1. India to invite Bangladesh and other friendly as guest country during its G-20 presidency
The Ministry of External Affairs on 13 September 2022, said that India will invite a number of friendly countries and International Organisation to the G-20 summit as Guest countries to the G-20 Summit meeting being hosted by India on 09 and 10 September 2023 in New Delhi.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
Guest Countries :
- India will invite Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and UAE as Guest Countries.
International Organisations to be invited :
- India will invite the United Nations, International Monetary Fund(IMF),World Bank, World Health Organisation (WHO),World Trade Organization (WTO),International labour organization(ILO),Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Financial Stability Board(FSB), Head of African Union, International Solar Alliance ,Association of South-east Asian Nation(ASEAN) , African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD ) CDRI (Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure) and ADB (Asian Development Bank).
- The G20, or Group of Twenty, is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies. It comprises 19 countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK, USA and the European Union (EU).
2. Hughes and ISRO launch satellite internet service in India
Tags: Science and Technology
Satellite Internet provider Hughes Communications India (HCI) on September 12 announced the commercial launch of India's first high-throughput satellite (HTS) broadband service operated by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in the form of Elon Musk-run SpaceX.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- Hughes Communications India abandoned its affordable internet project Starlink in the country.
The satellite service aims to expand high-speed broadband across the country, to connect government networks in the most remote areas beyond the reach of terrestrial networks.
About HCI :
HCI is a joint venture of Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes), a leading global provider of broadband satellite networks and services, and Bharti Airtel Limited, India's leading communications solutions provider.
It has a combined base of over 200,000 VSATs.
It provides broadband networking technologies, solutions and services.
3. IndusInd Bank with ADB sets up partial guarantee to finance MSME in supply chains
Tags: Economy/Finance
IndusInd Bank has signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a partial guarantee programme with an initial outlay of $70 million (Rs 560 crore), for supply chain financing.
Under this agreement ADB will provide partial credit guarantees to lenders.
It means that if the customer defaults on loan repayment which is covered under the partial guarantee then ADB will pay the guaranteed portion of the principal and interest to the bank.
The IndusInd bank hopes to increase its business in the Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) financing through this partnership.
IndusInd Bank
It is a scheduled commercial private sector bank .The bank was set up by the Hindujas group in 1994.
Headquarters: Mumbai
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer: Suman Kathpalaia
Tagline of the Bank: We Care Dil Se : We Make You Feel Richer
Asian Development Bank
- It was set up in 1966.
- Its headquarters is at Mandaluyong City, Manila, Philippines
- Total member countries : 68
- President of ADB : Masatsugu Asakawa of Japan
4. Centre signs $96.3 mn loan with ADB to improve water supply in Himachal
Tags: State News
The Asian Development Bank and the Indian Government on 22 August signed a 96.3 million dollar (about Rs 769 crore) loan agreement to provide safe drinking water and improve water supply and sanitation services in Himachal Pradesh.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- This project is in line with the objectives of Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide piped water to all rural households by 2024.
This loan has been given by ADB under the Himachal Pradesh Rural Drinking Water Improvement and Livelihood Project.
More than 90 percent of the rural population of the Himachal Pradesh has access to drinking water, but the water supply infrastructure is old and in a dilapidated condition, resulting in poor quality of service.
Under this ADB project, 75,800 households in Himachal Pradesh will be connected to this service and 370,000 residents in ten districts will get uninterrupted supply of clean drinking water.
Under the project, water supply infrastructure will be improved and institutional capacity will be strengthened in Himachal Pradesh.
In this way safe, sustainable and inclusive rural water supply and sanitation services will be ensured.
Aims of the project :
The project aims to build 48 groundwater wells, 80 surface water facilities, 109 water treatment plants, 117 pumping stations and 3,000 km of water distribution pipelines.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) :
It is a regional development bank established on 19th December 1966.
The ADB currently consists of 68 members, 49 of whom are from Asia and the Pacific and 19 from outside.
It envisions a prosperous, inclusive, resilient and sustainable Asia and Pacific region.
It seeks to eradicate extreme poverty in the region.
It assists its members and partners by providing loans, technical assistance, grants and equity investments to promote social and economic development.
Its headquartered in Manila, Philippines.
5. African swine fever confirmed in Kannur, Kerala
Tags: State News
Recently, African Swine Fever has been confirmed for the first time in a private pig farm in Kerala, in the last ten days more than 15 pigs died on the farm due to the disease.
About African Swine Fever
African swine fever is a highly contagious hemorrhagic viral disease of domestic and wild boars.
It was first found in Africa in the 1920s.
Historically, infections have been reported in Africa and parts of Europe, South America, and the Caribbean.
However, since the year 2007, the disease has been reported in domestic and wild pigs in several countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.
It has a mortality rate of around 95-100% and there is no cure for this fever, so the only way to stop its spread is to kill animals.
African swine fever does not pose a threat to humans, as it only spreads from animal to animal.
African swine fever is a disease listed in the Animal Health Code of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
World animal health organisation
It is an intergovernmental organisation responsible for improving the health of animals around the world.
It currently has a total of 182 countries as its members. India is one of its member countries.
It develops standard documents relating to the rules by which member states can protect themselves from diseases and pathogens. One of these is the Regional Animal Health Code.
Its standards are recognized by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as reference to the organisation's International Sanitation Rules.
Its headquarter is located in Paris (France).
6. 5G spectrum auction ends with record bids worth over ₹1.5 lakh crore. Jio top bidder
Tags: Economics/Business National News
The biggest ever spectrum auction in India ended on August 1. The seven-day auction saw record sale of 5G telecom spectrum worth over Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
Important facts
In this auction, billionaire businessman Mukesh Ambani's company Jio made the highest bid to consolidate its leading position.
As per provisional figures, a total of Rs 1,50,173 crore bids were placed.
This auction amount of 5G spectrum capable of offering extremely high-speed mobile internet connectivity is almost double the Rs 77,815 crore 4G spectrum sold last year.
This amount is three times as against Rs 50,968.37 crore received from 3G auction in 2010.
Reliance Jio made the highest bid for radio waves offering connectivity at speeds nearly 10 times faster than 4G.
It was followed by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Limited.
Adani Group has bought 26 MHz spectrum to set up a private telecom network.
What is Electromagnetic Spectrum?
Signals are needed to connect cell phones and wireline telephone equipment from one end to the other.
These signals are carried over the airwaves, which are required to be sent on specified frequencies to avoid any kind of interference.
The central government owns all publicly available assets, including airwaves, within the geographical boundaries of the country.
What is 5G technology?
The fifth generation mobile network is called 5G.
The 5G network will operate in the millimetre-wave spectrum (30-300 GHz) which can send huge amounts of data at very high speeds.
It is the newest upgrade in Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
Internet speeds in the high-band spectrum of 5G have been tested to exceed 20 Gbps (gigabit per second).
7. Rs 1.64 lakh crore revival package for BSNL gets Cabinet nod
Tags: Economy/Finance National News
In a bid to revive state-owned telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the Union Cabinet on July 27 approved a ₹1.64 lakh crore package for its revival.
Important facts
The package has a cash component of ₹43,964 crore and a non-cash component of ₹1.2 lakh crore for over four years.
The package will include administrative allotment of 4G spectrum worth ₹44,993 crore.
Bharat Broadband Network Ltd (BBNL), was set up to implement the ambitious BharatNet project, which will be merged with BSNL.
The revival package will enable BSNL to improve services and generate net profit in 3-4 years.
BSNL 5G services launch will happen in the next 1.5-2 years.
Its 4G telecom services will reach the people in 1-1.5 years.
Other key components of the package
Capex support of ₹22,471 crore
Viability gap funding of ₹13,789 crore for rural wireline operations
Debt structuring by raising of bonds with sovereign guarantee worth ₹40,399 crore
Financial support for Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues worth ₹33,404 crore.
Capex support
The Cabinet had approved the allocation of 900/1800 MHz band spectrum worth ₹ 44,993 crore to support 4G services of BSNL.
This will allow BSNL to compete in the market and provide high speed data.
The government will make a capital expenditure of ₹22,471 crore over the next four years to "promote development and deployment of self-reliant 4G stacks".
About BSNL
BSNL was incorporated on 15th september 2000.
It is a 100% Govt of India owned Public Sector Undertaking.
It is a technology-oriented integrated telecom service providing company.
It provides Wire line Services, GSM Mobile Services including 2G, 3G, 4G & Value added Services (VAS), Internet and Broadband services, Wi-Fi services, Data Centre services etc.
8. Defence Ministry launches 75 newly Artificial Intelligence products in New Delhi
Tags: Defence National News
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the first-ever ‘Artificial Intelligence in Defence’ (AIDef) symposium and exhibition, organised by the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on 11 July.
Important facts
The event featured an exhibition showcasing the latest AI-enabled solutions developed by research organisations, industry and start-ups and innovators and the launch of AI products for the market.
This is a major event where 75 newly developed AI products/technologies in Defence were launched as part of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'.
These products will promote the ‘Aatmanirbharta’ initiative in Defence.
These products are being tested and will soon be deployed in the security of the nation.
Apart from the 75 products being launched, another 100 are in various stages of development.
Panel discussions on 'Deploying AI in Defence', 'GenNext AI Solutions' and 'AI in Defence - Industry Perspective' were also held at the event.
Products are in the following domains-
Automation/unmanned/robotics systems
Cyber security and human behaviour analysis
Intelligent monitoring system
Logistics and supply chain management
Control, Communication, Computer and Intelligence
Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems
Operational data analytics
Artificial Intelligence in defence
The AI Task Force on Defence was set up in 2018 to provide a road map for promoting AI in defence.
A Defence AI Council, headed by the Defence Minister, is working in this direction.
The Defence Minister had announced that "25 defence-specific AI products" would be developed by 2024.
A Defence AI Project Agency (DAIPA) has also been created under the defence production secretary for AI-enabled projects.
The Navy is also building an AI Centre of Excellence at INS Valsura in Jamnagar, which already has a modern laboratory on AI and Big Data analysis.
What is Artificial Intelligence?
It is a broad branch of computer science that deals with the creation of smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence.
9. Indian communication satellite launched by Arianespace
Tags: Science and Technology
Arianespace, two communication satellites belonging to India and Malaysia were placed in geostationary orbit on 22 June by the European Space Agency.
The two satellites cumulatively weighed over 10 thousand kilograms, flown by Ariane-5 rocket from the spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
The Indian satellite, GSAT-24, has been developed by New Space India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO, for television service provider Tata Sky.
GSAT-24 is a 24-Ku band communication satellite weighing more than four thousand kilograms and caters to the needs of DTH applications across the country.
GSAT-24 will be the 25th Indian satellite to be orbited by Arianespace.
On September 28, 2021, NSIL handed over Arianespace with the launch of its GSAT-24 telecommunications satellite, the European Space Agency.
The other satellite MEASAT-3d is a multi-mission telecommunications satellite built by Airbus Defence and Space for MEASAT, a Malaysian satellite operator.
This new satellite will significantly increase broadband speeds of up to 100 Mbps in areas with limited or no terrestrial network or in rural Malaysia.
About Arianespace
It is the world’s first commercial launch service provider.
It is a French company founded in 1980.
It operates and markets the Ariane program.
The company offers several different launch vehicles such as the heavy-lift Ariane 5 for dual launch in geostationary transfer orbit, Soyuz-2 as a medium-lift option, etc.
10. Sunil Chhetri becomes joint 5th highest goalscorer in international football history
Tags: Sports News
Indian men's football team captain Sunil Chhetri has become the joint fifth highest goalscorer in international football history.
Sunil Chhetri scored his 84th international goal against Hong Kong during the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2023 Qualifier and achieved the feat by equaling the record held by Real Madrid and Hungarian football legend Ferenc Puskas.
He is now behind only Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina's Lionel Messi among active footballers.
He is at number three after Ronaldo and Messi in the list of active footballers with international goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list of highest goalscorers in international football.
Top 5 International Goal Scorers in the World
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - 117 goals
Ali Dei (Iran) - 109 goals
Mokhtar Dahari (Malaysia) - 89 goals
Lionel Messi (Argentina) - 86 goals
Sunil Chhetri (India) and Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) - 84 goals
