14TH AUGUST
Contents
COUNTRY’S FIRST WATER PLUS CERTIFIED CITY
6TH MEETING OF SCO AGRICULTURE MINISTERS
WATER MOLECULES DETECTED ON LUNAR SURFACE
US NAVY LED ‘SEACAT’ MILITARY EXERCISE
PAKISTAN TEST-FIRED BALLISTIC MISSILE ‘GHAZNAVI’
4TH IT FIRM TO HIT 3 TRILLION MARKET CAP
WORLD ORGAN DONATION DAY: 13TH AUGUST
COUNTRY’S FIRST WATER PLUS CERTIFIED CITY
- India’s cleanest city, Indore in Madhya Pradesh, has achieved another feat of being declared as the country’s first ‘water plus’ certified city, under the Swachh Survekshan 2021.
- Swachh Survekshan is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission.
- The parameters on which Indore achieved the ‘water plus’ status:
- Indore carried out a survey and halted 7,000 outfalls of greywater that went in rivers, drains.
- Moreover, 30 percent of the city’s sewage water was recycled and reused.
- This recycled water was used by people in their gardens and some construction sites. Seven sewerage treatment plants were constructed in the city and about 110 million litres per day (MLD) treated water from them is being used.
What is the ‘Water+’ city certificate?
- A Water Plus city certificate is provided to a city that maintains cleanliness in rivers and drains under its administration.
- According to protocol and the toolkit provided by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs, a city can be declared as Water Plus only after all wastewater released from households, commercial establishments, and the like is treated to a satisfactory level before releasing the treated wastewater to the environment.
- Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh: Shivraj Singh Chouhan
- Governor: Mangubhai Chhaganbhai Patel.
(SOURCE: THE HINDU)
6TH MEETING OF SCO AGRICULTURE MINISTERS
- The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar has addressed the 6th meeting of Agriculture Ministers of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), through videoconferencing.
- The meeting was organized under the chairmanship of Tajikistan in Dushanbe.
- About the meeting: During the meeting, Narendra Singh Tomar highlighted the taking several steps being taken by the Government of India to develop innovative technologies and their dissemination from Lab to Land to empower rural youth, farmers and farm women.
- Apart from Tomar, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shobha Karandlaje also attended the meet.
(SOURCE: JAGRAN JOSH)
WATER MOLECULES DETECTED ON LUNAR SURFACE
- India’s Chandrayaan-2 moon mission may have made a hard landing on the lunar surface in 2019, but the orbiter accompanying it has been providing useful information to scientists back on Earth.
- A research paper revealed that the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter confirmed the presence of water molecules (H2o) and hydroxyl (OH) on the surface of the moon. The findings were published in the journal Current Science.
- “The initial data analysis from IIRS clearly demonstrates the presence of widespread lunar hydration and unambiguous detection of OH and H2O signatures between 29 degrees north and 62 degrees north latitude.
- The discovery was made by the orbiter’s imaging infrared spectrometer (IIRS).
- About the Mission: The Chandrayaan-2 mission was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in July 2019.
- But Vikram lander on-board the mission crash-landed on the lunar surface just 2.1 km from its destination in September that year.
- Chandrayaan-2 was launched with the aim of mapping the variations in lunar surface composition, as well as locating and studying the surface of the Moon for the presence of water.
(SOURCE: INDIAN EXPRESS)
US NAVY LED ‘SEACAT’ MILITARY EXERCISE
- The Indian Navy participated in the U.S. Navy-led Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) military exercise in Singapore, to demonstrate its maritime manoeuvres.
- The main objective of SEACAT 2021 was to enhance the interoperability and shared maritime security concerns and preserve rules-based international order. The exercise comprised approximately 400 personnel and 10 ships.
- The 20th edition of the exercise was organised by the U.S. Navy, in Hybrid format, and included 20 other partner nations from the Indo-Pacific region, including India.
- Other countries participating in the exercise include Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, United Kingdom and Vietnam.
- About the SEACAT: SEACAT was held for the first time in 2002. The exercise aims to foster enhanced cooperation between Southeast Asian countries by incorporating standardized training, tactics and procedures when faced with crises, contingencies or illegal activities in the maritime domain.
(SOURCE: LIVE MINT)
PAKISTAN TEST-FIRED BALLISTIC MISSILE ‘GHAZNAVI’
- The Pakistan Army successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Ghaznavi.
- The Ghaznavi missile can strike targets up to 290 kilometres and is capable of carrying both nuclear as well as conventional warheads.
- The training launch was aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of Army Strategic Forces Command (ASFC) and re-validating technical parameters of the weapon system.
- President of Pakistan: Arif Alvi.
- Prime Minister of Pakistan: Imran Khan.
(SOURCE: HINDUSTAN TIMES)
4TH IT FIRM TO HIT 3 TRILLION MARKET CAP
- HCL Technologies’ market capitalization (market-cap) touched Rs 3 trillion for the first time. HCL becomes the fourth Indian information technology (IT) firm to achieve this milestone after Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro.
- Shares of HCL Tech hit a fresh record high of Rs 1,118.55, up 2 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade, surpassing its previous high of Rs 1,101 touched on 12th Aug in intra-day deal.
- HCL Tech is the third-largest Indian IT services company by revenue, after TCS and Infosys. The company has a strong globally diversified presence and provides comprehensive IT services to an established customer base.
- It has strong expertise in engineering and R&D services and its end customers are spread across industry segments.
- HCL Technologies CEO: C Vijayakumar.
- HCL Technologies Founded: 11 August 1976.
- HCL Technologies Headquarters:
(SOURCE: FINANCIAL EXPRESS)
WORLD ORGAN DONATION DAY: 13TH AUGUST
- World Organ Donation Day is celebrated every year on August 13.
- The day is celebrated to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation and motivate people to donate organs after death.
- The day provides an opportunity to all to come ahead and pledge to donate their precious organs because one organ donor can save up to eight lives.
- About Organ Donation: Organ donation is retrieving a donor’s organ like heart, liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, and pancreas after the donor is deceased and then transplanting into another person who is in need of an organ.
(SOURCE: FIRST POST)