NATIONAL

ICMR launches ‘i-Drone‘ to deliver vaccines

• Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare launched ICMR’s drone resposne and outreach 'i-Drone'  in North East, it’s a delivery model to make life saving vaccines reach everyone.
• It is the first time in south Asia, where 'make in India' drone is used to transport and deliver vaccines to the remote areas and hard to reach terrains.
• ICMR conducted an initial study in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur to test the capacity of drones to carry and transfer vaccines safely. The study was conducted in Manipur, Nagaland and Andaman and Nicobar.
•  These studies provided promising results on the basis of which the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and other regulatory authorities have granted permission to fly drones beyond the Visual Line Of Sight.

Defence Ministry gives away DRDO ‘Dare to Dream 2.0’ and young scientists Awards

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh felicitated the winners of ‘Dare to Dream 2.0’ Contest of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) in New Delhi.
• The Defence Ministry gave away awards to 40 winners - 22 in Individual category and 18 in Startup category. He also launched ‘Dare to Dream 3.0’ to promote innovators & startups and provide a platform for the young ignited minds in the country.
• On this occasion, three products/systems indigenously developed by DRDO were also handed over to the Armed Forces. They are:

1. ARINC818 Video Processing and Switching Module: The module, developed for the Indian Air Force, was handed over to the Vice Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sandeep Singh. It is a state-of-the-art module with high bandwidth, low latency, channel bonding, easy networking and will cater to 5^th generation aircraft development programmes.
2. Sonar Performance Modelling System: Developed for the Indian Navy, the system was handed over to Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Satish Namdeo Ghormade. It is useful for Indian Naval ships, submarines and under water surveillance stations etc.
3. Bund Blasting Device Mk-II: The device, developed for Indian Army, was handed over to the Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen CP Mohanty. It is used to reduce the height of Ditch-cum-Bund obstacles to enhance the mobility of mechanised infantry during wartime.

• He also released two policy documents of DRDO - Directed Research Policy and Records Management Policy 2021(DRP). which provides framework for establishment of Advanced Technology Centres and Research Cells focussed research on futuristic surveillance and defensive and offensive capabilities.
•  ‘Long Term Directed Research Policy’ was recently approved by the Government to support & provide impetus to outcome and application oriented directed research in collaboration with academia.
• The Records Management Policy aims to further strengthen the records management activities of DRDO.

RBI overthrows Srei Infra and SEFL boards

• The Reserve Bank of India, today, has overthrown the board of directors of Srei infrastructure Finance Ltd(SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance Ltd(SEFL) because of governance concerns.
• It appointed Mr.Rajneesh Sharma, ex-Chief General Manager, Bank of Baroda, as the Administrator of both the companies
• It also constituted a three member advisory committee to assist the administrator in discharge of his duties under the section 45-IE (5) a of the RBI Act 1934.

Government raises changes to Forest Act

• The Government has proposed new ammendments to the Forest Conservation Act, in which absolving agencies involved in national security projects and border infrastructure projects from obtaining prior permission for forest clearance from centre.
• The environment ministry  also proposed  to add a clause to make punishments under the modified act punishable with simple imprisonment for period of one year and make it cognisable and non bailable,
• It also proposed to remove zoos, safari’s, forest training infrastructure from the definition of non forestry activities.

About Forest Conservation Act:The Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 (FCA, 1980) is an act by the Parliament of India for conservation of forest and its resources.It was enacted in 1980, aimed to control the ongoing deforestation of the forests of India.

Features of the Act:

1. The Forest Conservation Act will have an advisory committee which will help the Central government with regard to forest conservation.
2. It restricts the state government and other authorities to take decisions first without permission from the central government.
3. It gives complete authority to the Central government to carry out its objectives.
4. It levies penalties in case of violations of the provisions of FCA.

INTERNATIONAL

Nobel for U.S scientists

• Two U.S scientists named David Julius and Ardem Patapoutain won Nobel medicine price for their discoveries in temperature and touch.
• The Duo’s discovered how heat , cold and mechanical force can initiate nerve impulses, which makes us percieve and adapt.
• Their research is used in developing treatment for wide range of diseases and conditions.
• Mr. David Julius has aleady won 3 million us dollars break through price in life sciences.

Japan elects their new PM

• Fumio Kishida has been elected as the Japan’s new Prime Minister.
• He won in a comfortable margin against Yukio Edano head of largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

Abiy Ahmad becomes Ethiopia’s Prime minister

• Abiy Ahmad has sworn in as the Prime Minister of Ethiopia for the second five year term.
• He also won Noble Peace prize for restoring ties with Eritrea, who has been dealing with the war that is spreading from Tigray region.