SIMBEX 18
- SIMBEX is the Maritime Bilateral Exercise between Singapore and India, held in the Bay of Bengal.
- The exercise had witnessed successful missile engagements of aerial targets by ships of the two navies, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and rocket firings.
- Indian Navy Hawk Jet fighters and INS Shakti has participated in the exercise.
- SIMBEX 18 marks the largest edition of these exercises thus far which have been progressing uninterrupted for the since inception in 1994.
Nuclear version of Agni-I
- The Agni missile is a family of medium to intercontinental range ballistic missiles developed by DRDO of India under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.
- Recently the night trial of the indigenously developed nuclear capable Agni-I India’s surface-to-surface ballistic missile was successfully conducted from the Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast.
- The missile has a strike range of beyond 700 km has a specialized navigation systems and it has already been inducted in the Indian Army.
International Tourism Mart
- International Tourism Mart is an annual event organized in the North Eastern region with the objective of highlighting the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets.
- It brings together the tourism business fraternity and entrepreneurs from the eight North Eastern States.
- The International Tourism Marts are organized in the North Eastern States on rotation basis, this year the 7th edition of International Tourism Mart will be held in Agartala, Tripura.
- The earlier editions of this mart have been held in Guwahati, Tawang, Shillong, Gangtok and Imphal.
Amur Falcon
- Amur falcons are known to breed in southeast Russia and northern China.
- These birds migrate west through India and across the Arabian Sea to southern Africa where they spend their winters, making a round-trip of at least 20,000 km every year, travelling between their breeding and wintering grounds.
- This arduous journey includes a non-stop flight over the Arabian Sea after passing across India.
- The resilient falcons arrive in large numbers, during October in Nagaland and a few other places in northeastern India.
- The Amur falcon is protected under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
River Delta in Mars
- NASA has picked an ancient river delta as the landing site for its un-crewed Mars 2020 rover.
- The landing site is named as Jezero Crater, it was filled with a 500-meter deep lake that opened to a network of rivers some 3.5 to 3.9 billion years ago.
- The delta is a good place for evidence of life to be deposited and then preserved for the billions of years that have elapsed since this lake was present.
- Experts believe the 45-km wide basin could have collected and preserved ancient organic molecules and other signs of microbial life.
Largest Sugar Producer
- Brazil traditionally the world’s top sugar producer, this year the output from the nation will tumble 21 percent to 30.6 million tons due to adverse weather and a shift to produce more cane-based ethanol.
- By this India will hold the title of world’s largest sugar producer for the first time in 16 years.
- However Brazil is expected to remain the top exporter, followed by Thailand.
Source: PIB, The Hindu, Business Standard
