Current Affairs

CAG inaugurates first museum in 164 Years at historic Chadwick House

After 164 years of its existence, the Comptroller and Auditor General has got its first museum with CAG GC Murmu on Monday opening historic Chadwick House at Shimla for the public.

Chadwick House was also the place where Mahatma Gandhi stayed when he came for a meeting for the Cabinet Mission in 1946 that was meant to initiate dialogue for transfer of political powers from Britishers to the Indian leadership.

“Post-independence, in 1950, the first training school for the Indian Audit and Accounts Service probationers was started here,” Murmu said, adding that the museum would serve the purpose of navigating audit heritage from evolution, achievements to important milestones of the federal auditor.

One of the exhibits at Chadwick is Chanakya writing his Arthshastra that was first written document on the principles of accounting.



Rohit Sharma becomes first batter to hit 200 sixes in T20Is

Rohit Sharma became the first player to hit 200 sixes in T20Is during the T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight Group 1 match against Australia at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St. Lucia on Monday.

Rohit struck a 41-ball 92 and hit eight sixes in the innings, taking his overall tally to 203 maximums in the shortest format of the game.

During the innings, the Indian opener also became the second-highest six-hitter in T20 World Cup history, surpassing David Warner (40) and Jos Buttler (43). On that list, Rohit is second to only Chris Gayle’s 63 sixes.



Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and AIIMS to pilot Biomedical Waste Conversion Project

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and AIIMS, New Delhi to install a pilot project and study ‘Conversion of Pathogenic Biomedical Waste to Value Added Soil Additives’. an MoU was facilitated in this regard at the inauguration of ‘One Week One Theme’ campaign by Dr. Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh on Monday in New Delhi.

Dr. Jitendra Singh, Vice-President, CSIR chaired the event in which 24 Technology transfers, Product launches, and MOUs were signed with the respective industry partners for technology transfer. Following the success of the ‘One Week One Lab’(OWOL) campaign conducted by all the CSIR laboratories in 2023, Dr. Jitendra Singh proposed to start ‘One week One Theme’ campaign for the year 2024 from the month of June to December to showcase theme-based weeklong activities on technology packages, innovative and indigenized products, processes and devices across the laboratories. OWOT program aims to promote their achievements and foster collaboration with industry to empower MSMEs, SHGs, Agripreneurs and Startups.



Principal Scientific Adviser to GoI Inaugurates Quantum Security Research Lab

Professor Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and Dr. Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, today (June 25, 2024) attended the 23rd Foundation Day of the Society for Electronic Transactions and Security (SETS) in Chennai. Prof. Sood also inaugurated the Quantum Security Research Lab on the occasion.

Conceived by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2002, SETS, an initiative of the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, is a cybersecurity R&D organization pursuing research in the core areas of cyber security, cryptology, hardware security, quantum security, and network security.

The celebration kicked off with Dr. N Subramanian, Executive Director, SETS extending a warm welcome and delivering a brief on SETS’ research and development activities. He mentioned that SETS has developed futuristic solutions like Post Quantum VPN, Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG), Key Distillation Engine (KDE) for Quantum Key Distribution, PKI solution, Ransomware Early Detection Solution, Security for Blockchain, etc. SETS is working with various academic institutions including IITs and IISc Bangalore, government agencies, national R&D organizations, and user agencies such Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Department of Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and state governments for collaborative research and innovation.



MoHUA celebrates Transformative Milestones in Urban Development on the 9th Anniversary of AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission, and PMAY-U

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs commemorated today the 9th anniversary of three landmark initiatives: the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the Smart Cities Mission, and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U). These initiatives, launched on June 25, 2015, by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, have collectively transformed urban infrastructure and improved the quality of life for millions of residents across India.

While briefing the media on the occasion, Additional Secretary, AMRUT, Smt D Thara, and Joint Secretary, PMAY- Urban Shri Kuldeep Narayan, outlined the progress of the respective missions since their inception. Smt Thara emphasised on capacity building and involvement of women and youth in the implementation of AMRUT projects at the grassroots.



Ministry Of Housing And Urban Affairs Rolls Out Safai Apnao, Bimaari Bhagao Initiative Under SBM-U 2.0

Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry is rolling out Safai Apnao, Bimaari Bhagao initiative under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 from 1st July to 31st August. This initiative seeks to enhance the preparedness of Urban Local Bodies to handle the challenges posed by heavy rainfall and heightened health risks during the months of June to August. It aligns with the Health Ministry’s ‘STOP Diarrhoea Campaign’. The initiative seeks a collaborative effort among various line Ministries and Departments and inter-sectoral convergence to deal with challenges associated with cleanliness and diseases during the monsoon season. The Safai Apnao, Bimaari Bhagao initiative calls for comprehensive interventions focusing on cleanliness, advocacy and inter-departmental convergence to be implemented by all Urban Local Bodies.



C-DAC, AICTE collab to provide training in high performance computing

The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing on Tuesday signed a memorandum of agreement with the All India Council for Technical Education to create an ecosystem for human resource development in high-performance computing and allied areas.

Around 2,500 faculty members from about 1,000 engineering colleges across India will be trained through 50 faculty development programmes under the joint initiative by C-DAC and AICTE.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology plans to teach high-performance computing-related topics to about 50,000 students as a part of their curriculum.



LADAKH ACHIEVED FULL FUNCTIONAL LITERACY UNDER ULLAS PROGRAM

Ladakh has become the first administrative unit to achieve full functional literacy under the ULLAS-Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram (New India Literacy Program). Lieutenant Governor Dr. BD Mishra made this announcement during a celebration at Sindhu Sanskritik Kendra in Leh on Tuesday.

The Union Territory has surpassed 97% literacy, marking a major success for the centrally sponsored scheme aimed at empowering adults aged 15 and above with foundational literacy, numeracy, and critical life skills.

At the event, which included the felicitation of neo-literates and volunteer teachers, Dr. Mishra encouraged new learners and volunteers to embrace lifelong learning. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for introducing the National Education Policy 2020, which he said “paves the way for the future growth of the country.”



Indian Air Force Conducts Capstone Seminar For No. 3 Warfare And Aerospace Strategy Program

Indian Air Force today conducted a capstone seminar marking the culmination of the No. 3 Warfare and Aerospace Strategy Program, WASP at the Air Force Auditorium in New Delhi. The seminar with the theme “India’s Strategic Culture and Imperative for Contemporary National Security’ was conducted under the aegis of the College of Air Warfare and Centre for Air Power Studies. WASP is a strategic education programme of 15 weeks’ duration which was started in 2022 to provide the participants with a deep understanding of geo-politics, grand strategy and Comprehensive National Power. The broader aim is to nurture critical thinkers who can blend cross-domain knowledge to generate policy-driving ideas at the strategic level.

The participants underwent intensive training in the fields of Strategy, Military History, Civil-Military relations, Higher Defence Organisation, Aerospace Power, Information Warfare, Technology and Hybrid Warfare. The program was guided by an external faculty consisting of accomplished practitioner-scholars with extensive teaching and research experience. The graduates of the program were awarded a PG diploma in Strategic Studies by Rashtriya Raksha University.

This edition of WASP saw tri-services participation for the first time. The participants comprised fourteen officers from Indian Air Force, two officers from the Indian Navy, one officer from the Indian Army and a research scholar.



Rahul Gandhi to be Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha

THE CONGRESS announced on Tuesday evening that senior party leader and MP Rahul Gandhi will be the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha.

Announcing the decision after a meeting of the INDIA bloc floor leaders at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence, party general secretary in-charge of organisation K C Venugopal said CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi had written to pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab, informing him about the decision. “Other office-bearers will be decided later,” he said.

This will be the first time in 10 years that the Lok Sabha will have a Leader of Opposition. The Congress failed to get the required 10 per cent seats (54) to secure the post in the last two elections. While it had 44 Lok Sabha members in 2014 and 52 in 2019, it now has 98.