News Flash (24th August 2020): Top 12 Stories Of The Day

1. AICTE permits PGDM and MBA colleges to offer admissions based on marks in UG courses

Amidst of Covid-19 emergency, AICTE revised guidelines for PGDM and MBA admissions this year. Now admission to these courses would take place on the basis of score of UG courses. This decision will be applicable only for the academic year 2020-21.

2. World’s highest railway bridge in J&K likely to be built by Aug 2022

A Bridge connecting Kashmir Valley with Katra, over Chenab river, which is going to be highest railway bridge in the world having height 359 metres, will be unveiled by August 2022. It will also reduce the journey time by 5-6 hours from Katra to Srinagar.

3. 3.7 magnitude earthquake hits Anjaw in Arunachal Pradesh

According to National Center for Seismology (NCS) tweet, an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.7 on the Richter Scale hit Anjaw in Arunachal Pradesh at 3:36 am on Monday. Earlier on 6^th August, an earthquake of magnitude 3.0 on the Richter scale occurred at 42 kilometres from Tawang in the state.

4. Wildfires destroy 10 lakh acres of California in one week

Wildfire which lasted over a week burned down over one million acres of land and destroyed hundreds of homes.  The fire also has killed five people, torched nearly 700 homes and other structures and forced tens of thousands from their houses.

5. Scientists say Earth has lost 28 trillion tonnes of ice in less than 30 years

UK scientists who have analysed satellite surveys of the planet’s poles, mountains and glaciers to measure how much ice coverage lost because of global heating, concluded that over 28 trillion of ice lost in from 1994 to 2017 on earth.

6. India qualifies for Chess Olympiad quarterfinals, beats China 4-2

India became first team to qualify chess FIDE (The International Chess Federation) Online Olympiad 2020. India claimed the top spot in Pool A with 17 points and 39.5 board points to secure this place. Four draws and two wins on Under-20 boards helped India pull off the victory against the Chinese.

7. Donald Trump says China will own the US if Joe Biden gets elected

Incumbent US President Donald Trump said that his Democratic rival Joe Biden, in his speech, didn’t mention China. “China will own our country if he gets elected. They will own our country and we’re not going to let that happen”. 

8. Researchers Develop Environment-Friendly, Cost-Efficient Lithium Batteries

Researchers from Shiv Nadar University in Greater Noida and Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) on Monday announced that they have created environment-friendly lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Their production would be cost-effective, compact, energy-efficient, safe and environment-friendly.

9. Twin Hurricanes Threaten US As Deadly Floods HitHaiti

According to US media, two hurricanes are forecast about to slam into the US Gulf Coast, forecasters said Sunday, threatening torrential rain, high winds and flooding across the region. Tropical Storm Marco and Tropical Storm Laura bolstered the possibility of major devastation.

10. India has ‘military options’ to deal with Chinese transgress

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat said on Monday that “The military option to deal with transgressions by the Chinese Army in Ladakh are on but it will be exercised only if talks at the military and the diplomatic level fail”, indicating India is not going to bend down against impending Chinese pressure.

11. Researchers revise the age of Earth’s solid inner core to 1.3 bn yrs

Researchers from some of renowned institutes in the world, revised the estimate of the age of Earth’s solid inner core and have put it at 1 billion to 1.3 billion years old. The new research looked at the Geodynamo paradox and found a solution by keeping the temperature of the core within realistic parameters.

12. Asteroid headed towards Earth has 0.41% chance of hitting: NASA data

The Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, celestial object 2018VP1, is predicted to pass near Earth on 2^nd of November this year. This Asteroid has 0.41% chance of hitting earth according to NASA.