GSAT-29
- India’s GSAT-29 communication satellite was successfully launched by the second developmental flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MarkIII (GSLV MkIII-D2).
- GSAT-29 is a multiband, multi-beam communication satellite, intended to serve as test bed for several new and critical technologies.
- The payloads of the satellite are expected to cater to communication requirements for people in remote areas in the country, especially Jammu and Kashmir, and the North-East.
National Council on India's Nutrition Challenges
- The Council which been set up under POSHAN Abhiyaan, it is the apex body to formulate overall policies, guide and monitor all nutrition based schemes.
- The Council will submit its report to the Prime Minister every six months.
- The mandate of the Council is:
- To provide policy directions to address India’s Nutrition Challenges through coordinated inter-sectoral action
- To coordinate and review convergence among ministries
- To review programmes for nutrition on a quarterly basis
SpiNNaker
- The world’s largest supercomputer SpiNNaker, was designed to work in the same way as the human brain has been switched on for the first time.
- The newly formed million-processor-core Spiking Neural Network Architecture (SpiNNaker) machine is capable of completing more than 200 million actions per second.
- SpiNNaker is unique because, unlike traditional computers, it does not communicate by sending large amounts of information from point A to B via a standard network.
- Instead it mimics the massively parallel communication architecture of the brain, sending billions of small amounts of information simultaneously to thousands of different destinations.
Yuva Sahakar Scheme
- National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has introduced Yuva Sahakar-Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme.
- This is a youth friendly scheme which will attract youths to cooperative business ventures.
- The scheme will be linked to Rs 1000 crore ‘Cooperative Start-up and Innovation Fund (CSIF)’ created by the NCDC.
NCDC
- The NCDC has the unique distinction of being the sole statutory organisation functioning as an apex financial and developmental institution exclusively devoted to cooperative sector.
- It supports cooperatives in diverse fields apart from agriculture and allied sectors.
- It is an ISO 9001:2015 compliant organisation and has a distinctive edge of competitive financing.
World Diabetes Day
- World Diabetes Day (WDD) was created by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes.
- It is marked every year on 14 November, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.
- The campaign promote the importance of taking coordinated and concerted actions to confront diabetes as a critical global health issue.
Sail Together
- A sailing expedition to retrace the maritime trade route of yesteryears between the Malabar Coast and the Persian Gulf has started from Kochi.
- The voyage has been planned over a distance of 1200 nm from Kochi to Muscat and back.
- The route honours the socio-cultural and maritime history that is shared among populations across the Indian Ocean as a result of this trade.
- The Royal Omani Vessel Zinat-al-Bihaaralong with two Indian Naval Sailing Ships Sudharshini, Tarangini, with one each “Sea Rider” from Sri-Lanka, China, United Kingdom, Australia, Bangladesh and Maldives are participating in this ‘Sail Together’.
Exercise Dharma Guardian 2018
- Dharma Guardian is an exercise for fostering military and diplomatic ties between India and Japan.
- The primary focus of the exercise was to train and equip the contingents to undertake joint counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations in urban and semi urban terrain.
- The exercise provided and ideal platform for broadening the interoperability and cooperation between armies of India and Japan.
Source: PIB, the Hindu
