National Strategic Trade Command Centre
It is launched by the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. The platform is developed by the Department of Commerce and Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).It is launched at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi.
The purpose of the Command Centre is built to shift trade governance from periodic reporting to continuous monitoring using evidence based decision making and automation for data analytic. It will integrate the DGFT modules with importer exporter code, certification of origin, etc.
Fuctions:
- It will help in backlog clearance and application clearance and streamlines inter-ministerial clearance for dual use technologies.
- It will help in building trade intelligence to identify non-tariff barriers, underutilized FTAs, and emerging export markets.
- It will help in improving ease of doing business.
Central government has approved the more than 1.93 lakh houses under PM Awas Yojna – Urban 2.0
About PMAY-Urban 2.0:
It is under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It is implemented in the period from 2024-2029 for 5 years to build more than 1 crore houses for urban poor and middle-class families.
Government will invest Rs. 10 lakh crore, including Rs. 2.30 lakh crore under central assistance.
It is a centrally sponsored scheme.
There are 4 components of scheme:
- It’s a beneficiary led construction, government will provide financial assistance to economic poor families to construct homes on their own lands.
- Houses are built by Urban Local Bodies or in Private Partnerships, including green technologies through Technology Innovation Grants.
- To provide affordable rental houses for urban urban migrants through conversion of vacant government built houses or new constructions.
- Interest subvention upto Rs. 8 lakh through home loans for EWS or migrant families.
The ownership of the house is provided to women of the families or joint ownership.
Maldives expressed its appreciation to India for rolling over Rs. 30 billion Currency Swap Facility
About Currency Swap Facility: it’s an agreement between two central banks of the countries to exchange their domestic currencies at a predetermined exchange rates for the purpose of meeting short-term forex needs.
The purpose of this to ensure forex liquidity, to avoid dependency on third party currencies, and to prevent balance of payment crisis.
About Maldives:
It is located in Indian Ocean, an archipelago nation comprises of a chain of 26 atolls with more than 1100 coral reef islands.
Capital: Male, situated on Kaafu Atoll.
The whole nation is built on submerged Chagos-Laccadive Ridge. It is world’s lowest laying country.
8 degree Channel (8N) separates the Maldives from Lakshadweep.
India is negotiating the Free Trade Agreement with Eurasian Economic Union
About Eurasian Economic Union:
It’s a regional economic integration bloc, formed through Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union in 2014. It came into force on 1 Jan, 2015.
HQ: Moscow, Russia
Member Countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhastan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
Observer Countries: Cuba, Uzbekistan and Moldova.
The major objective of the union is to ensure free movement of goods, services, capital and labour among the member countries. The Union integrates a common customs union with a single market regulations and coordinated macroeconomic policies.
Note: Supreme Eurasian Economic Council is highest decision making body.
India and Benin held high level talks to strengthen bilateral
cooperation
The discussion were held on defence cooperation through multilateral exercises, health infrastructure development, agriculture and economic cooperation.
About Benin:
Benin is situated in the tropical West Africa located on the Bight of Benin (Gulf of Guinea).
Capital: Porto-Novo
Bordering countries: Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria.
Geographical features:
In northwestern part is situated Atakora mountains and highest peak is Mont Sokbaro.
The country has coastal lagoons to moist savannas and dry woodlands.
Oueme River is the longest river and Niger river forms the part of its northeastern border.
Note: Benin is part of Economic Community of West African States, African Union, and West African Monetary Union.
Drones strikes in the Black Sea raise fears of Russian escalation to test NATO’s response
About Black Sea: It’s a marginal sea of Atlantic Ocean, situated between Southeastern Europe and Western Asia. It is world’s largest meromictic basin, water layers do not mix and 90% deep water is anoxic means lacks oxygen.
Bordering Countries: Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Romania, Turkiye.
Menomnic: BURGeR-T
Major in-flowing rivers: Danube, Dnieper, Dniester.
Straits (connected to other seas):
- Kerch Strait: Connects to Sea of Azov in North.
- Bosporus Strait: Connects to Sea of Marmara.
- Dardanelles Strait: Connects Sea of Marmara to Aegean/Mediterranean Sea in South.
Doodh Ganga river under the pressure due to climate change
About Doodh Ganga River:
It originates from the Pir Panjal range in the upper areas of Budgam district in Jammu and Kashmir. It is formed by the confluence of 2 streams: Yachera and Sange-Safed.
It is the left-bank tributary of the Jhelum River. It is called Doodh Ganga due to fast flowing and frothy white waters.
It flows through the Budgam and Srinagar districts, before joining the Jhelum river near the city of Srinagar.
- Jwala (MK-1) Missile
India’s 1st indigenously developed private sector micro-missile.
Developed by: IG Defence, Odisha based start-up.
It is short range Surface to Air Missile and does not operate in isolation. It serves as the physical effector within IG Defence’s GRID Defence ecosystem.
Range: 2 to 5 km
It can rise to the altitude of 50 to 5000 m cruise to high-altitude targets. It can carry warheads from 0.5 to 1.5 kg pre-fragmanted high explosives.
It is developed mainly as hard kill interceptor to physically destroy hostile drones and offers a cost effective alternative to traditional, expensive air-defence missiles.
