Important Extracts from The Hindu: 8 June 2017

Hello Readers,

This is our new initiative "Extracts from The Hindu". With this, our aim is to provide short, relevant and important material for Bank and SSC Exams. It will help you to learn
(1) Important current affairs, and
(2) Some Vocab  from The Hindu

WHO revises antibiotics protocol

• In an effort to curb antibiotic resistance, the World Health Organization (WHO) has divided the drugs into three categories — access, watch and reserve. 
• This categorization specifies which drugs are to be used for common ailments and which are to be kept for complicated diseases. 
• Commonly used antibiotics will be available under ‘access’ category. 
• The second line of antibiotics, slightly more potent have been categorised under “watch.” 
• Potent drugs to be used only as a “last resort” now fall under the ‘reserve’ category. 

India to join SCO in Astana

• India will be admitted as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s weekend visit to Astana, Kazakhstan. 
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), or Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in 1996 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. 
• India and Pakistan signed the memorandum of obligations in 2016 at Tashkent, thereby starting the formal process of joining the SCO as full members. 

Vocab from the Article

Incumbent: necessary for (someone) as a duty or responsibility; (of an official or regime) currently holding office.

As used in the Article: “We participate with many countries, including Pakistan, in the U.N. peacekeeping operations, and terrorism is a fight which is incumbent on all countries,” Mr. Baglay said.

New species of flying squirrel discovered

• Scientists have discovered a new species of flying squirrel in North America that had been hiding in plain sight for hundreds of years. 
• Name of the Squirrel: Humboldt’s flying squirrel, or Glaucomys oregonensis(scientific name). 
• The Humboldt’s flying squirrel is known as a “cryptic” species — a species that was previously thought to be another, known species because the two look similar. 
• This new discovery is the 45th known species of flying squirrel in the world, 

Cabinet approves IREDA IPO

• The Cabinet has approved an IPO by the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency(IREDA). 
• It approved the issue of 13.9 crore equity shares of Rs. 10 each. It also approved the issue of shares to retail investors and IREDA employees at a discount of 5% on the issue price 
• IREDA is registered as a non-banking financial company. It has worked closely with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to help implement policies. 
• An initial public offering, or IPO, is the very first sale of stock issued by a company to the public. 

CHINA-SCIENCE-MOON

• China is planning a manned mission to the Moon, according to officials who announced that the preliminary preparations had begun. 
• According to Chinese officials, it would not take long for the project to get official approval. The announcement came at the Global Space Exploration Conference. 

The neutrino opportunity

• India’s efforts to join the elite club of countries undertaking neutrino research has suffered a procedural delay 
• As the National Green Tribunal (NGT) suspended the environmental clearance (EC) granted to the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO), and ordered it to file a fresh application for clearance. 
• The proposed INO project primarily aims to study atmospheric neutrinos in a 1,300-m deep cavern in the Bodi West Hills in Theni district, Tamil Nadu. 
• If completed, the INO would have the largest magnet in the world, four times more massive than the European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN’s Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector’s magnet. 

Vocab from the Article

Excavation: make (a hole or channel) by digging; remove earth carefully from (an area) in order to find buried remains.
As used in the Article: The proposed excavation is planned to be carried out by a controlled blast, limiting the impact of vibrations with the help of computer simulations.