The Daily Brief – 23rd July 2019

The Motihari-Amlekhgunj Petroleum Products Pipeline is now ready for commercial operation. This 69 km long pipeline between India and Nepal was constructed in 15 months and will be the first oil pipeline in Nepal. It is also the first transnational petroleum pipeline from India and the first South Asian oil pipeline corridor.

The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed by the Lok Sabha, despite strong objections raised by the Opposition. The amendment seeks to empower the Central Government to make decisions regarding the tenure of Chief Information Commission (CIC) and the Information Commissioners at both central and state levels. It also will permit the government to have a say in the salaries, allowances and other service terms.

India’s second moon mission – Chandrayaan-2 – was successfully launched by GSLV-MkIII-M1 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre located at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first moon mission and was launched in 2008. This mission was even more valuable to India’s space story as two women – M Vanitha and Ritu Karidhal – spearheaded it. The objective of the mission is to demonstrate key technologies for end-to-end lunar mission capability and roving on lunar surface. The rover will land on the unexplored lunar South Pole of the Moon on 7^th September 2019 and will carry out detailed study of the topography of the moon.

The Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) held its ministerial meeting at Caracas, Venezuela. The theme for this year’s meeting was “Promotion and Consolidation of Peace through Respect for International Law. At the meeting, India was represented by Syed Akbaruddin, who is the Indian envoy to the UN. Venezuela has held the presidency of NAM since 2016 and will hand over the office to Azerbaijan this October. The NAM is a forum comprising of developing states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It was established during the Cold War period in 1961 at Belgrade and Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the founding members.

The fifth Dornier Aircraft Squadron – Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 313 – was commissioned into the Indian Navy at the Naval Air Enclave situated in Meenambakkam, Chennai. The squadron, which will be operating from the Chennai International Airport, has been named ‘Sea Eagle’ and will be commanded by Cdr Vivek Koman. With the commissioning of this squadron, there are now three naval air bases in Tamil Nadu (other two at Arakkonam and Ramnad).

From 1^st December 2019, all lanes in all toll fee plazas on National Highways across the country will be dedicated ‘FASTag lanes’. This decision was made by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to prevent congestion and to provide seamless traffic.

Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane has been appointed as the next Vice-Chief of the Armed Forces of India. He will be succeeding Lt Gen D Anbu in August and will soon be in contention for the Chief of Indian Army post.