DRDO Launches VL-SR SAM For Indian Navy
DRDO Successfully test-fired the Vertically Launched-Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) off the coast Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The air defence system, which can engage targets at around 15km is being developed by DRDO for naval warships and the test was done in the presence of senior navy officers.
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had last month successfully tested the high-speed expendable aerial target (HEAT), ABHYAS, used for evaluation of various missile systems, from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Bay of Bengal in Odisha.
Curtain Raiser Panex-21
A Curtain Raiser Event for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief exercise, PANEX-21, for the member nations of BIMSTEC countries, was held at Kothari Auditorium DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi on 07 Dec 2021. The exercise is planned to be conducted from 20-22 Dec 21 at Pune and will witness participation from subject matter experts and delegates from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The event was presided over by Mr Ajay Bhatt, hon’ble Raksha Rajya Mantri in the august presence of many distinguished civilian and military guests to include Mr Tenzin Lekphell, Secretary General, BIMSTEC, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of Integrated Staff(CISC) Air Marshal BR Krishna and the High Commissioners and Ambassadors of the BIMSTEC Nations.
“The success of the last two BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercises (DMEx-2017 at Delhi and DMEx-2020 at Puri) speak of the close coordination mechanism that the BIMSTEC nations share”
Personalities with this programme:
Mr.Ajay Bhatt - Raksha Rajya Mantri
Mr. Tenzin Lekphell - Secretary General of BIMSTEC
Gen. Bipin Rawat - Chief of Defence Staff
Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane - Chief of Army staff
VR Chaudri - Chief of Air staff, Air chief Marshal
Admr. R. Hari Kumar - Chief of Naval staff
BR. Krishna - Chief of Integrated staff (CISC) Air marshal
The culmination of the event will be with the capability demonstration by Indian Industries in association with FICCI to showcase their capabilities, innovations and range of products available to assist government agencies in planning, preparation and conduct of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations.
NCW Launches aPan India Capacity building Programme “She is a change maker” for women of all levels.
To improve leadership skills of grassroot women political leaders, the National Commission for Women (NCW) today launched a pan-India capacity building programme,‘She is a Changemaker’ for women representatives at all levels, gram panchayats to parliament members and political workers including office bearers of National/State political parties.
The capacity building programme will be undertaken in association with region-wise training institutes with an objective to undertake capacity building of women political leaders and improve their decision making and communication skills including, oration, writing, etc.
The official launch of training programmes under ‘She is a Changemaker’ series was held today in collaboration with Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, Thane, Maharashtra. The programme was launched by Ms Rekha Sharma, Chairperson, National Commission for Women. The three-day capacity building programme for ‘Women in Municipal Corporation’ will be organised from 7thto 9thDecember.
Govt Plans to amend Notaries Act Puts drafts bill in Public domain
The government proposes to amend the Notaries Act to restrict the number of terms a person can practice as a notary to allow more young legal practitioners enter the field, the Law Ministry said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the ministry said the proposed amendment bill also seeks to extend power to suspend the certificate of practice in cases of professional misconduct by the appropriate government for conduct of inquiry.
The proposed amendment bill also seeks to digitise notarial work undertaken by notaries.
As of now the number of terms of renewal of certificates of practice of a notary is unrestricted after the initial appointment.
The Notaries Act, 1952 was enacted to regulate the profession of notaries. The provisions of the Notaries Act, 1952 and subsequent rules empower the central government as well as state governments to appoint notaries who possess the prescribed qualifications.
"It is felt that an opportunity needs to be given to young eligible legal practitioners who are aspiring to serve as notary public which may help them to build up their professional excellence by which they can provide legal services in a more effective manner,"
A notarial act is any written narration of facts drawn up by a notary, notary public or civil-law notary authenticated by the notary's signature and official seal and detailing a procedure which has been transacted by or before the notary in their official capacity.
PM inaugurates Fertilizer plant, AIIMS in UP’s Gorakhpur
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday dedicate multiple projects, including an All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) and a fertiliser plant, to the people in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
AIIMS, Gorakhpur
AIIMS in Gorakhpur would not only serve the districts of Purvanchal in Uttar Pradesh but also neighbouring Bihar and even Nepal.
Gorakhpur Fertilizer Plant
The Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation the Gorakhpur Fertilizer Plant, whose foundation stone was laid by him on July 22, 2016. Lying shut for more than 30 years, it has been revived and built at a cost of around Rs 8,600 crore. The driving force behind the revival of the fertilizer plant is the vision of the Prime Minister to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of urea, added the statement.
The Gorakhpur Plant will make available 12.7 LMT per annum indigenous neem coated Urea production. It will help prove to be of immense benefit for the farmers of the Purvanchal region and adjoining areas by meeting their demand for Urea fertilizer.
New ICMR building
The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the new building of ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Gorakhpur. The Centre has been instrumental in tackling the challenge of Japanese encephalitis /Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in the region.
The new building with state-of-the-art facilities will open new horizons of research in areas of Communicable and Non-Communicable diseases as well as help in capacity building and provide support to other medical institutes of the region.
Nanda Prusty - Padma shri Awardee : dies at 104
104-year-old teacher, was felicitated on November 9 for his long contribution in the field of education and social service
Centenarian teacher Nanda Prusty, a class 8 pass-out who had been educating children and village elders free of cost for the last seven decades in Odisha, died at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, a family member said.
India and ADB signed Loan for Water safety in Uttarakhand and for Housing Loan in Tamil Nadu
India and the Asian Development Bank today signed a 125 million dollar loan to improve access to safe and affordable drinking water supply and sanitation services in Dehradun and Nainital in Uttarakhand.
India and Asian Development Bank yesterday signed a 150 million dollar loan agreement to provide affordable housing for urban poor in Tamil Nadu.
The agreement was signed between Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Rajat Kumar Mishra and Country Director of Asian Development Bank’s India Resident Mission Takeo Konishi.
Three Indian Companies : at top 100 arm sellers
HAL - Hindustan Aeronautics ltd.,
OFB - Ordnance Factory Board
BEL - Bharat Electronics Ltd.,
India - Russia signed a cooperation pact.
India and Russia on Monday vowed to deepen collaboration in the space sector, including in the human spaceflight programme, and signed an agreement for cooperation in the building as well as operation of launch vehicles.
A joint statement issued after the summit said the two countries welcomed the enhanced cooperation between the Russian State Space Corporation 'Roscosmos' and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) including in the human spaceflight programmes and satellite navigation.
They agreed to study the prospects of the development of mutually beneficial cooperation in the development of launch vehicles and the use of outer space for peaceful purposes, including planetary exploration.
The two sides welcomed the active work carried out within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding between Roscosmos and ISRO on joint activities in the human spaceflight programme and noted with satisfaction the training of four Indian astronauts.
UAE becomes first country to transit 4.5days as working days
The United Arab Emirates will shift to a working week comprising four-and-a half days, with a Saturday-Sunday weekend, the government announced on Tuesday.
The UAE will become the only country in the Gulf region that will not have weekends on Friday and Saturday, AFP reported. It is a norm in the region to have Fridays as complete off days for prayers.
The new work schedule will apply to government bodies from January 1. The working hours from Monday to Thursday will be from 7.30 am to 3.30 pm. On Fridays, shifts will end at 12 pm.
World Inequalities report : 2021
Report notes that, top 1 % of the India’s population owns more than one-fifth of the total national income in 2021.
The bottom half of the population earns just 13.1 per cent.
It highlights that, economic reforms and liberalization that India has adopted, have mostly benefited the top 1 percent.
Report identifies India as a poor and an unequal country, with an affluent elite.
1 percent richest people in India hold 22% of the total national income in 2021, while the top 10 % owns 57 per cent of the income.
Average national income of the Indian adult population is Rs 204,200 in 2021, on the basis of purchasing power parity.
However, report clarified that average national income of a country masks inequalities.
Nagaland Seeks AFSPA repeal
During the Zero Hour of the Lok Sabha, the MP noted that, this is not the first such incident where innocent civilians had to suffer due to draconian laws like the AFSPA.
In the year 2000, an incident that took place in Manipur was called as “the Malom Massacre”. In the incident, more than ten civilians were shot dead.
AFSPA in Nagaland
In June 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs had declared the entire State of Nagaland as a “disturbed area” for six more months in accordance with the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA). The norms were extended for six more months citing that Nagaland is in such a “disturbed and dangerous condition” that it is necessary to use the armed forces in aid of civil power.
What is AFSPA?
AFSPA provides power to the armed forces to maintain public order in disturbed areas.
Under the act, armed forces have the power to prohibit a gathering of five or more persons in an area.
They are free to use force or even open fire after giving warning, in case they feel the person is in contravention of the law.
Armed forces are also empowered to arrest a person without giving warrant, ban the possession of firearms and enter or search premises without any warrant.
What is a “disturbed area”?
A disturbed area is declared by notification under Section 3 of the AFSPA. An area can be declared as “disturbed area” due to differences or disputes between members of different religious, language or regional groups, or castes or communities. Power to declare the whole or part of the State or Union Territory as disturbed area lies with the Central Government, or Governor of the State or administrator of the Union Territory.
NASA launches LCRD
LCRD is the first-ever laser communications system of NASA.
It will help NASA in test optical communication in space.
Presently, most of the NASA spacecraft use radio frequency communications to send data.
But the Optical communications will help in increasing the bandwidth by 10 to 100 times as compared to radio frequency systems.
LCRD will also demonstrate all of the advantages of using laser systems.
With this capability, laser communications can be implemented on more missions in a bid to standardise way to send and receive data.
Features of LCRD
LCRD comprises of two optical terminals:
One of the terminals is used to receive data from a user spacecraft.
While, the other terminal is used to transmit data to ground stations.
LCRD also has modems, which will translate digital data into laser signals.
These signals will then be transmitted through encoded beams of light.
These capabilities of LCRD make it NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end optical relay.
Advantage of Laser communication systems
Laser communications and radio waves make use of different wavelengths of light.
Laser system uses infrared light and is having a shorter wavelength as compared to radio waves. It will help in transmitting more data in a short time.
As per NASA’s estimate, it would take around nine weeks to transmit a completed map of Mars back to Earth using the current radio frequency systems. While, with laser systems, it can be accelerated to around nine days.
LCRD will send data to Earth at 1.2 gigabits-per-second (Gbps), using infrared lasers. With this speed, one can download a movie in less than a minute.
Optical communications systems are having smaller size & weight. They require less power as compared to radio instruments.
What is hosting the LCRD?
LCRD payload is hosted onboard the Space Test Programme Satellite 6 (STPSat-6) of the US Department of Defense Space. It will be in a geosynchronous orbit, about 35,000 km above Earth.
Australia and US boycott Beijing winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics are an upcoming international winter multi-sport event.
This event is scheduled to take place from February 4 to 20, 2022 in Beijing, China.
It will be the first Winter Olympics in China as well as the last of three consecutive Olympics which is to be held in East Asia, after the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, and 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan.
World Malaria Report for 2021
Released by WHO - World Health Organization
No.of death cases increased 12% in 2020 compared to 2019.
Personality : Gen Bipin Rawat dies in Helicopter Crash
General Bipin Laxman Singh Rawat PVSM UYSM AVSM YSM SM VSM ADC (16 March 1958 – 8 December 2021) was an Indian military officer who was a four-star general of the Indian Army. He served as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces from January 2020 until his death in a helicopter crash in December 2021.
57th Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
26th Chief of the Army Staff
37th Vice Chief of the Army Staff
