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Dornier Aircraft formally inducted into 41 Otters Squadron

Indian Air Force Chief RKS Bhadauria has formally inducted the light utility aircraft Dornier into the 41 “Otters” Squadron, during a ceremony at the Palam Air Force Station.

The IAF in 2015 had signed a contract to purchase 14 Dornier aircraft, which are flight inspection system planes, for Rs 1,090 crore from state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The first aircraft was delivered on November 19, the second is expected to be delivered in early 2020.

The Dornier-228 aircraft is a multi-purpose, fuel-efficient, rugged, lightweight twin-turboprop aircraft with a retractable tricycle landing gear. This aircraft has been exported to Seychelles and Mauritius.

World’s 2nd tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel unveiled

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani unveils the 2nd tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the world at the Sardardham campus near Vaishnodevi Circle in Ahmedabad. 

The 50 feet tall bronze statue with a weight of 70 thousand kilograms has been designed by Padma Bhusan Ram V. Sutar, the same sculptor who had designed the Statue of Unity. It was built at a cost of Rs 3.25 crores.

Ministry of External Affairs sets NEST

The External affairs ministry announced the setting up of new emerging and strategic technologies (NEST) division. The division will work to increase investment coordination among the states of the country and also with the foreign countries.

NEST will act as the nodal division within the ministry for issues pertaining to new and emerging technologies. It will help in collaboration with foreign partners in the field of 5G and artificial intelligence. The division will also hold responsibility for matters that involve negotiations with multilateral fora like the United Nations, G20.

Suresh Chandra Sharma appointed as first chief of NMC

Government appoints the chief of Delhi AIIMS’ ENT head-neck surgery department, Professor Suresh Chandra Sharma, as the chairman of National Medical Commission. Rakesh Kumar Vats, the secretary general in the board of governors of the Medical Council of India (MCI), has been appointed as the secretary of the Commission for the similar term.

On August 8, President Ram Nath Kovind had given assent to the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act, 2019, which provides for a system that improves access to quality and affordable medical education and ensures availability of adequate and high quality medical professionals in all parts of the country, among others.

The Act replaces Indian Medical Council Act, 1956. The new law provides for setting up of an NMC in place of the Medical Council of India for development and regulation of all aspects of medical education, profession and institutions.

Britain: Prince William unveils prize for climate innovation

Prince William announced The Earthshot Prize, the most prestigious environment prize in history to encourage new solutions to tackling climate change. Itwill be awarded to five people every year over the next decade, and aims to provide at least 50 answers to some of the greatest problems facing the planet by 2030.

The prize, inspired by US president John F. Kennedy’s ambitious “Moonshot” lunar programme in the 1960s, promises “a significant financial award”.

They include promoting new ways of addressing climate change and issues surrounding energy, nature and biodiversity, the oceans, air pollution and fresh water.

Five high-tech DRDO labs inaugurated by PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 5 new scientific laboratories of DRDO in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, which will employ only scientists under the age of 35 to develop cutting-edge and futuristic technologies for military weaponry.

A committee, chaired by the Principal Scientific Advisor to the government, K Vijay Raghavan, has selected the directors of these laboratories. Each lab is working on key advanced technology of importance to the development of futuristic defense systems.

Research in the area of rapidly evolving artificial intelligence will be carried out at Bengaluru. The all-important area of quantum technology will be based out of IIT Mumbai. The future is dependent on cognitive technologies and IIT Chennai will house the lab embarking in this area of research.

New and futuristic areas of asymmetric technologies, which will change the way wars are fought, will be based out of the campus of Jadavpur University, Kolkata. The research in hot and critical areas of smart materials and their applications will be based out of Hyderabad.

New Delhi: Rajnath Singh inaugurates 3-day National Traders Convention

rajnath singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates the three-day National Traders Convention at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi. He stated that government is committed to protect the interests of traders and to promote ease of doing business.

The convention has been organised by Confederation of All India Traders and will deliberate upon various issues concerning traders.

World Book Fair 2020 to be held in New Delhi

Image result for world book fair 2020 new delhi

World Book Fair 2020 will be organised by the National Book Trust(NBT) in New Delhi

Book Fair will be inaugurated by the Union Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

Chief Guest of the event will be Gandhian Scholar Girishwar Mishra.

Static Information about World Book Fair 2020 New Delhi

Book Fair will be held from 4 January 2020 to 12 January 2020 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

India gives $75 million LoC to Cuba for solar parks

solar parks

India has extended a line of credit (LoC) of USD 75 million (over Rs 500 crore) to finance solar parks in CubaThe line of credit is as per agreement signed between Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) and Banco Exterior De Cuba for installation of 75 MW Photovoltaic Solar Parks in the Republic of Cuba. Banco Exterior De Cuba is a nominated agency of the Government of Cuba.

APSEZ to buy 75% stake in Krishnapatnam Port

port

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), India’s largest private sector port operator, has agreed to buy a 75% stake in Krishnapatnam Port Co. Ltd (KPCL) at an enterprise value of Rs 13,572 crores. 

The Krishnapatnam Port is located in southern Andhra Pradesh and is a multi-cargo facility. It handled 54 million tonnes (mt) of cargo in the year ended 31 March 2019. The purchase will accelerate Adani Ports’ plan to expand its cargo-handling capacity to 400mt by 2025.

Sucheta Satish wins Global Child Prodigy Award 2020

sucheta satish

A 13-year-old Dubai-based Indian girl Sucheta Satish has won the 100 Global Child Prodigy Award in Delhi. She was awarded for singing in most languages during one concert and the longest live singing concert by a child.

Global Child Prodigy Award is a platform to showcase the talent of children in dance, music, art, writing, acting, modelling, science, sports etc. The award is supported by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam International Foundation and Oscar Award-winning music producer AR Rahman among others.

India ranks 34th in Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index

taj mahal india travel and tourism

India’s rank in Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index of World Economic Forum has moved to 34th position from 65th rank in 2013. Foreign Tourist Arrivals also registered a growth of 3.2 percent last year. Government is committed to make policies and programmes for the development and promotion of tourism and the year 2019 witnessed several steps in this direction.

Reducing E-visa fees, decreasing GST rates on hotel room booking and opening 120 new peaks for mountaineering are among the major highlights of Tourism Ministry in 2019. Along with these several steps taken under Swadesh Darshan, PRASHAD Scheme and various other events of Ek Bharat, Shresth Bharat were also undertaken during the year.

An initiative called – ‘Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan’ has been launched for developing tourist amenities at heritage and tourist sites and making them tourist-friendly. E-visa has been further liberalized and visa fee on e–visa has been substantially reduced to increase tourism competitiveness of the country. The Government has also opened more than 120 mountain peaks for mountaineering and trekking for promoting adventure tourism in the country.

Braille Version of ‘Exam Warriors’ launched by PM Modi

narendra modi exam warriors

On January 4th – World Braille Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that his famous book for children ‘Exam Warriors’ will now be available in Braille.

Exam Warriors is a book by PM Modi for the youth which talks about how children can ace exams through a fun and interactive style, with illustrations, activities and yoga exercises.

IBSA to organise week-long sports events from Jan 6

ibsa

Indian Blind Sports Association (IBSA) is organizing week-long sportsevents for the blind from 6 to 11 January, 2020 in the premises of The Blind Relief Association, Delhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, near the Oberoi Hotel, NewDelhi. The sports events will kick-start with inauguration of Kabaddi Championships at 10:00 am on, 6th January 2020.

Over 400 participants, including 85 female blind sports persons from 7states, namely, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu and Telangana will be taking part in the following events.

  • 5th IBSA Kabaddi Championships For Men (6-11 January)
  • 2nd IBSA Kabaddi Championships For Women (6-11 January)
  • 8th IBSA Powerlifting Championships (08 January)
  • Coaching Camp and Seminar on Blind Sports (6-11 January)

New Delhi: Rajnath Singh inaugurates National Traders Convention

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the National Traders Convention at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi. The aim of this convention will be to discuss the role of the trading community in achieving a 5 trillion dollar economy goal.

The convention has been organised by Confederation of All India Traders and will deliberate upon various issues concerning traders, including “onslaught of e-commerce companies on retail trade by their malpractices and violation of FDI policy”. 

New Delhi: NSE Knowledge Hub inaugurated by Piyush Goyal

The Union Minister of Commerce and Industries, Piyush Goyal inaugurated the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Knowledge Hub in New Delhi. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Knowledge Hub is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered learning ecosystem that will assist the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector.

It is also available on mobile and attempts to bring together world-class content and learners through this state- of- the- art and future-ready platform. This industry-driven learning eco-system will help India in building next-generation skills and capabilities in the BFSI sector.

P Magesh Chandran wins 95th Hastings International Chess title

India’s P Magesh Chandran wins the title in the 95th edition of the prestigious Hastings International Chess Congress at Hastings in England. France’s Romain Edouard, who was the only player to end the tournament a half-point behind Chandran, took the second spot.

India-Russia to sign MoUs on AK-203 assault rifles

The Indian Army and Russia is to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the procurement of over 7.5 lakh AK-203 assault rifles. The rifles will be manufactured by the Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL) at Korwa in Uttar Pradesh.

The facility is being set up between the Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) from the Indian side, and Rosoboron Exports and Kalashnikov on the Russian side. The OFB owns 50.5% equity and Russian side holds the remaining 49.5%. The Army has been looking to replace the indigenous INSAS (Indian National Small Arms System) rifles in use with a modern rifle.

ISRO’s astronaut training hub in Challakere, Karnataka

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proposed Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) at Challakere in Chitradurga district of Karnataka. The facility is expected to become operational in 3 years.

ISRO aims to establish a self-contained training facility here. At present, astronauts part of Gaganyaan Mission, the Human Spaceflight Programme of ISRO are trained in Russia. The centre aims at bringing in all the features that are provided by Russia and begin training astronauts within the country.

2020 to be observed as ‘year of mobility’ by CISF

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will observe 2020 as the ‘year of mobility’ that will have a special focus on the creation of more residential units and implementation of various welfare measures for the troops. In the year 2020, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will aim at creating an infrastructure for their families and also focusing on sports and physical fitness leveraging modern gadgetry.

It is essential to equip the forces with modern instruments as the force plays a major role in the security system of the country. They guard civil airports, nuclear power stations, mines, thermal power stations in the private domain as well.

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