The Daily Brief – 14th August 2018

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Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal has announced 50% reservation for women in upcoming recruitment of 9500-10000 jawans for the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to create more employment opportunities for women. RPF is security force entrusted with protecting railway passengers, passenger area and railway property of the Indian Railways. It was introduced for the first time in the central act of 1957. It is headquartered in New Delhi.
The projects for defence industrial corridor in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh were launched by Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. It was launched as part of the Union Government’s efforts to develop specialised zones dedicated to defence production in the state. As part of defence corridor in UP, six nodal points, Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Chitrakoot and Jhansi have been identified. They will exhibit products by armed forces, defence public sector undertakings (PSUs) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which are planned to be indigenised over the next five years.
On 12 August International Youth Day is observed every year across the world to draw attention to give set of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth. Its aim is to highlight role of young women and men as essential partners in change and opportunity to raise awareness of challenges and problems facing the world’s youth. The theme of this year ‘Safe Spaces for Youth’ supports 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that emphasizes need for provision of space towards inclusive and sustainable urbanization. It was instituted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) by passing resolution 54/120 in December 1999. It was first observed on 12 August, 2000.
To create awareness of urgent plight of African and Asian elephants, the World Elephant Day is observed every year on August 12. It also seeks to share knowledge and positive solutions for better care and management of captive and wild elephants. The first International Elephant Day was held on August 12, 2012. In India, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) organised cultural event Gaj Mahotsav on this occasion. It was aimed to sensitise people the urgent plight of elephants through different art forms including an exhibition of elephant themed paintings and installations.
Union Civil Aviation Ministry has given in-principle approval to set up water aerodromes in the country. To start with it has identified five states: Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Assam for development of water aerodromes. In the first phase of the project, Chilka Lake (Odisha), Sabarmati River Front and Sardar Sarovar Dam (Gujarat) have been identified for the development of such facilities. Airdrome is location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers.
India’s first all-woman Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team for anti-terrorist operations
Delhi Police has inducted India’s first all-woman Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team for anti-terrorist operations. It is the brainchild of Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik. It was formally inducted by Home Minister Rajnath Singh. SWAT team has undergone training to handle urban situations as well as jungle operations. They will be deployed at strategic locations in Central and South Delhi as well as Red Fort and India Gate during Independence Day and Republic day celebrations.
The Digital North East Vision 2022 was released in Guwahati, Assam by Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad. First electronics manufacturing cluster in north-eastern region was also inaugurated in Guwahati, Assam. The Digital North East Vision emphasizes on leveraging digital technologies to transform lives of people of north east and enhance ease of living. Digital North East is envisioned as an integral part of Digital India programme.
India’s first genetic resource bank for wildlife conservation, National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank was inaugurated at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology’s (CCMB) Laboratory of Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) facility in Hyderabad, Telangana. It will aid wild life conservation efforts by taking up artificial reproduction, conducting studies in evolution biology and wildlife medicine. So far this bank has collected and preserved genetic resources of 23 species of Indian wild animals. LaCONES has developed universal DNA based marker for identification of wild animals from parts and remains.