Connect to Current -Daily Current Capsules - 05th April 2019

Bilateral Relations
Zayed Medal
PM Modi Conferred With UAE's Highest Award For Role in Strengthening Bilateral Relations

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the award) + Mains ( GS II bilateral relations)

What's the NEWS

• The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said that the award is a marker of the country's appreciation for the role Modi has played in furthering bilateral relations between India and UAE.

Know! more about the awards
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with United Arab Emirate's highest award, the Zayed Medal, which is given to heads of states, presidents and kings.

• The award was conferred by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Know! about Zayed Medal

• The Zayed Medal is the highest decoration of the UAE awarded to kings, presidents and heads of states.

• The honour has previously been conferred on the leaders of several countries including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Queen of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II.

Know! all about India-UAE bilateral relations

• India-UAE bilateral relations grew warm and strong after Prime Minister Modi paid a visit to the nation in 2015. Later, the Crown Prince visited India in 2017 as the Chief Guest for Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi.

• Lately, the visit of the PM Modi to UAE in February 2018 helped in providing impetus to the relations. During the visit, both sides set an ambitious target of USD 100 billion in bilateral trade by the year 2020.

• India and UAE are one of the largest trade partners for each other and have made robust investments bilaterally with bilateral trade amounting to almost USD 50 billion in 2017.

• The UAE accounts for 8 percent of India's oil imports and is the fifth largest supplier of crude oil to India.

• The country is also a part of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), which is headquartered in Gurugram, India and hosts a 3.3 million-strong Indian community, which amounts to the largest number of Indians outside India.

• Indians also make up the largest ethnic group in the UAE making up roughly 27 percent of the total UAE`s residents.

Know! the other major International Awards conferred upon Prime Minister Modi

P.M Narendra Modi conferred with first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential Award

• The Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on January 14, 2019 conferred with the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential Award.

• The Citation mentions initiatives such as Make in India, Startup India, Digital India, and Swachh Bharat, "which have positioned India as one of the most lucrative manufacturing and business destinations in the world."

About Philip Kotler Presidential Award

• The Philip Kotler Presidential Award has been named after Proffessor Philip Kotler, a world renowned Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management.

PM Narendra Modi awarded with prestigious Seoul Peace Prize 2018 for 'Modinomics'

• The Seoul Peace Prize Committee on October 24, 2018 conferred the 2018 Seoul Peace Prize on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The Committee recognised Modi's contributions to the growth of the Indian and global economies, crediting 'Modinomics' for reducing social and economic disparity between the rich and the poor.

About Seoul Peace Prize
• The Seoul Peace Prize was established in 1990 to commemorate the success of the 24th Olympic Games held in Seoul, Korea which saw participation of 160 nations, creating harmony and friendship.

• The award was established to crystallise the Korean people's yearning for peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the rest of the world.

• The award has been conferred biennially to individuals who have made their mark through contributions to the harmony of mankind, reconciliation between nations and to world peace.

PM Modi honoured with UN Champions of the Earth Award 2018

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on September 26, 2018 awarded with the prestigious UN Champions of the Earth Award 2018, the highest environmental honour of the United Nations. Modi received the award on October 3, 2018 by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

• Prime Minister Modi was selected in the leadership category for his pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance, a global partnership to scale up solar energy

Champions of the Earth Award
• The Champions of the Earth award, the UN's highest environmental recognition, was founded in 2005.
• The award celebrates exceptional figures from the public and private sectors and from civil society, whose actions have had a transformative positive impact on the environment.
• The award also recognises the efforts for promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action.

PM Modi conferred with 'Grand Collar of the State of Palestine

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on February 10, 2018 conferred with the 'Grand Collar of the State of Palestine' by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, recognising his contributions in promoting relations between India and Palestine.

Grand Collar of the State of Palestine
• The Grand Collar is highest order of Palestine given to foreign dignitaries such as Kings, Heads of State or Government and persons of similar rank.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi awarded with Amir Abdulla Khan Award of Afghanistan

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his brief visit to Afghanistan, was on June 4, 2016 conferred with the Amir Amanullah Khan Award, the highest civilian honour of Afghanistan.

• He was awarded the honour by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani following the inauguration of the landmark Afghan-India Friendship Dam.

 

Amir Amanullah Khan Award
• Amir Amanullah Khan Award is the Highest Civilian honour bestowed by Afghan government to Afghan national as well as foreigners in appreciation of their services.

• The award is named after the Afghan national hero, Amanullah Khan (Ghazi), who championed the cause of Afghanistan's freedom.

• The citation on the reverse of the medal reads: "nishan-e dawlati Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan", or "State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan."

PM Modi conferred with King Abdullaziz Sash Award of Saudi Arabia

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on April 3, 2016 conferred with the Saudi Arabia's highest civilian honour ‘King Abdulaziz Sash' by King Salman bin Abdulaziz at the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia.

King Abdulaziz Sash Award

• The King Abdulaziz Sash Award is named after Abdulaziz Al Saud, the founder of the modern Saudi state.

Economic Development
RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the monetary policy statement outcomes) + Mains ( GS III economic developments)

What's the NEWS
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on April 4, 2019 released its First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement 2019-20.

After assessing the current and evolving macroeconomic situation in the economy, the six member- Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to:

• Reduce the policy Repo Rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6 percent from 6.25 percent with immediate effect.

• Consequently, the Reverse Repo Rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.75 percent

• The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate stand at 6.25 percent.

• The MPC also decided to maintain the neutral monetary policy stance. The MPC voted 4:2 in favour of the 25 basis point cut.

• The decision of the MPC was in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation of 4 percent within a band of +/- 2 percent.

Know! the highlights of the Monetary Policy

• Inflation remained below the RBI's 4 percent target for 7 months but core inflation, excluding food and fuel.

• The CPI inflation was revised downwards to 2.4 percent in Q4 of 2018-19, around 2.9-3 percent in the first half of 2019-20 and 3.5-3.8 percent in the second half of 2019-20.

• The committee projected GDP growth of 7.2 percent in the financial year 2019-20

Space Awareness
Starting May, ISRO to launch a string of ‘defence' satellites
• ISRO is gearing up to launch a slew of advanced military satellites this year that will enhance surveillance capabilities of security forces

• ISRO is scheduled to launch four new series RISA satellites and an advanced Cartosat-3 satellite

 

 

Know! more about the launches

• Starting May, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to send up at least eight earth observation (EO) satellites of varied hues and at the rate of almost one a month.

• Starting 2019 with the liftoff of two surveillance satellites for Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), one of which was used as a target for the A-Sat missile test

• Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is gearing up to launch a slew of advanced military satellites this year that will enhance surveillance capabilities of security forces and boost the country's "strategic assets in space".

• ISRO is scheduled to launch four new series RISAT satellites and an advanced Cartosat-3 satellite.

• The images from old RISAT-series satellites were used to plan the surgical strike in 2016 and the air strike on a Jaish camp in the past

• In the middle of May, PSLV-C46 rocket will launch Risat-2B and thereafter in the fourth week of June, PSLV-C47 will launch Cartosat-3.

• Cartosat-3 is the advanced version with the capability to zoom up to a resolution of 0.2 metre (20 cm), which is considered the best in the world.

• The resolution of Cartosat-3 will be so refined that it will be able to capture clear images of very small objects like a gun or an enemy bunker.

• Cartosat-3 will have 30 cm resolution, which is at a par with the world's best, according to public information already put out by ISRO. It means the satellite can clearly ‘see' and capture images of guns, devices, objects or human movement at that scale from space.

• There are already half-a-dozen Cartosat-2 series satellites in orbit, though these possess a lower resolution capability than the upcoming Cartosat-3.

• RISAT-2BR1 will be launched in July, RISAT-2BR2 in October and Risat-1A in November. Risat-2B series is a lighter version of the spy satellite

• Radar imaging satellites like India's RISAT series can provide almost an uninterrupted view of earth, day or night, rain or shine, a handy feature for the forces to detect border infiltration.

• ISRO is going to launch a new series of remote-sensing satellite Geo-Imaging Satellite-1 (GISAT-1) and GISAT-2 in November.

• GISAT will carry a geo-imager with multi-spectral (visible, near infra-red and thermal), multi-resolution (50m to 1.5 km) imaging instruments that will enhance the country's land mapping capabilities.

• GISAT has both military and civilian use. Till now, old imaging satellites could map a particular area only once in 22 days.

• With GISAT, military can scan or map an area every other day. The satellite will provide near real-time pictures of large areas of the country under cloud-free conditions.

• Besides military satellites, ISRO is also planning to launch high-profile Chandrayaan-2 mission and first demonstration test of the mini-PSLV or SSLV this year.

• Advanced communication satellites like GSAT-20, GSAT-30 and GSAT-32 will also be launched by early next year. GSAT-32 will replace GSAT-6A, which was lost in space after the successful launch due to a communication failure and was meant to mainly serve ground forces.

Prelims Practise Questions

Which of the following awards have been conferred to Prime Minister Modi

1. Philip Kotler Presidential Award
2. Seoul Peace Prize 2018
3. UN Champions of the Earth Award 2018
4. Grand Collar of the State of Palestine
5. Amir Abdulla Khan Award of Afghanistan
6. King Abdullaziz Sash Award of Saudi Arabia

Find the correct statements from the option given below

a. 1,3,4 and 6
b. 2,3,4,5 and 6
c. 3,4 and 5
d. All

Consider the following statement regarding ISRO's upcoming launches

1. Cartosat-3 is the advanced version with the capability to zoom up to a resolution of 0.2 metre (20 cm), which is considered the best in the world.
2. The resolution of Cartosat-3 will be so refined that it will be able to capture clear images of very small objects like a gun or an enemy bunker.
3. RISAT-2BR1 will be launched in July, RISAT-2BR2 in October and Risat-1A in November. Risat-2B series is a lighter version of the spy satellite
4. Radar imaging satellites like India's RISAT series can provide almost an uninterrupted view of earth, day or night, rain or shine, a handy feature for the forces to detect border infiltration.

Find the correct statement from the option given below
a. 1 and 2
b. 2 and 3
c. 1 2 and 3
d. All

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