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SAMPADA – Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing & Development of Agro-Processing Clusters

Governance & Legislation
Date: 05 May 2017
Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing & Development of Agro-Processing Clusters (SAMPADA) – an umbrella scheme to integrate various ongoing schemes like the Mega Food Parks, Integrated Cold Chain, Food Safety & Quality and some new schemes like the Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Clusters, Creation of Backward & Forward Linkage and Creation / Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities; has been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. This scheme is intended to cover a five year period from 2016 to 2020 and is likely to greatly boost the Food Processing sector. 

India’s First Private Sector Small Arms Manufacturing Unit Unveiled

Defence & Security
Date: 05 May 2017
India’s first private sector small arms manufacturing plant has been inaugurated at Malanpur in Madhya Pradesh. This unit is a joint venture of India based Punj Lloyd Raksha Systems Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of infrastructure giant Punj Lloyd, and Israel Weapon Industries (IWI). The plant will manufacture small arms X95 Carbine & Assault Rifle, Galil Sniper Rifle, Tavor Assault Rifle and Negev Light Machine Gun for use by Indian forces as well as for export to other countries of the world. This is likely to greatly boost the defence indigenisation programme and will help in replacing the outdated small arms and weaponry being used by our forces. 

Facebook’s “Express Wi-Fi” Launched in India

Business & Corporate Affairs
Date: 05 May 2017
Facebook has launched its low cost, high bandwidth service to complement mobile data offerings commercially across four states of Gujrat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand & Meghalaya by setting up 700 hotspots. The company intends to expand this service throughout the country by setting up at least 20000 hotspots in partnership with leading private telecom player Bharti Airtel. Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria & Tanzania are the other countries where the company is already providing the Express Wi-Fi services. 

RFID Tags for Identification of Railway Coaches, Wagons & Locomotives

Science & Technology
Date: 02 May 2017

In order to know the exact location of the locomotives, coaches and wagons, Indian Railways have introduced the system of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags designed by the Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS). This will enable the Railways to maintain and manage the resources in a better way. In this system, RFID tags fitted on coaches, locomotives and wagons will emit radio frequency signals that will be received and read automatically by the trackers installed at the railway stations. This information will then be transmitted over the network connected through server. A pilot project for RFID tracking had already been conducted at the Vishakhapatnam – Talcher – Paradeep section.

Automated Weather Stations (AWS) for Farmers of Maharashtra

Science & Technology
Date: 02 May 2017
Maharastra has become the first state to provide information related to weather to the farmers of the state through the Automated Weather Stations (AWS) to be installed at taluka level. These weather stations will be set up by Skymet Weather Pvt Ltd and the weather information will be provided to the farmers on the mobile app of the company as well as on the state government agriculture and weather information portal Mahavedh. The data provided by the use of AWS will also be used by the government to set up weather database bank, to issue location specific advisories to the farmers, better disaster management and to implement crop insurance schemes. The first such weather station was inaugurated by the state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at Dongargaon in Nagpur region.  

Dubai – First City to Have Its Own Font

Persons & Places
Date: 02 May 2017

Dubai, the largest city of the UAE has become the first city in the world to have a font of its own, designed by the Microsoft Corporation. The Dubai Font was recently launched by the Crown Prince of UAE Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Makhtoum. This font is available in 23 languages and carries typeface in Latin & Arabic scripts. Languages in which the font is available are : Afrikaans, Arabic, Basque, Britannic, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Farsi (Prussian), Gaelic, German, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Sami, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish & Urdu. 

New Train Service : TEJAS EXPRESS (First Train : Mumbai to Goa)

Governance & Legislation
Date: 02 May 2017
In order to make the journey of the passengers safer and more comfortable, Tejas Express - a new train service promised in previous year’s budget - is likely to be launched in the month of June. First of such train will ply between Mumbai & Goa, which will be soon followed by another between Delhi & Chandigarh. This train will have automatic doors & secure gangways, and will have integrated Braille displays for the visually disabled, digital boards and electronic reservation charts. Other features of the Tejas Express include bio-vacuum toilets, individual LCD screens, Wi-Fi, improved aesthetics, tea & coffee vending machines, snacks table, cuisines by renowned chefs and variety of newspapers & magazines.  

Real Estate Regulation Act Comes into Force

Governance & Legislation
Date: 02 May 2017
In order to ensure transparency & accountability in the real estate sector, the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act has come into full effect with effect from May 01st . Real Estate sector is a state subject (Land being a state matter), the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) has directed all the states & the UTs to enforce the act with full vigour. This enactment paves the way for setting up of Real Estate Regulatory Authority to deal with issues related to development of projects and disputes arising between the buyers and developers of the projects. It will make registration of projects and real estate agents mandatory. Developers will have to open a separate bank account for each project and developers will have pay penalty for delay in the projects. 

Vidya Veerta Abhiyan : A Tribute to the Param Veer Awardees

Education & Training
Date: 02 May 2017
 “Vidya Veerta Abhiyan” a campaign to educate the youth of the country about the Param Veer Chakra awardees and their heroic deeds during war time, has been launched by the Union Government through the Ministry of Human Resource Development. As a part of this campaign, portraits of all the 21 brave-hearts who have been awarded the Param Veer Chakra till date, will be displayed in universities and educational institutions throughout the country. This is being done to imbibe a spirit of nationalism and patriotism among the youth of the country. It is worth mentioning that Param Veer Chakra is the highest gallantry award given during the war time for display of acts of exemplary courage and bravery for defending the motherland. 

Indian Young Scientist Academy (INSA) Medal for Dr Sanjay Pratihar

Awards / Prizes
Date: 02 May 2017

Indian Young Scientist Academy (INSA) has selected Sanjay Pratihar to award the INSA Medal for the year 2017. The     award consists of a Bronze Medal and carries a cash prize of Rs 25,000/-, is presented annually to honour the young Indian scientist for their contribution in the fields of science and technology. Sanjay Pratihar is a PhD in Organometallic Chemistry from IIT Kharagpur. His contribution to multi-metal complexes, theoretical understanding and sensing of Hq2+ ions in application in the field of agriculture has enabled him to be selected for this award. He had also received the DST- INSPIRE Faculty award in 2012. 

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