NATIONAL NEWS

Cabinet approves Memorandum of Understanding between India and France

• The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the MoU signed between India and France in the field of renewable energy conservation.
• The objective of the MoU is to establish the basis for promotion of bilateral cooperation in the field of new and renewable energy on the basis of mutual benefit, equality and reciprocity.
• India has a target of attaining 450 GW of installed of renewable energy capacity in India by 2030.

Facts:

• Union Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy - Raj Kumar Singh

Cabinet approves Memorandum of Understanding between India and Fiji

• The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the MoU signed between India and Fiji for cooperation in the field of Agriculture and Allied Sectors.
• Under the MoU, a Joint Working Group (JWG) will be constituted to set down procedures and plan and recommend programs of cooperation towards achieving its aims through the Executing agencies of the two countries.
• The JWG will hold meeting alternately in India and Fiji once in every two year.
• This MoU will come into effect on the date of its signing and will remain in force for a period of 5(five) years.

Fact:

• Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare - Narendra Singh Tomar

Indigenously developed Spectrometer commissioned in Devasthal Optical Telescope

• The ‘Made in India’ optical spectrograph named as Aries-Devasthal Faint Object Spectrograph & Camera (ADFOSC), indigenously designed and developed by Aryabhatta Research Institute of observational sciences (ARIES), Nainital.
• It can locate sources of light with a photon-rate as low as about 1 photon per second.
• It has been successfully commissioned on the 3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT), the largest in the country and in Asia, near Nainital Uttarakhand.
• The total cost of this instrument is nearly Rs. 4 Crore.

INTERNATINOAL NEWS

Freedom in the World Rankings

• Freedom House, an US based NGO, released the report “Freedom in the World: Democracy Under Siege”.
• The report gave India “partly free” status from the “free” status in its previous year’s report.
• While Pakistan and Bangladesh were also given “partly free status”, China was given the “not free” status.

MISCELLENEOUS FACTS

Facts about TEPC

• TPEC - Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council
• Founder - Government of India
• Purpose - To promote and develop export of Telecom Equipment and Services
• Chairman - Mr. Shyamal Ghosh
• Headquarters - New Delhi

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Wildlife Day

• The World Wildlife Day is celebrated every year on 3^rd of March to raise awareness about world’s flora and fauna.
• The World Wildlife Day 2021 theme is “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet”.
• Union Environment Minister - Prakash Javadekar.

World Hearing Day

• World Hearing Day is observed every year on March 3^rd.
• The theme of 2021 is “Screen, Rehabilitate, Communicate”.
• The day aims to address hearing loss and ear disease across the life course.