Ministry of Finance Calls for Tender to List and Partially Disinvest IREDA

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA):

• It was set up as a specialized non-banking finance agency for the renewable energy sector.
• It is a Public Limited Government Company established as a Non-Banking Financial Institution in 1981.
• REDA has been notified as a “Public Financial Institution” under section 4 ‘A’ of the Companies Act, 1956 and registered as Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) with Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• It is formed for promoting, developing and extending financial assistance for setting up projects relating to new and renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency/conservation.
• Objectives:
  • To give financial support to specific projects and schemes for generating electricity and/ or energy through new and renewable sources and conserving energy through energy efficiency.
  • To maintain its position as a leading organization to provide efficient and effective financing in renewable energy and energy efficiency/ conservation projects.

Russia’s New ‘Armor-Piercer’ Missile Approved For Use In Ukraine Ops;S-8OFP

• It is an 80mm unguided rocket developed primarily for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
• It is an air-to-surface rocket intended for both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.
• It was designed by Splav Corporation, Russia.
• It is designed to hit sole and multiple targets, unarmored and lightly-armored military hardware, as well as surface ships.
• The S-80FP can detonate before hitting the target, on impact or after penetrating the target.
• It has a total weight of 17 kg and its warhead of 9.5 kg.

Indian Navy begins sea trials of Kalvari class submarine Vaghsheer

• INS Vagsheer (S26) is the sixth submarine of the first batch of six Kalvari-class submarines for the Indian Navy.
• It is named after the sand fish, a deadly deep-sea predator of the Indian Ocean.
• It is designed by French naval defence and energy group Naval Group and manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited.
• It is designed to operate in all theatres of operation, showcasing interoperability with other components of a Naval Task Force.

Kalvari-class submarines

• The Kalvari class is a class of diesel-electric attack submarines based on the Scorpène-class submarine being built for the Indian Navy.
• The submarines are designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS and are being manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai.
• It has been constructed with technology transfer from French firm Naval Groupunder a programme called Project 75.
• The state-of-the-art technology used in Scorpene-class has superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels and ability to launch crippling attacks with precision-guided weapons on board.
• They can attack through launching the torpedoes and anti-ship missiles while underwater or on the surface.

Tata Consumer Products to delist GDRs from June 23

• It is a foreign currency-denominated negotiable financial instrument issued by a depositary bank.
• GDRs are certificates issued by a depository bank, which purchases foreign company shares and deposits them in the account.
• GDRs are commonly used to raise capital from international investors through public stock offerings or private placement.
• Purpose:
  • Indian companies can only get their shares listed on foreign exchanges through Global Depository Receipts (GDR).
  • GDRs help Indian companies get foreign funds and gain access to international capital.
  • The depository bank is the intermediary that acts as the custodian of the shares issued by the Indian company.
• The depository bank can convert GDRs into shares and trade them on the domestic stock exchanges.
• GDRs are instruments denominated in foreign currencies. The shares are denominated in the deposit receipt issuer''s local currency.
• The value of a GDR depends on the value of the underlying share.
• GDRs are issued to investors throughout the country since they can be denominated as multiple forms of freely convertible currency.
• Only companies with a three-year sound financial record can get access to GDRs.
• Thus, Indian companies should get clearance from the Ministry of Finance and Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to obtain GDRs.

Sebi proposes tighter norms for alternate investment funds

Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs):

• It is a special investment category that differs from conventional investment instruments.
• AIF is any fund established in India which is a privately pooled investment vehicle that collects funds from sophisticated investors, both Indian or foreign, for investing.
• It pools funds from investors and invests them under different categories of investments as specified by the SEBI for the benefit of investors.
• These investment vehicles adhere to the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012.
• AIFs can be formed as a company, Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), trust, etc.
• It is an investment option for high rollers, including domestic and foreign investors in India.
• Generally, institutions and high net worth individuals invest in AIF as it needs a high investment amount.
• Categories Of AIF:
  • Category I AIFs:
    • They can invest in start-ups, early stage ventures, social ventures, SMEs and sectors which the government or regulators consider as socially or economically desirable.
    • They include venture capital funds like angel funds, SME Funds, social venture funds, infrastructure funds and such other AIFs as may be specified.
  • Category II AIFs:
    • They are those which are not classified under Category I or Category III.
    • They do not undertake leverage or borrowing other than to meet day-to-day operational requirements and as permitted in the regulations.
    • Various types of funds such as real estate funds, debt funds, private equity funds, funds for distressed assets, etc. are registered as Category II AIFs.
  • Category III AIFs:
    • They are funds which employ complex or diverse trading strategies and may employ leverage including through investment in listed or unlisted derivatives hedge funds, PIPE Funds, etc. are registered as Category III AIFs.
• Category I and II AIFs are required to be close ended and have a minimum tenure of three years. Category III AIFs may be open ended or close ended.

India''s Himalayan Telescope observes one of the most energetic objects in universe

Himalayan Chandra Telescope:

• It is a 2 meter optical-infrared telescope named after Nobel laureate Subramaniam Chandrasekhar.
• Location: It is at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) in Hanle near Leh in Ladakh.
• It is currently the tenth highest optical telescope in the world, situated at an elevation of 4,500 meters.
• The telescope remotely operated using a dedicated satellite communication link from the Centre for Research & Education in Science & Technology (CREST), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore.
• Imaging instruments include a Faint Object Spectrograph, a near infra-red and an optical CCD camera.

Blazer

• It is a type of galaxy that is powered by a humongous black hole and is among one of the brightest and most powerful objects in the universe.
• They are known for emitting highly energetic particles and radiation, including gamma rays, X-rays, and radio waves.

SpaceWERX collaborates with Rhea Space Activity to bring Spitzer Telescope back to life

• It is a S. satellite the fourth and last of the NASA fleet of “Great Observatories” satellites.
• It was the third space telescope that was dedicated to infrared imaging and was launched in 2003.
• The satellite telescope orbits the Sun about one astronomical unit (AU) in an Earth-trailing orbit.
• It studied the cosmos at infrared wavelengths.
• It spent more than 16 years gathering information on the origin, evolution, and composition of planets and smaller bodies, stars, galaxies, and the universe as a whole.
• It was named in honour of Lyman Spitzer, Jr., an American astrophysicist who in a seminal 1946 paper foresaw the power of astronomical telescopes operating in space.

Spitzer Resurrector Mission

• It is designed to “restart” the telescope.
• Right now, the telescope is about two AU away from the Earth. In its current location, direct communications with Earth are not possible.
• The Mission will confirm that Spitzer has been restored to its original performance capabilities.
• After that, it will remain near the telescope to act as a high-rate data relay to our planet. This can restore Spitzer to its full efficiency.
• The telerobotic Spitzer-Resurrector spacecraft would travel around 300 million kilometres to the telescope to restore its service.
• This will act as a demonstration for the “In-space Service Assembly and Manufacturing” ISAM techniques that are being explored by the US Air Force and Space Force.

EBRD pledges more support for Ukraine with capital boost

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD):

• It is an international financial institution with the mandate to promote transition towards a sustainable, open market economy and to foster innovation.
• The EBRD was created in April 1991 to help Eastern European and ex-Soviet countries transitioning into democracies by developing free-market economies after the fall of communism.
• Headquarters: London
• It provides project financing mainly for private enterprises, usually together with other commercial lending partners, in countries that are committed to, and apply, democratic principles.
• It also works with public partners to support privatisation, restructuring and improvement of municipal services.
• It prioritizes support for countries in Central and West Asia, and North Africa.
• It focuses on advancing developmental goals in finance and policy reform.
• The organization also promotes environmentally sustainable development and gender equality and promises to be fully transparent.
• Membership: It is publicly owned by shareholders in 69 countries. India became the EBRD''s 69th shareholder when it joined the Bank in July 2018.

Elephant census begins in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in TN

• It is located at the junction of the Eastern and the Western Ghats in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, in the Erode District of Tamil Nadu.
• Its area is contiguous with the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Bandipur Tiger Reserve (Karnataka) and BR Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka).
• Together, these reserves — forming the Nilgiris biosphere landscape — have the biggest tiger population in the world, at over 280 tigers.
• Terrain: It is hilly and undulated with altitude ranging between 750m and 1649m.
• Vegetation: It consists of southern tropical dry thorn forests, mixed deciduous forests, semi-evergreen forests, and Riparian forests.
• Flora: Common Species of trees and shrubs found are Albizzia amara Chloroxylon swictenia, Gyrocarpus jacquini, Neem, Tamarind, Sandalwood, Randi dumetorum, Zizyphus and associates.
• Fauna: The major species are Elephant, Tiger, Panther, Sloth bear, Gaur, Black Buck, Spotted deer, Wild boar, Black napped hare, Common langur Nilgiri langur, Striped neck mongoose and Bonnet macaque.

Indian Railways Likely To Shift Rail Tracks Out Of Palamu Tiger Reserve To Save Wildlife

• Location:
  • It is located in the western side of Latehar district on the Chhotanagpur plateau in Jharkhand.
  • The reserve forms a part of the Betla National Park.
• It is one of the first 9 tiger reserves created in the country at the inception of ‘Project Tiger’.
• It is the first reserve in the world in which a tiger census was carried out as a pugmark count, as early as 1932 under the supervision of J.W. Nicholson
• Terrain: It is undulating with valleys, hills and plains.
• Rivers:
  • Three rivers namely North Koyal, Auranga and Burha flow through the valleys.
  • The area is draught drone with Burha being the only perennial river.
• The Reserve is very rich in minerals like Bauxite and Coal.
• Vegetation:
  • It is primarily dominated by Northern Tropical Dry Deciduous Sal forest and its associates.
  • Smaller patches of Northern tropical Moist Deciduous forests exist too in the Reserve.
• Flora: Shorea robusta, Acacia catechu, Madhuca indica, Terminalia tomentosa, Butea monosperma, Pterocarpus marsupium, Anogeisus latifolia, Indigofera pulchela etc.
• Fauna: Some keystone and principal species found in the reserve include Tiger, Asiatic Elephant, Leopard, Grey wolf, Wild dog, Gaur, Sloth bear and Four horned antelope.