June 10th Current Affairs

1. CORPAT

IN NEWS:

The 31stedition of India-Thailand Coordinated Patrol (Indo-Thai CORPAT) between the Indian Navyand the Royal Thai Navyis being conducted from 09 – 11 June 2021.

KEY POINTS:

• Indian Naval Ship (INS) Saryu, an indigenously built Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel and His Majesty’s Thailand Ship (HTMS) Krabi, anOffshore Patrol Vessel, along with Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft from both navies are participating in the CORPAT.
• Towards reinforcing maritime links between the two countries and with an aim of keeping this vital part of the Indian Ocean safe and secure for international trade, the two navies have been undertaking CORPATbi-annually along their International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) since 2005.
• CORPAT builds up understanding and interoperability between navies and facilitates institution of measures to prevent and suppress unlawful activities like Illegal Unreported Unregulated (IUU) fishing, drug trafficking, maritime terrorism, armed robbery and piracy.
• It further helps enhance the operational synergy by exchange of information for prevention of smuggling, illegal immigration and forconduct of SAR operations at sea.
• The 31stIndo-Thai CORPAT will contribute towards Indian Navy’s efforts to consolidate inter-operability and forge strong bonds of friendship with Royal Thai Navy.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

• As part of Government of India’s vision of SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region), the Indian Navy has been proactively engaging with the countries in the Indian Ocean Region towards enhancing regional maritime security.
• This has been through bilateral and multilateral exercises, Coordinated Patrols, Joint EEZ Surveillance, andHumanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations.
• The Indian Navy and Royal Thai Navy have especially enjoyed a close and friendly relationship covering a wide spectrum of activities and interactions, which have strengthened over the years.  

SOURCE:PIB

2. UDID card for Co-WIN registration

IN NEWS:

• Central government has asked states and union territories to include UDID (Unique Disability Identification) card as identity proof while registering on Co-WIN 2.0 platform.
• It will ensure a smooth and effective Covid-19 vaccination drive.

KEY POINTS:

• UDID was allowed with the aim of helping disabled persons to access Covid-19 vaccination. Earlier, as per guidelines for Co-WIN 2.0, seven prescribed Photo IDs were specified and prescribed for verification of beneficiaries for vaccination.
• Further, this card is issued to persons with disability by Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment comprises of features like name, year of birth, gender and photograph.
• This, it meets the criteria for use of identification in Covid-19 vaccination.

Important Information:

Unique Disability Identification (UDID)

• UDID project was implemented to create a National Database for persons with disabilities (PwDs).
• It issues a Unique Disability Identity Card to each PwDs.
• It encourages transparency, efficiency and ease of delivering government benefits to PwDs.
• It also ensures uniformity and stream-line tracking of physical & financial progress of beneficiaries across village level, block level, District level, State level and National level of implementation.

SOURCE:IE

3. Allotment of 5 MHz spectrum in 700 MHz band to Indian Railways

IN NEWS:

Giving a boost to ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ mission, Government has approved allotment of 5 MHz Spectrum in 700 MHz frequency band to Indian Railways for public safety and security services at stations and in trains.   

KEY POINTS:

• With this spectrum, Indian Railways has envisaged to provide LTE (Long Term Evolution) based Mobile Train Radio Communication on its route.
• The estimated investment in the project is more than Rs. 25,000 Crore. The project will be completed in the next 5 years.
• In addition to this, Indian Railways has approved TCAS (Train Collision Avoidance System), an indigenously developed ATP (Automatic Train Protection) System, which will help in avoiding train collisions thereby reducing accidents and ensuring passenger safety.
• It brings a strategic shift in Railways’ operations and maintenance regime. 
• It will help in improving the safety and increasing the line capacity to accommodate more trains using the existing infrastructure.
• The modern rail network will result in reduced transportation cost and higher efficiency.
• Also, it will attract multinational industries to set up manufacturing units to fulfill the ‘Make in India’ mission and generate employment.

Important Information:

LTE:

• The purpose of the LTE for Indian Railways is to provide secure and reliable voice, video and data communication services for operational, safety and security applications.
• It will be used for modern signalling and train protection systems and ensure seamless communication between loco pilots and guards.
• It will also enable Internet of Things (IoT) based remote asset monitoring especially of coaches, wagons & locos, and live video feed of CCTV cameras in the train coaches to ensure efficient, safer and faster train operations.
• The Spectrum charges may be levied based on formula basis as prescribed by Department of Telecommunications for Royalty Charges and License Fee for Captive use as recommended by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

SOURCE:IE

4. Government approves construction of 3.61 lakh houses under PMAY-U

IN NEWS:

During 54th meeting of Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMS), central government has approval 708 proposals for construction of 3.61 lakh houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U).

KEY POINTS:

• Meeting was attended by 13 States and UTs. All these houses will be constructed on line of ‘Beneficiary led Construction’ and ‘Affordable Housing in Partnership Verticals’.
• Total investment under this mission is Rs. 7.35 lakh crores out of which centre is assisting Rs. 1.81 lakh crores. So far, 96067 crores of funds have been released.
• Total number of sanctioned houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban is 112.4 lakh.
• 5 lakh houses have been grounded for construction and 31 lakh have been completed or delivered so far.
• During the meeting, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs laid emphasis on 6 Light House Projects (LHPs). Foundation stones for these lighthouses were laid by PM Narendra Modi in January 2021. These are being constructed at Indore, Lucknow, Rajkot, Ranchi, Agartala and Chennai.
• ‘PMAY-U Awards 2021- 100 Days Challenge’ was launched to recognize and celebrate outstanding performance & contribution by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), States and UTs for successfully implementing the mission.

Important Information:

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is implanting this mission which was launched in June 2015 to address the problem of shortage of urban housing, It seeks to provide pucca houses to all eligible urban households by 2022.

SOURCE:TH

5. Two species of monals sighted together in Arunachal

IN NEWS:

Local wildlife enthusiasts have sighted two species of monal, a colour pheasant, together in Upper Siang district of central Arunachal Pradesh.

KEY POINTS:

• Himalayan monal (Lophophorus impejanus) is more widely distributed from Afghanistan to northeast India, the rarer Sclater’s (Lophophorus sclateri) monal is found in southern China and northern Myanmar.
• IUCN Status:Vulnerable
• It was sighted near Komji Lipik at 2,850 metres.
• Birds were sighted on Mount Eko Dumbing at 4,173 metres above mean sea level.

Important Information:

Monal bird

• Monal bird belongs to genus Lophophorus of pheasant family called Phasianidae.
• Male birds have colourful, iridescent plumage with plump physique.
• They prefer like roots, bulbs and insects as diet.
• Males are polygamous during mating.
• They mate with several females.
• Females only mate with selected male and enter into monogamous relationship.
• They are listed as vulnerable due to habitat destruction and hunting.

SOURCE:TH

6. QS World University Rankings 2022

IN NEWS:

PM Congratulates IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi and  IISc Bengaluru for top-200 positions in QS World University Rankings 2022.

KEY POINTS:

• QS World University Rankings is published annually by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a British company specialising in the analysis of higher education institutions around the world.
• Top 5 universities in World
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA
• University of Oxford, UK
• Stanford University, USA
• Cambridge University, UK
• Harvard University, USA

Indian scenario

• No Indian institute secured a position among the top 100 universities of the world.
• Overall, there are 22 Indian institutions in the top 1,000 list compared to 21 last year.
• IIT Bombay maintained its position as the top Indian institution for the fourth consecutive year, although it fell five places in the global rankings to the joint 177th position.
• IIT Delhi (185th rank) overtook the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (186th rank), giving India three institutions in the world’s top 200.
• IISc was also declared the world’s top research university by the indicator of most citations per faculty member, when adjusted for faculty size.
• Aligarh Muslim University, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham are no longer among the top 1,000, having dropped from the 801-1,000 band to 1,001-1,200.

SOURCE:TH