National
Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA)
⇒ Rear Admiral Manish Chadha, VSM took over charge as the Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA) on 10 November 2023 from Rear Admiral AN Pramod at a ceremonial parade held at INS Kunjali.
- Rear Admiral Manish Chadha is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla and was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 01 July 1991. He was awarded the Vishist Seva Medal in 2017.
‘AAINA Dashboard for Cities’ Portal launched
⇒ The ‘AAINA Dashboard for Cities’ portal www.aaina.gov.in has been made live by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on 13th November, 2023.
- On the portal, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across the country can participate in this pioneering initiative to voluntarily submit their key data on a regular basis, through a simple, easy-to-fill, data entry form on the portal.
The primary objectives of the AAINA Dashboard are to help cities to-
- see how they are faring vis-à-vis other cities,
- inspire them by pointing to possibilities and areas of improvement, and
- providing opportunity to learn and engage with frontrunners.
While not ranking the ULBs, the AAINA dashboard would serve as a tool for comparing similarly placed cities and promoting peer learning among cities.
The Dashboard will present the data submitted by the ULBs on the basis of indicators across five broad pillars namely,
- Political & Administrative Structure,
- Finance,
- Planning,
- Citizen Centric Governance, and
- Delivery of Basic Services.
Key Points:
- The ULBs will submit their data, including audited accounts, and self-reported performance metrics by logging in to the dashboard’s portal.
- ULBs would be free to update the information initially provided by them, anytime on the portal as per need.
- The Dashboard has been envisaged as a permanent platform for ULB related data, that would be updated on a regular basis.
- With active cooperation of all ULBs, the ‘AAINA Dashboard for Cities’ aims to create a robust database of the key performance metrics of Urban Local Bodies, which could be accessed by all stakeholders, and subsequently would open for public view once it gets populated.
- The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs through Digital India Corporation will provide handholding support to ULBs / States in the data submission process on a need basis.
International
India and Bangladesh Navies undertake 5th Corpat and Ex-Bongosagar 2023
⇒ The 4th edition of Bilateral Exercise between Indian Navy and Bangladesh Navy, BONGOSAGAR-23, and the 5th edition of Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) by the two navies was conducted in the Northern Bay of Bengal from 07 – 09 November 2023.
Ships participated:
» Indian Navy Ships Kuthar, Kiltan and Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) Dornier participated in the exercise along with Bangladesh Navy Ships Abu Bakr, Abu Ubaidah and MPA.
- INS Kuthar is an indigenously built guided-missile Corvette, whereas INS Kiltan is an indigenously built anti-submarine Corvette. Both ships are part of the Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam, which functions under the operational command of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command.
Key Points:
- Ships and aircraft from both navies undertook joint patrolling along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), and subsequently conducted maritime exercises to enhance interoperability.
- The ships undertook communication drills, surface gun-shoots, tactical manoeuvres and other exercises that culminated with a steam past.
- CORPAT-23 also included the maiden Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) drills conducted between the two navies wherein a Search and Rescue scenario at sea was exercised.
» Regular bilateral exercises and coordinated patrols have strengthened mutual understanding and cooperation between the two navies.
6th India-Australia Joint Working Group Meeting on Cooperation in Water Resources
⇒ The 6th India-Australia Joint Working Group Meeting on Water Cooperation between Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India and Department of Climate Change, Energy and Water, Government of Australia was held on 8th November, 2023.
Key Points:
- The event brought together representatives from both Indian and Australian Governments for a productive discussion on enhancing cooperation in water sector and charting the way forward with respect to various ongoing and proposed activities.
- Presentations were held on various ongoing activities (Tier-1) and proposed activities (Tier-2) which included Integration of MyWell App with NWIC, Australia-India Water Security Initiative (AIWASI), India Young Water Professional Programme, Water Accounting in Practice and Application, Basin Planning Co-design Workshop, Aquawatch Australia, Village Groundwater Cooperatives and in situ remediation of inland salinity.
- Subsequently, based on the presentations and the discussions held, the India-Australia Work plan for 2024-25 w.r.t Tier-1, Tier-2 and Tier-3 activities were finalized and agreed upon by both the sides.
Background:
- A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Australia was signed on 10th November, 2009 and renewed on 5th September, 2014.
- Subsequently, a fresh MoU was signed between Government of India and Government of Australia on 20th May, 2020 effective for a period of five years for Cooperation in the field of Water Resources Management.
1st INDUS-X Investors Meet
⇒ Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) under the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence and US Department of Defence, organised the maiden INDUS-X Investors Meet on 8 November 2023 at New Delhi. It was held as a pre-cursor to the 2+2 Indo-US Ministerial Dialogue.
Led by:
Mr Doug Beck, Director Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), US DoD led the US delegation and Mr Vivek Virmani, PO (G) & COO/iDEX-DIO the Indian delegation.
Co-ordinated by:
The event was co-ordinated by US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), IndusTech, and mach33.aero (Social Alpha).
Key Points:
» The first-ever INDUS-X Investors Event evinced the interest of the investors in the start-ups and MSMEs operating in the defence sector and the emerging opportunities under the INDUS-X initiative.
- The interactive meet brought all the stakeholders viz Startups/MSMEs, Investors, Incubators, Industry from both sides under one roof to discuss the collaborative agendas and opportunities thereon.
- The event also had focused panel discussions with a select audience of 50 thought leaders, including start-ups, investors, government officials and business leaders from the defence industry.
- The panel discussed on ‘Investment Opportunities in the Defence Sector’, elaborating upon establishing a sustainable commercial foundation for defence collaboration and co-production.
» The INDUS-X Educational Series (Gurukul) was also launched during the event.
About Gurukul Initiative:
- The Gurukul initiative is aimed to help the innovators /startups to navigate in the defence eco-system of the US and India.
- The Gurukul (Education) series will have sessions for the startups/innovators by the experts from both sides including Govt Officials, Corporate Leaders, Industry Forums, Incubators/ Accelerators etc.
- The kick-off session was launched with an interesting fireside chat between the Director, DIU and the COO, DIO highlighting the opportunities for the defence start-ups under the INDUS-X initiative and the way-ahead.
About INDUS-X:
- India – US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) was launched in June 2023 during the State Visit of Prime Minister of India to the US to expand strategic technology partnership and defense industrial cooperation between governments, businesses, and academic institutions of India and US.
- INDUS-X will be a defence innovation bridge which would inter-alia include Joint Challenges, Joint Innovation Fund, Academia engagement, Industry-startup connect, investment by private entities in defence projects, mentoring by experts, niche technology projects etc.