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- BrahMos, deployed by the Navy on its warships first in 2005, has the capability to hit sea-based targets beyond the radar horizon.
- The naval variant was originally tested in October and December 2020 from the Navy’s indigenously-built stealth destroyer INS Chennai and Rajput-class destroyer INS Ranvijay, respectively.
- This version of the missile has been designed to launch either in a vertical or a horizontal mode from moving/stationary assets to target both land and sea targets.
- The missiles, fired at a speed of 2.8 Mach or nearly three times the speed of sound, significantly increase the capability of the ships in engaging long-range targets.
- BrahMos missiles are designed and developed by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture company set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Mashinostroyenia of Russia.
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- With this, Deendayal Port Trust has become the first government sector-major port to cross the mark in this fiscal year.
- The feat was achieved despite the constraints arising in international trade and shipping due to the ongoing Covid pandemic.
- In the last month, Deendayal Port Trust handled 11.32 million metric tonnes of cargo which had contributed to about 18 percent of the total cargo handled by all Major Ports.
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- Both the Ministers held wide-ranging discussions covering the whole gamut of Bilateral Trade and Investment related aspects.
- The Ministers agreed to impart fresh momentum to the discussions on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement up-gradation negotiations.
- India and Korea aim to achieve the trade target of 50 Billion dollars before 2030.
- They agreed to address difficulties expressed by industry from both sides and instructed their respective negotiating teams to meet on a regular basis to conclude the CEPA up-gradation negotiations as soon as possible.
- The Ministers agreed to boost bilateral trade between India and Korea to achieve growth in a fair and balanced manner to the mutual advantage of both sides.
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- Consumers in the United States would now have access to quality mangoes from India.
- Over one thousand metric tonnes of mangoes were exported to the USA in 2019-20. Exporters have expressed hope that the export of mangoes this year will surpass the figures of 2019-20.
- USDA approval would pave the way for exports of mangoes from mango production belts situated in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.
- The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) said that this would also provide an opportunity for the export of other delicious varieties of mangoes from North and East India such as Langra, Chausa, Dushehri, Fazli.
- The export of Indian mangoes has been restricted by the USA since 2020 due to restrictions imposed on international travel during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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- The indigenously developed anti-tank missile is low weight and fire & forget missile.
- The missile successfully destroyed the target during the test flight.
- The present test was to prove the consistent performance for the minimum range. All the mission objectives were met.
- The missile has a miniaturized infrared imaging seeker and advanced avionics for onboard control and guidance. The missile performance has been proven for the maximum range in earlier test trials.
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- It also advised the States and the Union Territories that the prison admission register may be suitably revised to include “transgender” as a category other than male and female gender.
- It also asked that similar provisions may be made in the Prison Management System in maintaining electronic records.
- The government enacted the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act in 2019 and the advisory was sent to ensure their safety and to protect them against any form of exploitation in the context of prisons and correctional facilities.
- However, while making provision for a separate enclosure for transgender prisoners, due care may be taken by the prison authorities that this may not result in their complete isolation or propagate social stigma among such prisoners.
- There should also be adequate preservation of the right to privacy and dignity with separate toilets for transmen and transwomen as well as shower facilities.
- It said the physical search of a transgender person may be conducted by a person of their preferred gender or by a trained medical professional or a paramedic.
- The person searching must ensure the safety, privacy, and dignity of the person being searched. At the stage where the search procedure requires stripping, it must be done in a private room or partition.
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- The events will culminate in a grand finale of the ‘Smart Cities, Smart Urbanization’ conference, wherein 6 main events will be organized in Surat tentatively on the 4th and 5th of February, 2022.
- A formal release of an illustrated brochure-themed ‘Smart Cities, Smart Urbanization’ was done by Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri virtually.
- He said that it is befitting that the entire country has come together to celebrate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
- He added that only 17 percent of Indians lived in urban areas at the time of independence and this percentage has more than doubled now. He said the government is committed to providing first-grade living spaces to its citizens.
- Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations were inaugurated by Mr. Modi in March last year which marked a 75-week countdown to the 75th Anniversary of India's independence in August this year.
- The celebrations will continue till August 2023.
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- The permanent delegation of India to UNESCO yesterday announced that on the occasion of World Hindi Day, UNESCO's World Heritage Centre has agreed to publish Hindi descriptions of India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites on WHC (Vishwa Dharohar Samiti) website.
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- The facility aims to provide clean drinking water at a price much lesser than the market price.
- An MoU was also signed between Technology Development Board (TDB), a statutory body of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, and M/s Swajal Water Private Limited, a tech Start-Up company founded by ex-IITians based in Gurugram.
- The company is focused on innovative technologies to make reliable clean drinking water accessible to communities at affordable prices, for their project on IoT-enabled point-of-use Solar Water Purification Unit for slums, villages, and High Utility Areas.
- The Minister said, apart from the Centre’s initiatives like National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) and Jal Jeevan Mission, Private Sector should come forward in a big way with state of the art tech solutions to cover nearly 14 Crore households where clean drinking water is yet to reach.
About:
- It was hosted by the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Government of India in association with National Forensic Science University, Gandhinagar (Gujarat), and the Secretariat of the Colombo Security Conclave, over two days on 10-11 January 2022.
- Delegates from Member and Observer States of the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC) including Sri Lanka, Maldives, India, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Bangladesh participated in the workshop.
At the 5th Deputy NSA Level Meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave held on 04 August 2021, Members and Observer States had agreed on four pillars of cooperation including
- Maritime Safety and Security,
- Terrorism and Radicalization,
- Trafficking and Organized Crime and Cyber Security and
- Protection of Critical Infrastructure.
Participants agreed to identify key deliverables and continue to work on the way forward for cooperation on cyber security under the Colombo Security Conclave.