National
Launch of ‘ARNALA’, First Ship of ASW SWC (GRSE) Project
⇒ ‘Arnala’, the first of 08 x ASW SWC Project, being built by GRSE for Indian Navy was launched on 20 December 2022 at M/s L&T, Kattupalli, Chennai.
- She made her first contact with water of Bay of Bengal at the Launch Ceremony graced by Smt Rasika Chaube, Financial Adviser (Defence Services), Ministry of Defence.
Ship Name:
The ship has been named Arnala to signify the strategic maritime importance accorded to the island of Arnala (located about 13 Km north of Vasai, Maharashtra) by the great Maratha warrior, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Key Points:
- Contract for building eight ASW SWC ships was signed between MoD and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata on 29 April 2019.
- Arnala class of ships will replace the Abhay class ASW Ships of Indian Navy and are designed to undertake anti-submarine operations in coastal waters and Low Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO) including subsurface surveillance in littoral waters.
- The 77.6m ASW SWC ships have a displacement of 900 tons with a maximum speed of 25 knots and endurance of 1800 NM.
- The ASW SWC ships will have over 80% indigenous content, ensuring that large scale defence production is executed by Indian manufacturing units thereby generating employment and capability build up within the country.
Social Progress Index (SPI) for states and districts
⇒ Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) released the Social Progress Index (SPI) for states and districts of India on December 20, 2022.
- The report was released by Dr. Bibek Debroy, Chairman, EAC – PM in the presence of other dignitaries at National Nehru Memorial Museum, (Seminar Room), Teen Murti House, New Delhi.
Prepared by:
Social Progress Index (SPI) for States and Districts made by the Institute for Competitiveness and Social Progress Imperative was submitted to Economic Advisory Council- Prime Minister.
About SPI:
SPI is a comprehensive tool that can serve as a holistic measure of a country’s social progress at the national and sub-national levels.
- The index assesses states and districts based on 12 components across three critical dimensions of social progress – Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity.
- The index uses an extensive framework comprising 89 indicators at the state level and 49 at the district level.
Three dimensions of social progress:
- Basic Human Needs assess the performance of states and districts in terms of Nutrition and Basic Medical Care, Water and Sanitation, Personal Safety and Shelter.
- Foundations of Wellbeing evaluates the progress made by the country across the components of Access to Basic Knowledge, Access to Information and Communication, Health and Wellness, and Environmental Quality.
- Opportunity focuses on Personal Rights, Personal Freedom and Choice, Inclusiveness, and Access to Advanced Education.
Based on the SPI scores, states and districts have been ranked under six tiers of social progress.
The tiers are Tier 1: Very High Social Progress; Tier 2: High Social Progress; Tier 3: Upper Middle Social Progress; Tier 4: Lower Middle Social Progress; Tier 5: Low Social Progress; and Tier 6: Very Low Social Progress.
Highlights of the Report:
» Puducherry has the highest SPI score of 65.99 in the country, attributable to its remarkable performance across components like Personal Freedom and Choice, Shelter, and Water and Sanitation.
- Lakshadweep and Goa closely follow it with scores of 65.89 and 65.53, respectively. Jharkhand and Bihar scored the lowest, 43.95 and 44.47, respectively.
» For the dimension of Basic Human Needs, Goa, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, and Chandigarh are the top four states with the best performance in Water and Sanitation and Shelter as compared to the other states and union territories.
- In addition, Goa has the highest component score for Water and Sanitation, followed by Kerala, scoring the highest across the Nutrition and Basic Medical Care component.
- For Shelter and Personal Safety, Chandigarh and Nagaland have emerged as the front-runners, respectively.
» Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, and Goa have emerged as the best-performing states for the Foundations of Wellbeing.
- Within the dimension for the Access to Basic Knowledge component, Punjab has the highest component score of 62.92, while Delhi has topped the list for Access to Information and Communication with a score of 71.30.
- For Health and Wellness, Rajasthan has the highest component score of 73.74. For Environmental Quality, the top three states belong to the northeast region, namely, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Meghalaya.
» Lastly, Tamil Nadu has achieved the highest component score of 72.00 for the Opportunity dimension.
- Within this dimension, Andaman and Nicobar Islands have the highest component score for Personal Rights, while Sikkim has topped the list for Inclusiveness.
- It is commendable to witness Puducherry attaining the highest scores across two components in this dimension, i.e., Personal Freedom and Choice and Access to Advanced Education.
Download Report (Official Link)
NESTS organizes National EMRS Sports Meet 2022-23
⇒ The National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS), an autonomous organization under Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) organized the National EMRS Sports Meet 2022-23 from 17th December to 22nd December, 2022.
Hosted by:
The event was hosted by Andhra Pradesh Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh.
- The event was officially opened by Chief Guest, Smt. Renuka Singh Saruta, Minster of State, Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
About EMRS National Sports Meet:
- EMRS National Sports Meet is the most awaited event every year for tribal students pursuing education in the residential school set-ups established by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
- The Ministry has been organizing EMRS Meets each year to provide tribal students a national platform to showcase their hidden talents in sports. It is a crucial occasion wherein tribal students from all across the country flock together to unleash their potential and capabilities on a national platform.
About EMRS:
- Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) is a Government of India scheme for model residential schools for tribals (ST, Scheduled Tribes) across India.
- It is one of the flagship interventions of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India and was introduced in the year 1997-98 to ensure tribal students get access to quality education in the remote tribal areas.
India’s maiden human space flight “Gaganyaan” is targeted to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2024
⇒ Union Minister of State (I/C) Science & Technology; Minister of State (I/C) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh informed that India’s maiden human space flight ‘H1’ mission is targeted to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2024.
- Dr. Jitendra Singh gave this information in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on 21 December 2022.
Key Points:
- The uncrewed ‘G1’ mission is targeted to be launched in the last quarter of 2023 followed by the second uncrewed ‘G2’ mission in the second quarter of 2024, before the final human space flight ‘H1’ mission in the fourth quarter of 2024.
- The first uncrewed flight of Gaganyaan programme i.e., ‘G1’ mission is aimed at validating the performance of Human rated launch vehicle, Orbital module propulsion system, mission management, communication system and recovery operations. The mission will carry a humanoid as payload.