MoD inks Rs 2,890-cr contract with HAL for upgrade of 25 Dornier aircraft

• The defence ministry inked a contract worth over Rs 2,890 crore with state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for mid-life upgrade of 25 Dornier aircraft of the Indian Navy.
• Under the project, the HAL will incorporate state-of-the­art avionics systems and sensors onboard the aircraft.
• The defence ministry said the project will be implemented within six and half years.
• The MLU for Dornier aircraft includes an upgrade to incorporate state-of-the-art avionics systems and primary role sensors.
• The upgrade would significantly enhance the operational capability of the Dornier aircraft of the Indian Navy to perform primary roles of maritime surveillance, coastal surveillance, electronic intelligence and development of maritime domain awareness.
• The MLU of 25 Dornier aircraft is likely to generate an employment of 1.8 lakh mandays during its execution span of 6.5 years.

Navneet Sehgal appointed as Prasar Bharati Board Chairman

• Retired bureaucrat N avneet Kumar Sehgal has been appointed the new Prasar Bharati chairman, a post that had been lying vacant for four years.
• Sehgal, a 1988-batch retired Uttar-Pradesh cadre IAS officer, has handled key assignments in Yogi Adityanath government and retired as additional chief secretary, Sports and Youth Welfare, in 2023.
• He succeeds A Surya Prakash, whose term ended in February 2020 after he turned 70, the upper age limit for a person holding the post.
• Sehgal has been appointed for a term of three years.
• Prasar Bharati, which oversees the operations of Doordarshan and All India Radio, was currently being officiated by CEO Gaurav Dwivedi, a 1995-batch officer of Chhattisgarh cadre, who was appointed in November 2022 for a term of five years.

Adani Energy Solutions wins Cil's 'Climate Action CAP 2.0 Award 2023'

• Adani Energy Solutions Limited (AESL) has won the coveted ‘Climate Action CAP 2.0 Award for 2023’ from top industry body the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in the ‘Resilient category’.
• The ‘Resilient category’ recognises the company’s significant strides in resilience and adaptability, marking a notable improvement from last year’s achievement in the ‘Oriented category’.
• The ‘CAP 2.0’ awards have been instituted by the CII to recognise meaningful corporate actions on climate change and promote the integration of such actions into organisational business models and processes.
• The ‘CAP 2.0’ awards in 2023 recognised companies based on their maturity level in three main categories -resilient, oriented and committed.
• The award aims at driving industry to contract climate risk, exploit market opportunities and become climate resilient.

New pact between Nasscom, NSW to allow faster access to each other's markets

• IT industry body Nass com signed an agreement with Australian industry body Business NSW to facilitate market access for technology companies in the two markets.
• According to Nasscom, NSW and Indian technology companies will receive accelerated access to each other’s markets as part of a new agreement, promoting greater collaboration between NSW and Indian tech ecosystems.
• The MoU will enable Indian technology businesses, particularly SMEs and young companies, to expand into Australia and contribute meaningfully to growing bilateral trade between the two countries.

Nasscom

• Chairperson: Rajesh Nambiar
• Founders: Nandan Nilekani, Dewang Mehta
• President: Debjani Ghosh
• Founded: 1 March 1988

Defence Minister Inaugurates Navy's 1st ''Independent Headquarters'' In Delhi

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the ‘Nausena Bhawan’, the new state-of-the-art headquarters of the Indian Navy at the Delhi Cantonment which is equipped with modem facilities and cutting-edge technologies.
• It marks a significant milestone for the Navy as it has established its “first independent headquarters in Delhi”.
• Previously, the Navy operated from 13 different locations, necessitating a consolidated and purpose-built facility such as the ‘Nausena Bhawan’.
• The architectural design of the complex was selected through a “rigorous all-India competition process”, ensuring the building’s functionality and aesthetic appeal. Comprising three wings and rising four stories, the building incorporates innovative construction technologies to optimise efficiency and sustainability.
• Efforts toward energy and water conservation are evident throughout the complex, with the integration of solar generation systems and advanced building materials.
• Moreover, the complex is equipped with a state-of-the-art integrated building management system, ensuring efficient coordination and monitoring of security services and utility systems.

Former Navy Chief Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas passes away

• Former Navy Chief Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas, a war hero remembered for a host of accomplishments, including his role in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, died in Telangana. He was 90.
• Ramdas was the navy chief during 1990-93. He was commissioned into the Indian Navy on September 1, 1953, and retired on September 30, 1993.
• Ramdas was a leading proponent of gender equality in the military, and it was during his term as navy chief that the armed forces began inducting women as short-service commissioned officers with the navy becoming the first service to do so.
• He settled down at Alibag in Maharashtra after retirement and took on the role of a social activist, championing the case of marginalised communities and minorities.
• Ramdas, who was awarded a Vir Chakra for bravery in the 1971 war with Pakistan, was also an advocate of peace and nuclear disarmament.

Tamil Nadu tops illegal trade in shark body parts

• Tamil Nadu accounted for almost 65% of the illegal trade in shark body parts, a new analysis of seizures by TRAFFIC and WWF-India (World Wide Fund) between January 2010 and December 2022 has revealed. TRAFFIC is the Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce.
• The analysis found that about 16,000 kg of shark fins were seized from 2010 to 2022, constituting almost 80%of the shark-derived products.
• The factsheet titled ‘Netted in illegal wildlife trade: Sharks of India’ said Kamataka, Gujarat, Kerala, and Maharashtra follow Tamil Nadu in that order in illegal shark trade.

Background:

• The demand for shark fins and meat is a major driver of global shark fishery.
• Shark fins are the most sought-after shark product used to make shark-fin soup a delicacy.
• Sharks are crucial to the marine ecosystem. As top predators in the oceanic food web, sharks prey on various species, including plankton, fish, crustaceans, and marine mammals. Overfishing, coupled with low biological productivity, puts them at a higher risk of extinction when compared to most other vertebrates.

Govt Unveils New Financial Upgradation Plan For Over 2.56 Lakh Gramin Dak Sevaks

• Union Minister of Communications Ashwini Vaishnaw unveiled a new financial upgradation plan for over 2.56 lakh Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDSs) in the Department of Posts.
• The scheme offers three upgrades at 12, 24, and 36 years of service, boosting annual income by four Thousand 320 Rupees, five Thousand 520 Rupees and seven Thousand 200 Rupees.
• This is in addition to the existing compensation like the Time Related Continuity Allowance TRCA.
• The plan aims to enhance service conditions and address stagnation concerns among GDSs who are instrumental to rural postal and financial services.
• Government says it aims to bolster the nation’s postal network for seamless service delivery in remote areas by empowering grassroots workers.

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launches 'Ethanol 100'

• Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri launched ‘Ethanol 100’ automotive fuel at Indian Oil’s Irwin Road Service Station in Delhi.
• The initiative marks ready availability of Ethanol 100 at select 183 retail petrol outlets across five states – Maharashtra, Kamataka, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, and Tamil Nadu.
• It reflects the government’s commitment to reducing import dependency, conserving foreign exchange, and boosting the agriculture sector. Since the Prime Minister’s announcement on E20 (20 per cent ethanol blended fuel) in 2023, the E20 availability has increased to 12,000 outlets in under a year, and now, with the launch of Ethanol 100 at 183 outlets of Indian Oill, we are close to achieving the target of 20 per cent ethanol blending by 2025-26.

'CAA-2019' Mobile App For Making Application Under Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019

• The Union Home Ministry launched a mobile app that will allow eligible people to apply for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
• The application can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or the website — indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in.
• Earlier, the Home Ministry launched a portal for eligible people to apply for Indian citizenship under the CAA.
• The rules for implementation of the CAA were notified, paving the way for granting citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
• After the CAA rules were issued, the N arendra Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from the three countries who came to India till December 31, 2014. These include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians.