TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. The Sydney Dialogue 2. Cyber Security Grand Challenge 3. Global Innovation Summit of the Pharmaceutical Sector 4. Rezang la Memorial 5. Wings India, 2022 6. National Conference on PESA Act of 1996 7. OP SANKALP 8. Prasthan Exercise 9. ‘Shakti’- The Warfare Suite 10. All India Consumer Price Index
Context: The keynote address was delivered by the Prime Minister of India at the Sydney Dialogue expounding India’s evolution and revolution in the arena of technology. This dialogue accentuates India’s friendly approach towards a shared and progressive future. The Sydney Dialogue is an initiative of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Five Important Transitions taking Place in India:
- World’s most extensive public information infrastructure
- Employing digital technology for governance, inclusion, empowerment, connectivity, delivery of benefits and welfare
- Third largest and fastest startup ecosystem in the world
- Digital transformation of industries, services sectors and even in agriculture
- Large efforts are made to prepare India for the future
Important Highlights:
- India’s pivotal role in the Indo-Pacific region and in the growing digital world has been pointed out.
- Openness has been considered as the essential strength of democracy without any misuse.
- India expressed its readiness to cooperate with the partners for shared prosperity and security.
- India witnessed a pathbreaking revolution in terms of digitisation. UPI Platform, BHIM App, JAM trinity are major testimonies of India’s Digital Revolution.
- Development of indigenous technological set up for 5G and 6G will be attractive areas of investment in India in the upcoming days.
- Besides, India is among the leading countries in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning.
- eVIN had built a huge network to manage the stocks of COVID-19 vaccines. This was another glorious chapter of India’s digital revolution that facilitated vaccine delivery in the toughest times of the pandemic.
- India also raised concern over the misuse of Cryptocurrency and requested all democratic nations to work together towards preventing such misuse by expanding the purview of data protection norms.
Also Read: Cowin Platform
Towards the future lanes:
The momentous dialogue concluded with a visionary roadmap for democracies to collaborate and invest in research and development in future technologies by engaging important enterprises and the vibrant youth.
2. Cyber Security Grand Challenge
Context: The cyber security grand challenge was launched for the first time by the joint efforts of the Ministry of Electronics and IT and the Data Security Council of India.
Objective: The grand challenge was organised to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the country with enormous emphasis on cyber security. This would also ensure better collaboration between government, industry and start-ups.
About the Challenge:
- This initiative provides an opportunity for the start-ups to innovate in the crucial theme of cyber security and yield solutions to be adopted and incentivized.
- The challenge focused on expanding India’s cyber security capacity.
- Such innovative steps would help to prevent the emerging threats to cyber security.
- IPR of every product was offered as a part of the challenge which is a unique feature.
- The opening of the challenge covered six problem statements and was conducted in three stages namely, Idea, Minimum Viable Product and Final Stage.
- The panel of jurists consisted of individuals from Government, Academia and Industry.
- The winners were awarded a trophy and cash prize worth rupees one crore and rupees 60 lakhs and 40 lakhs were given to the first and second runners-up respectively.
Therefore, this grand challenge was an encouraging step towards India’s vision to become the thought and market leaders in the realm of cyber security transforming the digital economy into a trillion-dollar one.
Also Read: National Cyber Security Policy
3. Global Innovation Summit of the Pharmaceutical Sector
Context: The Prime Minister of India inaugurated the Global Innovation Summit of the Pharmaceutical Sector and invited the global partners to pour in their ideas, innovate in India under the ambit of Make in India and Make for the World.
About the Summit:
- The pandemic has enhanced the prominence of the pharmaceutical sector of India that gathered global attention and trust and thereby made India the pharmacy of the world.
- India’s pharmaceutical potential was not only witnessed in its production capacity at the toughest hours but also in its humanitarian outreach in sharing vaccines.
- Over 150 countries benefited from the life-saving medicines and medical equipment exported from India in the early phase of the pandemic. 65 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were exported to 100 countries.
- This summit paves the way in creating an ecosystem of innovation in the field of drug discovery and medical devices, thus bringing together all the global partners for empowered healthcare assuring wellness for all.
Context: Commemorating the unfettered bravery of the soldiers in the battle of Rezang La, the Defence Minister dedicated the memorial to the nation. This memorial is situated at the Chushul border in Ladakh. This memorial has been renovated and upgraded.
Turning the pages of history:
- The year 1962 takes us back to the India-China face-off at Rezang la and glorifies the sacrifice of our soldiers that continues to ignite an essence of pride and pain. The battle took its advent at the strategic village of Chushul and Spanggur lake.
- The 13th battalion of the KUMAON regiment was responsible for the defence of Chushul. The first onslaught by the Chinese failed and this was followed by a more intense second attack to occupy Rezang la.
- The Indian platoons fought with all weapons they possessed. The Kumaonis were geared up and with enchanted spirit headed towards a hand to hand fight.
- 109 soldiers died with the weapons intact in their hands and remained frozen. This exemplifies the indomitable patriotism of our gallant soldiers towards the motherland. Even though dead their patriotic souls resurrected to protect the borders from the divine kingdom. This memorial will stand as an embodiment of the gallantry of the Kumaonis that we all must cherish.
Also read: India – China Border Clash 2020
Context: ‘Wings India’ is considered the largest event on Civil Aviation in Asia. The Civil Aviation Minister kindles the curtain raiser event Wings India, 2022. The central theme is “New Horizon for Aviation Industry”. This is organised by FICCI in association with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India. This biennial event took place at Begumpet airport, Hyderabad.
About the Event:
- This event narrates the progress witnessed by India in the field of aviation. In this regard, India has become the third-largest domestic aviation market.
- Civil aviation is an emerging market that forms the major pillar of economic growth.
- The narrative by the minister included important facts regarding the present status of aviation. It was pointed out that the overall freight managed by airports has recovered to more than 80% since the onset of the second wave of the pandemic.
- Under the UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme, 387 routes connecting 62 airports along with 6 heliports and 2 water aerodromes have been made operational.
This event aims at the coming together of stakeholders of the Global Aviation market, international regulators, State Governments and business associations to achieve a level playing field.
6. National Conference on PESA Act of 1996
Context: The 25th year of the PESA (Provisions of the Panchayats, Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 was celebrated by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj along with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj. A one-day national conference was organised.
About the Conference:
- Active participation from all the states with scheduled areas including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Maharashtra and Telangana. Besides, NGOs that work towards the betterment of scheduled tribes also participated in the conference.
- Technical sessions on Legal and Administrative framework under PESA, Resource Framework in PESA states and Planning and Implementation of PESA – The way forward were conducted with the cooperation of the states.
- This initiative will offer a constructive roadmap to further the welfare programmes for tribals and promote their craftsmanship, artistry and opportunities for income generation. The preservation of tribal culture and tradition was necessitated.
To read more about the PESA act, follow the link: Objectives of the PESA Act
7. OP SANKALP
Context: Operation SANKALP is a mission-based deployment of INS Trikand in the strategic locations of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. This is an effort by the Indian Navy to deploy a frontline ship in the region for the maintenance of safety, security in the regional maritime sphere facilitating trade in that region.
About INS Trikand:
- It is the latest model of guided missile stealth frigate and a part of the western fleet that operates under Western Naval Command, Mumbai.
- It is a talwar class frigate
Also Read: Types of Warships
Significance:
- The port call allowed the ship an opportunity to visit the US Coast Guard’s Visit Board Search and Seizure facility that is titled as “ship in a box”.
- This enabled a better understanding of the standard protocols and training methods of other maritime forces that provided exposure to the Indian counterpart.
Context: The Western Naval Command conducted an offshore naval exercise which is codenamed Prasthan in the offshore development area (ODA) of Mumbai.
About the Exercise:
- This exercise is conducted every six months in order to bring together all the maritime stakeholders aiming at offshore security. Indian Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, ONGC, the Port Trust, Marine police and Department of state Fisheries participated in the exercise.
- Refinement of SOP and response actions in the ODA contingencies are major areas of focus.
- Terrorist intrusion, bomb explosion, firing, oil spill, casualty evacuation are the contingencies that were exercised.
- This paints a realistic scenario in front of the stakeholders to increase responsiveness in the region with a joint effort.
9. ‘Shakti’- The Warfare Suite
Context: The Prime Minister handed over the advanced electronic warfare suite Shakti which is developed by DRDO to the Chief of Naval Staff. The Defence Electronics Research Laboratory of DRDO in Hyderabad has developed the warfare suite.
About Shakti EW:
- This will offer an electronic layer of defence against the radars and anti-ship missiles to enable a better survival chance in maritime wars.
- This is a new generation of electronic warfare (EW).
- The warfare suite will be integrated with Electronic Support Measures (ESM) and Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) against missile attacks.
- ESM finds the accurate position and direction of radars through its built-in radar fingerprinting and data recording replay feature helping in post-mission analysis.
- The first Shakti system has been installed on-board INS Visakhapatnam with an indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant. Twelve other Shakti systems will be produced by BEL.
- This will enhance the Indian Navy’s electronic intelligence potential.
10. All India Consumer Price Index
Context: The All India consumer price index for agricultural and rural labourers has increased by 14 points for the month of October 2021 due to the rise in the prices of vegetables and fruits, pulses, meat-fish, mustard oil, sugar, etc.
Read More about CPI in the linked article.
Read previous PIB here.
November 18th, 2021, PIB:- Download PDF Here
| Related Links | |||
| Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) | JAM Trinity | ||
| BRICS | Competition Commission of India | ||
| Scheduled and Tribal Areas | Economic Survey | ||
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