Important Facts for Prelims (19th February 2019)

• 19 Feb 2019

Regional Maritime-Safety Conference

• ‘Regional Maritime-Safety Conference’ (RMSS) was organised for the first time in India (Mumbai) by the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) in coordination with the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of External Affairs to focus on security and trade.

Note:

• The National Maritime Foundation (NMF), New Delhi, was established in 2005 as the nation’s first maritime think-tank for conducting independent and policy-relevant research on ‘matters maritime’.

• Safeguarding the shores and promoting India-Asean trade along the sea route is the theme for RMSS.
• The volume of maritime traffic within the India-ASEAN sub-region is very dense. The Straits of Malacca-and-Singapore alone account for about 90,000 ship movements every year. So, security strengthening could help in boosting trade and maritime connectivity.
• Today, over 80 percent of global trade by volume and 70 per cent by value is conducted via the maritime space. In the Indian context, 95 per cent of trade by volume and 77 per cent by value flows on the sea.
• Maritime transport provide cost effectiveness, which is why it is the preferred choice for transportation of bulk commodities such as oil and coal, among others.

International Conference on the Vision Zero

• International Conference on the ‘Vision Zero’ and its relevance to Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), is being held from 15th to 17th, March 2017 in New Delhi.
• It is organized by Directorate General Factory Advice and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), Ministry of Labour and Employment and German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV), Germany in association with International Social Security Association - Manufacturing, Construction and Mining.
• ‘Vision Zero’ is based on the belief that all accidents, diseases and harm at work are preventable by promoting the three core values of safety, health and wellbeing.
• The recommendations of the conference would be vital in achieving sustainable economic progress, in consonance with the changing requirements of safety, health and environment aspects in the country.

China’s Solar Power Station in Space

• China is planning to build a solar power station in space.
• China has started construction of an experimental base in the western Chinese city Chongqing.
• Initially, China plans to develop a smaller power station in the stratosphere between 2021 and 2025, a 1 megawatt-level solar facility in space by 2030, and eventually larger generators.
• China is also planning to build its own space station by 2022.
• The space station is named as Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace, which will have a core module and two other modules for experiments.
• The space station will be able to carry three people, with a designed life cycle of at least 10 years.
• The facility would be used for scientific research in a dozen areas including biology, physics, and material sciences.

Birth Anniversary of Guru Ravidas

• Recently, birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas was observed in the country.
• Ravidas Jayanti is celebrated on Magh Purnima, the full moon day in the month of Magh according to the Hindu lunar calendar.
• Guru Ravidas was a 14^th century saint and reformer of the Bhakti movement in North India.
• It is believed that he was born in Varanasi in a cobbler’s family.
• He gained prominence due to his belief in one God and his unbiased religious poems.
• He dedicated his whole life to the abolition of the caste system and openly despised the notion of a Brahminical society.
• His devotional songs made an instant impact on the Bhakti Movement and around 41 of his poems were included in ‘Guru Granth Sahib’, the religious text of the Sikhs.