2009 and anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden in 2011.
• It was also part of ‘Operation Cactus’ in 1988 where India successfully thwarted a coup d’état against the Maldivian government.

• Dr. Rakesh K. Jain selected for 2015 National Medal of Science

Indian American professor Dr. Rakesh K. Jain has been selected for 2015 National Medal of Science of the United States.

He will be presented this top award along with 16 other winners by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony in January 2016. All of them were chosen for this award for their individual achievement and leadership in advancing the fields of science and technology

About Dr. Rakesh K. Jain

• Rakesh K. Jain is currently working as professor at Harvard Medical School and also is the director of tumour biology laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital.
• He is regarded as a pioneer in the area of tumour micro-environment and widely recognized for his seminal discoveries in tumor biology, in vivo imaging, bioengineering, drug delivery and bench-to-bedside translation.
• He holds B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT-Kanpur. He has received around 75 awards for his contribution to engineering and medical field.
• He is also member of all three branches of the US National Academies viz. National Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering and also of American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

About National Medal of Science

It is an annual award established in 1959 by United States Government. It is bestowed by the US President to individuals in science and engineering. These individuals must have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioural and social sciences, chemistry, engineering, biology, mathematics and physics.

• RBI extends deadline to exchange pre-2005 notes to June 30, 2016

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes of various denominations by another six months to June 30, 2016.

From January 1, 2016 such facility for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes will only be available at identified bank branches and Issue Offices of the RBI.

Earlier in June 2015, RBI had set the last date for public to exchange pre-2005 banknotes notes as December 31, 2015. It is fourth time RBI has extended the deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes since March 2014.

Till date RBI has shredded over 164 crore pre-2005 currency notes of various denominations, including of Rs 1,000 with the face value of around Rs 21,750 crore in its regional offices.

Reasons for withdrawing pre-2005 notes from circulation

• Security: pre-2005 notes have fewer security features as compared to 2005 and post-2005 currency notes. Thus, lesser will be the chances of its counterfeiting newer currency notes. It will also remove fake currency notes in circulation which were being pumped in Indian economy were copies of pre-2005 notes.
• Flushing out black money: The spillover effect of the RBI’s decision will be to flush out black money. Money has value only as long as it is a medium of exchange and store of value. It loses its value when it ceases to be a medium of exchange.
• A disincentive for cash hoarders: With the RBI’s announcement, currency hoarders will be left with no option but to liquidate their unaccounted holdings by spending or exchanging them. Thus, this is a well thought out exercise by the RBI to capture the “money flows’’ into the system and also help flush out counterfeit notes.
• International standard practice: It is an international standard practice to remove old series notes.

• 24th December: National Consumer Day

In India, 24th December is being observed as National Consumer Day. On this day the Consumer Protection Act,1986 had received the assent of the President.

The enactment of this Act was considered as a historic milestone in the consumer movement in the country. This Act aims to provide consumers with effective safeguards against different types of exploitation such as defective goods, unsatisfactory services and unfair trade practices.

This day provides an opportunity for individuals to highlight the importance of the consumer movement and the need to make every consumer more aware of their rights and responsibilities.

It should be also noted that World Consumer Rights Day is observed on 15th March every year.

Some facts about Consumer Protection Act, 1986

It provides consumers with speedy and inexpensive redressal grievances mechanism and specific relief or award of compensation.

It recognizes six of the eight rights of the consumer as provided in the UN charter. It envisages following rights of consumers (i) Right to Protection. (ii) Right of Information. (iii) Right of Choice. (iv) Right of Hearing. (v) Right of Redressal. (vi) Right of Education.