The Daily Brief – 31st July 2018

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1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of country’s first Mobile Open Exchange (MOX) zone in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. UP government had signed MoU with World Trade Centre, Noida at UP Investors Summit to develop Tech Zone which will act as catalyst for growth of mobile and allied sector in the state. MOX will be dedicated ecosystem for mobile industry, providing integrated platform to mobile manufacturers, research and development (R&D) and allied industries.
2. Indian Army has awarded Rs. 100-crore contract for 81 high mobility 10×10 vehicles to India’s leading vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland. This is for first time Indian vehicle manufacturer will deliver heavy duty, high mobility vehicles for the launchers. This will reduce dependency on imports.These vehicles will replace Indian Army’s ageing Russian-built Smerch Multi-Barrel Rocket launchers (MBRL) and will also carry strategic missiles developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
3. Two types of indigenously built high-power multi-fuel engines V-46-6 and V92S2 were handed over to Indian Army for first time under Make in India. These engines were manufactured by Engine Factory Avadi (EFA), a unit of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). These engines are based on Russian design. V92S2 is high power diesel engine with 1000 HP capacity and it is fitted in T-90 Battle Tank (Bhisma Tank). V46-6 is also high power diesel engines with 780 HP and it is fitted in T-72 Main Battle Tank (Ajeya Tank). They are manufactured with 100% Made in India.
4. Union Government has constituted High Level Empowered Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary to address issues of Stressed Thermal Power Projects. The committee has representatives from Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal and lenders having major exposure to the power sector. The committee will also consider if changes are required in provisioning norms, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), asset restructuring company (ARC) regulations and any other measures proposed for revival of stressed assets to avoid investments from turning bad.

   

5. India is in talks with United States to procure National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System-II (NASAMS-II), an advanced air defence system at $1 billion to defend National Capital Region (NCR) from aerial attacks. The proposal is in Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) stage now which was approved by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. NASAMS-II is an upgraded version of the NASAMS developed by Raytheon in partnership with KONGSBERG Defence and Aerospace of Norway. It has been operational since 2007. India’s purchase of NASAMS-II will help in preventing 9/11-type on NCT Delhi. It will also complement India’s other systems such as the medium and long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems under procurement.
6. The Lok Sabha on July 30, 2018 passed a bill, which seeks to replace the Central Council of Homoeopathy (CCH) with a board of governors. The amendment in the bill is aimed at bringing accountability and quality in the homoeopathy colleges and education in the country. The law aims to abolish the CCH, as the body does not have the powers to deal with its corrupt chief and other members who recently faced grave charges of corruption. The new board will comprise seven eminent homeopathy practitioners and administrators who will be appointed by the government. The Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973 (59 of 1973) was enacted for the constitution of the Central Council of Homoeopathy and the maintenance of the Central Register of Homoeopathy and related matters.
7. India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on July 28, 2018 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost their respective artificial intelligence economies. In this regard, the UAE Minister for Artificial Intelligence Omar bin Sultan Al Olama and Invest India’s Managing Director and CEO Deepak Bagla signed MoU to create a bilateral ‘Artificial Intelligence Bridge’ with an aim to generate USD 20 billion in economic benefits during the next decade. The UAE-India collaboration will jointly set up a UAE-India AI Working Committee (TWG) between the UAE Ministry for Artificial Intelligence, Invest India and Startup India. The TWG will meet once a year with the mandate to increase investment in Artificial Intelligence start-ups and research activities in partnership with the private sector. The working committee will monitor the landscape of Artificial Intelligence to identify emerging trends and policy concerns. This will help in drawing out mutually favourable regulatory frameworks and policies.

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