SIPVS Knowledge is Power
- Nasa launches world’s lightest satellite designed by 18-year-old TN student
India once again broke a global space record by launching the world’s lightest satellite weighing a mere 64 grams, called Kalamsat, designed and developed by 18-year-old Tamil Nadu student Rifath Sharook and his team.
The tiny satellite, named after Abdul Kalam, was flown by a Nasa sounding rocket.
Kalamsat was the only Indian payload in the Nasa mission.
- UN Public Service Day: 23 June
The United Nations Public Service Day is celebrated on June 23 of every year.
The UN Public Service Day was designated by the United Nations General Assembly’s resolution to “celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community”.
2017 UN Public Service day theme is ‘The Future is Now’.
- International Olympic Day: 23 June
International Olympic Day is celebrated on June 23 of every year.
It is a day for the world to get active, learn about Olympic values and discover new sports.
Based on the three pillars move, learn and discover, National Olympic Committees are organising sports, cultural and educational activities throughout the world.
- India’s biggest municipal bonds programme launched in Maharashtra
To finance its 24×7 water supply project, the Pune Municipal Corporation launched India’s biggest municipal bonds programme.
The project looks to raise Rs 2,264 crore in five years.
Municipal bonds are debt instruments through which a corporation or municipality raises money from individuals or institutions.
- Union Government launches VAJRA scheme to attract Indian scientists abroad
In a bid to bring together the Indian scientists abroad and India-based researchers for conducting joint researches in India, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) launched a scheme named ‘Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty’ (VAJRA).
Under this scheme, scientists or senior researchers abroad – of Indian origin or otherwise – can collaborate with faculties here.
The broad areas of research like energy, health, advance material and others would be promoted under the scheme.
- Government launches Liveability Index for 116 cities to measure quality of life
The central government has launched the “City Liveability Index” – a first of its kind initiative introduced by the Urban Development Ministry – to measure the quality of life in 116 major cities including capital cities and those with population over one million.
The cities will be assessed on a comprehensive set of 79 parameters to capture the extent and quality of infrastructure including availability of roads, education and health care, mobility, employment opportunities, emergency response, grievance redressal, pollution, availability of open, green spaces, and culture.
- PSLV-C38 Successfully Launches 31 Satellites in a Single Flight
ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C38 successfully launched the 712 kg Cartosat-2 Series Satellite along with 30 co-passenger satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.
This is the thirty ninth consecutively successful mission of PSLV.
The total number of Indian satellites launched by PSLV now stands at 48.
One of the 30 co-passenger satellites carried by PSLV-C38 was the 15 kg NIUSAT, a University/Academic Institute satellite from Nurul Islam University, Tamil Nadu, India.
The remaining 29 co-passenger satellites carried were 14 international customer satellites from USA (10), United Kingdom (3), Belgium (3), Italy (3), Austria (1), Chile (1), Czech Republic (1), Finland (1), France (1), Germany (1), Japan (1), Latvia (1), Lithuania (1) and Slovakia (1).
- Maharashtra government to launch ‘My Plant’ mobile app on tree plantation
Maharashtra forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar announced that a mobile app named ‘My Plant’, which would help in recording data about tree plantations in the state, would be launched on July 1.
Using this app, people and organisations can feed the data about the saplings they have planted with the forest department, which would help it in creating a database of trees.
The forest department has set a target of planting four crore saplings through public participation between July 1 and 7.
- World Bank sanctions 44 million dollars for ASPIRe
World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a loan assistance of 44 million dollars for the Assam State Public Finance Institutional Reforms (ASPIRe) Project.
The loan was sanction by World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development).
The project aims at improving predictability and transparency in budget execution and efficiency in tax administration in Assam.
- World Bank-AIIB Sign Loan Agreement for Power Project
World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have together signed a $380 million loan agreement with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to help the state in providing reliable, quality, and affordable 24×7 power supply to its citizens.
The World Bank and AIIB will provide loans in a 60 to 40 ratio for all components of the project.
The energy demand in Andhra Pradesh is expected to grow to 78,900 GWh (Gigawatt-hour) by FY 2019 from 56,313 GWh in FY 2015, which signifies an annual energy requirement of more than 8.5 per cent.
- US approves sale of 22 Guardian drones to India
The US has cleared the sale of 22 unmanned Guardian drones to India, a deal being termed as a “game changer” ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington for his maiden meeting with President Donald Trump.
The deal, estimated to be worth $2to 3 billion, has been approved by the State Department.
The Indian Navy had made the request for this intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform last year.
- Kavita Devi first Indian woman ever to appear in WWE
Former Indian powerlifter and South Asian Games gold medal winner, Kavita Devi will be making history as she becomes the first Indian woman to appear in WWE.
Kavita has been selected to compete in the Mae Young Classic which is the first-ever WWE tournament for women.
She was selected after taking part in the WWE Dubai tryout earlier this year in April wherein she caught the attention of talent scouts.
Source:- Daily Current Affairs Capsule
