India has been elected as a Member of the ITU Council for another 4-year term (2019-2022).
India has been a regular member of the ITU council since 1952.
ITU is the specialized agency of United Nation (UN) for information and communication technologies (ICTs).
It currently has a membership of 192 countries and more than 700 private-sector entities.
Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.
It is responsible for the allocation of radio spectrum and satellite orbits, and for the standardization and development of ICTs worldwide.
The work of ITU covers the whole ICT sector, from digital broadcasting to the Internet and from mobile technologies to 3D TV.
It is unique among UN agencies in having both public and private sector membership.
In its recent meeting, it was decided to set up ITU South Asia Area Office and Technology Innovation Centre in New Delhi.
GSAT – 11
GSAT – 11, India’s heaviest communication satellite till date, returns to Guiana after repair work in Bengaluru, for its launch in December.
It is going to be launched in Ariane -5 launch vehicle designed by Arianespace, ISRO’s long-time European launch services contractor.
It will be launched from Guiana space port in South America along with South Korea’s weather satellite GEO-Kompsat 2A.
It is built to provide the Indian region superior communication and 12 GBPS connectivity with its multiple spot beams in Ka and Ku bands.
VdW Materials
VdW materials are made of piles of ultra-thin layers that are held together by van der Waals bonds.
Van der Waals bonds are weak forces exist between molecules of same substance and arise when atoms are in close proximity.
VdW materials have the potential to replace the current hard drive assemblies in computers and become the key to quantum computing.
Controlling magnetism is typical of VdW materials.
The layers in the material can be changed, added or removed in order to introduce magnetism and other new physical properties in the material.
UDAN 3
Ude Desh Ki Aam Nagrik (UDAN) is a regional connectivity scheme introduced by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Under UDAN 3, government proposes to connect destinations through seaplanes and have invited bids for the same.
Among the destinations, the recently unveiled Statue of Unity at Sardar Sarovar Dam, Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, Tehri Dam in Uttarakhand and Nagarjuna Sagar in Telangana are included.
UDAN offers concessions to the airlines to encourage them to fly on regional routes.
Concession include operating subsidies like levies or charges imposed by the airport operators, excise duty at 2% and VAT at 1% on aviation turbine fuel, parking charges at airports and exempting these operations from the GST net.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) is the implementing agency.
A Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) will be created to subsidise operations under the RCS.
The central government will fund 80% of the losses incurred and the rest will be covered by the states.
This is provided through the Viability gap funding (VGF) to the selected airline operators from RCF, and state governments will be required to reimburse the applicable share.
VGF will be provided for three years from the date of commencement of operations of such RCS flights.
In general, central and state contributions for VGF are 80:20 and for the north-eastern states & union territories it is 90:10.
Benefits under the Scheme will be available for a period of 10 years from the date of its notification.
RCS will be made operational only in states and at airports which are willing to provide concessions required under the Scheme.
SDG Global Media Compact
Global media compact was introduced in the last session of UN general assembly in collaboration with UN foundation.
It is an initiative marking a new drive to advance awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Compact seeks to inspire media and entertainment companies around the world to leverage their resources and creative talent to advance the Goals.
It is inclusive and aims to embrace media companies from all regions and all platforms.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by world leaders at the historic Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015.
