General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - July 2016

Jul 2016

Jul 10, 2020

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik Launches 'BLUIS', First of its Kind in India

The Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, launched the Bhubaneswar Land Use Intelligence System (BLUIS), a flagship development of the General Administration and Public grievances departments.
Odisha became the first state in India to use high resolution satellite imagery utilising space technology and artificial intelligence to monitor government lands.
The lack of transparency and accountability of the enforcement in the current mechanisms and the increasing encroachment of government lands in Bhubaneswar resulted in the development of BLUIS.
BLUIS is a web and mobile based solution to monitor the unauthorised change of land use and to prevent the encroachment of government lands.
The BLUIS, the geo tagged repository of all the government lands detects all the changes that are taking place over the government lands.

Indian Army Asks Personnel to Delete 89 Apps

Indian Army has asked its personnel to delete 89 apps from their smartphones including Facebook, TikTok, Tinder, PUBG, and Instagram to plug leakage of information.
Snapchat, Tinder, OkCupid, UC Browser, Bumble, ShareIt, Xender, Helo, CamScanner, Club Factory etc are among those 89 apps.
This came days after the Government banned 59 apps, mostly Chinese including TikTok, UC News, and CamScanner amid the standoff with China.
Some of the 89 apps are among those which the Centre has already banned stating "they are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order".
The list of apps the Indian army personnel have reportedly been asked to delete from their smartphones is divided into numerous categories like messaging apps - (We Chat, Helo, Share Chat, Viber, IMO, Hike and others), video hosting (Tik Tok, Likee, Samosa, Kwali, and others), contents sharing (ShareIt, Xender, Zapya, and others), web browsers (UC Browser and UC Browser Mini), video and live streaming (Zoom, LiveMe, Vmate, Uplive and others), utility apps (CamScanner, Beauty Plus, and True Caller), gaming apps (PUBG, Clash of Kings and others), eCommerce apps (Club Factory, AliExpress, Chinabrands, and others), dating apps (Tinder, OkCupid, Badoo, Bumble, Happn, Couch Surfing, and others), news apps (News Dog and Daily Hunt), lifestyle apps (POPXO), music apps (Hungama and Songs.pk) and blogging/microblogging apps (Tumblr, Reddit, and others).

Rajnath Singh Inaugurates 6 Bridges in J&K

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated six bridges in border areas of Jammu and Kashmir, and asserted that development of remote areas in the region will continue to be a key priority for the NDA government.
Four bridges were constructed on the Akhnoor-Pallanwala road in Akhnoor, while two bridges were built on the Tarnah Nallah in Kathua district.
The total cost of construction of the bridges was Rs. 43 crore.
The inauguration of the bridges, built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) comes at a time when India and China are engaged in a border row in eastern Ladakh.
Officials said that the dedication of the bridges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir carries a bigger message that India will continue to develop key infrastructure in border areas notwithstanding hostilities by any adversary.

IIT-H and NVIDIA to Establish Joint AI Research Centre

The Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT-H) is collaborating with NVIDIA, a multinational technology company, to establish India's first 'NVIDIA AI Technology Centre' (NVAITC) to accelerate research on Artificial Intelligence and its commercial adoption.
An event was held on Thursday to mark the commencement of operations of this centre. II-TH already houses two NVIDIA DGX-1TM systems and an NVIDIA DGX-2TM system dedicated to research being undertaken at the institute. The NVAITC will accelerate research for the 220 faculty at IITH, which is already among India's foremost research institutions.
This collaboration will focus on advancing AI research in the areas of agriculture and Smart Cities besides Language Understanding. The projects that would be taken up include increasing crop yield using AI algorithms and applying AI-based solutions to support safer transportation systems and better ways of managing traffic, among others.

Jul 09, 2020

Uddhav Thackeray E-Inaugurates World's 2nd Largest and Asia's Largest Data Centre

Maharashtra Chief Minister, Uddham Thakeray and Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications, Electronics and Informational Technology inaugurated the World's 2nd largest and Asia's largest data center, NM1, of Yotta Infrastructure of Hiranandani Group at Panvel data centre park, Mumbai over a virtual platform.
To utilise India's full potential to become a data driven economy, the government is working on bringing investments in building data centres across the nation.
The center can offer a high scale infrastructure which is capable of hosting global cloud, content and Over-the-top (OTT) operators besides the critical applications of the government and other organisations.
The NM1 data centre will occupy one of the five buildings of the 18 acres Panvel park of total capacity of 30000 racks and 210 Megawatt (MW) power.
The NM1 data centre offers 7200 racks and 50 MW of power with 48 hour backup support.
The NM1, Yotta's largest data centre, received the fault tolerant tier IV certification of the Design Documents Certification from the Uptime Institute, USA.

USAID and MNRE Announce Partnership to Develop Clean Energy

A new partnership was announced by the US Agency for Development (USAID)-supported South Asia Group for Energy (SAGE) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to increase US-India collaboration for clean energy development.
MNRE Secretary, Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi and USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia, Javier Piedra, launched the partnership according to US-India Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP) meetings.
South Asia Group for Energy (SAGE) provides advanced technical knowledge on clean energy development.
SAGE will act as a powerhouse of science, engineering and technology for India and the entire South Asia region.
The SAGE Consortium, with the MNRE and its technical institutions, the National Institute of Wind Energy and the National Institute of Biomass Energy, has identified several key topics for clean energy development.
The SAGE consists of USAID, the US Department of Energy, and three of the Department of Energy"s National Laboratories – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

India Backs Bangladesh's Efforts to Repatriate Rohingya Home

India has acknowledged the urgency on the issue of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and backed efforts for their early, safe and sustainable repatriation to Rakhine state in Myanmar.
India's position was conveyed by external affairs minister S Jaishankar to his Bangladesh counterpart A. K. Abdul Momen earlier this month. Jaishankar expressed India's appreciation for the "humanistic spirit of the government and the people of Bangladesh in hosting displaced people from the Rakhine state of Myanmar".
India has maintained a cautious position on the Rohingya refugees in view of its good relations with both Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Indian Navy Completes Operation Samudra Setu

Operation Samudra Setu, which was launched on May 5 as part of the national effort to repatriate Indians from overseas amid the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic culminated after successfully bringing 3,992 Indian citizens back to their homeland by sea.
Indian Naval Ships Jalashwa (Landing Platform Dock), and Airavat, Shardul and Magar (Landing Ship Tanks) participated in this operation which lasted over 55 days and involved traversing more than 23,000 kilometres by sea.
Indian Navy had previously undertaken similar evacuation operations as part of Operation Sukoon in 2006 (Beirut) and Operation Rahat in 2015 (Yemen).
The greatest challenge for the Indian Navy was to avoid any incident of outbreak of infection onboard the ships during the evacuation operation. Rigorous measures were planned and medical/ safety protocols unique to the operating environment of ships were implemented. These were strictly followed onboard the ships undertaking Operation Samudra Setu resulting in the safe return of 3,992 of our citizens to their homeland.

Jul 08, 2020

New Building of IARI, Jharkhand Named after Dr.Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

The new administrative and academic building of the Indian Agricultural research Institute (IARI), at Gouria Karma in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand was named after Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee the founder of Bharatiya Jan Sangh, on the event of his birth anniversary.
In the 2020-2021 Budget, The government has allocated Rs. 2.83 lakh crores (highest allocation ever) for activities related to agriculture, irrigation and rural development.
The 16 point action plan announced in the budget is targeted to double the income of the farmers by the end of 2022.
For the development of rural and agriculture sector, new schemes under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan like the Rs. 1 lakh crore infrastructure fund for the agricultural sector and the growth packages for fisheries, animal husbandry, herbal farming, beekeeping etc. were announced.

Prasar Bharati to Get Five New Board Members

Public broadcasters Prasar Bharati is set to get five new part-time members on its boards including music composer Salim Merchant, BJP leader Shaina NC and media personality Sanjay Gupta after months of running at a truncated strength.
Veteran journalist Ashok Tandon, who has been on the board earlier as well, and corporate personality Alok Agarwal are the other person who will be on the board that oversees the functioning of Doordarshan and the All India Radio. Tandon has also been the media advisor to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "A committee headed by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu chooses the names of those who are appointed on the Prasar Bharati board. These five names have been approved. However, there is still discussion on who will be the chairman.
According to the Prasar Bharati Act, there can be six part-time members on the board apart from other ex-officio members.

India's First Private Jet Terminal to Open in Delhi

India's first general aviation terminal for private jets is set to become operational in New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. The facility promises faster turnaround of business jets and chartered planes, shielding them from the clutter of general passenger terminals, where they now compete for taxiing slots with commercial flights.
It is the first such independent facility at any Indian airport to handle general aviation passengers. While the new terminal will be commissioned as an interim facility it will be equipped with state-of-the-art features and facilities including world class passenger lounges, retail, food and beverage (outlets) etc.
The terminal has been designed in such a manner that it will have parking space for a maximum 65 jets of all sizes. The terminal also has the capacity to handle a maximum of 150 business jet movements a day. The average movement capacity of the terminal is 75 jets per day. This makes it a general aviation terminal with the highest capacity in entire south Asia.

Jul 07, 2020

One more Month to Centre for Providing Permanent Commission to all Serving Women Officers in Indi...

The Supreme Court gave one more month to the Union Ministry of Defence to implement its February verdict in which the apex court had directed the Centre to provide permanent commission to all serving SSC women officers in the Army.
The SC passed the order after Centre, through the Ministry of Defence (MoD), said that the decision-making process in this matter is at the final stage and only formal orders remain to be issued.
On February 17, 2020, the SC had upheld Delhi High Court order on giving command positions to women officers and had criticised the Centre for failing to implement the judgment of the Delhi HC which had held that women SSC officers should be granted permanent Commission at par with male counterparts.
The top court had also said that the nature of arguments in the written submissions of the Centre was contrary to its own policy framed in 2019 regarding Permanent Commission for women.

DRDO to Establish a Research Cell at IIT-H

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will establish a research cell at Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT-H), 'DRDO – IIT-H Research Cell' to meet the future defence technological requirements of the country. The research cell is established as an extension of the DRDO Research and Innovation Centre (RIC), Chennai.
An MoU was signed by the Director, Directorate of Futuristic Technology Management (DFTM), DRDO, K.K. Pathak, Director General, MSS, DRDO M. S. R. Prasad and IITH Director Prof. B.S. Murty to establish the research cell.
The research cell will undertake basic and applied research programs in identified technology areas. It will ensure seamless execution of different projects between DRDO and IIT-H.
It is expected to become a Centre of Excellence for conducting scientific and applied research in advanced technologies for defence.
It will help to grasp resources of knowledge in the basic science and technology industries, which are interdisciplinary in nature and spread across multiple institutions.

Ladakh LG Launches Mission Organic Development Initiative & Greenhouse Project

Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Radha Krishna Mathur, launched Mission Organic Development Initiative(MODI) and Greenhouse Project, to lead the Union Territory on a sustainable path, over a virtual platform from Raj Niwas, Ladakh.
MODI, a special development project was initiated by LAHDC Leh in 2019.
A budget of Rs. 500 crore was allocated for this initiative.
This initiative will help to achieve Carbon Neutral Ladakh and will increase 40% additional income of the farmers of Ladakh region.
MODI will be implemented in three phases,
Phase I: Around 66 villages in the region of Leh and Kargil will be converted into organic villages by the end of March 2021.
Phase II: Around 85 villages of Ladakh will get the certification by 2023.
Phase III: The remaining 90 villages of the Leh and Kargil district will be declared as organic by 2025.
The Greenhouse project is targeted to increase the availability of vegetables throughout the year through deep winter and to establish around 1676 greenhouses in the Leh and Kargil districts over a 2 years of time.

NHRC Constitutes 11-Member Committee to Assess Covid-19 Impact on Human Rights

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has set up an 11-member expert committee headed by Dr. K. S. Reddy, president of Public Health Foundation of India to study impact of coronavirus (Covid-19) on human rights of individuals, particularly marginalised and vulnerable sections of the society, together with migrant labourers and will also study the future response of the government.
The panel would additionally suggest the future policy for the Centre and state governments.
The skilled panel would study intimately the migrant crisis that had unfolded at beginning of pandemic from the general public well being perspective and the way it was addressed by the states.
Other members of the panel include Dr. Nimesh G. Desai, director Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences; Dr Abhey Shukla, national convenor, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan; Maja Daruwala, special monitor (police and prison reforms) NHRC; Rajive Raturi, special monitor (rights of persons with disabilities) NHRC; HImanshu Rath, founder and chairman, Agewell Foundation; N. B. Sarojini, director SAMA; Enakshi Ganguly, co-founder HAQ; Dr. Dipa Sinha of Right to Food Campaign; Dr. Sandeep Chachra, executive director , Action Aid Association; Viraf Mehta business and human rights expert.

Indian Railways Sets up Solar Plant in Bina

The Ministry of Railways has decided to install solar power plants on its vacant unused lands on mega scale and to utilise solar energy for meeting its traction power requirements to become a complete 'Green mode of transportation'.
The use of Solar Power will accelerate the mission of Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister of Railways to achieve 'Net Zero' Carbon Emission Railway.
The solar project will fulfill the present demand of the Indian Railways.
The Indian Railways will become the first transport organisation to be energy self-sufficient, which makes Indian railways green and 'Atma nirbhar'.
The Indian Railways has started energy Procurement from various solar Projects like 3 MWp solar plant set up at MCF Raebareilly (Uttar Pradesh).
About 100 MWp rooftop solar systems have already been installed in various stations and buildings of Indian Railways.
The 1.7 MWp project at Bina, Madhya Pradesh which is connected directly to the overhead Traction System has been installed and is in extensive testing. It eill be commissioned in 15 days.
The Indian Railways and the Bharat heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has commissioned the first of its kind project in the world.
The power plant has been established near the Bina Traction Sub System (TSS).
The project was undertaken by BHEL under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme.
The project agreement was signed on 9th October 2019.

Jul 06, 2020

Websites with SFJ Links Banned

As per reports, the Centre blocked 40 websites linked to the banned Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) group which were being used to propagate anti-India sentiment across the world and for trying to recruit young Sikhs to join militant ranks.
The ministry of electronics and information technology took down the websites on a recommendation from the Ministry of Home Affairs after it was found that SFJ, primarily operating from the United States, was aggressively using them to push its anti-India agenda.
SFJ was banned by the government in July 2019 while its leader, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, was declared an "individual terrorist" under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Both MHA and the IT ministry refused to disclose details of websites that have been blocked. One of the key websites associated widely with the group — www.referendum2020.org — through which it sought support from Sikh youth for the formation of a separate Khalistan state, could not be accessed as it has been blocked by the Department of Telecommunications.
SFJ is in close touch with the militant outfits and activists, and is supporting violent form of extremism and militancy in Punjab and elsewhere to carve out a sovereign Khalistan out of territory of Union of India; SFJ is encouraging and aiding the activities for secession of a part of the Indian territory from the Union of India and supporting separatist groups fighting for this purpose in India and elsewhere by indulging in activities and articulations intended to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.

India and Afghanistan Ink 5 Agreements

India and Afghanistan signed five agreements for developing educational infrastructure in four Afghan provinces, with the move seen as a reiteration of New Delhi's support to Kabul at a time when the war-torn country's peace process is confronting challenges.
The five memorandums of understanding were signed under the high impact community development projects programme being implemented by India to further strengthen the bilateral development partnership.
Since 2001, India has undertaken projects worth $3 billion in Afghanistan, including $1 billion pledged in 2016 under the "new development partnership" scheme over a period of five years. These projects are part of India's commitment to assisting Afghanistan emerge as a peaceful, united, prosperous and pluralistic nation.
The projects to be taken up under the five MoUs include the construction of classrooms, a higher education building and a road within the campus of Albironi University. The projects are spread across the four provinces of Nooristan, Badakhshan, Farah and Kapisa.
Since 2005, the Indian government has committed $200 million to support more than 550 high impact community development projects across Afghanistan.
The ceremony in Kabul for the signing of the MoUs was presided over by the Afghan Minister of Economy, Mustafa Mastoor. Tripartite agreements were signed between the Indian government, the Afghan Ministry of Economy and the implementing ministries, such as the Ministry of Education.
Two MoUs were signed by Indian ambassador Vinay Kumar and ministers Mustafa Mastoor and Abdul Tawab Balakarzai, while three were signed by Kumar and ministers Mastoor and Rangina Hamidi.
The government of India remains committed to take forward the India-Afghanistan Development Partnership based on the national priorities of the government and people.

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