Defence
Konkan Shakti 2021

What's the NEWS

• The sea phase of maiden Tri-Service exercise 'Konkan Shakti 2021' between the Armed Forces of India and United Kingdom (UK) is being held off the Konkan coast in the Arabian Sea.
• On completion of harbour planning phase, the sea phase of the exercise commenced on October 24, 2021. It will continue till October 27, 2021.
• All participating units were split into two opposing forces with the aim of achieving sea control to land Army ground-troops at a pre-designated site.

• The two forces integrated within their groups with exercises such as replenishment at sea approaches, air direction and strike operations by fighter aircraft (MiG 29Ks and F35Bs), cross control of helicopters (Sea King, Chetak and Wildcat), transiting through war-at-sea scenarios and gun shoots on expendable air targets. \
• The simulated induction of Army troops was also undertaken, followed by setting up of a joint command operations centre.
• Thereafter, the two forces effected a rendezvous at sea with advanced air and sub-surface exercises.

• The Union Minister of Commerce & Industryreviewed the progress on Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) initiative of DPIIT.
• QCI has established a team of experts for execution of the project in a mission mode.
• A number of small and medium enterprises have been on-boarded as volunteers to complement ONDC team.
• About 20 entities covering all network components are at various stages of on-boarding.
• DPIIT has approved a budget of approximately Rs 10 crores for initial work on the project.
• It has been suggested to establish a private sector led non-profit company.
• The role of the entity would be to develop the network by adopting and building enabling technology and encouraging wide-scale voluntary participation by eco-system players.
• It will also support SMEs in their digital transformation by developing readymade tools to help existing software applications quickly adapt to the network.

• It is globally first-of-its-kind initiative that aims to democratise Digital Commerce, moving it from a platform-centric model to an open-network.
• As UPI is to the digital payment domain, ONDC is to e-commerce in India.
• ONDC will enable, buyers and sellers to be digitally visible and transact through an open network, no matter what platform/application they use.
• ONDC will empower merchants and consumers by breaking silos to form a single network to drive innovation and scale, transforming all businesses from retail goods, food to mobility.
• ONDC aims at promoting open networks developed on open-sourced methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols independent of any specific platform.
• ONDC is expected to digitize the entire value chain, standardize operations, promote inclusion of suppliers, derive efficiencies in logistics and enhance value for consumers.

What's the NEWS

• First conducted in 2018, the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) is the apex international annual conference of the Indian Navy, and is the principal manifestation of the navy's engagement at the strategic-level.
• The National Maritime Foundation is the navy's knowledge partner and chief organiser of each edition of this annual event.
• The aim of each successive edition of the IPRD is to review both opportunities and challenges that arise within the Indo-Pacific.

• maritime trade and regional connectivity
• pan-regional challenges
• cyber-malevolence within the maritime domai
• the role of industry in enhancing holistic maritime security.

• It built upon the excellent foundation laid by the inaugural edition and examined five themes: practical solutions for achieving cohesion in the region through maritime connectivity; measures to attain and maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific; examining a regional approach to Blue Economy; opportunities from Maritime-Industry 4.0; and, regional opportunities arising from SAGAR and SAGARMALA.

• It is being held as a three-day online event on 27, 28, and 29 October 2021.
• This year's IPRD will focus on eight specific sub-themes under the broad theme of "Evolution in Maritime Strategy during the 21st Century: Imperatives, Challenges, and, Way Ahead".
• The sessions will be preceded by addresses by the Hon'ble Raksha Mantri, the Hon'ble External Affairs Minister, and the Hon'ble Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas.

• Through this annual dialogue, the Indian Navy and the National Maritime Foundation, continue to provide a platform for incisive discussions pertaining to the geopolitical developments affecting the maritime domain of the Indo-Pacific.

• The National Maritime Foundation (NMF), New Delhi, was established in 2005 as the nation's first maritime think-tank for conducting independent and policy-relevant research on ‘matters maritime'.
• It was inaugurated by the then Defence Minister of India Sh. Pranab Mukherjee, (later the President of India) on 15 February 2005.
• It is an autonomous think-tank
• Its intellectual and organisational development is supported by the Ministry of Defence and the Indian Navy.
• Since its inception, the NMF has grown from a fledging organisation into an established intellectual institution with robust academic linkages within the country and overseas.

• UIDAI is conducting ‘Aadhaar Hackathon 2021' from 28th October, 2021 to 31st October, 2021.
• UIDAI has initiated ‘Aadhaar Hackathon-2021' to enhance the experience of the residents and the way they interface with enrolment and authentication software platforms through technological innovations.
• The hackathon consists of multiple problem statements categorized under two broad themes i.e. Enrolment and Authentication.
• Participation includes Students from all categories of Engineering Institutes i.e. IITs, NITs and NIRF and many top ranked colleges from all corners of the country
• In order to assist these young budding minds, Online interactive sessions on a daily basis are also being conducted by UIDAI Team to explain the problem statements with appropriate use cases.
• These sessions essentially cover problem statements, details of UIDAI APIs and products, which would be required to build custom solutions.

• The Go-Quant Camp programme hosted by Bloomberg in collaboration with GIFT City under the aegis of International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) was launched
• Through the Quant Camp, participating students will be trained on the fundamentals of Quantum Computing with a self-assessment component, following which they will compete on the Quant models/solutions that they would have built.
• A panel of industry experts will select the best ideas and model to identify the winners, who will get a chance to showcase the models to the global investment community.

What's the NEWS

• On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, museum scientists have discovered 28 new species of beetles.
• One of them has been named Trigonopterus corona.
• It is not the only insect species to be named after the pandemic. In April, a new species of caddisfly (a moth-like insect) was collected near a stream in Kosovo by a team of scientists, and named Potamophylax coronavirus (Biodiversity Data Journal).
• The same month, out of six new species of Brazilian wasps described in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research, one was named Allorhagasquarentenus, a reference to the quarantine, which occurred while the authors were describing the species.
• And earlier this month, out of five new wasp species discovered in Mexico, scientists named one Stethantyxcovida (Zookeys).

What's the NEWS

• In view of a much needed solution for providing effective long range Marine communication, the Radio over InternetProtocol (ROIP) System at Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata (SMP, Kolkata), was inaugurated
• ROIP system is being introduced as a marine communication mode, for the first time in any Major Indian Port.
• It shall cover the entire Hugli river Estuary from Kolkata to Sandheads, having base stations at 4 Locations.
• With this facility, vessels at Sandheads can be directly communicated via Radio, from Kolkata, specially during storms and inclement weather.

What's the NEWS

• With the arrival of the migratory Amur falcons to Tamenglong district of Manipur for the annual stopover, State Environment Minister has appealed to the people not to hunt the seasonal visitors.

• It is a small raptor of the falcon family.
• IUCN status is Least Concern.
• It breeds in south-eastern Siberia and Northern China before migrating in large flocks across India and over the Arabian Sea to winter in Southern and East Africa.
• These falcons visit the Tamenglong district of Manipur every year from breeding grounds in China and Russia before beginning their onward voyage to Africa for the winter - a journey of more than 30,000 km.
• Hunting of this bird is punishable under the Manipur Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and could lead to three years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs.25,000.

What's the NEWS

• The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank today signed a $4.5 million project readiness financing (PRF) loan to support project preparation and design activities to improve urban mobility in Aizawl, the capital city of the northeastern state of Mizoram.

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