National
POSOCO has changed its Name
⇒ India’s National Grid Operator “Power System Operation Corporation Limited (POSOCO)” on 14 November 2022 announced that POSOCO has changed its name to “Grid Controller of India Limited”.
The change in name has been made to reflect the critical role of Grid Operators in ensuring integrity, reliability, economy, resilience and sustainable operation of the Indian Electricity Grid.
About Grid-India:
- “Grid Controller of India Limited (Grid-India)” operates the National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) and five (5) Regional Load Despatch Centres (RLDCs).
- Grid-India is also designated as the nodal agency for major reforms in the power sector such as implementation and operation of Green Energy Open Access Portal, Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Mechanism, transmission pricing, short term open access in transmission, Deviation Settlement Mechanism, Power System Development Fund (PSDF), etc.
Coastal Defence Exercise Sea Vigil-22
⇒ The third edition of the ‘Pan-India’ Coastal Defence Exercise ‘Sea Vigil-22’ was conducted on 15-16 November 2022.
The conceptual and geographical expanse of Sea Vigil included contingencies ranging from Peace to War-time across the entire coastline and EEZ of the country. In addition, mitigation measures, on shore, in case of any breach in Coastal Security mechanism were also validated.
Participation:
- The exercise was conducted by the Indian Navy in coordination with the Coast Guard and other ministries entrusted with the task of maritime activities.
- The exercise involved participation of more than 17 Government agencies from nine Coastal States and four Union Territories that are involved in the Coastal Defence Mechanism and Coastal Security construct.
- This edition of exercise Sea Vigil saw the largest participation from all maritime security agencies.
- More than 500 surface assets from the Indian Navy (IN), Coast Guard (CG), States Marine/ Coastal Police, Customs, Forest Department, Port Authorities and private operators participated in the exercise.
- In addition to the Ministry of Defence, the conduct of this exercise was also facilitated by the Ministries of Home Affairs, Ports Shipping and Waterways, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Fisheries Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Customs, and other agencies of Centre/ State.
Coastline:
- The exercise was conducted along the entire 7516 km coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India.
- The entire coastline was kept under surveillance by the IN and CG ships and aircraft. Helicopters were also pressed into service to reinforce Special Operations personnel operating onboard offshore platforms.
As ports form the nerve centre of sea borne trade, security mechanism of ports was also validated during the exercise and the crisis management plans of all ports were assessed for their effectiveness to tackle emergencies. The State Police teams, Indian Navy Marine Commandos and Commandos from National Security Guard were exercised to tackle acts of maritime terrorism.
Technical surveillance infrastructure:
The exercise also validated the technical surveillance infrastructure called the National Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence (NC3I) Network. The Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) at Gurugram and its various nodes across IN and CG stations were exercised for coordinating the surveillance and information dissemination mechanism.
Significance:
The two-day Coastal Defence exercise provided opportunity, at the apex level, to assess our preparedness in the domain of Maritime Security and Coastal Defence. Exercise Sea Vigil-22 provided realistic assessment of our strengths and weaknesses and thus helped in further strengthening Maritime and National Security.
Background:
- This National Level Coastal Defence Exercise was conceptualised in 2018 to validate various measures that have been instituted towards enhancing maritime security since ‘26/11’.
- Coastal Security being a major sub-set of Coastal Defence construct, the concept of ‘Sea Vigil’ is to activate the Coastal Security apparatus across India and assess the overarching Coastal Defence mechanism.
- The exercise is a build up towards the major Theatre Level Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX), which the Indian Navy conducts every two years. Sea Vigil and TROPEX together will cover the entire spectrum Maritime Security challenges.
- TROPEX 23 is being conducted over a duration of three months from January – March 2023.
Two-day Controllers’ Conference of DAD
⇒ Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated the two-day Controllers’ Conference of Defence Accounts Department (DAD) in New Delhi on November 14, 2022.
On the occasion, the Raksha Mantri released a stamp and a special cover envelope commemorating 275 years of the DAD.
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has exhorted Defence Accounts Department (DAD) to ensure judicious use of financial resources through quick & transparent decision making, terming it as the key to strengthen the combat readiness of the Armed Forces.
» The conference – organised periodically every two-three years – provides DAD and MoD with a platform to take stock of various issues, deliberate and arrive at sustainable solutions.
Participation:
The conference witnessed the participation of over 100 Principal Controllers of Defence Accounts (PCDAs)/Controllers of Defence Accounts (CDAs)/Integrated Financial Advisers (IFAs) from across the country.
Agenda:
The agenda points of the conference included- Public Finance Management: Towards a system of faceless transactions; IFA System: An aid to effective decision making; Efficiency & Performance Audit: From Compliance to Assurance Framework; Improving Service Delivery; Challenges in Human Resource Management and Sustaining Major IT systems developed by the DAD.
Background:
- The DAD handles the budget allocated to Ministry of Defence, which translates into pay and allowances of personnel, payment to pensioners, processing of financial advice cases for various procurements and processing of first & third party claims, apart from the other auxiliary activities, including internal audit function.
- In Union Budget 2022-23, MoD has been allocated a total budget of Rs 5.25 lakh crore, including Rs 1.19 lakh crore for pensions.
International
Finnish Minister of Education and Culture of Finland calls on Dr Jitendra Singh
⇒ Finland Minister of Education and Culture, Petri Honkonen called on Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh at North Block on 14 November 2022 to seek enhanced bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
Key Points:
- India and Finland agreed to carry mutual cooperation between the two countries to a new level in a number of areas of bilateral as well as global interests.
- Two nations decided to enhance cooperation in areas such as Digital Partnership in Future ICT, Future Mobile Technologies and Digital Education.
- The two countries also emphasised on having institutionalised joint working groups on areas of mutual interest.
» Dr Jitendra Singh said, the bilateral STI collaboration between the two countries is an attempt to stimulate innovative R&D projects that address a specific need or challenge; demonstrate high industrial relevance and commercial potential; and aim to deliver benefit to all participants, and more broadly, to both nations.
» Honkonen assured Dr Jitendra Singh that Finland is keen to cooperate with India in 5G, Environment and Clean Technologies, Bio-based Economy, BioBanks and Affordable Healthcare. He said, progress is also on subjects flagged by Indian and Finnish Prime Ministers.
Background:
- India and Finland have strong bonding in Science, Technology and Innovation.
- Within the framework of S&T agreement, the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland together with Business Finland and Academy of Finland have been successfully collaborating for over a decade.