National
Visitor’s Conference 2022
⇒ The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind hosted the Visitor’s Conference 2022 at Rashtrapati Bhavan on June 7 and 8, 2022.
The President of India inaugurated the two-day Conference of Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities and Directors of Institutions of National Importance at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 07 June 2022.
- The President is the Visitor of 161 Central Institutes of Higher Education. Out of 161 institutes, 53 attended the Conference physically while others were connected virtually.
Discussion:
In different sessions, the Conference deliberated on various topics such as –
Role and responsibilities of Higher Education Institutions in Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav; international rankings of Higher Education Institutions; collaboration between Academia-Industry and policy-makers; integrating school, higher and vocational education; education and research in emerging and disruptive technologies.
Visitor’s Awards 2020:
During the inaugural session of the Conference, the President presented the Visitor’s Awards 2020 in the categories of Research and Technological Development in the presence of Union Minister of Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and other dignitaries.
Awardees:
- ‘Visitor’s Award 2020 for Research (Biological Sciences)’: Prof Mohammad Zahid Ashraf, Department of Biotechnology, Jamia Millia Islamia for his research on hypoxia-induced thrombosis
- ‘Visitor’s Award 2020 for Technology Development’: Prof Pritam Deb, Department of Physics, Tezpur University for his work on development of biodegradable polymer film reinforced with two-dimensional hetero-structure for food packaging
- ‘Visitor’s Award 2020 for Research (Physical Sciences)’: Prof Anunay Samanta, School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad for his contribution to the spectroscopy and dynamics of short-lived chemical species formed on photo-excitation of molecular systems and materials
MD of Union Bank of India
⇒ The government has appointed A Manimekhalai as managing director of Union Bank of India. Canara Bank executive director Manimekhalai replaced Rajkiran Rai G, who retired on May 31 after a five-year stint.
With her assuming charge, Manimekhalai becomes the first woman managing director of Union Bank of India.
- Manimekhalai, a Master of Business Administration degree holder from Bangalore University, joined erstwhile Vijaya Bank as Officer in 1988.
- She was instrumental in devising and implementing strategic policies, covering core areas like strategic planning, setting organisational goals, growth strategies, action plans, compliance, internal control, etc.
International
INS Satpura visits Manila
⇒ Towards enhancing military cooperation with the navies of friendly foreign countries, Indian Naval Ship Satpura on a deployment to the South China Sea (SCS) and West Pacific, visited Manila from 03 to 06 June 2022.
Aim:
The visit was aimed at strengthening mutual working relationships and interoperability between the Indian Navy and the Philippines Navy.
About INS Satpura:
INS Satpura is an indigenously designed and built 6000 tonnes guided missile stealth frigate equipped to seek and destroy adversaries in air, surface and undersea. The ship is a part of the Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam.
Sports
National Air Sport Policy 2022 (NASP 2022)
The Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia launched National Air Sport Policy 2022 (NASP 2022) on 07 June 2022.
During the event, Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Scindia also interacted with 2 Indian Air Sports Players – Ms. Shital Mahajan and Ms. Rachel Thomas. Both are sky drivers and Padma-Shri awardees.
- Ms. Shital Mahajan is known as the first woman to perform an accelerated free fall jump over the Antarctica from 10,000 feet, the youngest woman to jump over both the North and South Poles and the first woman jumper to perform it without trials while Ms. Rachel Thomas was the first Indian woman to skydive from 7,000 feet over the North Pole.
Key Points:
- NASP 2022 lays out the vision of making India as one of the top sports nations by 2030, by providing a safe, affordable, accessible, enjoyable and sustainable air sports ecosystem in India.
- Air sports, as the names suggests, encompasses various sports activities involving the medium of air. These include sports like air-racing, aerobatics, aero modeling, hang gliding, paragliding, para motoring and skydiving etc.
- India has the potential to be among the leading nations in the world of air sports. NASP 2022, has been drafted based on the inputs received from policy makers, air sports practitioners and public at large and will ensure establishment of good quality of infrastructure, equipment, instructors and services.
The policy will cover the following air sports in India: –
- Aerobatics
- Aero modeling and model rocketry
- Amateur-built and experimental aircraft
- Ballooning
- Drones
- Gliding and powered gliding
- Hang gliding and powered hang gliding
- Parachuting (including skydiving, BASE jumping and wing suits etc.)
- Paragliding and para motoring (including powered parachute trikes etc.)
- Powered aircraft (including ultra-light, micro light and light sports aircraft etc.)
- Rotorcraft (including autogyro)
Under the new policy, there will be four-tier governance structure for air sports in India namely
- Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) as the apex governing body
- National associations for individual air sports or a set of air sports, as appropriate
- Regional (e.g. West/ South/ North East etc.) or State and Union Territory level units of the national air sports associations, as appropriate; and
- District-level air sports associations, as appropriate.
Key Objectives of NASP 2022:
- Promote an air sports culture in the country
- Enable adoption of international good practices in safety including but not limited to, air sports infrastructure, equipment, operations, maintenance and training
- Develop a simple, stakeholder-friendly and effective governance structure
- Enhance participation and success of Indian sportspersons in global air sports events; and
- Promote design, development and manufacturing of air sports equipment in India in line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.