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1 Geography Malacca Straight... 1 Security Ballistic Missiles... 1 Differences between cruise and ballistic missiles Software Defined Radios and Defence Acquisition Council... 2 Software Defined Radios (SDR)... 2 Defence Acquisition Council... 2 National Investigation Agency... 2 Health Malaria... 3 Economy Crypto Currencies, Bit Coin... 3 Crypto Currency/Virtual Currency... 3 Bitcoins... 3 Competition Commission of India... 4 International Relation United Nations Convention against Torture... 4 GEOGRAPHY 1. MALACCA STRAIT India and Singapore agreed on greater cooperation and activity in the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea even as the two countries concluded a wide ranging naval agreement for maritime cooperation including logistical support. Where is Strait of Malacca? Straits of Malacca is a narrow, stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It connects the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean) SECURITY 1. BALLISTIC MISSILES North Korea said it successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile(icbm) Hwasong 14, that puts the U.S. mainland within the range of its nuclear weapons. Ballistic missiles and Cruise missiles NEO IAS , , Page TPS 18 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS Date:

2 are two different type of missiles often heard in news. It is important to understand the crucial difference between them 2. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CRUISE AND BALLISTIC MISSILES. Ballistic missiles Cruise missiles Ballistic missiles follow an arc-like trajectory and are launched from the It can also be launched from air and fly within Earth s atmosphere land or sea They have their own engines and They usually carry a nuclear warhead wings to strike the target and are very heavy They can be supersonic or sub-sonic They rely on Earth s gravity to fly down and are highly accurate once launched They usually carry conventional They have much larger range warheads although some cruise missiles can also be equipped with nuclear warheads 3. SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIOS AND DEFENCE ACQUISITION COUNCIL What is in news? The Defence Acquisition Council approved the procurement of more than 260 Software Defined Radios (SDR) for the Navy. 4. SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIOS (SDR) This is the first indigenously designed and developed SDR to be procured by any of the three services. This technology will improve information sharing and situational awareness through secure voice communications and data transfer capabilities. 5. DEFENCE ACQUISITION COUNCIL To counter corruption and speed up decision- making in military procurement, the government of India in 2001 decided to set up an integrated DAC The DAC will give policy guidelines to acquisitions, based on long-term procurement plans. It will also clear all acquisitions, including imported equipment and those produced indigenously or under a foreign licence. To monitor the acquisition process, the DAC will preside over three wings - a Defence Procurement Board which will deal with purchases, a Defence Production Board and a Defence Research and Development Board. The structure of the council ensures equal representation to bureaucracy as well as armed forces, which means that there are in-built checks and balances in relation to procurement. DAC is chaired by Defence Minister 6. NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY National Investigation Agency is frequently in news related to various cases. It is important to know more about such organizations for your prelims. More about NIA NIA is a statutory organization established as Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency. NEO IAS , , Page2

3 NIA Act was enacted on December 2008 Rationale: A large number of terror related incidents are found to have complex inter-state and international linkages, and possible connection with other organized criminal activities. Thus, NIA is established in a concurrent jurisdiction framework, with provisions for taking up specific cases under specific Acts for investigation. A State Government may request the Central Government to hand over the investigation of a case to the NIA, provided the case has been registered for the offences as contained in the schedule to the NIA Act. HEALTH 1. MALARIA Why in news India accounted for 6% of global malaria cases and 7% of deaths caused by it in 2016, according to a report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) India has reduced its new malaria cases by one third, and even crossed the malaria mortality targets of This was stated by Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare at the High Level Roundtable on Accelerating the Elimination of Malaria in the South- East Asia Region. More about Malaria Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites. The parasites are spread to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes, called "malaria vectors." ECONOMY 1. CRYPTO CURRENCIES, BIT COIN Virtual currency bitcoin soared to an all time high above $10,000 on major exchanges and digital currency indexes, including the widely followed Luxembourg based trading platform BitStamp 2. CRYPTO CURRENCY/VIRTUAL CURRENCY A cryptocurrency is a basically a digital asset that has been created to function as a medium of exchange, like cash. It uses cryptography to ensure the security of transactions. This is different from cash in that cryptocurrencies have no physical form. They are simply numbers on a screen and there is no central bank that issues new currency. Cryptocurrency values are highly volatile. At the moment, the Reserve Bank of India has banned transactions in India using cryptocurrencies 3. BITCOINS Bitcoin is the most popular virtual currency. Bitcoins are hidden in data blocks. They can be mined by solving these data blocks using special computer software. It is exchanged then. Other major virtual currencies are: Litecoin, Ethereum, Zcash, Dash, Ripple, Monero NEO IAS , , Page3

4 4. COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA Competition Commission of India (CCI) issues order against Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for abuse of dominant position for imposing restriction that deny access to the market for organization of Professional Domestic Cricket League/ Events; Imposes penalty of Rs crore on BCCI for the Anti-Competitive conduct. More about CCI Competition Commission of India is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 throughout India and to prevent activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India. The Competition Act, 2002, prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and M&A) The Commission is also required to give opinion on competition issues to government authorities and to undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues. CCI consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Central Government. INTERNATIONAL RELATION 1. UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE Why in news? The Union government has informed the Supreme Court that it is seriously considering the 273 rd Report of the Law Commission, which has recommended that India ratify the United Nations Convention against Torture and pass a law to prevent torture and punish its perpetrators. More about United Nations Convention against Torture The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Torture Convention ) was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1984 Under the convention torture also includes acts that cause mental suffering such as threats against family or loved ones. Convention also establish an unconditional right of a person not to be expelled, returned or deported to another country where torture is a likely result. The committee against torture is a body of ten independent experts that monitors implementation of the convention. The government of India signed the Torture convention in 1997 but is yet to ratify it. NEO IAS , , Page4

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