National
4th meeting of National Startup Advisory Council
⇒ The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal chaired the 4th meeting of National Startup Advisory Council (NSAC) in New Delhi on 17 May 2022.
Discussion:
- The Council deliberated upon important matters relating to startup ecosystem including protecting ownership of startups with original promoters, incorporating in India, listing in India, developing innovation hubs, etc.
- The members also shared progress on programs presented in earlier NSAC meetings including National Mentorship Program, Investor-Startup Matchmaking Portal, Incubator Capacity Development Program, etc.
NavIC Grand Challenge:
The Minister also launched NavIC Grand Challenge which aims at promoting adoption of NavIC as geo-positioning solution, a key proponent for digital Aatmanirbharta.
The NavIC Grand Challenge is an initiative to encourage, promote, and nurture innovation that leverages the NavIC services and other allied indigenous geospatial offerings, and set India on a path towards domestic mapping and navigation capabilities.
It aims to identify and handhold solutions of startups which are engaged in developing NavIC enabled drones.
- The NavIC Grand Challenge would be open to DPIIT recognized Startups.
Themes for Challenges:
- Drones
- Agriculture
- SpaceTech
- Data Collection and Analysis
- Image Processing
- Artificial Intelligence
Two frontline warships of the Indian Navy – ‘Surat’ and ‘Udaygiri’
⇒ Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launched two frontline warships of the Indian Navy – ‘Surat’ and ‘Udaygiri’ – at Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL), Mumbai on May 17, 2022.
» ‘Surat’ is the fourth Guided Missile Destroyer of P15B class, while ‘Udaygiri’ is the second Stealth Frigate of P17A class.
- Both warships have been designed in-house by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built at Mazgaon Docks Ltd (MDL), Mumbai.
About P15B class:
- The Project 15B class of ships are the next-generation stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy, which are follow-on class of the weapon intensive P15A (Kolkata Class) Destroyers.
- ‘Surat’ is the fourth ship of Project 15B Destroyers and is named after the commercial capital of the state of Gujarat and also the second largest commercial hub of western India after Mumbai.
- Surat city has a rich maritime & ship building history and vessels built at the city in the 16th and 18th centuries were known for their longevity (of more than 100 years).
- The first ship of this class was commissioned in 2021. The second and third ships have been launched and are at different stages of outfitting/ trials.
About P17A class:
- P17A Frigates are warships that are follow-on class of the P17 (Shivalik Class) Frigates with improved stealth features, advanced weapons & sensors and platform management systems.
- ‘Udaygiri’, named after a mountain range in the state of Andhra Pradesh, is the third ship of Project 17A Frigates.
- ‘Udaygiri’ is the reincarnation of erstwhile ‘Udaygiri’, the Leander Class ASW Frigate, which saw numerous challenging operations in its illustrious service to the country spanning over three decades from 18 February 1976 to 24 August 2007.
- Under the P17A program, a total of seven ships, with 04 at MDL and 03 at Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) are under construction.
- Various novel concepts and technologies like Integrated Construction, Mega Block Outsourcing, Project Data Management/ Project Lifecycle Management etc have been adopted for the first time in indigenous Warship Design and Construction in this project.
- The first two ships of P17A Project, were launched in 2019 and 2020 at MDL and GRSE respectively.
International
India-UAE Economic Partnership Summit
⇒ A high-level delegation led by Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy accompanied by Ahmed Belhouli Al Falasi, UAE Minister of State for Entrepreneurship & SMEs visited India in May 2022.
- The bilateral trade between two countries stood at US$ 65.1 billion, making UAE India’s 3rd largest trading partner. There is a potential of this trade growing to $ 100 billion.
- India is on an ambitious path to achieve US $ 5 trillion GDP by 2025 and UAE is considered as a valuable partner in India’s journey to realize this goal.
» The visit provided an excellent opportunity to further strengthen the already close and dynamic economic ties between the two countries.
Mr Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri and a high-level UAE delegation were in New Delhi for India-UAE Economic Partnership Summit – “India-UAE CEPA: Unleashing the Golden Era”.
Mr Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy, United Arab Emirates made a courtesy call on Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister in New Delhi, on 12 May 2022.
- Both sides discussed the strong economic and commercial engagement between the India-UAE and the comprehensive strategic partnership which is driving the multifaceted bilateral relations.
MoU:
A Memorandum of Understanding was exchanged between NSDC International and the Indian unit of DP World, Hindustan Ports Private Limited to develop a Skill India International Centre at Varanasi and to skill Indian youth for pursuing overseas employment opportunities in logistics, port operations and allied areas.
About Skill India International Centre:
- Skill India International Centre at Varanasi will impart skilling as per international standards, preparing the candidates for global markets.
- Skill India International Centres are aimed at providing high-quality training to Indian youth.
- The centres will host training facilities, providing skills as per the demand of international employers in countries like United Arab Emirates (UAE), Canada, Australia and other GCC regions.
- The Skill India International Centres will also have a wide network of partnering organisations and overseas recruiters to facilitate supply of skilled and certified workforce in other countries.
- These partnering organisations will work with NSDCI for aggregating demand from overseas markets.
- The centres will have services such as mobilisation, counselling, skill training, pre-departure orientation, foreign language training, placement and immigration and post-placement support.
» The MoU signing was preceded by bilateral discussions chaired by Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship & SMEs, UAE.
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
⇒ Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s prime minister for the sixth time on 12 May 2022.
Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Since the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa from the Prime Ministerial post on 9 May 2022.