HAL- ISRO tie up to produce cryogenic engine

Defence PSU, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will tie up to work on the integrated cryogenic engine manufacturing (ICEM) facility. This facility will be joint venture of both PSU’s.
ICEM facility will have a built-up area of 5,560 sqm on the land belonging  HAL’s and will be opposite to current HAL’s Aerospace Division. ISRO will fund Rs 139 crore for the facility.
This facility will be established in next two years and help to come out with a strategy on indigenous engines for India’s future space missions.
The proposed ICEM unit will include rotary vacuum brazing facility, machineries for sheet metal forming, et al. The new facility is expected to have a turnover nearly Rs 9 crore per annum.
Earlier, HAL had partnered with ISRO throughout its journey by providing hardware for satellites, SLV, ASLV, PSLV, GSLVMKII and GSLV MKIII (LVM3).

World AIDS Day Observed on December 1

On December 1, World AIDS Day was observed in India and around the world. On this day, India’s Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Shri J P Nadda launched the National toll free AIDS helpline number ‘1097’, and also the Digital Resource Centre and the Supply Chain Management System for AIDS awareness.
The Helpline Number will be available 24*7 and in all regional languages. It has been developed in collaboration with USAID.
The Health Minister also launched the District Epidemiological Factsheets which will be useful to the programme managers in the field.
About World AIDS Day

• 1 December is designated as World AIDS Day every year since 1987.
• It is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection, and mourning those who have died of the disease.
• Government and health officials, NGO’s and individuals around the world observe the day, often with education on AIDS prevention and control.
• This day is one of the eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO)

PM inaugurates Nagaland’s Hornbill festival

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Hornbill festival of Nagaland. PM Modi by wearing a traditional Naga headgear and by beating the traditional Naga gong three times declared the festival open at the picturesque heritage village of Kisama, Kohima.

About Hornbill festival of Nagaland

Hornbill (name of a bird) Festival is celebrated in Nagaland every year in the first week of December.  This festival is 10-day tourism promotional extravaganza which showcases rich culture of Naga tribes which includes shows of music and dance.
It was established on 1^st December 1963 and was inaugurated by the then President Dr. S Radhakrishnan. The festival is organized by the State Tourism and Art & Culture Departments, at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama which is about 12 km from Kohima the state capital. Notably, it is also supported by the Centre as one of the biggest indigenous festivals of the country.
The Hornbill Festival provides a colourful mixture of dances, performances, crafts, parades, games, sports, food fairs and religious ceremonies. The festival both exposes the culture and tradition of tribal peoples, and reinforces Nagaland’s identity as a unique state in India’s federal union.

Parliamentary Standing Committee asks Government to bring Bill on Indo- Bangla LBA

A Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs has asked the government to present Constitution (119^th Amendment) Bill, 2013 without any delay to give effect to the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement (LBA).
This Standing Committee was headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
The committee in its report has mentioned

• Passage of this Bill is a national interest and will pave way for broader ties with the neighbouring country.
• Coming into force of the pact may result in a “modest” demographic change in bordering areas and help to resolve the difficulties being faced by the people living in the “enclaves” of both the countries once the pact comes into force.
• Security dimension due to influx of population should be considered seriously by the government.
• After the enclaves are handed over to India by Bangladesh, government must keep ready a blueprint for development so that development work can be started immediately after the pact is ratified.

Background

The Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill, 2013 aims to ratify the LBA between India and Bangladesh under the Indira-Mujib pact of 1974 to exchange areas and people on either side of the border.
As per the provision of pact, India will exchange 111 enclaves measuring 17,160 acres with Bangladesh and receive 51 enclaves covering 7,110 acres. Almost 51,000 people reside in these enclaves. The territories involved in the exchange are in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura.
On 16^th May 1974, soon after the independence of Bangladesh the LBA was signed between India and Bangladesh in order to find a solution to the complex nature of border demarcation. This pact was ratified by Bangladesh government in 1974.
In 1974, in India Cabinet had granted approval to this pact but was not ratified as it involved cession of territory.

Gujarat tops in e-transactions

Gujarat has become first state in to surpass the 1 billion mark in e-Transactions and to achieve landmark of 100 crore e-Transactions. It was revealed by e-Transaction Aggregation and Analysis – ‘eTaal’, a National e-services Dashboard portal created by the Government of India.
As per e-taal data, e-transactions in the last two years from January 1, 2013 to November 26, 2014 of top 4 states are

• Gujarat has topped with 100.21 crore e-transactions.
• Madhya Pradesh with 62.21 crore e-transactions.
• Maharashtra with 53.62 crore e-transactions
• Andhra Pradesh with 31.95 crore e-transactions.

Gujarat accounts for making nearly 27 per cent of the total 373 core e-transactions in India.
The e-Taal portal was initiated by Government of India’s Information Technology Department during the UPA rule. The portal reflects transaction statistics periodically on near real time basis.
The Union Government projects recorded 185 crore e-transactions since January 2013. Sectors such as agriculture (92 crore), common service centres (17 crore), judiciary (13 crore) and health (10 crore) contribute the maximum to the Centre’s e-transactions.
Gujarat’s contributing services for e-transactions are

• Major contributing services are Land Records, Utility Services & Bill Payments, Public Distribution System (PDS), Education, Health, Skill Development, Transport, Industry & Commerce, Court & Judiciary, Integrated Finance Management Services (IFMS) and Municipality Services etc.
• Gujarat State Government also has started implementing mobile governance to expand its e-governance programme. In 2014, Gujarat registered over 58 crore cases of Government services being disbursed online.