1. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh to form district level committees to resolve border disputes
Tags: State News National News
After Meghalaya, Assam and its neighbouring state Arunachal Pradesh decided to form District Level Committees for resolving the boundary disputes between the two states in a time-bound manner.
The decision was taken during the second Chief Minister level meeting between both states held at State Guest House, Koinadhora in Guwahati in presence of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart Pema Khandu.
The district committees will undertake joint surveys in the disputed areas to find tangible solutions to the long-pending issue based on historical perspective, ethnicity, contiguity, people’s will and administrative convenience of both the states.
Border dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh
—Arunachal Pradesh, which was earlier a part of Assam, shares a boundary of roughly 800 km with the state.
—The dispute dates back to the British era when in 1873 the British announced inner line regulation.
—British demarcated planes and frontier Hills, which were later designated as North-East frontier tracts in 1915.
—These northeastern frontiers make up present-day Arunachal Pradesh.
—Administrative jurisdiction was handed over to Assam, the border areas were renamed as Northeast Frontier Agency (NEFA) in 1954.
—Arunachal Pradesh was declared a Union Territory in 1972 and got statehood in 1987.
—Based on the NEFA committee report, 3648 sq. km of the plain area was transferred from Arunachal Pradesh to Assam’s then Darrang and Lakhimpur districts.
—Arunachal Pradesh refused to accept this notification and it has become a matter of dispute.
—Assam feels that the demarcation as per 1951 notification is constitutional and legal.
—But, Arunachal Pradesh believes that the transfer was done without consultation with its people.
2. National Cyber Security Incident Response Exercise (NCX India)
Tags: National News
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Recently, the National Security Council Secretariat organised the National Cyber Security Incident Response Exercise (NCX India).
It will be conducted as a hybrid exercise over a period of ten days from 18 to 29 April 2022.
The aim is to train senior management and technical personnel of Government/Critical Sector organisations and agencies on contemporary cyber threats and handling cyber incidents and responses.
The program is being conducted by the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Govt of India in association with the Data Security Council of India (DSCI).
It is supported by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The platform for training is being provided by CyberExer Technologies, an Estonian cybersecurity company.
More than 140 officials will be trained through training sessions, Live Fire and Strategic exercises.
The participants will be trained on various key cyber security areas such as Intrusion Detection Techniques, Malware Information Sharing Platform (MISP), Vulnerability Handling & Penetration Testing, Network Protocols & Data Flows, Digital Forensics, etc.
3. Extreme poverty in India declined by 12.3 percentage points during 2011-2019
Tags: Economy/Finance International News
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According to the World Bank Report Poverty in India is 12.3 percentage points lower in 2019 as compared to 2011.
The poverty headcount rate has declined from 22.5 percent in 2011 to 10.2 percent in 2019.
As per a policy research working paper of World Bank, Poverty reduction was higher in rural areas as compared to urban India.
Rural poverty dropped by 14.7 percent while urban poverty declined by 7.9 percentage points during 2011 to 2019.
Study says that farmers with small landholding sizes have experienced higher income growth.
Real incomes for farmers with the smallest landholdings have grown by 10 percent in annualised terms between the two survey rounds in 2013 and 2019 compared to a 2 percent growth for farmers with the largest landholding.
Extreme poverty has been measured in terms of the number of people living on less than $1.90 a day (roughly Rs 145).
About World Bank
– The World Bank is a provider of financial and technical assistance to individual countries around the globe.
–it comprises 189 countries and five constituent institutions that work towards eradicating poverty and creating prosperity.
–Currently, the World Bank has two stated goals that it aims to achieve by 2030.
–The first is to end extreme poverty by decreasing the number of people living on less than $1.90 a day to below 3% of the world population.
–The second is to increase overall prosperity by increasing income growth in the bottom 40% of every country in the world.
–HQ : Washington DC (USA)
4. Egypt approves India as wheat supplier
Tags: Economics/Business International News
Egypt, which is one of the largest importers of wheat from Ukraine and Russia, has approved India as a wheat supplier.
Egypt is likely to lift about one million tonnes of wheat from India, of which 240,000 tonnes will be shipped in April itself.
Export was approved after a rigorous process of field visits and checks in quarantine facilities in India by Egyptian authorities.
The teams visited wheat fields in Madhya Pradesh, UP and Punjab to check for themselves the quality of wheat produced in India.
India aims to export 10-11 million tonnes of wheat in FY23 due to the surge in global demand following the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
India’s wheat export
India's wheat exports rose to $1.74 billion in April-January 2021-22 as against $340.17 million in the same period last year.
In 2019-20, wheat exports were worth USD 61.84 million, which rose to USD 549.67 million in 2020-21.
India's wheat exports are mainly to neighbouring countries with Bangladesh having the largest share of more than 54 percent.
5. Musk set to buy Twitter with $43 billion offer
Tags: International News
Elon Musk, Tesla's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has offered to buy Twitter.
Twitter informed the stock market on April 14 that Musk sent it a letter on April 13, proposing to buy the rest of the company's shares.
Musk has offered $54.20 for each Twitter share. The offering comes in at over $43 billion.
Musk has described this price as his maximum and final offer.
It is noteworthy that Musk currently owns more than nine percent of Twitter's shares. He is the largest shareholder of the company.
6. Israel has developed the world's first laser missile defence system: Iron Beam
Tags: Defence International News
Israel has successfully test-fired a laser missile defence system for the first time in the world.
The name of this missile defence system has been given 'Iron Beam'. This laser-based missile defence system destroyed mortars, rockets and anti-tank missiles in a single blow.
Israel also has a missile defence system named Iron Dome, which has proved to be very useful for this. This is a very expensive defence system that costs thousands of dollars for repeated use.
But the best thing about this iron beam is that it will cost only Rs 267 in one blow.
7. Boris Johnson rejects calls to resign amid ‘partygate’ fine
Tags: International News
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused to resign after being fined for breaking his government’s pandemic lockdown rules, saying he would instead redouble efforts to strengthen the economy and combat Russian aggression in Ukraine.
London police fined Mr. Johnson and other people on Tuesday for attending a birthday party thrown for the Prime Minister at his Downing Street offices on June 19, 2020.
The penalty made Mr Johnson the first British Prime Minister ever found to have broken the law while in office.
8. Jyotiraditya Scindia flags off First Made in India Dornier Aircraft Flight
Tags: National News
The Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia and the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Shri Pema Khandu today flagged off the first flight of Made in India HAL Dornier Do-228 in a bid to connect airports and Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) of Northeast India. The flight will be operational from Dibrugarh in Assam to Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh and finally to Lilabari in Assam.
This flight will operate from Dibrugarh in Assam to Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh and finally to Lilabari in Assam.
Public sector airline Alliance Air has entered into an agreement with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a central public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Defence, to operate Dornier aircraft manufactured in India.
With its operation, the total number of airports in the country has gone up to 140. A total of 15 airports have been established in the Northeast.
Within six months, a new greenfield airport at Hollongi will be opened in Arunachal Pradesh with a budgetary allocation of Rs 645.63 crore.
As per the Airports Authority of India, at present there are 39 (10+29) international airports in the country including 10 customs international airports. While 29 airports are under government control.
9. UGC allows students to pursue two full-time academic programmes simultaneously
Tags: National News
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has now allowed students to pursue two degree courses simultaneously.
- Now the UGC has decided to issue guidelines to the students to pursue two academic programs at the same time.
- The UGC said in this context that this decision is in line with the National Policy on Education (NEP) 2022, which emphasises the need to facilitate multiple pathways for learning.
- This will help develop various skills in the students. Online and offline mode will be used for this new provision.
- The UGC Chairman said that the UGC has come up with new guidelines for various physical university courses to help students identify their unique potential. He said that it would provide multidisciplinary and holistic education in all fields.
UGC Guidelines
- A student can pursue 2 full-time academic programs in physical mode, given that the class time of one program does not overlap with that of the other programme.
- Also, not only two courses in physical mode, students can do one course in full-time physical mode either online or in open, distance learning mode.
- In addition, students can pursue one online program with another online program.
- The guidelines will be implemented after an announcement on the UGC website on 13 April 2022.
Part of NEP vision
- The rationale behind the decision to allow students to pursue two academic degrees simultaneously is to help them gain diverse skills, according to the UGC.
- It is also aimed at translating the NEP’s vision of breaking down interdisciplinary separations.
- It remains to be seen how the proposal is received by the academia and student community.
10. India-Australia Maritime Patrol Reconnaissance Aircraft (Mpra) Coordinated Operations
Tags: Defence National News
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A P8I Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft of the Indian Navy have arrived at Darwin, Australia. The aircraft and its crew would be undertaking an operational turnaround at Darwin.
P8 aircraft from both the countries, would be conducting coordinated operations in Anti-Submarine Warfare and surface surveillance, to enhance maritime domain awareness.
In recent times, increased interaction between the two maritime nations, through bilateral and multilateral exercises at sea, has enhanced inter-operability and fostered bridges of friendship.
The P8 aircrafts, with their demonstrated long reach, have operated jointly during Malabar and AUSINDEX series of exercises, and have a common understanding of operating procedures and information sharing.
The maritime waters between Indonesia and Northern Australia is an area of mutual interest to both countries, being a gateway into the Indian Ocean Region.
Both India and Australia share strategic interests, promoting a free and open Indo- Pacific and rules based order in the region.
