Indian Army Organises Mela to celebrate Diamond Jubilee of Battle of Walong

• It aims to commemorate the unsurpassable bravery & sacrifice of the Indian Army while defending the Indian Territory against the Chinese aggression of 1962.
• The aim of the Mela was to familiarise the public with the Indian Army & to encourage a sense of belongingness & togetherness.
• Walong is one of India’s easternmost villages in Arunachal Pradesh.
• In the 1962 India-China War, the Indian Army defended against China in all sectors except one — Arunachal Pradesh’s Walong.
• The Battle of Walong was the only counterattack India could manage in the war.
• Indian Army held back the Chinese troops for 27 days, which forced the Chinese to deploy its reserve division from Tawang to Walong.

Indian Army launches single-window facility for welfare, grievance redressal of ''veer naris''

• The system caters to registering grievances with tracking, monitoring, and regular feedback to the applicant.
• Veernaris / Next of Kin will have multiple means for approaching the VSK through telephone, SMS, WhatsApp, Post, e-mail and walk-ins to seek assistance.
• Stakeholders can monitor the status of grievances through Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.
• The facility has been launched as Veer naris are employed as VSK staff to maintain inherent connection and empathy with the beneficiaries.
• The VSK is one of its kind initiatives by the Indian Army towards extending genuine care and support to its widows and veer naris and NoKs.
• Veerangana Sewa Kendra (VSK) will be available as a service to the Indian Army Veterans Portal

Centre formulates action plan to promote exports of millets and value-added products of millets

• According to the action plan, Indian missions abroad would be roped in branding and publicity of Indian millets.
• This include, identification of potential buyers such as departmental stores, supermarkets, and hypermarkets for organizing business-to-business meetings and direct tie-ups.
• As part of the promotion of Indian millets, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority has planned to showcase millets and its value-added product on various global platforms.
• The United Nations has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
• India is one of the leading producers of millet in the world with an estimated share of around 41 percent in global production.
• The country recorded 27 percent growth in millet production in 2021-22 which stood at 15.92 million metric tonnes.
• The country''s top five millet-producing states are Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh.
• It is estimated that the millets market is set to grow to 12 billion US dollars by 2025 from the current 9 billion dollars.

Content in national interest: What new TV broadcast guidelines say

• According to the ‘Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of Satellite Television Channels in India, 2022’, satellite TV channels in India are required to broadcast at least 30 minutes of content daily on “themes of national importance and of social relevance”.
• According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the new guidelines have been amended after a gap of 11 years, and a number of steps have been taken for ease of doing business, as there are more than 870 channels operating in the country now.
• It is obligatory under the guidelines for all TV channels, including private channels, to “undertake public service broadcasting for a minimum period of 30 minutes in a day on themes of national importance and of social relevance”.

Themes:

• The guidelines have identified eight “themes of national importance and of social relevance”:
  • education and spread of literacy;
  • agriculture and rural development;
  • health and family welfare;
  • science and technology;
  • welfare of women;
  • welfare of the weaker sections of the society;
  • protection of environment and of cultural heritage; and
  • national integration
• Once the guidelines are implemented, the Ministry will monitor the channels for the broadcast of this content.
• The exemption may apply to wildlife channels and foreign channels, besides live telecasts in the case of sports channels.
• The policy mandates that channels uplinking in frequency bands other than C-band must encrypt their signals.
• Uplinking and downlinking “shall be subject to clearance and approval by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and wherever considered necessary, of other authorities”.
• The new guidelines allow a news agency to get permission for five years instead of the current one year.
• The penalty clauses have been rationalised, and separate sets of penalties have been proposed for different types of contraventions as against the uniform penalty that is applicable currently.
• The new policy eases compliance for TV channels in various areas. Broadcast companies will be allowed to uplink foreign channels from Indian teleports, which would create employment opportunities and make India a teleport hub for other countries.
  • Singapore is considered the hub of teleport uplinking.

Go Digit: Irdai no to Fairfax proposal for CCPS conversion

• CCPS, or Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares, are a key element of startup financing.
• It gives the assurance of a fixed rate of return plus the opportunity for capital appreciation.
• These shares carry certain terms—if an early investor has CCPS, he can have more rights than other investors who come in later at a higher valuation.
• It also helps investors maintain their stake and have a say even if their stake gets diluted later.
• However, these shares get converted to ordinary equity shares after 10-15 years.
• That is more than sufficient time for most startups to give their investors an exit.
• CCPS also helps founders keep control of a company even if their stake is lower than that of investors.

Why has EU''s financial markets regulator derecognised six Indian clearing bodies?

• These six CCPs are
  • Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL),
  • Indian Clearing Corporation Ltd (ICCL),
  • NSE Clearing Ltd (NSCCL),
  • Multi Commodity Exchange Clearing (MCXCCL),
  • India International Clearing Corporation (IFSC) Ltd (IICC) and
  • NSE IFSC Clearing Corporation Ltd (NICCL).
• As per the European Market Infrastructure Regulations (EMIR), a CCP in a third country can provide clearing services to European banks only if it is recognized by the ESMA.
• The ESMA said it reviewed the recognition of all third country CCPs (TC-CCPs) that had been recognised prior to September 21, 2020, as per the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) regime.
• The decision to derecognise Indian CCPs came due to ‘no cooperation arrangements’ between the ESMA and Indian regulators — the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
• The EU regulator said it will defer the application of the withdrawal decisions until April 30, 2023 to mitigate the adverse impact of the move on EU market participants.
• The ESMA wants to supervise these CCPs, which the Indian regulators are not in favour of as they feel that these entities have robust risk management and there is no need for a foreign regulator to inspect them.

Central Counterparty Clearing house (CCP):

• A central counterparty clearing house (CCP) is an entity that helps facilitate trading in various European derivatives and equities markets.
• Typically operated by the major banks in each country, CCPs strive to introduce efficiency and stability into various financial markets.
• It reduces counterparty, operational, settlement, market, legal, and default risk for traders.
• A CCP acts as a counterparty to both sellers and buyers, collecting money from each, which allows it to guarantee the terms of a trade.
• CCPs perform two main functions as the intermediary in a market transaction
  • clearing and settlement and
  • guarantee the terms of a trade.
• A CCP is authorised by the RBI to operate in India under Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

UGC notifies new regulations on PhD degrees, here''s what has changed

• The University Grants Commission (UGC) announced new regulations on PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) degrees recently called "University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedures for Award of PhD Degree) Regulations, 2022". These rules will replace the rules notified in 2016.
• Under the new rules, UGC has made a series of significant modifications to the eligibility requirements, admissions process, and evaluation methodologies governing doctoral programmes in colleges and universities.
• Students who have completed a four-year undergraduate course will be eligible for direct admission to a doctorate programme.
  • Candidate should have a minimum of 75 per cent marks in “aggregate or its equivalent grade on a point scale wherever the grading system is followed”.
  • In case the candidate does not have 75 per cent marks in a four-year undergraduate program, she has to pursue a one-year master’s programme and score at least 55 per cent.
• The new Rules discontinue the Phil programme altogether. However, that will have no bearing on those holding or pursuing M.Phil degrees currently.
• Universities and colleges will be free to admit students through the NET (National Eligibility Test)/JRF (Junior Research Fellowship) qualification route as well as entrance exams at the level of the institutions.
• If an individual institution can holds its own entrance tests to admit students, then the candidates need not write the NET or similar exams. The “entrance test shall consist of 50 per cent research methodology and 50 per cent subject specific”.
• Where the selection is done by entrance tests conducted by individual universities, a weightage of 70 per cent will be given to performance in the written test, and 30 per cent to the interview.
• UGC has introduced a new requirement for PhD scholars, irrespective of discipline, to train in teaching / education/ pedagogy/ writing related to their chosen subject during their doctoral period. They may also be assigned four to six hours per week of teaching/ research assistantship for conducting tutorial or laboratory work and evaluations.
• It is no longer required to publish research articles in peer-reviewed publications or present in conferences.
• Working professionals can now enrol in part-time PhD programmes. The institute will require a “No Objection Certificate (NOC)” from the appropriate authority in the organisation where the candidate is employed. The NOC should clearly mention that she is permitted to pursue studies on a part-time basis.

Luxury train Deccan Odyssey, halted since pandemic, may start ferrying tourists again next year

• India has four luxury trains — Palace on Wheels, Deccan Odyssey, Golden Chariot and Maharaja Express.

Palace on Wheels (Rajasthan):

• The train’s royal origins give it its name ‘Palace on Wheels’.
• Its carriages once seated the rulers of princely states of Rajputana, Gujarat, the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Viceroy of British India.
• These luxurious coaches lay abandoned post-Independence till 1981-82, when the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation and Indian Railways launched a special heritage train for tourists visiting Rajasthan.
• A Broad Guage version of the Palace On Wheels was introduced in 1996.

Deccan Odyssey (Maharashtra):

• This luxury train was introduced by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).
• The first proposal to launch a deluxe train tour in Maharashtra was made in 2001 and, accordingly, the MTDC and Indian Railways signed an MoU in the same year to turn this proposal into a reality.
• In 2003, the ‘Blue Limousine On Wheels’, as it is named, was ready. On January 19, 2004, the inaugural journey of the train set off from CST Mumbai.

Golden Chariot (Karnataka):

• An MoU signed between the Karnataka State Tourism and Development Corporation (KSTDC) and Indian Railways in 2002 resulted in the Golden Chariot, south India’s first luxury train.
• The luxury train was named after the famous stone chariot in Hampi.
• In 2008, the then President Pratibha Patil gave a ceremonial presidential flag-off to the Golden Chariot at Yeshwanthpur Railway Station.
• On March 10, 2008, Golden Chariot chugged on its maiden voyage from Bengaluru to Goa, making its way through the picturesque destinations of Karnataka.

Maharajas Express:

• The Maharajas Express made its maiden voyage called ‘Gems of India’ on October 17, 2012.
• The train draws inspiration from the private saloons of the erstwhile Maharajas’ of India.
• The three-night-four-day journey, touring the ‘Golden Triangle’ covering Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, first began at New Delhi’s Safdarjung Railway Station.

Elephant herd gets ‘drunk’ consuming fermented water in Odisha. Forest officials beat drums to wake them up

• The flowers of Mahua tree (Madhuca longifolia) are fermented to produce an alcoholic drink also called Mahua.
• Tribal men and women in various parts of India traditionally make this liquor.
• It is found in West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, in parts of northern and central India, in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
• Mahua is considered holy amongst the tribes of India.
• It is called the ‘Tree of Life’. Not just the flower, each and every part of the tree is used for something or the other. Even the shell of the fruit is used at the time of funeral rites.

Mahua Nutra beverage:

• TRIFED in association with Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FIIT) has developed this value added product Mahua nutra beverage made out of Mahua flower so that the tribals can benefit maximum from the value addition of MFPs and development of technologies.
• This is the first of its kind of initiative in the State of Jharkhand and the country by TRIFED.
• The Mahua Nutra beverage in its improvised form is blended with Pomegranate fruit juice, which enhances the nutritional value and masks the flavour of Mahua beverage by improving its aroma and texture.

Nine countries join alliance to boost offshore windpower

• The Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA), established to "remove barriers" to the energy.
• It was set up by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Denmark and the Global Wind Energy Council.
• The alliance is supported by a number of organizations which are actively promoting the offshore wind industry in their different regions.
• It aims to provide the growing offshore wind industry with a one-stop shop overview of all offshore wind industry events around the world.
• Both IRENA and the International Energy Agency (IEA) expect that offshore wind capacity will need to exceed 2000 GW in 2050, from just over 60 GW today, to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degree Celsius and achieve net zero.
• To reach this target, GOWA will aim to contribute to accelerating growth to reach a total of at least 380 GW installed capacity by the end of 2030.