Defence hands over five DRDO developed products to Armed forces and other security agencies.
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh handedover five Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) developed products to the Armed forces and other security agencies at an event held at DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi on December 14, 2021, as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations and iconic week of Ministry of Defence. He also handed over six Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreements to seven public and private sector companies. Earlier DRDO organised a Seminar on “Preparing For The Future” where Vice Chiefs of the Armed Forces and DRDO Scientists shared their views.
He added that there has been a big change over the last few years in the approach of DRDO whereby it was not only working on technologies to mitigate current threats but also on first-of-its-kind technologies to face the future challenges.
On the objective of making India a strong platform of defence manufacturing base and net defence exporter, Raksha Mantri said DRDO has played a significant role in this endeavour. “Its path passes through collaboration among DRDO, the Armed Forces, Private industry, start-ups and academia. The ToT with private players which took place today indicate that we are ready to make a strong defence industrial base in the country that will cater not only the domestic defence requirements but also will fulfill needs of friendly countries by defence item exports.”
Paying tribute to late Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat and others who lost their lives in an air crash recently, the Raksha Mantri said that the process of integration and modernisation of Tri-Services that was initiated with creation of post of CDS and Department of Military Affairs will move on seamlessly and will be priority of the government to achieve the target as soon as possible.
Emphasizing the role of technology in warfare, Shri Rajnath Singh said our aim should be to make India a leader in the defence technology and identified development of Hypersonic cruise missile as one such advanced technology for which all should work together.
Citing the scientific prowess of DRDO in developing Mission Shakthi, Raksha Mantri said DRDO is working on smart materials, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning based systems, Swarm drones, Asymmetric warfare etc.
Products handed over to the Armed Forces & Ministry of Home Affairs are Anti-Drone system, Modular Bridge, Smart Anti Airfield Weapon, Chaff Variants and the Light Weight Fire Fighting Suit. The counter drone systems, developed by DRDO for detection, deterrence and destruction of incoming drones was handed over to the CISC by the Raksha Mantri. He also handed over the Modular Bridge to the Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane. Modular bridge developed by R&DE (Engineers) is a single span, mechanically launched assault bridge of military load class MLC-70, and can be launched in different spans.
The Raksha Mantri handed over Smart Anti Airfield Weapon (SAAW), an air launched, long-range, stand-off, air-to-surface Smart Bomb, to the Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari. The variants of Advanced Chaff were handed over to the Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar. Structural fire-fighting suit developed by DRDO’s Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), Delhi was handed over to Shri V S K Kaumudi, Special Secretary, MHA.
The LAToT documents of seven DRDO developed systems were handed over during the event for the systems/technologies namely Coastal Surveillance Radar, Automatic Chemical Agent Detection and Alarm (ACADA) & Chemical Agent Monitor (CAM), Unit Maintenance Vehicle, Unit Repair Vehicle, Fused Silica based Ceramic Core technology and the Fire Suppressing Gel.
Piyush Goyal calls for enhancing economic ties between India and the Southern African Customs Union which consists of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho.
The Minister called for enhancing India’s economic ties with the nations of the Southern African Customs Union which consists of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. He said that India is looking for FTAs with like-minded nations with transparency and mutual benefit and growth as key pillars. He added that India is also reviewing existing FTAs with ASEAN, Japan, Korea to strengthen them and forging enhanced trade alliances with countries like UAE, EU, UK, Israel, Australia, Canada, Russia, Oman and the GCC.
Shri Goyal said that during COVID-19 pandemic, India has emerged as a source of resilience and a trusted Partner and added that we had tried to the best of our ability to meet all our international service commitments.
He said that during the course of the pandemic, India had not only become self-sufficient in production of critical medical supplies, PPEs, testing kits, masks etc. but had also supplied these necessities to nations in need. He highlighted India’s one-of-its-kind vaccination drive, through which 1.3 bn doses of vaccine have already been administered.
Pointing out that India’s voice was visible in the G20 declaration this year, which successfully amplified the voice of the developing countries of the world, the Minister said that the world is acknowledging India’s leadership.
Shri Goyal said that the Indian economy has recovered sharply and added that the rising economic indicators point towards ‘an India shaping up for a growth decade’. The Minister said that India had seen a GDP growth of 8.4% in Q2, high exports, high FDI and large amounts of investments being done by Indian companies in other nations, he urged the Ministers to invite Indian companies to invest in their economies and help create jobs.
Listing potential sectors for investments including healthcare, infrastructure, defence, energy, civil aviation, insurance and Technology, the Minister said that various schemes to facilitate trade and investment, including PLI Scheme, Liberalised FDI Policy, etc. were being executed.
Shri Goyal said that India’s diverse business landscape, skilled workforce, relatively low labour cost and initiatives to boost infrastructure such as National Infrastructure Pipeline, GatiShakti, National Monetisation Plan would certainly give a fillip to investments and yield good returns.
Speaking of India’s quest to improve Ease of Doing Business, he said that initiatives like the National Single Window System and the Industrial Land Bank were helping improve the ease of doing business significantly.
Maharashtra tops the list of states with maximum number of beneficiaries under ABRY (Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana).
Maharashtra has topped the list of states with maximum number of beneficiaries under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY), followed by Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
As on December 4, 2021, as many as 6,49,560 beneficiaries were recorded in (i)Maharashtra
(ii)Tamil Nadu
(iii)Gujarat
(iv)Karnataka (3,07,164)
What is Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana?
• Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) was announced to increase the employment generation in post-COVID-19 recovery phase and to incentivise creation of new employment along with social security benefits and restoration of loss of employment during COVID-19 pandemic.
• This scheme, being implemented through the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), reduces the financial burden of the employers of various sectors/industries and encourages them to hire more workers.
The government will pay both 12 per cent employees’ contribution and 12 per cent employers’ contribution, which means 24 percent of basic wages, towards EPF (employees provident fund), for new employees in establishments employing up to 1,000 employees for two years.
• However, the government will pay only employees’ share of EPF contribution — 12 percent of wages — for new employees in establishments employing more than 1,000 employees for two years.
Global Technology Summit organised by Carnegie India and the Ministry of External Affairs.
British PM Boris Johnson to give a virtual address at the Global Technology Summit
The theme of this year’s Global Technology Summit is ‘Global Meets Local’
The 6th edition of Global Technology Summit (GTS) will be held from December 14-16, 2021. This year the Summit is organized in a hybrid format but due to the exceptional circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, physical attendance is on an invite-basis only.
Global Technology Summit is the flagship event on geotechnology, held annually since 2016. It is jointly organized by the Ministry of External Affairs and Carnegie India. The Summit convenes policymakers and domain experts to discuss policy aspects of trending technology topics.
The theme of the 2021 Global Technology Summit is ‘Global Meets Local’. Over the course of three days, the Summit will discuss diverse topics on emerging technology including the cryptocurrencies, encryption, vaccine supply chains, cloud computing, green technology, digital payments, cyber security, and science & tech cooperation in the Quad etc.
India voted against a UN Security Council draft resolution that linked climate change with global security challenges.
India on Monday voted against a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) linking climate to security, saying it was an attempt to shift climate talks from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to the Security Council and a “step backward” for collective action on the issue.
The resolution was sponsored by Ireland and Niger, and it did not pass, with 12 UNSC members voting for it, India and Russia voting against it and China abstaining.
Niger, which holds the UNSC presidency for December, organised a debate on December 9 titled ‘Maintenance of international peace and security: security in the context of terrorism and climate change.’
Climate Change: UN recognizes new Arctic temperature record of 38 degrees measured in Siberia in 2020.
The UN has officially recognized the temperature of 38 degrees Celsius measured in Siberia last year as a new record high for the Arctic, sounding alarm bells over climate change.
It was reported on June 20, 2020 in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk, marking the highest temperature ever recorded above the Arctic Circle.
7.3 undersea earthquake in Indonesia triggers tsunami warning
Indonesia lifted a tsunami alert Tuesday following a magnitude 7.3 undersea earthquake that struck off Flores Island, triggering panic in a region prone to fatal quakes but apparently causing no major damage or casualties.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake hit at a depth of 18.5 km under the sea, and was located 112 km north of the town of Maumere, the second-largest on the island in East Nusa Tenggara province with a population of 85,000.
After an initial tsunami alert, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii and later Indonesia's meteorological agency lifted the warning hours after the quake.
