13TH AUGUST
Contents
ICC TO PUSH FOR CRICKET INCLUSION INTO OLYMPICS
AL-MOHED AL-HINDI NAVAL EXERCISE 2021
SOUTH AFRICA GRANTS PATENT TO AI SYSTEM ‘DABUS’
OVER 5.82 CR JAN DHAN A/C INOPERATIVE: FM.
UP GOVT. RENAMED KAKORI TRAIN CONSPIRACY
KK PANT APPOINTED AS NPPA CHAIRMAN
WORLD’S HIGHEST MOBILE ATC TOWERS IN LADAKH
ICC TO PUSH FOR CRICKET INCLUSION INTO OLYMPICS
- The International Cricket Council has confirmed it will campaign for the inclusion of the sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
- The ICC’s bid to end what will by then have been an absence from Olympic schedules will include multiple demonstrations of cricket’s suitability for multisport events.
- Cricket, till now, has made just one appearance in the Olympics, way back in 1900 in Paris when only two teams competed at the event Great Britain and hosts France meaning the sport’s inclusion in 2028 would mark the end of a 128-year absence.
- The sport will feature in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games next year, which shapes as a perfect showcase for what the sport can bring to the Olympics, as well as being a momentous occasion on its own.
(SOURCE: INDIAN EXPRESS)
AL-MOHED AL-HINDI NAVAL EXERCISE 2021
- India and Saudi Arabia are all set to conduct their first-ever naval exercise Al-Mohed Al-Hindi 2021. To participate in the exercise, India’s guided-missile destroyer INS Kochi reached Saudi Arabia.
- The joint naval exercise will showcase the reflection of growing defence and military cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia.
- About the exercise: The exercise is taking place amid rising tension in the Gulf region after a drone attack on a merchant tanker off Oman killed a British national and a Romanian citizen.
- The UK and the US pointed fingers at Iran for the attack on MV Mercer Street, operated by an Israeli-owned firm.
- In December 2020, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane visited the UAE and Saudi Arabia in a first-ever visit ahead of the Indian Army to the two important Gulf countries.
(SOURCE: LIVE MINT)
SOUTH AFRICA GRANTS PATENT TO AI SYSTEM ‘DABUS’
- South Africa grants a patent relating to a “food container based on fractal geometry” to an artificial intelligence (AI) system called DABUS.
- DABUS (which stands for “device for the autonomous bootstrapping of unified sentience”) is an AI system created by Stephen Thaler, a pioneer in the field of AI and programming. The system simulates human brainstorming and creates new inventions.
What is DABUS?
- DABUS is a particular type of AI, often referred to as “creativity machines” because they are capable of independent and complex functioning. This differs from everyday AI like Siri, the “voice” of Apple’s iPhones.
- The patent application listing DABUS as the inventor was filed in patent offices around the world, including the S., Europe, Australia, and South Africa.
- But only South Africa granted the patent (Australia followed suit a few days later after a court judgment gave the go-ahead).
(SOURCE: THE HINDU)
OVER 5.82 CR JAN DHAN A/C INOPERATIVE: FM
- The Finance Ministry has informed Rajya Sabha that over 5.82 crore Jan Dhan (PMJDY) accounts are inoperative. This is 14 per cent of the total number of accounts.
- It means at least one out of 10 Jan Dhan accounts is inoperative. According to guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India, “savings, as well as current account, should be treated as inoperative/dormant if there are no transactions in the account for over a period of two years.
- According to the website of PMJDY, the total number of Jan Dhan accounts is 42.83 crore with a balance of nearly ₹1.43 lakh crore.
- For the purpose of classifying an account as ‘inoperative’ both types of transactions i.e. debit as well as credit, induced at the instance of customers as well as a third party, should be considered.
- This is key as these accounts are also used for payment under welfare schemes, food grain procurement mechanisms or even rural employment guarantee programmes.
(SOURCE: HINDUSTAN TIMES)
UP GOVT. RENAMED KAKORI TRAIN CONSPIRACY
- The Uttar Pradesh government has renamed a landmark freedom movement event as Kakori Train Action while paying tributes to the revolutionaries who were hanged for robbing a train at Kakori to buy weapons in 1925.
- The new name was used in official communications to refer to the event, usually described as the ‘Kakori train robbery’ or the ‘Kakori train conspiracy’.
- UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Governor Anandiben Patel attended a programme held on the anniversary of the event at Kakori-based Kakori Shaheed Smarak on the outskirts of Lucknow.
- Family members of the freedom fighters were honoured on this occasion, and an art exhibition was also held.
- A government official stated it was derogatory to describe the robbery that was a part of the freedom movement as “conspiracy”.
(SOURCE: JAGRAN JOSH)
KK PANT APPOINTED AS NPPA CHAIRMAN
- Kamlesh Kumar Pant, a 1993-batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as the new chairman of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) by the Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet.
- The pharmaceutical pricing agency was currently headed by IAS officer Shubhra Singh, who was appointed to the post in 2018.
- Singh has been repatriated to her cadre state Rajasthan, according to an order of the personnel ministry.
- Pant, formerly the Principal Secretary (Revenue) in the government of Himachal Pradesh and also the Financial Commissioner (Appeals) at Himachal Pradesh and the head of the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board, has taken charge of NPPA with immediate effect.
(SOURCE: MONEY CONTROL)
WORLD’S HIGHEST MOBILE ATC TOWERS IN LADAKH
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) has built one of the world’s highest mobile air traffic control (ATC) towers at the Advanced Landing Ground in Ladakh.
- The ATC controls operations of the fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters operating in the eastern Ladakh region.
- Meanwhile, India has been considering multiple options of developing airfields in eastern Ladakh including Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO), Fukche and Nyoma which are at a distance of few minutes from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
- The Air Force also has deployed the Igla man-portable air defence missiles to tackle any aerial incursion by any adversary aircraft.
- The Indian Air Force has been regularly deploying fighter aircraft including the Rafale and MiG-29s to carry out operations in eastern Ladakh where there has been disengagement of troops at two locations including Pangong Tso and Gogra heights but both sides have not de-escalated.
(SOURCE: LIVE MINT)