Science & Technology, Sports, October 12th, 2017, Current Affairs PDF Download

Science & Technology

SpaceX completes successful launch of recycled rocket Falcon 9
On 12^th October 2017, SpaceX launched its recycled rocket Falcon 9 and landed it on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Launch of Falcon 9:

i. SpaceX has launched the rocket Falcon 9, that had already flown to space and landed it successfully on an ocean platform. It is as part of SpaceX’s effort to recycle costly rocket components.

ii. At 6:53 pm (2253 GMT), the tall, white Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida carrying the Echostar 105/SES-11 satellite.

iii. The satellite aims to provide television coverage and communications capabilities to North America, Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean. It is a “dual-mission” satellite for the US-based operator EchoStar and Luxembourg-based operator SES.

iv. About 10 minutes after launch, the tall portion of the rocket, known as the first stage, returned to Earth for a controlled, upright landing on a drone ship called “Of Course I Still Love You,” stationed in the Atlantic.

v. This is the 18th successful landing of Falcon 9 rocket first stage. The Falcon 9’s first stage had previously flown on a cargo mission to the International Space Station in February 2017. SpaceX flew a recycled rocket component for the first time in March 2017.

About SpaceX:

♦ Headquarters – Hawthorne, California, U.S.
♦ CEO & CTO – Elon Musk
♦ President & COO – Gwynne Shotwell

Sports 

Ashish Nehra announces retirement from all forms of cricket
On 12^th October 2017, Ashish Nehra announced that, he will be retiring from all forms of cricket, after the first Twenty20 international between India and New Zealand at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla, on 1^st November 2017.

Ashish Nehra’s retirement:

i. Ashish Nehra is glad to retire at his home ground. He wanted to retire while he was still on top.

ii. Ashish Nehra made his senior debut for India, during the Test series against Sri Lanka in 1999 and helped the Indian cricket team reach the 2003 World Cup final. He is 38 years old.

iii. Ashish Nehra has collected 44 Test, 157 one-day international and 34 Twenty20 wickets in his 18-year international career. Nehra also played for four teams in the Indian Premier League from 2012-16.

About Ashish Nehra:

♦ Role – Bowler
♦ Batting – Right
♦ Bowling – Left arm medium-fas

FIFA suspends the Pakistan Football Federation
The Pakistan football federation was suspended from FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) by the Bureau of FIFA council on 10^th Oct 2017.

Reason for suspension
The reason behind the suspension was the “Interference of third party” in PFF i.e, the PFF accounts and their offices were under the control of an administrator appointed by court and this actually violated the rules of FIFA that it should manage its affairs independently and without the interference of third parties.

Consequences

i. Due to this suspension not only PFF members but also its officials won’t receive any benefits from the courses, programmes or trainings conducted by FIFA as well as Asian Football Confederation (AFC)

ii. Also, in accordance with article 16 paragraph 3 of the FIFA statutes, when an association is suspended, the other member associations should not entertain sporting contact with the suspended federation and thus PFF won’t receive any sporting contact from other associations too.

iii. The suspension will be removed only when PFF offices and accounts are returned to PFF from the third party administrators.

About FIFA:

♦ Headquarters – Zurich, Switzerland
♦ It has 211 member associations
♦ President – Swiss-Italian Gianni Infantino

Arjen Robben retires from International Football
Arjen robben, the 33 years old football player announced his retirement news from the international football. He played for Bayern Munich, a German club. He is well known for his speed and accurate shots. He scored two goals against Sweden on the last match and it was not enough for his team to get qualified to World cup 2018. That made him to end up his international carrier.

About Arjen Robben

i. Arjen was born in a place called Bedum, in north eastern Netherlands.

ii. He played his debut match at the age of 19 against Portugal.

iii. He was picked by the regional club FC Groningen and later he also played for PSV (Philips Sport Vereniging).\

Achievements

i. Arjen was in fourth position in the Netherlands “all time goal scorers” list.

ii. He has played in three World Cup finals and three European Championships for the Dutch.

Other Points
After the resignation from the International Cricket Arjen said: “I want to focus on my club now.”It’s a good time to pass the torch to the next generation.”