10th December 2016 – Current Affairs Today

National Current Affairs

International Gita Mahotsav in Kurukshetra

The festival will focus on spreading the message of Gita to the world community.
The urban and rural areas of Kurukshetra district would be declared “open defecation free”as part of the festival.
Many spiritual leaders from different religions, scholars and artists from various countries will participate.

English most powerful language in the world: WEF

English has been ranked first in the top 10 most powerful languages in the world according to the 2016 World Power Language Index (PLI).
According to the index there are over 6,000 languages spoken in the world. Of these 2,000 count fewer than 1,000 speakers.
Top 10 Languages in 2016 PLI: English (1st), Mandarin (2nd), French (3rd), Spanish (4th), Arabic (5th), Russian (6th), German (7th), Japanese (8th), Portuguese (9th) and Hindi (10th).

World’s First Polluted River Discovered By Scientists

Scientists have discovered the world’s first polluted river, contaminated about 7,000 years agoby Neolithic humans who may have been producing copper metals from ores.
Evidence of early pollution caused by the combustion of copper in the now dry riverbed in the Wadi Faynan region of southern Jordan.
The findings revealed that it was Chalcolithic or Copper Age, when humans began moving from making tools out of stones to making tools out of metal.

10,500 years old ancient camping site discovered in Ladakh

An ancient camping site has been found near Saser Lain the Nubra Valley, Ladakh at an altitude of about 4,200 metres that was used by pre-historic man and belonged to circa 8500 BCE.
The discovery is significant because the site is known as a ‘dry snow desert’, an area where a temperature remains between -30 to -40 degree Celsius and survival is difficult.

Magnitude-6.5 earthquake hits Indonesia’s Aceh province

A strong 6.5 magnitude earthquake hits Aceh province on Indonesia‘s Sumatra island
At least 97 persons were killed and over 500 injured based on data from the hospital.
Mosques, homes and shops were flattened in the quake

Scientists Successfully Map Human Thought

American scientists of US National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and BioEngineering, for the first time have successfully tracked human thought by imaging rapidly fluctuating brain activity.
The new discovery is a significant step towards mapping human cognitive functions such as perception, attention, and awareness.

ISRO’s PSLV-C36 Successfully Launched Resourcesat-2A

Indian Space Research Organisationsuccessfully launched the Remote Sensing Satellite, Resourcesat-2A’
A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C36, in its 38th flight, successfully launched the 1235 kg RESOURCESAT-2ASatellite from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota

Steven Smith registers joint-highest score by an Aussie captain

Australian captain Steven Smith smashed a career-best 164 (157) in the first ODI against New Zealand , to equal Ricky Ponting’s record for the highest individual score by an Aussie skipper.
Ricky Ponting had made 164, against South Africa in the famous ODI at Wanderers in 2005-06