1. LG Baggavalli Somashekar Raju to take over as Vice Chief of Army Staff
Tags: Popular Defence Person in news National News
Lieutenant General Baggavalli Somashekar Raju will take over as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff on 1 may.
An alumnus of Sainik School Bijapur and National Defence Academy, Raju was commissioned into the Jat Regiment on 15 December 1984.
He commanded his battalion during OP Parakram in the Western Theatre and in Jammu and Kashmir.
Raju also has the distinction of commanding the Uri Brigade on the Line of Control, a counter insurgency force and the Chinar Corps in the Kashmir Valley.
Raju has also served as the Commandant of the Indian Military Training Team in Bhutan.
During his illustrious career spanning 38 years, BS Raju has been involved in several important regimental, staff and instructional appointments at Army Headquarters.
Before taking over as the co-chief of the Army, Lt Gen Raju was the Director General Military Operations during the standoff with China on the LAC.
He is also a qualified helicopter pilot. He has flown in the UNOSOM-2 operation in Somalia.
2. Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Cochin Shipyard Ltd
Tags: National News
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Cochin Shipyard Ltd on 30th April.
He also unveiled a Golden Jubilee statue and launched the Startup Engagement Framework of Cochin Shipyard on the occasion.
He also initiated work for development of the Ro-Ro (roll-on, roll-off) jetty near Mattancherry Wharf of Cochin Port and unveiled the new logo of Cochin Port Authority.
He also inaugurated a workshop on "Green Shipping in India --Keeping Pace with the Global Maritime Green Transitions" in Kochi.
The event has been organised by the Union Ministry of Shipping, Ports and Waterways in association with Cochin Shipyard and Institute of Energy and Resources.
About Cochin Shipyard Ltd
Cochin Shipyard was incorporated in the year 1972 as a wholly owned Government of India company.
Over the past three decades the company has emerged as a forerunner in the Indian shipbuilding and ship repair industry.
This yard can build and repair the largest ships in India.
It can build ships up to 1,10,000 DWT and repair ships up to 1,25,000 DWT.
Shipyard commenced ship repair operations in 1982.
3. Star9 Mobility Private Limited to buy 51 percent of govt share in Pawan Hans Limited
Tags: Popular Economics/Business National News
The Government has approved the highest bid of Star9 Mobility Pvt Ltd for sale of Government's entire 51 per cent stake in Pawan Hans Limited (PHL) and transfer of management control.
PHL is a 51:49 joint venture between the government and ONGC that provides helicopter and aero mobility services.
ONGC earlier decided to offer its entire shareholding to the successful bidder identified in the GoI strategic disinvestment transaction, on the same price and terms as the government.
The reserve price for the sale of 51% stake of PHL was fixed at Rs 199.92 crore based on the valuation done by the transaction advisor and asset valuer.
The alternative mechanism comprises Nitin Gadkari, Road Transport and Highways Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister and Jyotiraditya Scindia, Civil Aviation Minister.
Pawan Hans Limited has incurred losses in the last three financial years. The company has a fleet of 42 helicopters.
4. Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 launches National Behaviour Change Communication Framework for Garbage Free Cities
Tags: Government Schemes National News
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, under the aegis of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, has launched the 'National Behaviour Change Communication Framework for Waste Free Cities' to strengthen the ongoing mass movement for 'Garbage Free Cities'.
A social revolution has taken place in the field of cleanliness in urban India, in which one hundred and thirty crore citizens have come together in support of the Prime Minister's call for 'Clean India'.
In the last seven years, this government policy for cleanliness has become the world's largest behaviour change programme.
It works on the principles of sustainable urbanisation, circular economy, Reuse, Reduce, Recycle and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the second phase of the 'Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban' on October 2, 2021, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.
It has been designed to make all cities garbage free and achieve the goal of water conservation.
In this, a provision has also been made to store and filter waste water by adopting a complete liquid waste management system in cities with a population of less than 1 lakh.
Under this, 3.5 lakh individual, community and public toilets will be constructed for the population going to urban areas for employment in the next 5 years.
Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) was launched on October 2, 2014 with the objective of promoting 'cleanliness and Sanitation' in the society and the country.
5. Govt to launch indigenously developed e-commerce network in 100 Indian cities
Tags: Latest Economics/Business National News
The government is planning to launch an indigenously developed online e-commerce network in 100 Indian cities to provide kirana stores and consumers an alternative to multinational platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday announced the trial-launch of the open-source system.
The beta launch will unveil the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and Registry's IT applications, which were launched in Bengaluru on Friday.
UPI is another game-changing idea to democratise commerce.
The project is being prepared in a big way as it will provide a wider choice to all consumers and retailers and will be formally launched after successful testing of the system.
End-to-end testing is being done to create a playbook with an aim to launch it in 100 cities in six months.
The initial test launch, which began in Bengaluru, will also cover cities such as Coimbatore, Bhopal, Delhi and Shillong.
The system will have multiple options for both retailers and customers in terms of cataloguing, inventory, warehousing, suppliers, logistics and payments.
6. Semicon India Conference-2022
Tags: Latest Summits National News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Semicon India Conference-2022 today. This three-day event will take place in Bengaluru.
The three-day conference is being organised to take forward the Prime Minister's vision to make India a leader in electronics manufacturing, semiconductor design, manufacturing and innovation.
The conference is being seen as a launch pad to launch the country's ambition of becoming a global semiconductor hub, nurturing the chip design and manufacturing ecosystem.
Industry associations, research organisations and education experts will participate in the conference.
Theme of the conference : Catalysing India’s Semiconductor Ecosystem
Vision : To position India on the Semiconductor map of the world and build a vibrant semiconductor innovation and manufacturing ecosystem.
7. Mandate Document of National Curriculum Framework launched in Bengaluru
Tags: National National News
The Union Minister for Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan today in Bengaluru released a mandate document for the National Curriculum Framework under the National Education Policy.
The Mandate Document is a step between the National Educational Policy and the National Curriculum Framework.
The mandate document is a step forward towards formation of new National syllabus and textbooks.
The syllabus for the first phase of the National Curriculum Framework related to playschools will be ready by the next Saraswati Puja date.
National Education Policy is a password to the future that will change the destiny of this country.
National Education Policy is a unanimous document prepared after wide consultations.
National Education Policy is a scientific document for all developing and third world countries to follow to reap demographic dividend.
8. Central African Republic adopted the cryptocurrency as legal currency
Tags: Popular International News
The Central African Republic has recognized the world's largest and most popular cryptocurrency, bitcoin as its legal currency.
It became the second country in the world and the first country in the continent of Africa to legalise bitcoin.
In 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to legalise bitcoin.
Now people there can pay tax in crypto currency through government recognized platforms.
The Central African Republic is one of six countries in Africa that use the Central African CFA franc.
The Central African CFA franc is a regional currency issued by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC).
About Central African Republic -
The Central African Republic is a landlocked country located in Central Africa.
Despite being rich in diamonds, gold, oil, uranium, the Central African Republic is today counted among the poorest countries.
It became independent from France in 1960.
Capital- Bangui
President- François Bozize
Prime Minister- Faustin-Archange Touadera
9. Russia Withdraws From UN World Tourism Organisation
Tags: Popular International News
The Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Zurab Pololikashvili announced that Russia has decided to withdraw from the UNWTO.
The UNWTO announced earlier in March that it wanted to suspend Russia over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The UNWTO had previously described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as inconsistent with the United Nations Charter and against the fundamental purpose of the UNWTO.
Russia has decided to withdraw from the organisation even before the United Nations World Tourism Organisation's vote in the UN on 27 April 2022.
This is the first time the UNWTO has met to discuss the suspension of one of its member states.
About United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) -
Formation- 1 November 1975
Headquarters- Madrid, Spain
Secretary General- Zurab Pololikashvili
Member Countries- 160
So far, 17 member states have withdrawn from the organisation at various times.
UNWTO is a United Nations organisation that promotes tourism to promote economic growth, environmental sustainability and inclusive growth.
10. Centre keen on lifting AFSPA from northeast
Tags: National News
PM Narendra Modi said that AFSPA may be partially withdrawn from Assam, Manipur and Nagaland (from 1st April) due to peaceful conditions since 2014.
AFSPA will now be applicable only in 31 districts and partially in 12 districts in four states of Northeast Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
These four states together have 90 districts.
AFSPA was withdrawn completely in Meghalaya in 2018, Tripura in 2015 and Mizoram in the 1980s.
What is AFSPA?
Armed Forces Special Powers Act, (AFSPA), gives armed forces the power to maintain public order in “disturbed areas.”
It came into force decades ago in the context of insurgency in the northeastern states.
It provides "special powers" to the army, air force and central paramilitary forces.
The Act provides that if "reasonable suspicion exists", the armed forces may also arrest any person without warrant; May enter or search premises without warrant and prohibit possession of firearms.
AFSPA is presently in force in areas falling under the jurisdiction of 3 districts of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and 8 police stations of Arunachal Pradesh bordering Assam.
What are the Disturbed Areas?
A disturbed area means which is declared by notification under Section 3 of the AFSPA.
A region may be disturbed because of differences or disputes between members of different, racial, religious, language or regional groups or castes or communities.
The Central Government or the Governor of the State or administrator of the Union Territory have power to declare the whole or part of the State or Union Territory as a disturbed area.
