‘SWAVLAMBAN’ – Indian Navy’s Maiden Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Seminar

• The two day seminar saw enthusiastic participation by the academia, industry, policy makers, think tanks, students and senior government officials, in addition to the naval personnel.
• Personnel at Command Headquarters and outlying units of the Navy also assembled at designated auditoriums spread across the country to participate online.
• Hon’ble Prime Minister was shown a demo of ‘Varuna’ Personal Air vehicle – an autonomous multi-copter drone capable of carrying a passenger.
• The highlight of the seminar was the release of the iDEX DISC7 (SPRINT) challenges by the Prime Minister. SPRINT (Supporting Pole-vaulting in R&D through iDEX, NIIO and TDAC) is a collaborative project between the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) and NIIO aimed at developing atleast 75 indigenous technologies / products as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• The maiden seminar is ‘historic’ both in scope and ambition and will foster a new chapter in the naval thrust towards self-reliance in defence and an AatmaNirbhar Bharat.

Government of India informed that Unit 3 of Kakrapar atomic plant is expected to commence commercial operation by December 2022,

• Unit-4 of Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP-4) has achieved a physical progress of 93.65% as of June-2022. Kakrapar Atomic Power Station is a nuclear power station in India, which lies in the proximity of Surat and Tapi river in the state of Gujarat.
• Among the other 700 MW PHWRs under construction, RAPP 7&8 at Rawatbhata, Rajasthan have achieved physical progress of 95% and 80.8% respectively. In respect of GHAVP 1&2 at Gorakhpur, Haryana, various buildings and structures are under construction.
• In the ten PHWRs viz., Kaiga 5&6 at Kaiga in Karnataka, GHAVP 3&4 at Gorakhpur in Haryana, Mahi Banswara 1 to 4 at Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan and Chutka 1&2 at Chutka in Madhya Pradesh, pre-project activities at sites and procurement of long delivery equipment have been undertaken. Excavation has also commenced at Kaiga-5&6.

Single window created for private participants in space sector

• Communication satellites viz. GSAT-8, GSAT-10, GSAT-12R (CMS-01), GSAT-14, GSAT-15, GSAT-16, GSAT-17, GSAT-18, GSAT-30 and GSAT-31 have been transferred at a written down value of Rs 4697.60 crores against issue of equity to Government of India, with 01.04.2021 as the effective date of transfer.
• The Board of NSIL is authorized to price the transponder capacity as per the global trends. NSIL shall carry out the activities related to offering and allocation of capacity, as per the guidelines to be adopted by its Board.
• The transfer of operational satellites is part of the Space Sector reforms, aimed at strengthening the role of NSIL in order to enhance the nation’s share in global space economy.
• The Minister also informed that the Government has taken several steps to increase India’s share in global space market, through the reforms undertaken in 2020, which seek to augment the space sector in the country with greater participation of Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs).
• The Indian National Space Promotion & Authorization Centre [IN-SPACe] has been created as a single window agency to promote, handhold and authorize the activities of NGEs in the sector, thus providing them with a level playing field.

Phased implementation of digital currency for wholesale, retail segments in the works

• The introduction of CBDC was announced in the Union Budget 2022-23, by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and necessary amendments to the relevant section of the RBI Act, 1934 have been made with the passage of the Finance Bill 2022.
• The passage of the bill has enabled the RBI to conduct a pilot and subsequent issuance of CBDC.
• The RBI is also working on phased implementation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in both wholesale and retail segment.
• CBDC is a digital or virtual currency but it is not comparable with private virtual currencies or cryptocurrency that have mushroomed over the last decade. Private virtual currencies do not represent any person’s debt or liabilities as there is no issuer.

Sri Lanka gets new president in six-time PM Wickremesinghe

• Wickremesinghe won 134 votes in the 225-member Parliament in a three-way contest.
• This is the third unlikely elevation this year for Mr. Wickremesinghe, 73, who is the United National Party’s sole MP — entering not with an election win, but through the national list, based on the party’s vote share in the 2020 general elections.
• In the past three months, coinciding with Sri Lanka’s escalating economic crisis, he has risen from lone MP to PM, before clinching Presidency.
• Meanwhile, protesters from the ‘Janatha Aragalaya’ (‘People’s Struggle’) have said they would agitate until Mr. Wickremesinghe, too, steps down.
• On May 12, recently ousted President Gotabaya appointed him as Prime Minister, replacing Mahinda , who had resigned days earlier, in the wake of violence triggered by his [Mahinda] supporters.

India, Namibia ink pact on Cheetah relocation

• First batch of eight cheetahs comprising four male and as many female cheetahs are expected to arrive in India before Independence Day.
• The cheetahs will be released in Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh.
• India plans to introduce 8-10 cheetahs every year with a total 50 from Namibia, South Africa and other African countries over the next five years.
• Under the MoU, both the countries will also collaborate in areas of climate change, environmental governance, environmental impact assessments, pollution and waste management.

Cabinet approves signing of MoU on judicial cooperation between India, Maldives

• This is the eighth MoU signed between India and other countries in the field of Judicial Cooperation.
• This MoU will provide a platform to tap the benefits of Information Technology for court digitization and can be a potential growth area for the IT companies and start-ups in both countries. In recent years, the close relationship between India and Maldives has intensified multi-dimensionally.
• With the signing of this agreement on cooperation in the field of law and justice, the good relations between the two countries will receive further impetus.

NITI Aayog Releases Report on Digital Banks

• NITI Aayog’s report makes a case and offers a template and roadmap for a licensing and regulatory regime for digital banks. It focuses on avoiding any regulatory or policy arbitrage and offers a level playing field to incumbents as well as competitors.
• Recommendations: The report recommends a carefully calibrated approach, comprising the following steps -
  • Issue of a restricted digital bank licence (to a given applicant) (the license would be restricted in terms of volume/value of customers serviced and the like).
  • Enlistment (of the licensee) in a regulatory sandbox framework enacted by the Reserve Bank of India.
  • Issue of a ‘full-scale’ digital bank licence (contingent on satisfactory performance of the licensee in the regulatory sandbox, including salient, prudential and technological risk management).

Terrorist attacks have declined substantially in J&K: MoS Nityanand Rai

• The number of terrorist attacks has substantially declined to 229 in 2021 as compared to 417 in 2018 in J&K.
• Similarly, the attacks on civilians have also decreased from 33 in 2018 to 12 in 2021. This was informed by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
• On the attacks on Kashmiri Pandits in recent months, Mr. Rai said, the government has taken several measures for the safety of minorities in the valley.
• These include a robust security and intelligence grid, day and night area domination, patrolling and proactive operations against the terrorists, and round-the-clock checking at nakas.

SC accepts Banthia Commission report paving way for reservation for OBCs in Local Body Elections in Maharashtra

• With this, the way for political reservation for candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes in the Local Bodies'' Elections in the state has been cleared.
• Apart from this, the top court has also asked to take steps to hold the stalled elections in the state urgently. It has been ordered to announce the Election Schedule in the next two weeks.
• The Jayantkumar Banthia Commission, in its report, recommended that OBCs should be given up to 27 percent reservation in local bodies. As the court accepted this report, OBCs will get 27 percent political reservation in local self-government elections in the state.