Chronicle September 2018

Ramon Magaysay Award 2018

·         Two Indians Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchukare are among six who have been declared winners of 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Award, often referred to as Asian version of the Nobel Prize.

 

Sonam Wangchuk

·         Ladakh based engineer and innovator Sonam Wangchuk is awarded with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for this year (2018).

·         He is recognized for his uniquely systematic, collaborative and community-driven reform of learning systems in remote and northern India and thus improving the life opportunities of Ladhaki youth. He set an example for minority people in the world.

·         He is the founding director of the Students 'Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh that was founded in 1988.

·         He is famous for designing are SECMOL campus, which runs entirely on solar energy. He also invented the Ice Stupa technique that helps create an artificial glacier for the purpose of storing water in winter.

 

Bharat Vatwani

·         He is a psychiatrist who works for mentally-ill people living on the streets in Mumbai.

·         The award recognizes his courage and compassion in embracing India's mentally-afflicted destitute and his dedication to work of restoring and affirming human dignity of even most ostracized.

·         Dr Vatwani set up the Shradha Rehabilitation Foundation at Karjat in 2006 and has helped, reunite around 7,000 mentally ill people with their families across the country, and even in Nepal.

·         Ramon Magsaysay award is regarded as Asia's Noble Prize and is the highest honour given to any individuals/ organization of Asia. The prize was established in April 1957 by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund based in New York City with the concurrence of the Philippine government (in the honour of farmer Phillippine President Raman Magsaysay)

 

National Kalidas Samman

·         Madhya Pradesh Government has conferred prestigious National Kalidas Samman on noted artist Anjolie Ela Menon for her contribution to visual arts.

 

Imran Khan

·         Imran Khan, a crickter and philanthropist, played international cricket for two decades and later developed philanthropy projects such as Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre and Namal College etc. to serve the people of Pakistan.

·         In recent Pakistan's general elections held in July 2018, Imran's Party Tehreek-e-Insaf notched the highest seats.

 

Rahunath Mohapatra

·         He is one of the recently nominated members is Rajya Sabha. He is internationally removed authority on stone carving. He has been practicing since 1959 and has trained over 2,000 students.

·         He has contributed to preservation of traditional sculpture and ancient monuments and has worked on beatification of the Sri Jagannath Temple, Puri.

·         His famous works include 6-feet-high statue of sun god carved in grey sandstone in Central Hall of Parliament and Wooden Buddha, Buddha Temple, Paris, France.

 

Sonal Mansingh

·         She is one of the recently nominated members in Rajya Sabha. She is among India's foremost exponents of Indian classical dance.

 

Abhilash Tomy

·         Well-known sailor Commander Abhilash Tomy of Indian Navy has participated in historic Golden Globe Race (GGR), which commenced from Les Sables d'Olonn Harbour in western France.

·         He is the only invitee from Asia to prestigious GGR. There are 18 participants, including one-women sailor, in the race.

·         Commander Abhilash Tomy is only Indian to complete solo, non-stop circumnavigation of glove in 2012-13, on-board Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Mhadei, and has covered 53,000 nautical miles under sail.

 

Satyarup Siddhanta

·         Satyarup Siddhaanta has become second Indian mountaineer after Malli Mastan Babu to climb Mt Ojos del Salado (6893 m,) the highest volcano in the world on Argentina-Chile border.     

 

Anil D Sahasrabudhe

·         Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved renewal of appointment of Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe as the chairman of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) till he attains the age of 65 years.

 

Justice AK Goel

·         The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed Justice AK Goel as new Chairperson of National Green Tribunal (NGT).

·         The will have tenure of five years from date he assumes office or till the reaches age of 70 years, whichever is earlier.

 

Committee for "Mob lynching"

·         In response to Supreme Court condemnation the recent spate of lynching as "horrendous acts monocracy" and suggestion to Parliament to make lynching a separate offence, Government constituted a four-member higher level committee headed by the Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba to suggest measures and legal framework to effectively deal with incidents of lynching and mob violence.

·         The committee will submit its recommendations within four weeks to a Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

 

FDI Confidence Index

·         India in 2018 has fallen out of the top 10 destinations for FDI in terms of its attractiveness, according to an AT Kearney report, which says this could be due to teething troubles in the implementation of the goods and services tax and the government's demonetization decision in 2016.

·         India ranks 11 in the 2018 AT Kearney FDI Confidence Index, down from 8 in 2017 and 9 in 2016.

 

Bloomberg Billionaires Index

·         Mukesh Ambani overtook Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma to become Asia's richest person as the positions Reliance Industries Ltd. to disrupt the e-commerce space in India.

·         The chairman of India's refining-to-telecoms conglomerate, Ambani was estimated to be worth $44.3 billion with Reliance Industries Ltd. rising 1.6 percent to a record 1,099.8 rupees, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

 

17^th World Sanskrit Conference at Vancouver

·         17^th World Sanskrit Conference held at Vancouver, Canada from 9^th July to 13^th July 2018, which was inaugurated by Human Resource Department Minister of India Shri Prakash Javadekar.       

Chronicle August 2018

World Food Prize 2018

·         The World Food Prize will be awarded this year to two men who have dedicated their careers to improving the availability of nutritious food for pregnant women and children in an effort to reduce the effects of malnutrition in developing counties.

·         Lawrence Haddad, who is a British economist and food policy researcher, and Dr. David Nabarro, who has worked with the World Health Organization and United Nations on health and hunger issues, have been named the 2018 prize recipients.

·         The world Food Prize was created by Nobel Peace Prize language Norman Borlaug in 1986 to recognize scientists and other who have improved the quality and availability of food.

 

Nikkel Asia Prize

·         Noted social reformer and founder of Sulabh International Bindeshwar Pathak was honoured with Japan's prestigious 'Nikkei Asia Prize for Culture for Culture and Community' for his significant work in tacking poor hygiene and discrimination.

 

Hero to Animla Award

·         Singer Zubeen Garg would be honoured with the Hero to Animals Award from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India for his recent appeal to end animal sacrifice at the Kamakhya Temple in Assam.

 

AR Rahman    

·         Renowned music composer A R Rahman has been appointed as the Brand Ambassador of the Sikkim government.

 

Dhivya Suryadevara

·         An Indian-American woman, Dhivya Suryadevara has been named the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of the US' largest automaker, General Motors (GM).

·         She will report to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mary Barra, 56, who has been head of the automaker since 2014.

·         Barra and Suryadevara are the first women in their respective positions in the auto industry, as no other major global automaker has a female CEO, nor a CEO and CFO who are both female.

 

Karthik Nemmani

·         Karthik Nemmani, a 14-year-old Indian-American boy, won the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee, taking home more then $42,000 in cash and prizes after correctly spelling "koinonia" to become the 14^th champion from the community in 11 consecutive years.

·         Another Indian-American, Atman Balakrishnan, the 12-year-old son of 1985 champion Balu Natarajan, did not advance to the finals.

 

Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces 

·         The United Nations (UN) General Assembly on June 5 picked Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, Ecuador's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, to be its next president.

·         Garces beat Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake, permanent representative of Honduras to the United Nations, by 128-62 votes, She will succeed Slovakia's Miroslav Lajcak and preside vakia's Miroslav Lajcak and preside over the 73^rd session starting from September. The tenure is for a year.

·         The 193-member General Assembly, one of the highest policy-making bodies at the United Nations, will have a woman presiding over it for the fourth time in UN history.

·         By tradition, the UN's regional groups nominate a single candidate who is then approved by the Assebly, But this year the election was being constented for the first time since 1991, because Latin American countries (LAC) couldn't agree on a nominee.

·         Since 1945, the Assembly has elected only three women (excluding Espinosa Garces) as presidents: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit of India (1953) and Sheikha Brooks of Liberia (1969) and Sheikha Haya Rashed A1-Khalifa of Bahrain (2006), and that's three out of 72 presidents   

 

K.N. Jain

·         The government has appointment IDBI Bank MD and CEO, M.K. Jain, as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in place of S.S. Mundra.

·         Mahesh Kumar Jain began his career in Punjab National Bank and later moved to Syndicate Bank before becoming an ED, and later head of Indian Bank.

 

Pedro Sanchez

·         Pedro Sanchez was sworn in as Spain's Prime Minister on June 2.

·         The Socialist leader successfully ousted predecessor Mariano Rajoy who lost a no-confidence vote in Parliament.

 

QS World University Rankings

·         A year after it broke into the top 200 club, IIT-Bombay has emerged as the country's best university in the latest edition's best university in the latest edition of the QS World University Rankings.    

·         IIT-Bombay moved up 17 places (163 rank) this year to displace IIT-Delhi as India's top ranked institution. The latter has also been overtaken by IISc-Bangalore, which gained 20 positions to 170 rank. However, despite the improvement, IISc has not managed to get back into the top 150 clubm the position it held two years ago.

·         Globally, Massachusetts Institute of Technology remains the world-leader for the seventh year in a row. Stanford University, Harvard University, Caltech and Oxford University follow, in that order.

 

Global Peace Index 2018

·         India has moved up four places to the 137^th rank among 163 countries on the 2018 Global Peace Index, due to a reduction in the level of violent crime driven by increased law enforcement.

·         Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008. New Zealand, Austria, Portugal and Denmark also sit in the top five most peaceful rankings.

·         Syria remains the least peaceful country in the world, a position it has held for the past five years. Afghanistan, South Sudan, Iraq and Somalia comprise the remaining least peaceful countries.

·         India was improved by four positions in the overall ranking from 141^st to 137^th. 

 

E Sreedharan Panel

·         The Government has approved the setting up of a committee to lay down the standards for metro rail system across the country.

·         The committee will be headed by 'metro man of India', E. Sreedharan.

 

Suresh Mathur Committee

·         Regular Irdai has set up a 10-member panel to review norms related to insurance marketing firm (IMF) with an aim to increase insurance penetration in the country.

 

Ten New Swachh Iconic Places Launched

·         Ten new iconic sites, namely, Raghavendra Swamy Temple (Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh); Hazardwari Palace (Murshidabad, West Bengal); Brahma Sarovar Temple (Kurukshetra, Haryana); Vidur Kuti (Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh); Mana village (Chamoli, Uttarakhand); Pangong Lake (Leh-Ladakh, J&K); Nagvasuki Temple (Allahbad, Uttar Pradesh); ImaKeithal/market (Imphal, Manipur); Sabrimala Temple (Kerala); and Kanvashram (Uttarakhand) have been taken up under Phase III of the flagship project Swachh Iconic Places (SIP) of the Swachh Bharat Mission.    

 

Operation NISTAR

·         The Indian Navy on June 3 June rescued 38 Indians who were stranded at the Socotra Island off the coast of Yemen.

·         The sailors were stuck at the island after a severe cyclonic storm, Mekenu, hit the area on 24 May and damaged/sunk three Indian dhows while one was still missing.

·         The 38 Indians rescued by INS Sunayana that was diverted by the Navy from the Gulf of Aden for the operation.                        

Chronicle July 2018

JULY 2018 AWARDS

National Biodiversity Award

·         Sichung Bugun Village Community Reserve, an NGO based at Ramangam Forest Camp, Singchung under West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh has begged the National Biodiversity Award in recognition of its effort in conserving the rate wildlife resources found in the area.

 

Man Booker International Prize 2018

·         Olga Tokarczuk has become the first polish writer to win the man Booker international prize, which goes to the anywhere in the world.

·         More than 100 novels were submitted for the 2018 award, and Tokarczuk's Flights saw off work by two former winners-South Korea's Han Kang and Hungary's Laszlo Krasznahorkai- to secure the 50,000 prize, which is shared equally with her English translator Jennifer Croft.

 

Vladimir Putin

·         Vladimir Putin has been sworn in for a fourth term as Russian president.

·         He has been in power for 18 years, as President and Prime Minister.

·         The 65-year –old, in power since 1999, in on course to become the longest serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin after his victory in March's elections.

 

Mahathir Mohammad

·         Mahathir Mohammad was sworn in as Malaysia's seventh Prime Minister on May 9.

·         At 92, Mahathir became the world's oldest head of State.

·         Mahathir's alliance of four parties, the trounced the ruling barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which had ruled the country since its independence from the British.

 

Gobind Singh Deo

·         Gobind Singh Deo, an Indian-origin Sikh politician in Malaysia, has become a Cabinet Minister, the first member of the minority community in the country's history to be appointed as a minister.

·         Deo, 45, who has been given the communications and multimedia portfolio, is among the two politicians of Indian descent included in the Pakatan Harpan coalition's Cabinet.

·         The other Indian-origin lawmaker is M Kulasegram from the Democratic Action Party, who has been made the Human Resource Minister.

 

H D Kumaraswamy 

·         JD (S) leader H D Kumarswamy on May 23 took oath as Karnataka's 24^th Chief Minister, while Congress State President G Parameshwara was sworn in as his deputy.

·         This will be Kumarawamy's second term as the Chief Minister of Karnataka since 2007, when he last held the post for 20 months.

 

Shashank Manohar

·         Shashank Manohar who became the first independent ICC chairman in 2016. will continue for a second two-year term following his unopposed election.

·         During the last two years, Manohar has led significant reform of the sport, reversing the resolutions of 2014, introducing the appointment of the ICC's first independent female director and the development of international cricket structures that bring context to the global game and provide more opportunities for more Members to complete.

 

E C G Sudarshan

·         E C G Sudarshan, who was nominated for Nobel Prize several times but missed the coveted honour every time, passed away.

·         One of the most accomplishes and renowned theoretical physicists of Indian origin, he is known for his prodigious creative output. He together with American physicist, Robert Eugene Marshak came out in 1957 with what is called the V. A. Theory of weak interactions.

 

Tom Wolfe

·         Tom Wolfe, 88, the essayist, journalist and author of bestselling books including The Electric Kool-Aid Acid test and Bonfire of the Vanities, died.

 

Harvard University Report

·         India tops the list of the fastest growing economics in the world for the coming decade and is projected to grow at 7.9 per cent annually, ahead of China and the US, according to a Harvard University report.

 

FORBES TOP 10 MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been ramked among the top 10 most powerful people in the world by Forbes in a list that has been topped for the first time ever by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who dethroned Russian President Vladimir Putin as the most influential person on the planet

·         Modi ranked 9^th on the Forbes 2018 list of 75 of the World's most powerful people who make the word turn.

·         Modi, 67, is ahead face book CEO Marl Zuckeberg (ranked 13), United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May (14), Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang (15) and Apple CEO Tim Cook (24).

·         Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, with a net worth of 41.2 billion dollars, is the only other Indian on the power list, ranking 32^nd. Microsoft's India-born CEO Satya Nadella is on the 40^th spot.

·         The list also includes Pope Francis (6), Cofounder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates (7), French President Emmanuel Macron (12), Alibaba Chief Jack Ma (21), CEO and Chairman of Testa Elon Musk (25), Un Secretary General Antonio Guterres (31), North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (36), Canadian Prime Minister Justrin Trudeau (57), Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad (62), Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte (69) and Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliph Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi (73).

 

Business Optimism Index

·         India slipped to the 6^th position globally in the business optimism index for the first quarter of this year.

·         Business optimism is however at an "all-time high" globally with the index at net 61 percent, the highest figure recorded in 15 years of research, as per Grant Thornton's quarterly global business survey.

·         Nothing that business sentiment in India has been the weakest since 2014 in the first quarter; the advisory firm said the confidence has been shaken since the third quarter of 2017 will weakening currency and a surge in oil prices. 

 

Global Wind Summit  

·         The first edition of the Global Wind Summit will be held here from September 25-28, 2018.

·         The organizers of the four-day event are expecting speakers from about 100 countries, including India, China, the US, Spain and Denmanrk.

·         The conference on wind is the largest and most important meeting of the wind industry worldwide. The event combines two conferences, Wind Energy Hamburg and Wind Europe, Holinsky said, adding both the events together will witness about 1400 exhibitors' and 250 speakers from all over the world.

 

Nepal First Country in South-east Asia to Eliminate Trachoma

·         Nepal has become the first country in south-east Asia to eliminate trachoma, World's leading cause of preventable blindness of infections origin, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

 

IP NANI 

·         The Minister of Commerce and Industry shri Suresh Prabhu launched the Intellectual Property (IP) mascot- IP Nani on May 16.

·         Moscot IP Nani is a tech-savvy grandmother who helps the government and enforcement agencies in combating IP crimes with the help of her grandson "Chhotu" aka Adiyta.

·         The IP mascot will spread awareness about the importance of intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) among people, especially children, in an interesting manner,

·         This character is also in line with her World Intellectual Property Organisations (WIPO) campaign for the World IP Day which celebrates brilliance, ingenuity, curiosity and courage of the women who are driving change in our world and shaping our common future.

 

 

India's First Book Village

 

·         A hamlet in Satara district of Maharashtra, popular for its strawberries embraced the tag of India's first 'village of books', after it was declared India's first 'Pustakanche Gaav' – village of books—by the Maharashtra government recently.

·         The project is inspired by Britain's Hay-on-Wye, a Welsh town known for its book stores and literature festivals.

 

BCCI Goes 'Green;

·         The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Un Environment signed and agreement to promote 'green' cricket in India.

·         The partnership will also focus on phasing out single-use plastic across stadiums in the country.

 

India's 1^st Sports University in Manipur

·         The Union Cabinet approved an ordinance to set up the country's first national sports university in Manipur. Union Law Minister said a bill to set up the university in Imphal (west) is already pending in parliament.

·         The proposal to set up the national sports university in Manipur was initially announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while Rs. 100 crore funds for it were allocated in the 2014-15 budgets.

 

Lionel Messi Wins European Golden Shoe for the Fifth Time

·         Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has won the European Golden Shoe for a fifth time.

·         Lionel Messi also won the European Golden Shoe award last year, as well as in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

·         The Argentina international claimed the prize after scoring 34 goals in La Liga this season, helping his club to a 25^th league triumph. 

Chronicle June 2018

Saraswati Samman

·         Eminent Gujarati poet Sitanshu Yashschandras poetry collection "Vakhar" has been chosen for the Saraswati Samman for 2017.

·         Instituted in 1991, by the K.K. Birla Foundation, the award recognizes an "outstanding" literary work every year written in any India language and published during the last 10 years.

 

UNESCO Press Freedom Prize

·         Detained Egyptian photo journalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, also known as "Shawkan" won the 2018 Press Freedom Prize awarded the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO

 

Whitley Awards 2018

The annual Whitley Award for nature conservation, known as the 'Green Oscars', were conferred on six conservationists across the globe for their work with local communities to protect threatened wildlife and habitat around the world. The Awards are given annually by the Whitely Fund for Nature, and provide winners with funding to scale up their projects.

 

Pulitzer Prizes 2018

The Pultizer Prizes are awarded annually by the Columbia University, US for excellence in newspaper journalism, literacy achievements and musical composition.

    

·         Noted cine actor Vinod Khanna was posthumously awarded with 49^th Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2017

·         Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest award in Indian cinema presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The award contains a Swarn Kamal, a cash prize of Rupees 10 lakhs and a shawl.

 

Miguel Mario Diaz – Canel Bermudez

·         Cuba has selected first vice president Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez as sole succeed Rual Castro as president of Cuba.

·         He is from outside the Castro family in the country's highest government office for the first time in nearly six decades – first by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and, for the last decade, his brother – Raul Castro.

 

Bhanu Pratap Sharma

·         Bhanu Pratap Sharam has been appointed as the Chairman of the reconstituted Banks Board Bureau (BBB) for two years. He replaced Vinod Rai – the first Chairman. Vedika Bhandarkar, Pradeep Kumar and Pradip P Shah are its members.

·         The BBB set up on the recommendations of a committee headed by banker P J Nayak.

·         It is based in Mumbai at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

 

Rajesh Bindal Committee Recommendations

·         The Committee headed by Justice Rajesh Bindal, Judge, High Court of Punjab & Haryana, Chandigarh, submitted its report on legal issues related to inter country removal & retention of children, and recommends on addressing the problems of parents and children involved in such issues. The Committee was also requested to study the draft of the International Child Abduction bill, prepared by the Law Commission.

·         The Ministry of Women and Child Development had appointment the Committee.

 

Inter-Korean Summit

·         Kim Jong-un became the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea for a summit among two Koreas by crossing the military line that has divided the peninsula since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

·         North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean Leader Moon Jae-in inked a landmark peace contract namely, 'Panmunjeom Declaration' for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

 

CHOGM 2018

·         The 25^th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was held at United Kingdom under the theme "Towards a Common Future".

·         It was Chaired by Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

·         The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations (53 member states).

·         CHOGM 2020 will be held at Rwands.

 

India-Wiesbaden Conference 2018

·         India, Germany and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) organized the India-Wiesbaden Conference 2018 in New-Delhi under the title 'Securing Global Supply Chains through Government-Industry Partnership towards Effective Implementation of UNSC Resolution 1540'.

 

First India-Nordic Summit

·         The first India-Nordic Summit was held on 17^th April at Stockholm.

·         India is the second nation to have summit with Sweden, Norway, Finland Denmark & Iceland, after USA under Obama.

·         NORDIC COUNTRIES: Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark & Iceland

 

Digambarpur Gram Panchayat

·         West Bengal's Digambarpur Gram Panchayat (GP) in 24 South Parganas district has bagged the Centre's award for the best GP in the country out of 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats in the country.

 

Kingdom of eswatini

·         Swziland's King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch has changed the name of his country of the 'Kingdom of eSwatini'.

 

Ram Nagar

·         It is a district of Madhya Pradesh, from where PM Modi launched Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan from Mandla district of MP of the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day.

·         The scheme will focus on training, building infrastructure and stepping up initiatives for e-governance under the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project. 

 

Leisang

·         Leisang in Manipur's Senapati district became the last village to be connected to the national grid. All villages in India have now been electrified. The milestone was achieved 12 days ahead of the 1,000-day deadline set by Mr. Modi on August 15, 2015.

 

New Zealand

·         New Zealand and halted all new offshore oil and gas exploration as part of its efforts to deal with climate change

 

Solitary Confinement is Unconstitutional: HC 

·         The Uttarakhand High Court has declared the practice of solitary confinement as unconstitutional. It held that the practice not only amounts to additional punishment but also amounts to torture and is violative of basic human rights.     

 

Md-IV LCU Inducted

·         The Indian Navy has commissioned the third ship of the Landing Craft Utility (LCU) Mk-IV project. INLCU L53, at Port Blair in Andaman.

·         The vessel was designed and constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) as part of a contract for a total of eight planned LCU Mk IV Class vessels for the navy.  

·         INLCU L53 has multi-role activities, including beaching operations, high-availability disaster recovery (HADR), and search and rescue, as well as the supply and replenishment of distant islands. Furthermore, the LUC MK-IV vessels is also capable of transporting combat equipment such as Main Battle Tanks Arjun, T72 and other armoured vehicles.

 

Composition of CCI Changed 

·         The Composition Commission of India (CCI) has been restructured with one chairperson and three members (totaling four) instead of seven members (including the chairperson).

·         About CCI: It is a statutory body of the Government of India created to eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.