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Successful flight test of ABHYAS drone conducted by DRDO

New Delhi (NVI): The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) today conducted a successful flight test of ABHYAS – High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) light-weight expendable drone from the Interim Test Range, Balasore in Odisha, the Ministry of Defence said.

During the trials, two demonstrator vehicles were successfully test flown. The vehicle can be used as target for evaluation of various missile systems, MoD said in a statement.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO for the achievement. “The DRDO achieved a milestone today with the successful flight test of ABHYAS – High Speed Expandable Aerial Target from ITR Balasore. This can be used as a target for evaluation of various Missile systems. Congratulations to @DRDO_India & other stakeholders for this achievement,” he said in a tweet.

Abhyas is designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), DRDO. The air vehicle is launched using twin underslung booster. It is powered by a small gas turbine engine and has MEMS based Inertial Navigation System (INS) for navigation along with the Flight Control Computer (FCC) for guidance and control. The vehicle is programmed for fully autonomous flight. The check out of air vehicle is done using laptop based Ground Control Station (GCS).

During the test campaign, the user requirement of 5 km flying altitude, vehicle speed of 0.5 mach, endurance of 30 minutes and 2g turn capability of the test vehicle were successfully achieved, MoD said.

-ARK

Education is becoming medium of engagement with neighbouring countries: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the convocation ceremony of IIT Guwahati

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said education is gradually becoming a new medium of engagement with neighbouring countries and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati can become a pivotal centre for the same.

PM Modi while addressing the 22nd convocation of the IIT-G through video-conferencing, said, “Guwahati is an important part of the northeast, and it is also the centre of India’s Act East Policy. This region is also the gateway to India’s relation with South East Asia. The mainstay of relations with these countries has been culture, commerce, connectivity and capacity. Education is gradually becoming a new medium of engagement with our neighbours. IIT Guwahati can become a pivotal centre for the same.”

“I want to say to the passing students to think about their research and how it can help the north-east region for development,” Modi said, while addressing the students.

PM Modi said that IIT Guwahati is the first such IIT that has introduced a two-year research program on e-mobility and it is also leading the integration of science and engineering in all B.Tech level courses.

He also hoped that research would become a habit for the graduates and a part of their thought process.

“There are immense possibilities in research in the sector of solar energy, wind energy, biomass and hydroelectric energy. Rice, tea and bamboo are indigenous of this region. There is biodiversity in this region, as well as huge traditional knowledge,” he said.

The Prime Minister added, “Infrastructure is being built in sectors such as railways, highways, water ways and air ways to give impetus to development in the northeast. The IIT-G has a major role in these initiatives for creating new opportunities in the entire region.”

“Knowledge has no boundaries. The National Education Policy (NEP) focuses on opening up the education sector for global institutes to set up their campus in India for our students to benefit from. Similarly, Indian institutes will set up their centres abroad. This will help promote research collaboration and exchange programmes,” Modi said.

Furthermore, he stated, “The states of northeast invest a lot of energy and efforts in fighting off disasters such as floods and earthquakes. I request IIT Guwahati to start a Centre for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction. This centre will provide expertise to combat these calamities,” he added.

Disasters, natural and man-made, have been a bane for the northeast comprising eight states.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal also participated in the event.

The convocation was held in a virtual reality mode where avatars of students collected their degrees and medal from the director’s avatar.

In addition to this, IIT has also created a photo-booth, with an option of different backgrounds, for students to take pictures at some selected locations on the campus. IIT Guwahati’s faculty and students have developed a telepresence module for a virtual visit to the institute.

-CHK

‘Appointment process on CIC post is on’

(File photo)

New Delhi (NVI): The process of appointment of a new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and Information Commissioners (ICs) in the Central Information Commission is going on, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said today.

Jitendra Singh in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha said that CCI in Central Information Commission has completed his tenure on August 26.

“One Information Commissioner is completing his tenure on September 25. The government had initiated the process to fill up the vacancy in a timely manner by way of issuing the advertisements to fill up the post of CCI and up to 6 posts of ICs in the Central Information Commission on July 9,” the minister said.

Singh further stated a high level search committee follows a method of obtaining relevant information about various candidates while scrutinizing applications and shortlists the candidates for the post of Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners.

The Central Information Commission has been functional even after the declaration of lockdown in March, 2020. However, a total number of 4,491 online requests have been processed between March to September 17.

-RJV

RS passes Banking Regulation Bill

FDI
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (File photo)

New Delhi (NVI): Rajya Sabha today passed the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020, to bring co-operative banks under the supervision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

During the discussion on the bill, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the House that several co-operative banks came under stress during the Covid-19 pandemic and their finances are being closely monitored by banking sector regulator, Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The amendment is to protect the interests of depositors and the legislation will help a quick recovery in cases of stressed co-operative banks without any moratorium, Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman assured the House that the legislation empowers the central bank to regulate only the banking activities of co-operatives and it is not applicable to a primary agricultural credit society or a co-operative society providing finance for agricultural development.

The bill has already been passed by the Lok Sabha on September 16.

India has different types of co-operative banks — urban co-operative banks (UCBs) and rural co-operative banks (RCBs). RCBs are classified into state co-operative banks (StCBs) and district central co-operative banks (DCCBs).

However, the amendments do not affect existing powers of the state registrars of co-operative societies under state co-operative laws.

-CHK

UGC releases academic calendar guidelines for UG and PG first year students

New Delhi (NVI): The University Grants Commission (UGC) today released guidelines on Academic Calendar for the first year of Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate students of the universities session 2020-21 across the country.

According to the UGC guideline, the universities across the country should commence classes for the first year students from November 1.

The commission has also directed the universities to complete the admission process by November 30 and commenced first-year classes for undergraduate and postgraduate students thereafter.

Taking to Twitter, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Minister of Education wrote, “In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission has accepted the Report of the Committee and approved the @ugc_india Guidelines on Academic Calendar for the First Year of Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate Students of the Universities for the Session 2020-21.”

“To avoid financial hardship being faced by the parents due to lockdown and related factors, a full refund of fees will be made on account of all cancellation of admissions or migration of students, up to November 30 for this very session as a special case,” he added.

In a official statement, the Ministry of Education said, if there is a delay in declaration of result of the qualifying examinations, the UGC has said that the universities may plan and start the academic session by November 18. The teaching learning process may continue in offline/online/blended mode.

“To be crystal clear, the entire fees including all charges be refunded in totality (Zero Cancellation charges) on account of cancellation or migration up to November 30,” it added.

Therefore, on cancellation or withdrawal of admissions up to December 31, the entire fee collected form a student be refunded in full after deduction of not more than Rs 1,000 as processing fee, the ministry said in a release.

-RJV

Rajya Sabha passes IIIT Amendment Bill giving national importance tag to 5 institutes

New Delhi (NVI): Rajya Sabha today today passed a bill declaring five newly established Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) as institutions of national importance.

These IIITs have been set up as Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and are located in Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala, and Raichur.

The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was passed by Lok Sabha in the previous session on March 20, 2020.

It was introduced in the Upper House on Monday by the Minister of Education, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

Notably, out of the 25 IIITs in the country, 5 are being run by the central government and 15 IIITs are operating under public-private partnership mode.

Pokhriyal said, “We have brought the proposal before this House to bring five new operational institute which are located and have started operations in Surat (Gujarat), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Bhagalpur (Bihar), Agartala (Tripura) and Raichur (Karnataka) under this act.”

He said bringing the five new institutes under IIITs Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 will make them institute of national importance and they will have legal right to issue diploma, degree, PhD etc.

In addition to this, these 5 IIITs along with 15 other IIITs, which are also built on public private partnership (PPP) mode will now be able to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (BTech) or Master of Technology (MTech) or PhD degree.

It will also enable the institutes to attract enough students required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of information technology.

The Bill leads to amendment in the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Act, 2014 and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017.

At present, the institutes are registered as Societies under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and have no right to grant degrees or diplomas.

-CHK

India slams Pak for repeating its ‘fabricated narrative’ on Kashmir

New Delhi (NVI): India has again slammed Pakistan for misusing the UN platform and interfering in India’s internal matters while rejecting Islamabad’s contention that the Kashmir issue is one of the most long-standing disputes at the United Nations (UN).

India has said that Pakistan must address its own pressing concerns like terrorism and tackling the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, rather than diverting attention from them by using the UN platform.

The remarks from Indian representative came after Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi lauded the UN’s achievements but also referred to “failings and deficiencies”.

On the occasion of 75th anniversary of the United Nations, Qureshi in a video message said that the resolutions and decisons on UN are “flouted”. He said that the Kashmir issue was among its “most glaring and long-standing failures” and that the organisation was being “derided as a ‘talk shop’.”

“The people of occupied J&K still await fulfilment of the commitment made to them by the UN to grant them their right to self-determination,” he said.

In its Right of Reply, soon after the Pakistan foreign minister’s comments, first secretary Vidisha Maitra said India had hoped the General Assembly “would be spared another repetition of the baseless falsehoods that have now become a trademark of Pakistan’s interventions on such platforms” during the commemoration of a shared global milestone.

“What we heard today is the never-ending fabricated narrative presented by the Pakistani representative about the internal affairs of India. We reject the malicious reference made to the union territory (UT) of J&K, which is an integral part of India,” Maitra said.

“If there is an item that is unfinished on the agenda of the UN it is that of tackling the scourge of terrorism. Pakistan is globally recognised as the epicentre of terrorism, which by its own admission harbours and trains terrorists and hails them as martyrs and consistently persecutes its ethnic and religious minorities,” she added.

Pakistan “would do well to turn its attention inwards to immediately addressing these pressing concerns instead of diverting attention from them by misusing the UN platform”, Maitra said in her response to the Pakistan minister’s statement.

-ARK

Death toll at 20 in Bhiwandi bldg collapse

New Delhi (NVI): The death toll in the Bhiwandi building collapse in Maharashtra rose to 20 this morning, with the recovery of seven more bodies overnight.

The three-storey building, located at Narpoli’s Patel Compound area, collapsed at around 3:40 am yesterday while the residents were sleeping.

The team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and personnel of the Thane Disaster Response Force (TDRF) are still at the spot as the search operation continues.

So far, the number of those rescued has gone up to 25, with five more people being pulled out from the debris, the NDRF said.

While the dead include nine children, among them two toddlers and those rescued are being treated at hospitals in Bhiwandi and Thane, an official said.

Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed grief over Bhiwandi building collapse and is reviewing the situation. He also instructed officials to undertake swift rescue and relief operations.

-RJV

Parliament passes the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill

(File photo)

New Delhi (NVI): The Rajya Sabha today passed the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020, to remove cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities.

The bill was earlier introduced by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Danve Raosaheb Dadarao in the Lok Sabha on September 14 this year to replace ordinances promulgated on June 5.

The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on September 15 was approved by a voice vote in Rajya Sabha today.

The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill is aimed at removing fears of private investors of excessive regulatory interference in their business operations, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said in a statement.

The freedom to produce, hold, move, distribute and supply will lead to harnessing of economies of scale and attract private sector or foreign direct investment into agriculture sector, it added.

The ministry stated that the government while liberalizing the regulatory environment, has also ensured that interests of consumers are safeguarded. It has also been provided in the Amendment, that in situations such as war, famine, extraordinary price rise and natural calamity, such agricultural foodstuff can be regulated.

However, the installed capacity of a value chain participant and the export demand of an exporter will remain exempted from such stock limit imposition so as to ensure that investments in agriculture are not discouraged, the ministry said.

Speaking on the bill, Danve Raosaheb Dadarao said that this amendment is required to prevent wastage of agri-produce due to the lack of storage facilities.

“The amendment will create a positive environment not only for farmers but also for consumers and investors and will definitely make our country self-reliant,” the minister said.

Dadarao further said that this amendment will strengthen the overall supply chain mechanism of the agriculture sector, adding that, it will also help to achieve the government’s promise to double the farmer’s income by promoting investment in this sector and promote ease of doing business.

Furthermore, the ministry said, while India has become surplus in most Agri-commodities, farmers have been unable to get better prices due to lack of investment in cold storage, warehouses, processing and export.

“Farmers suffer huge losses when there are bumper harvests, especially of perishable commodities,” the ministry said.

The legislation will help drive up investment in cold storages and modernization of food supply chain. It will help both farmers and consumers while bringing in price stability and will create competitive market environment and prevent wastage of agri-produce that happens due to lack of storage facilities.

-RJV

PM to interact with fitness enthusiasts

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with fitness influencers and citizens from across the country during a nationwide online Fit India Dialogue on September 24.

The virtual Fit India Dialogue is being organized to celebrate the first anniversary of the Fit India Movement.

“The online interaction will see participants sharing anecdotes and tips of their own fitness journey while drawing out guidance from the Prime Minister on his thoughts about fitness and good health,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

Among those who will participate are Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli, Milind Soman, Rujuta Diwekar, the PMO said. The dialogue will see a timely and fruitful conversation on nutrition, wellness and various other aspects on fitness.

“Envisioned by Prime Minister as a People’s Movement, the Fit India Dialogue is yet another endeavour to involve citizens of the country to draw out a plan to make India a Fit Nation,” it added.

In the last year, since its launch, various events were organised under the aegis of the Fit India Movement and it has seen enthusiastic participation of people from all walks of life and from across the country.

“The Fit India Freedom Run, Plog Run, Cyclothon, Fit India Week, Fit India School Certificate and various other programmes have seen a combined organic participation of over 3.5 crore people, making it a true People’s Movement,” the PMO statement said.

-RJV/ARK

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