GK Snapshots on 11 November 2021

World Science Day for Peace and Development 2021 – November 10

The United Nations(UN)’s World Science Day for Peace and Development is annually observed across the globe on November 10th to highlight the importance of science in society and the need to engage the public in the debates on emerging scientific issues.

• 10th November 2021 marks the observance of the 20th edition of World Science Day for Peace and Development.

The theme of World Science Day for Peace and Development 2021 is “Building Climate-Ready Communities”.

Purpose of World Science Day for Peace and Development:

• Strengthen public awareness of the role of science for peaceful and sustainable societies;

• Promote national and international solidarity for shared science between countries;

• Renew national and international commitment for the use of science for the benefit of societies;

• Draw attention to the challenges faced by science in raising support for the scientific endeavour.

DRDO, Israel Signs Innovation Agreement for Dual-use Technology

On 9th November 2021, India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) signed a Bilateral innovation agreement (BIA) with Directorate of Defence Research & Development (DDR&D), Ministry of Defence, Israel to promote innovation and research in development of dual-use technologies by startups and Micro-small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) of both countries.
• The BIA was signed by G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence, R&D and Chairman DRDO and Daniel Gold, Head of DDR&D.

Highlights

i.The agreement brings out development in new generation technologies like drones, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, quantum technology, photonics, biosensing, brain-machine interface, energy storage, wearable devices and natural language processing.
ii.The development efforts are jointly funded by India’s DRDO and Israel’s DDR&D.

Background
i.The diplomatic ties between India and Israel started in 1992.
ii.The Bilateral trade between two countries is around $5billion annually and Defence trade is around $1 billion annually.
iii.India is Israel’s 3rd largest partner in Asia and 7th largest globally.
iv.Major exports from India to Israel includes Precious stones, Machineries, chemicals, electronics, food products.
v.Major exports from Israel to India includes defence and transport equipment, chemicals, machineries, Precious stones.

India’s 1st Centre for Research on Drone Technology Launched in IIT Guwahati

Union Minister of State Civil Aviation General, V K Singh launched India’s 1st Centre for Excellence in Research on Drone/UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) technology and Artificial Intelligence at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, Assam.

Key Points:
i.V K Singh inaugurated the Skill development Centre for Drone/UAV operation and maintenance, and Nodal Centre for overall administrative Drone Data management for the northeastern region.
ii.‘AXOM Droneports’ was also launched to support cargo drones that are delivering urgent medical and emergency supplies to remote areas of the region.
iii.He has interacted with representatives of drone companies and start-ups in the programme which was jointly organised by IIT, Guwahati and FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry).
iv.In August 2021, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) notified the Drone Rules, 2021 replacing the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) rules, 2021.
v.IIT Guwahati intends to share its research expertise, impart skill development, set up a drone port and provide all administrative support to fulfil the vision of the Prime Minister i.e. to realize the potential of India to be a global drone hub by 2030.

European Union, BBMP partnered on Solid Waste Management project in Bengaluru under NAMA Support Project

On the lines of circular economy principles, the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) has collaborated with the European Union (EU) for a low-carbon Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management system in Bengaluru (Karnataka) under Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) support project ‘Waste solutions for a circular economy in India’.

• The project is funded by the EU and the German’s Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
• Under this collaboration, BBMP will get technical and financial support in setting up new plants, revamping the existing Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), setting up compost facilities and biomethanation plants.

India Army Signs MoU with RRU & BISAG-N

On 9th November 2021, the ArmyTraining Command (ARTRAC) of Indian Army has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) and Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications & Geo-Informatics (BISAG) to collaborate in different sectors of Research & Development.
• The Event was presided by Lt Gen Raj Shukla, General Officer Commander – in – Chief (GOC-in-C).

Key points
i.The agreement with RRU facilitates innovation, research, new technologies , publications & patents, higher learning and research in the Army.
• ‘Chanakya’ a biannual publication of RRU on National Security was also launched during the event.
ii.The BISAG-N facilitates exchange of knowledge and innovative ideas on new technologies relating to Geographic Information System (GIS) and IT based Enterprise resource planning Software, training content, technical support, research and knowledge partnership with prior approval of Army Management Studies Board (AMSB).
• BISAG-N dedicated the Learning Management System (LMS) developed by ARTRAC.
iii.The future warfare demands Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning, Data science, Cyber Warfare, Data science, Robotics and aerospace.

Haryana’s Bhattu Kalan Police Station named in among India’s Top 3 for 2021

Union Home Ministry has nominated Bhattu Kalan police station of Fatehabad district in Haryana among the Top 3 police stations in India for 2021.
Objective – To adopt a uniform ranking for police stations in India to rank them for improving their quality of policing towards a citizen-friendly one. The Police station was selected for its effective measures during the pandemic.
i. Union Home Minister will award the Trophy to the Bhattu Kalan police station SHO (Station House Officer) during a function in Lucknow on November 19, 2021.

Indian Navy Hosted 3rd Edition of Goa Maritime Conclave 2021

The Indian Navy has conducted the 3rd Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC)-2021 from 7th to 9th November 2021 under the aegis of Naval War College, Goa. The GMC is an outreach initiative of the Indian Navy that provides a multinational forum to harness the collective expertise of maritime security practitioners and academia to generate outcome-oriented maritime thought.
• The event was hosted by Adm Karambir Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy.

The theme/subject of 3rd GMC 2021 was “Maritime Security and Emerging NonTraditional Threats: A Case for Proactive Role for Indian Ocean Region(IOR) Navies”. The theme was developed with the goal of winning everyday peace in the maritime domain.

India-US conducts 11th Defence Technology & Trade Initiative Group meeting

On November 09, 2021, the 11thDefence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) Group meeting between India and the United States (US) was held virtually. It was the 2nd meeting of DTTI held in 2021. The meeting was co-chaired by Secretary (Defence Production) Raj Kumar from Ministry of Defence & Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition and Sustainment along with Gregory Kausner from US Department of Defence.

• The DTTI Group meetings are usually held two times in a year, alternating between India and the US.

Objective: To bring bilateral defence trade relationship and create opportunities for co-production and co-development of defence equipment.

India Retains 10th Rank on Climate Change Performance Index 2022; Denmark at 4th

India has retained its spot in the top 10 best-performing countries (for the third year after 2020, 2021) and ranked 10th in the global Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2022, which was released by Germanwatch on the sidelines of the COP26 (26th Conference of Parties).

Overall Results CCPI 2022:
The first three overall positions remain empty as no country performs well enough in all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating.

RBI Launches its First Global Hackathon – HARBINGER 2021

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) organises its 1st global hackathon named ‘HARBINGER 2021 – Innovation for Transformation’ with the theme ‘Smarter Digital Payments’.
• The hackathon was launched to encourage innovation in the payments system and it includes 4 problem statements to shape the future of the payment systems in India.

What is Hackathon?
A hackathon is an event organised to bring together people and entities for the development of innovative solutions for the existing challenges in specified areas through problem statements.

Meta Launched ‘Grow Your Business Hub’ to Strengthen Small Business in India

Meta, formerly Facebook has launched ‘Grow Your Business Hub’ & ‘Grow Your Business Playbook’ during the inaugural edition of Grow Your Business Summit, an event focused on the growth agenda of India’s small and medium businesses (SMB).

Grow Your Business Hub:
It is a localised business hub for the micro, small and medium business to find relevant information, tools, and resources curated to provide their business goals based on their growth.

Defence Ministry appoints Vice Admiral R. Hari Kumar as next Chief of Naval Staff

The Defence Ministry appointed Vice Admiral R Hari Kumar, the Chief of Western Naval Command (WNC), as India’s new Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), who will take over the position from the incumbent CNS Admiral Karambir Singh from November 30, 2021.

• Hari Kumar is presently serving as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the WNC.

Novo Nordisk India appoints Kapil Dev as Brand Ambassador

Novo Nordisk India has appointed renowned Indian cricketer Kapil Dev as the brand ambassador of the company to create awareness on better diabetes management and early insulin adoption.

• Novo Nordisk is a company that provides diabetes innovative solutions for diabetes care. It also focuses on educating people about management of diabetes.

Note– World Diabetes Day observed on 14th November, it marks the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting who co-discovered Insulin.

Fumio Kishida Reelected as Prime Minister of Japan

Fumio Kishida leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been reelected as the Prime Minister(PM) of Japan following the victory of the LDP in the 2021 Parliament election. The LDP has secured 261 seats in the 465 members lower house exceeding the parliamentary majority of 233 seats.

• Fumio Kishida will succeed Yoshihide Suga who resigned as PM of Japan in September 2021.

About Fumio Kishida:
i.Fumio Kishida has previously served as the Foreign Minister of Japan from 2012 to 2017.
ii.He has been serving as the president of LDP since September 2021.
 

India wins 5 Medals in Inaugural ISSF President’s Cup in Wroclaw, Poland

Indian Shooters have won 5 medals (2 Gold, 2 Silver & 1 Bronze) in the inaugural edition of International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) President’s Cup that was held between 3rd to 10th November 2021 at Wroclaw, Poland.

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