Infrastructure Development/GSIII
Krishi UDAN 2.0

What's the NEWS

• Union Minister of Civil Aviation, released Krishi UDAN 2.0.

• The scheme proposes to facilitating and incentivizing movement of Agri-produce by air transportation.
• The enhanced version of the Krishi UDAN scheme was formulated with support from AAICLAS - a 100% subsidiary of the Airports Authority of India and Invest India, India's national Investment Promotion & Facilitation Agency, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• It offers full waiver of Landing, Parking, TNLC and RNFC charges for Indian freighters and P2C at selected Airports of Airport Authority of India primarily, focusing on NER, Hilly and Tribal region.

• Facilitating and incentivizing movement of Agri-produce by air transportation
• Strengthening cargo related infrastructure at airports and off airports:
• Total 53 airports are select for the first phase of Krishi UDAN 2.0. - the majority of them are operated by AAI.
• The strategic selection of the airports is primarily focused on northeast region. Additionally covers North, entire western coast and southern India (including two islands).
• Airports for implementation of KrishiUdan 2.0 are selected with the aim of providing benefit to the entire country Opted airports not only provide access to regional domestic market but also connects them to international gateways of the country.
• Development of E-KUSHAL (Krishi Udaan for Sustainable Holistic Agri-Logistics). Proposed to develop a platform which will facilitate in information dissemination to all the stakeholders.
• This will be a single platform which will provide relevant information at the same time will also assist in coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the scheme.
• Proposed convergence of E-Kushal with National Agriculture Market (e-NAM).
• Facilitating the development of a hub and spoke model and a freight grid (identified locations for cargo terminals)

Defence
Surface to Surface Ballistic Missile, Agni-5, successfully launched from APJ Abdul Kalam Island

What's the NEWS

• A successful launch of the Surface to Surface Ballistic Missile, Agni-5, was carried out from APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha.
• The missile, which uses a three-stage solid fuelled engine, is capable of striking targets at ranges up to 5,000 kilometres with a very high degree of accuracy.
• The successful test of Agni-5 is in line with India's stated policy to have ‘credible minimum deterrence' that underpins the commitment to ‘No First Use'
• India has joined the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Club along with America, Russia, China and France.
• India has become the fifth country in the world to develop such a missile.

• Agni-5 capable of striking targets at ranges up to 5,000 kilometres with very high degree of accuracy
• Uses a three-stage solid fuelled engine
• Successful launch in line with India's policy to have ‘credible minimum deterrence' that underpins the commitment to ‘No First Use
• This missile covers a distance of 8.16 km in one second.
• It is capable of simultaneously carrying up to one and a half tons of nuclear warheads.

What's the NEWS

• Defence Minister flagged off upcoming National Institute of Mountaineering & Allied Sports (NIMAS) multidimensional adventure sports expedition to Europe
• The NIMAS will be conducting this expedition in the general area Chamonix, France in November 2021, which is considered the adventure capital of Europe.
• Expedition will be led by NIMAS Director
• Aim- to promote adventure sports in the country by conducting India's first multidimensional adventure sports expedition in the fields of land, aero and aqua.

• The multidimensional activities planned during the expedition are as under:
• To climb Europe's the highest mountaineering peak of Alps Ranges, Mt Blanc
• Multiple paragliding launches near the valley floor of Alps;
• Mountain terrain biking from Alps Mountains to English Channel, to cover approximately 1,000 kilometres
• Scuba diving upto 40 metre depth in the English Channel by scuba instructors
• Parajumping from 10,000 to 15,000 feet at the famous Normandy Landing Zones of World War II.

• In the year 2003, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee made an announcement that a national level mountaineering institute should be established in the North East.
• In pursuance of this announcement, National Institute of Mountaineering & Allied Sports (NIMAS) was established at Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh in 2013.
• Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh is its President and Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh the Vice President.
• It is the only Institute in the country, which is mandated to conduct training in adventure courses in all three fields i.e., land, aero and aqua.
• During the last five years, the Institute conducted various expeditions including Mt Everest Expedition, Mt Trishul, Mt Kun, Mt Gorichen, Mt Kangto-6 and to various other mountain peaks.
• In 2019-20, the NIMAS cycling team undertook cycling expedition to four South East Asian countries, i.e., Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

• Ministry of Education notifies the Four Year ITEP, a dual-major holistic bachelor's degree offering B.A. B.Ed./ B. Sc. B. Ed. and B.Com. B.Ed. which is one of the major mandates of the National Education Policy 2020 related to Teacher Education.
• As per the NEP, 2020, teacher engagement from the year 2030 onwards will be only through ITEP.
• It will be offered in pilot mode initially in about 50 selected multidisciplinary institutions across the country.

• National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) under Ministry of Education has devised the curriculum of this course in such a way that it enables a student-teacher to get a degree in education as well as a specialised discipline such as history, mathematics, science, arts, economics, or commerce.
• ITEP will not only impart cutting-edge pedagogy, but will also establish a foundation in early childhood care and education (ECCE), foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN), inclusive education, and an understanding of India and its values/ethos/art/traditions, among others.
• The Year ITEP will be available for all students who choose teaching as a profession after secondary, by choice.
• This integrated course will benefit students since they will save one year by finishing it in four years rather than the customary five years required by the present B.Ed. plan.
• The commencement of Four Year ITEP will be from the academic session 2022-23.
• Admission for the same will be carried out by the National Testing Agency (NTA) through the National Common Entrance Test (NCET).
• This course will be offered by multidisciplinary institutions and will become as the minimal degree qualification for schoolteachers.
• The Four Year ITEP is a milestone achievement in fulfilling one of the major mandates of National Education Policy 2020.
• The course will contribute substantially to the revitalization of the whole teacher education sector.

What's the NEWS

• Union Minister of MSME Launching "SAMBHAV"
• It is a National Level Awareness Programme-2021 being organised by Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Government of India
• New products and services created by budding entrepreneurs can give a cascading effect, for stimulating related businesses or sectors.

• The mass outreach program will be a one-month long initiative under the Ministry of MSME in which students from different colleges/ITIs from all parts of the country will be encouraged by 130 field offices of the Ministry to take up entrepreneurship.
• During the campaign the college students will be made aware of the various schemes being implemented by the Ministry of MSME through Audio/Video film presentations.
• Awareness programs will be conducted in more than 1,300 colleges across the country in which 1,50,000 students are expected to participate.

• Indian Computer Emergency Response Team ( CERT-In) has been undertaking responsible vulnerability disclosure and coordination for vulnerabilities reported to CERT-In in accordance to its vulnerability coordination role as a National CERT since its inception.
• CERT-In has partnered with the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) Program.

• Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has been authorized by the CVE Program, as a CVE Numbering Authority (CNA) for vulnerabilities impacting all products designed, developed and manufactured in India.
• CVE is an international, community-based effort and relies on the community to discover vulnerabilities.
• The vulnerabilities are discovered then assigned and published to the CVE List.
• Information technology and cybersecurity professionals use CVE Records to ensure they are discussing the same issue, and to coordinate their efforts to prioritize and address the vulnerabilities.
• The mission of the CVE Program is to identify, define, and catalog publicly disclosed cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
• It is an international, community-based effort and relies on the community to discover vulnerabilities.
• The vulnerabilities are discovered then assigned and published by organizations from around the world that have partnered with the CVE Program. Partners publish CVE Records to communicate consistent descriptions of vulnerabilities.

• CNAs are organizations responsible for the regular assignment of CVE IDs to vulnerabilities, and for creating and publishing information about the Vulnerability in the associated CVE Record.
• The CVE List is built by CVE Numbering Authorities (CNAs).
• Every CVE Record added to the list is assigned by a CNA.
• The CVE Records published in the catalog enable program stakeholders to rapidly discover and correlate vulnerability information used to protect systems against attacks.
• Each CNA has a specific Scope of responsibility for vulnerability identification and publishing.

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