National
PM lays foundation stone and dedicates multiple projects in Visakhapatnam
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation multiple projects worth over Rs 10,500 crores in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh on 12 November 2022.
About Multiple projects:
» The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of Visakhapatnam Railway Station, to be done at a cost of around Rs 450 crores.
- The redeveloped station would cater to 75,000 passengers per day and will improve the passenger experience by providing modern amenities.
» The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for the modernisation and upgradation of Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour.
- The total cost of the project is around Rs 150 crores.
- The fishing harbour, after its upgradation and modernisation, will double the handling capacity from 150 Tons per day to about 300 tons per day, provide safe landing and berthing.
» The PM also laid the foundation stone of Andhra Pradesh section of the six-lane Greenfield Raipur- Visakhapatnam Economic Corridor.
- It will be built at a cost of more than Rs 3750 crore.
- The Economic Corridor will provide faster connectivity between the Industrial Nodes of Chhattisgarh & Odisha to Visakhapatnam Port & Chennai – Kolkata National Highway.
- It will also improve connectivity to tribal and backward areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
» The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of a dedicated Port Road from Convent Junction to Sheela Nagar Junction in Visakhapatnam.
- It will ease traffic congestion in Visakhapatnam City by segregating local and port-bound goods traffic.
» He also dedicated to the nation, Narasannapeta to Pathapatnam section of NH-326A built at a cost of more than Rs 200 crore as a part of the Srikakulam-Gajapati Corridor. The project would provide better connectivity in the region.
» The Prime Minister dedicated to the nation, the U-field Onshore Deepwater block project of ONGC in Andhra Pradesh, developed at a cost of more than Rs 2900 crores.
- It is the deepest Gas discovery of the project with a gas production potential of about 3 million metric standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD). He will lay the foundation stone of the Srikakulam Angul Natural Gas Pipeline Project of GAIL with a capacity of around 6.65 MMSCMD. This 745 km long pipeline will be built at a total cost of more than Rs 2650 crores.
- The pipeline will supply natural gas to the City Gas Distribution Network in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts of Andhra Pradesh.
International
19th ASEAN-India Summit
⇒ The Vice President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is on a three-day tour of Cambodia, led the Indian delegation, including the External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar, at the 19th ASEAN-India Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 12 November 2022.
- In his opening remarks, the Vice President stated that India-ASEAN relationship forms the central pillar of India’s ACT-EAST policy. He reiterated India’s support to ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific.
Key Points of the 19th ASEAN-India Summit:
» The 19th ASEAN-India Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations was held in Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, on 12 November 2022.
- It has been designated as the Commemorative Summit, to mark the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations.
Chaired by:
The Summit was chaired by Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HUN SEN, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Highlights of Joint Statement:
- At the summit, ASEAN and India adopted a joint statement announcing the elevation of the existing Strategic Partnership to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
- Both sides reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, stability, maritime safety and security, freedom of navigation and overflight in the Indo-Pacific region.
- The Joint Statement also reiterated the commitment to enhance India-ASEAN cooperation in various areas such as maritime activities, counter-terrorism, transnational crimes, cyber security, digital economy, regional connectivity, smart agriculture, environment, science & technology, tourism, among other areas.
- The Joint Statement also proposes expediting the review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) to make it more user-friendly, simple, and trade-facilitative.
- They reiterated their support for Cambodia’s ASEAN Chairmanship under the theme “ASEAN A.C.T.: Addressing Challenges Together”.
- They agreed to establish a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) between ASEAN and India that is meaningful, substantive and mutually beneficial through the adoption of the Joint Statement on ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
- They noted the enhanced collaboration between ASEAN and India in countering Terrorism, Violent Extremism and Transnational Crimes, including through the implementation of the ASEAN Plan of Action in Combating Transnational Crime (2016-2025).
Other meetings with the Vice President:
- The Vice President also called on HM King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia at the Royal Palace and discussed India-Cambodia ties, including ways to intensify cultural cooperation.
- The Vice President had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Mr Hun Sen, along with the Minister of External Affairs, Dr S. Jaishankar. The Vice President held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral ties including human resource, de-mining & development projects. Consequently, four MoUs and agreements were exchanged between the two countries in areas of culture, wildlife & health.
- The Vice President, who is also the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, later met with the Senate President, Kingdom of Cambodia, Mr. Say Chhum and had a discussion on strengthening the ties among the parliamentarians of both countries, including via training programs.
Important Day
48th Raising Day of NTPC
⇒ NTPC celebrated its 48th Raising Day on 07 November 2022, completing 47 years of brilliance and leadership.
Shri R K Singh, Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy congratulated NTPC on its 48th Raising Day function.
Various Awards:
During the ceremony, Shri R K Singh, Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy presented the Swarn Shakti Awards to NTPC Korba won for the best performance in Productivity, NTPC Barh for Project Management and Safety Award, NTPC Kahalgaon for Safety Award (O&M), NTPC Kaniha for Protection & Improvement of Environment, NTPC Pakri Barwadih and NTPC Chatti Bariatu for Coal Mining, NTPC Simbhu Ki Burj- I for RE project Execution, NTPC Sipat for HR, NTPC Ramagundam for Rajbhasha.
NTPC Barh was acknowledged for being the overall champion while NTPC Kaniha emerged as the runners up.
Background:
The company was founded on 7 November 1975 by India’s former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as “National Thermal Power Corporation Private Limited”.
Death
Renowned Mathematician and Padma Shri Awardee, Shri Rangasami Lakshminarayan Kashyap
⇒ Renowned Mathematician and Padma Shri Awardee, Shri Rangasami Lakshminarayan Kashyap passed away on 11 November 2022. He was 85.
About RL Kashyap:
- RL Kashyap worked as a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computers for three decades at Purdue University in America.
- He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2021 by the central government for his considerable service in the field of studying the Vedas.
- Kashyap received many international awards for his immense contributions to the fields of science and technology.
- Kashyap also wrote more than 250 research papers. Founder of Sakshi Sanstha and who translated 25 thousand Sanskrit mantras into English language and created more than 50 books.
- He developed (with Harvard professor Yu-Chi Ho) the Ho-Kashyap rule, an important result (algorithm) in pattern recognition.
- In 1982, he presented the Kashyap information criterion (KIC) to select the best model from a set of mathematical candidate models with different numbers of unknown parameters.
- Prof. Kashyap received the IAPR King-Sun Fu Prize (1990) for fundamental contributions to pattern recognition.