Why in news?

• The Indian Navy has received the 12th anti-submarine warfare aircraft P-8I from the US-based aerospace company Boeing.
• This is the fourth of four additional aircraft, for which the contract was signed in 2016. The Ministry of Defence had signed a contract for eight P-8I aircraft in 2009. However, later in 2016, it signed a contract for four additional P-8I aircraft.

About P-8I maritime patrol aircraft:

• P-8I is a long-range maritime reconnaissance and Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft, and a variant of the P-8A Poseidon used by the US Navy.
• India was the first international customer of Boeing for this aircraft. The Indian Navy inducted the first P-8I aircraft in 2013. The P-8I aircraft is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon aircraft that Boeing developed as a replacement for the US Navy’s ageing P-3 fleet.
• P-8I aircraft is equipped for long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of the broad area, maritime and littoral operations. Its communication and sensor suite includes indigenous equipment developed by defence PSUs and private manufacturers. With its high speed and high endurance of about 10 hours, the aircraft is capable of thrusting a punitive response and maintaining a watch over India’s immediate and extended.

Why in news?

• Central Excise Day of India is celebrated every year on February 24. The day is being celebrated to honour the service of the Central Board of Excise and Custom (CBEC) to the country. The day is celebrated to honour the officers associated with CBEC and their services. The day is celebrated to commemorate the legislation of the Central Excise and Salt act on 24 February 1944.

About Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs:

• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs is formerly known as the Central Board of Excise and Customs. The Customs and Central Excise/ Central GST department was established to administer customs laws.
• Now the department is under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance which deals with the policy formulation concerning levy and collection of Customs, Central Excise duties, Central Goods & Services Tax and IGST, prevention of smuggling and administration of matters relating to Customs, Central Excise, Central Goods & Services Tax, IGST and Narcotics to the extent under CBIC’s purview.

Why in news?

• The Ministry of Railways has approved to set up India’s biggest world Class wrestling academy at Indian Railways, Kishanganj, Delhi.
• The state of the art wrestling academy will be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 30.76 crores.
• The academy will be equipped with advanced training facilities.
• Indian Railways promotes sports in India through the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB).
• Sushil Kumar (Bronze in 2008 Beijing Olympic and 2012 London Olympic); Sakshi Malik (Bronze in 2016 Rio Olympic); Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (Silver); Ravi Kumar Dahiya (Bronze) and Bajrang Punia (Bronze) of 2020 Tokyo Olympics were all associated with Indian Railways.

Why in news?

• Indian Railways along Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), has successfully commissioned India’s first Solar Photovoltaic Plant of 1.7-MegaWatt (MW) at Bina, Madhya Pradesh.
• The plant is under extensive testing and will be in operation for Indian Railways.
• The solar plant will be directly connected to the overhead traction system. And will produce approximately 25 lakh units of energy annually.
• The plant has 5800 solar modules, mounted on 145 sets of modular mounting structure.
• The construction of a solar plant by Indian Railways is a step to fulfil its self-sufficient energy needs by ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.
• The solar power plant has been installed on vacant unused lands for Renewable Energy (RE) projects of Indian Railways.
• Aim:
• The installation of the solar plants is to achieve conversion of Indian Railways to ‘Net Zero’ Carbon Emission and ‘Go Green’ by 2030.
• Aiming to reduce 2,160 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission every year.
• Aims to save around Rs 1.37 crore every year.
• Technology Involved:
• The solar plant converts Direct Current (DC) into Single Phase Alternating Current (AC) to feed directly to the Overhead Traction System of Railways.
• The high capacity inverters were used to convert DC energy to AC energy of 25 kilovolts (kV) AC-1 power to run electric trains.

Why in news?

• 24th February 2022, marks the 3rd anniversary of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme. It was launched on 24th February in 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.
• It is 100% Funded by the central government under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW).
• Objective – To provide income support to all landholding farmer’s families irrespective of the land size in order to meet their expenses related to agriculture and domestic needs.

 About PM-KISAN scheme

• Under the Scheme, Farmers will receive an amount of 6000 per year in 3 equal instalments of Rs.2000 directly into their bank accounts.
• Initially, the Scheme provided income support to all families of Small and Marginal Farmers having cultivable land up to 2 hectares which was then expanded to cover farmers irrespective of the size of their landholdings.
• Budget Allocation 2022-23: Government of India (GoI) has allocated Rs 68,000 Crore for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) in the Union Budget 2022-23, which is just 4.6 per cent higher than the Budget Estimates of Rs 65,000 crore for 2021-22 and only 0.74 per cent higher than the revised estimates of Rs 67,500 crore for the current financial year(FY22).

Why in news?

• It is organized annually by the Government of Madhya Pradesh at Khajuraho.
• It is centered on Indian classical dance styles and famous artists of the country and the world give their dance performances during the festival.
• This festival began in 1975.
• Khajuraho is known for the temples built during the Chandella dynasty, which reached its apogee between 950 and 1050.
• Temples belong to Hinduism and Jainism and have been recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.

Why in news?

• The government of Assam is set to launch a 4-year mentorship programme – “Project Arohan” – to mentor the students of Assam and to hone their skills.
• Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister(CM) of Assam, met with Anita Rajan, Chief Executive officer CEO) of Tata STRIVE, the skill development initiative of Tata Trusts, to seek cooperation for Project Arohan.

Why in news?

• Recently, Sakibul Gani, an Indian cricketer hailing from Motihari in Bihar, created a world record by becoming the first cricketer to score a triple century on his debut in a first-class match, 2021-22 Ranji Trophy.
• He scored 341 runs with 405 balls, (56 fours& 2 sixes) representing Bihar in the plate group 2021-22 Ranji Trophy fixture against Mizoram at the Jadavpur University Campus Ground, Kolkata, West Bengal.
• He made his List A debut for Bihar in October 2019.
• Previously, the record of highest score on first-class debut was held by Ajay Rothera of Madhya Pradesh (267 runs in December 2018) and Amol Muzumdar of Mumbai (260 runs in 1993-1994).

Why in news?

• The indigenously developed manned underwater submersible vehicle, Matsya 6000 that is capable of taking 3 humans to a depth of 6,000 metres (m), will be ready as for its launch in 2024 for the Samudrayaan Mission.

About Matsya 6000

• MATSYA 6000 is an undersea submersible vehicle designed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and developed by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) under the aegis of Deep Ocean Mission (DOM).
• The navigation and electronics aspects of the vehicle were designed by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), MoES. Click here to know more
• Features:
• Matsya 6000 is of 2.1 m in diameter with Titanium Alloy Personnel Sphere of 80 mm thickness that uses a battery powered propulsion which can reach a maximum depth of 6,000 metres.
• It has the operational capacity of 12 hours and during emergencies it can operate up to 96 hours for deep ocean exploration of non-living resources such as polymetallic manganese nodules, gas hydrates, hydro-thermal sulphides and cobalt crusts, located at a depth between 1,000 m and 5,500 m.
• It will also study cobalt crust, hydrothermal sulphides, hydrates and polymetallic manganese nodules in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

About Samudrayaan Mission:

• In October 2021, Union Minister of State, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh launched India’s first and unique manned Ocean Mission Samudrayaan that aims to send humans for deep sea exploration.
• By the launch of Samudrayaan mission, India will join the elite club of countries that includes United States, Russia, France, Japan, and China.

Why in news?

• 21st February 2022 marked the 6th anniversary of the launch of the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission(SPMRM), undertaken by the Ministry of Rural Development.
• In 2016, PM launched the SPMRM with an aim to develop 300 Rurban clusters in India by provisioning economic, social and physical infrastructure facilities.
• So far, the Ministry of Rural Development has approved 296 clusters under SPMRM.

About Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission

• Rurban cluster is a cluster of geographically contiguous villages with a population of around 25000 to 50000 in plain and coastal areas and with a population of 5000 to 15000 in desert, hilly or tribal areas.
• Objective: To stimulate local economic development, enhance basic services, and create well planned Rurban clusters.
• Key Points:
• SPMRM focuses on cluster-based integrated development through Spatial Planning.
• The Rurban clusters are identified across the rural areas of India which shows the increasing signs of urbanisation.
• The signs include an increase in population density, high levels of non-farm employment, the presence of growing economic activities and other socioeconomic parameters.
• The mission aims to transform the Rurban clusters by stimulating local economic development, enhancing basic services, and creating well planned Rurban clusters.
• There will be two categories of clusters under SPMRM: Non-Tribal and Tribal.
• Outcomes: The anticipated outcomes under the mission are,
• Bridging the rural-urban divide through economic, technological and those related to facilities and services.
• Stimulating local economic development with emphasis on reduction of poverty and unemployment in rural areas.
• Spreading development in the region.
• Attracting investment in rural areas.