• Indian Railways will undertake one more drive of "MASSIVE SHRAMDAN" with main focus on "COLLECTION OF PLASTIC WASTE".
• In the recent past such drives are being undertaken by Railways. This Shramadan is for:-

• Enhanced cleanliness, through collection of plastic waste from all railway premises. Particular attention to be given to approaches to stations
• Creating awareness for a greater impact against single use plastic.
• Displaying Replacements/ Substitutes for such plastic items.
• For distributing Cloth bags in large numbers
• Educating all in Railways, including vendors to be prepared for ban of single use plastic with effect from 02.10.2019. Single use plastic means usage of any plastic below 50 microns, in any manner.

• Indian Railways is undertaking various activities relating to Swachhata Pakhwada from 11^th September to 2^nd October, 2019, leading to Mahatma Gandhi's 150^th birth anniversary on that Day, which would be observed as Community Service day, involving participation of all stake holders, to make a visible impact on cleanliness.

• Hindi Divas is celebrated on 14 September, to commemorate the adoption of Hindi written in Devanagari script as one of the two official languages of the Republic of India by Constituent Assembly of India .

• Hindi is the official language of India, which was officially recognized after two years of independence.
• In fact, on 14 September 1949, it was decided in the Constituent Assembly that "the official language of India will be Hindi
• Also on the 50^th birthday of Beohar Rajendra Simha on 14 September 1949, the efforts came to fruition following adoption of Hindi as an official language.
• This decision was ratified by the Constitution of India that came into effect on 26 January 1950.
• Under the Article 343 of the Indian Constitution, Hindi written in Devanagari script was adopted as the official language.
• In all, there are 22 Scheduled languages of India, of which, two are officially used at Union government of India level: Hindi and English. Hindi is spoken by 250 million people as the original language and it is the fourth language of the world.
• It is said that section 343 (1) of the chapter 17 of the Constitution of India has written something like this in the context of making Hindi the official language, 'Hindi and script of the Union will be Devanagari.
• The form of the marks used for the official purposes of the Union will be international form. At the same time, many people were not happy with making Hindi the official language and started opposing it and after this protest, English was also given the status of official language.
• Hindi is the forth most spoken language in world. 43.63% people in India currently speak Hindi language.

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the first ever arrested landing of LCA Tejas + GS III ( security challenges and their management in border areas)
What's the NEWS

• The naval variant of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas made a successful short landing with arrestor wires on the Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) in Goa

• This is seen as a major step forward for the delayed project as it tests modifications that will allow the naval variant of the Tejas to eventually operate from an aircraft carrier.
• With the successful short landing, the fighter jet took a step forward to achieve a major milestone. "This is a step towards the aircraft getting operational on aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya

• The test was carried out under the supervision of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Aeronautical Development Agency at the shore-based test facility in Goa
• The fighter jet Tejas, which has been developed for the Indian Air Force (IAF), also has a naval version - LCA (Navy) which is in development stage.
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) inducted a batch of Tejas aircraft earlier this year.
• Initially, an order was placed with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 40 Tejas aircraft.
• Last year, the IAF issued the request for proposal (RFP) to HAL for the procurement of another batch of 83 Tejas at a cost of over Rs 50,000 crore.

• The naval LCA made its first flight in April 2012 and two prototypes have been flying as part of the development.
• The first prototype (NP1) of the Naval LCA made a successful first flight from the SBTF in 2014.
• The SBTF, which replicates the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, was specifically built to train naval pilots in the complex manoeuvres of landing on the short flight deck of an aircraft carrier before they moved on to the actual carrier.
• Once the results of the trials on the SBTF are deemed successful, the LCA will attempt a landing on the deck of the Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.
• The naval version of the LCA is designed with stronger landing gear to absorb the force exerted by the ski jump ramp during take-off allowing it to be airborne from a much shorter runway on the deck of the aircraft carrier.
• Its special flight control law mode allows hands-free take-off, reducing the pilot's workload as the aircraft leaps from the ramp and automatically puts the aircraft in an ascending trajectory.
• The Navy currently operates Russian MiG-29K fighters from INS Vikramaditya which will also fly from the first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier Vikrant once it enters service. The Navy is currently looking at global tenders for 57 carrier-based twin engine fighter aircraft.

• Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad launched the maritime communication services in Mumbai,

• Maritime connectivity will enable high-end support to those in the sea by providing access to voice, date and video services while travelling on sailing, cruise and other vessels in India using the satellite technology
• The broadband services to the maritime sector will be provided by Nelco Pvt Ltd which is the leading Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) solution provider in the country.
• Nelco through global partnerships, infrastructure including transponder capacity on the satellite of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) and a comprehensive service portfolio will help energy, cargo and cruise vessels by enhancing operational efficiency, improving crew welfare and enabling customer services.

• The In-flight and Maritime Communications (IFMC) licence has not only enabled connectivity for onboard users on ships but also brings operational efficiencies for shipping companies which were less evolved until now.
• In December 2018, the Government of India had announced the licenses for IFMC that allows voice and internet services while flying over the Indian skies and sailing in Indian waters, both for international and Indian aircraft and vessels.
• The IFMC license is a key initiative of the Telecom Ministry, in a bid to liberalise satellite communication services in India.

• The Army is scheduled to conduct a major Exercise ‘HimVijay' beginning October in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam with its newly created Integrated Battle Groups (IBG) involving 15,000 troops.

• The exercise will coincide with the proposed visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The Panagarh based 17 Mountain Strike Corps will conduct Exercise HimVijay spread over a month and half with three newly created IBGs from October
• The IBGs are part of overall force transformation initiated by Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat. They are brigade-sized agile self-sufficient combat formations which can swiftly launch strikes against adversary in case of hostilities.
• Each IBG will have about 5,000 troops.They would be backed by tanks and artillery for operations in the mountains. The IAF will airlift troops to the areas located over 10,000 feet. Over the years, it has strengthened its strategic airlift capabilities with the induction of C-130 and C-17 aircraft in addition to its Russian origin An-32 and IL-76 aircraft.
• The concept of the IBG was war gamed and tested by the 9 Corps early this year. The Army is in the process of reorganising its major Corps into the IBGs. The number of IBGs had not been decided yet
• Each IBG is tailor made based on Threat, Terrain and Task and resources will be allotted based on the three T's. They are tailored to mobilise within 12-48 hrs based on their location.
• Last November, the Army began inducting the M-777 Ultra Light Howitzers specially for high altitude areas and early this year the IAF began inducting Boeing Chinook CH-47F(I) heavy lift helicopters which can transport the M-777s.
• The Army has contracted for 145 guns and deliveries are slated to be completed by mid-2021 while all 15 Chinooks are scheduled to be delivered by March.