National
3rd edition of the Northern Zone Food Processing Summit
⇒ Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Food Processing Industries, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Narendra Singh Tomar addressed the 3rd edition of the Northern Zone Food Processing Summit on 24June 2021. It was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Tomar said that the government is committed to the development of the food processing sector.
He said that about Rs 11000 crore will be spent on the production linked incentive scheme for the food processing industry.
Shri Tomar also said that the Prime Minister formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises scheme has been launched under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan with an aim to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized sector.
Biggest ship made in India:
⇒ India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) to be named INS Vikrant, will be commissioned in 2022. Cochin Shipyard Limited has built the IAC. It is expected to be fully hand over to the Indian Navy in 2022.
Key Features of IAC:
» The biggest ship made in India and carrying a price tag of over ₹20,000 crore, it has an overall length of 263 m and breadth of 63 m.
»It can carry a total of 30 aircraft (fighters and helicopters).
» The towering vessel has 15 decks and displacement (weight) of 40,000 tonnes.
» Its endurance is 7,500 nautical miles at a speed of 18 knots (32 kmph).
International
‘Growing Up Biden: A Memoir' Book
⇒ US President Joe Biden’s sister Valerie Biden Owens’ book ‘Growing Up Biden: A Memoir’ will be released on 12 April 2022. The book will be published by Celadon Books.
SCO NSA meet in Dushanbe
⇒Indian national security advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval attended the SCO NSA meet in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on June 23-24, 2021.
Pakistan’s NSA Moeed Yusuf and Afghan NSA Hamdullah Mohib are also among those who attended the SCO NSA meeting.
Host:
Tajikistan, the current president of the SCO, hosted the 16th meeting of the secretaries of the Security Councils of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Objective:
The SCO NSA meet helped prepare the security and counter-terror agenda of the group in the run up to this year’s Summit. Counter-terror cooperation is a key pillar of SCO. Afghanistan was a key theme at this edition of SCO NSA meet.
Discussion:
During the meeting, “Issues of cooperation in the joint fight against the threats of international terrorism, extremism, separatism, religious radicalism, the risks of increasing transnational organised crime, including arms and drug trafficking, were discussed.”
Indian Representative:
Speaking at the meeting of national security chiefs for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Ajit Doval said there is a need to monitor new technologies used by terrorists, including drones, for smuggling of weapons and misuse of dark Web.
He also proposed an action plan against Pakistan-based terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) as part of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation framework.
About SCO:
Beijing-based SCO is an eight-member economic and security bloc. It was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001. It was founded by the Presidents of Russia, China and the four Central Asian countries of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.
Hotel Taj has been rated as the World's Strongest Hotel Brand:
⇒ Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), South Asia’s largest hospitality company, announced that its iconic brand, Taj, has been rated the Strongest Hotel Brand in the World by Brand Finance in its annual ‘Hotels 50 2021’ report. Taj received an overall Brand Strength Index of 89.3 out of 100, with a corresponding AAA rating.
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Brand Finance’s annual report recognizes the most valuable and strongest hotel brands across the globe.