Draft law to enable aircraft lessors to repossess aircraft during dispute

• The Ministry has sought stakeholders’ comments on the draft Protection and Enforcement of Interests in Aircraft Objects Bill, 2022.
• The Bill will implement the provisions of the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and Protocol on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment which was adopted at a conference in Cape Town in 2001. India acceded to the two instruments in 2008.
• These provide default remedies for the creditor and create a legal regime for disputes.
• The draft legislation is necessary because several Indian laws such as the Companies Act, 2013 are in conflict with the Cape Town Convention and Protocol.

Lt.Gen. Manoj Pande is next Chief of Army

• The 29th Army Chief will be the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to become the Chief of Army Staff succeeding General Manoj Mukund Naravane who is scheduled to complete his 28-month tenure on 30th of April.
• An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Lieutenant General Pande was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers in December 1982.
• General Manoj Pande commanded an engineer regiment during Operation Parakram in the Pallanwala sector along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
• He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command before he took charge of the Eastern Command.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched two online portals.

• These are Comprehensive Registration of Pesticides (CROP) and Plant Quarantine Management System (PQMS) of the Plant Protection Division at a function in New Delhi.
• The portals will provide hassle-free service to the traders besides helping them in export and imports.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first ever Semicon India-2022 Conference on 29th of April in Bengaluru.

• Semicon India-2022 Conference will be organised by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology from 29th of April to 1st of May around theme of - Design and Manufacture in India, for the World: Making India a Semiconductor Nation.
• Semicon India - 2022 aims to make India a significant player in Global Semiconductor value chain.
• Semicon India-2022 conference will attract best minds from across the world from semiconductor industry, research and academia and will act as a big step in fulfilling PM’s vision on making India a global hub for electronics manufacturing and Semiconductor industry.

India and Finland announced the decision to establish an Indo-Finnish Virtual Network Centre on Quantum Computing.

• Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh and visiting Finland Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintila, who is currently in India, announced this. An MoU for this was also signed.
• The Indian side has identified three premier institutes IIT, Madras, IISER, Pune and C-DAC, Pune for Virtual Network Centre on Quantum Computing.
• The move comes in the wake of the decision taken in the last Joint Committee meeting held in November 2020 to initiate cooperation in new emerging areas like 5G; Quantum Computing and Sustainability by involving, Academia, Industries and Start-ups of the two countries.
• Referring to the Virtual Summit last March between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Finland Ms. Sanna Marin, Dr Jitendra Singh pointed out that Finland’s leading role in clean and green technologies can help India''s drive towards sustainable development.
• He also shared that both India and Finland are consultative members of the Antarctic Treaty and have active stations in Antarctica.
• Finland would be hosting Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in 2023 and India in 2024.
• The visiting Finnish Minister Lintila assured that Finnish companies will partner with India for Carbon-neutral technologies and enhance cooperation for Sustainability in Climate Change.

Invictus Games opens with Prince Harry tribute to Ukrainians

• The first edition of the Games was held in London in 2014, and subsequent competitions were organised in Orlando, US (2016), Toronto, Canada (2017), and Sydney, Australia (2018). The 2023 edition will be held in Dusseldorf, Germany.
• The Games are an international sporting competition similar to the Paralympics, but meant for wounded, injured, and sick military service personnel and war veterans.
• The word ‘invictus’ means ‘unconquered’. The Games draw inspiration from the British poet William Ernest Henley’s 1875 poem ‘Invictus’.
• The Invictus Games are the brainchild of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, who attended the Warrior Games in the United States in 2013, and wanted to start something similar in London.

PM Modi begins 3-day Gujarat tour with visit to Command and Control Centre for Schools

• In June 2021, former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani inaugurated the technological and infrastructural upgraded Command and Control Centre 2.0 or ‘Vidya Samiksha Kendra’.
• It is a surveillance system which tracks enrolment, attendance, learning outcomes, drop-outs, school accreditation and monitors schools, teachers and block and cluster resource centre co-ordinators.
• This state of the art data driven centre is based on the National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR) Framework.
• The centre is located in sector 19 of Gandhinagar and is aimed at leveraging data and technology to improve learning outcomes.

WHO establishes the Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India

• The WHO describes traditional medicine as the total sum of the “knowledge, skills and practices indigenous and different cultures have used over time to maintain health and prevent, diagnose and treat physical and mental illness”.
• Its reach encompasses ancient practices such as acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine and herbal mixtures as well as modern medicines.
• Traditional medicine in India is often defined as including practices and therapies — such as yoga, Ayurveda, Siddha — that have been part of Indian tradition historically, as well as others — such as homeopathy — that became part of Indian tradition over the years.
• Ayurveda and yoga are practised widely across the country; the Siddha system is followed predominantly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala; the Sowa-Rigpa system is practised mainly in Leh-Ladakh and Himalayan regions such as Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling, Lahaul & Spiti.