INDIA AND ETHIOPIA SIGNED VARIOUS AGREEMENTS
India and Ethiopia signed two agreements related to visa facilitation and leather technology.
The Ethiopia Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen Hassen is on a 4-day visit to India to hold useful and productive discussions on a range of bilateral and regional issues.
During the course of meetings, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Ethiopian minister Hassen agreed to expand India and Ethiopia bilateral agenda especially defence, economic, S&T, digital and cultural cooperation.
- Ethiopia Capital: Addis Ababa.
- Ethiopia Currency: Ethiopian Birr.
- Ethiopia President: Sahle-Work Zewde.
- Ethiopia Prime minister: Abiy Ahmed.
DRDO TEST-FIRED HELINA AND DHRUVASTRA ATGM
Defence Research and Development Organisation has successfully carried out joint user trials of indigenously developed Helina and Dhruvastra Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) from the Advanced Light Helicopter at the Pokhran deserts in Rajasthan.
Helena is the Army version and Dhruvastra is the Air Force version of the ALH. The missile systems have been designed and developed indigenously by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The Helina and Dhruvastra are the third generation, “Lock-on-Before-Launch (LOBL)” fire and forget ATGMs that can engage targets both indirect hit mode as well as top attack mode.
The missile systems have all-weather day-and-night capability.
They can defeat battle tanks with conventional armour as well as with explosive reactive armour. It is one of the most advanced anti-tank weapons in the world.
- Defence Research and Development & Chairman DRDO: Dr G Satheesh Reddy.
- DRDO Headquarters: New Delhi.
- DRDO Established: 1958.
BHIM ARMY CHIEF NAMED IN TIME’S LIST
Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad and five Indian-origin personalities have been featured in the 2021 TIME100 Next.
TIME100 Next 2021 is the second edition of the annual list of Time magazine’s 100 ‘emerging leaders who are shaping the future.’
Bhim Army is a Dalit rights organisation based in Uttar Pradesh to help Dalits escape poverty through education. It was founded by Satish Kumar, Vijay Ratan Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad in 2015.
The five Indian-origin persons in Time100 Next list are:
- Twitter lawyer: Vijaya Gadde
- UK’s Finance Minister: Rishi Sunak
- Instacart founder and CEO: Apoorva Mehta
- Get Us PPE executive director and doctor: Shikha Gupta
- Founder of nonprofit Upsolve’s: Rohan Pavuluri
L&T DELIVERS 100TG K9 VAJRA HOWITZER
Army Chief Gen Manoj Naravane has flagged off the 100th K9 Vajra tracked self-propelled howitzer built by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) at its armoured system complex at Hazira in Gujarat.
L&T had completed the delivery of all the howitzers under the contract awarded in May 2017 ahead of schedule.
The K9 Vajra programme involved the delivery of 100 howitzers with associated engineering support package covering spares, system documentation and training.
It also involves the maintenance transfer of technology to an army base workshop to support the howitzers throughout their operational life cycle.
- L&T CEO: S. N. Subrahmanyan.
- L&T Founded: 7 February 1938.
- L&T Headquarters: Mumbai.
- L&T Chairman: Anil Manibhai Naik.
SWAMIH FUNDS: DEVELOPMENT IN HOUSING PROJECT
All SWAMIH Funds will deliver the first batch of finished apartments in 2021. This is a 2500 crore fund established by the Indian government.
The fund was established to complete stalled housing projects. The fund provides a solution that hinders the savings of home buyers and bankrupt developers.
In the 2021-2022 financial year, the fund will hand over 16 projects, including more than 4,000 houses. The SWAMIH Fund was announced in November 2019.
The SWAMIH stands for “Special Window for Completion of Construction of Affordable and Mid-Income Housing Projects”.
SWAMIH Investment Fund: The purpose of the establishment of the fund is to complete the construction of stalled affordable middle-income housing projects registered with RERA.
It credits funds from projects that are in trouble due to lack of funds. It was created as a Category-II Alternative Investment Fund debt, which has been registered with SEBI.
ARUNACHAL PRADESH & MIZORAM STATEHOOD DAY
Northeast Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram celebrates the anniversary of the founding of the nation. The two countries were established on February 20, 1987.
Arunachal Pradesh: On this occasion, President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Federal Minister and Chief Minister wish the states. Arunachal Pradesh It is a state in northeastern India.
The state borders the southern states of Assam and Nagaland. It also has international borders with Bhutan to the west and Myanmar to the east.
Mizoram: The name of the state is derived from the word Mizo, the land in the language of Mizo. “Mizoram” means “the land of Mizos”.
The state is located in the old Assam region of northeast India. It is the most inland state in India. It borders three of the seven sister states of Old Assam, namely Assam, Tripura and Manipur.
The state of Mizoram also shares border internationally with Bangladesh and Myanmar, with a total length of 722 kilometers. It was not until 1972 that the state became part of Assam.
SAMBHAR LAKE: SWADESH DARSHAN SCHEME
The Rajasthan State Government will identify new tourist spots in the Sambhar Salt Lake. The lake is part of the desert tour of the Centre’s Swadesh Darshan Scheme.
The scheme was launched by the Ministry of Tourism in 2014-15, with the purpose of comprehensively developing theme based tourist routes in the country.
Located about 80 kilometers southwest of Jaipur, in the east-central part of Rajasthan.
Sambhar Lake is the largest inland salt water lake in India. It represents the low valley of the Aravalli mountain range.
The salt supply of the lake was carried out by the Mughal dynasty (1526-1857) and was later jointly owned by the two princely states of Jaipur and Jodhpur.
Ramsar Wetland: According to the Ramsar Convention announced in 1990, this is a wetland of “international importance”.
Rivers: It draws water from six rivers including Samaod River, Khari River, Mantha River, Khandela River, Medtha River and Roopangarh River.
