ANSWER: A

• Delhi Airport or Indira Gandhi International Airport has become the first airport in the country to run entirely on hydro and solar power from this month in a major step toward achieving the ambitious goal of becoming a Net Zero Carbon Emission Airport by 2030. 
• Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), a GMR Infrastructure Limited-led consortium, which manages and operates the Delhi Airport, has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with a Himachal Pradesh-based hydropower producing company for the supply of hydroelectricity for the airport until 2036.

Key points:

• Approximately 6 percent of the airport’s electricity requirement is met from the onsite solar power plants while as much as 94 percent of the total demand is now being met through renewable energy use from the hydropower plant.
• DIAL has been working relentlessly towards environmental sustainability and has set its target to make Delhi Airport a Net Zero Carbon Emission airport by 2030, way ahead of the global target of 2050.
• To achieve this, DIAL has adopted a Green Transportation program recently and now achieved another milestone of the Green Energy Program.
• In 2015, the Cochin International Airport in Kerala became the first airport in the world to run solely using solar energy.

ANSWER: C

• The G20 countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom.
• Jammu and Kashmir will host the 2023 meetings of the G20, an influential group of the world’s major economies.
• J&K government has set up a five-member high-level committee for overall coordination of G20 meetings to be held in the Union Territory.
• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was appointed as India’s Sherpa for the G20 in September 2021.
• According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India will hold the G-20 presidency from December 1, 2022, and convene the first G20 leaders’ summit in 2023.

ANSWER: A

• Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated the India pavilion at the technology exhibition Vivatech 2020, held in Paris, France.
• Europe’s biggest startup conference, “Vivatech 2020” has recognized India as the “country of the year.”
• This is due to the contribution of the Indian startups to the world.
• Indian start-up ecosystem has been growing very fast. It has been innovating at a rapid pace. There are over 100 unicorns which reflects the scale and recognition of Indian ecosystems.
• Around 65 start-ups from India participated in Vivatech 2022 with government support.

ANSWER: C

• First Bharat Gaurav tourist train connecting places associated with the Ramayana Circuit in India and Nepal was flagged off from the Safdarjung Railway Station in New Delhi.
• The Bharat Gaurav train carrying 500 tourists from India will arrive at the Janakpur Dham railway station in Nepal.
• The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation’s (IRCTC)18-day Shri Ramayana Yatra special tourist train will take pilgrims to sacred places associated with the life of Lord Ram.

Speciality of Bharat Gaurav tourist train:

• The train with 11 third AC class coaches has an accommodation capacity of around 600 passengers. The total cost for the first trip on Ramayana Circuit, is around Rs 62,370 per person for 18 days and is all inclusive.
• Every coach of the train has been designed as a kaleidoscope of ‘Pride of India’ highlighting the various facets of India such as monuments, cuisines, attires, festivals, flora and fauna, folk art etc.
• The Ramayana Circuit is one of the 15 thematic circuits identified for development under the Swadesh Darshan scheme of the Ministry of Tourism of India.
• The train has 14 coaches and the exteriors of some of the coaches also promote various classical and folk-dance forms, attires, popular festivals, delicacies of the country.

ANSWER: C

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)appointed former Punjab Director General of Police (DGP), Dinkar Gupta as the Director General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
• He is the 1987 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Punjab cadre.
• According to the order, Gupta will hold the post of NIA chief till March 31, 2024, that is the date of his retirement or till further orders, whichever comes earlier.
• Gupta has held the post of Director General of Police, Intelligence, Punjab, which involved the direct supervision of Punjab State Intelligence Wing, State Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Organized Crime Control Unit (OCCU).

ANSWER: C

KEY POINTS

• This agreement will be in furtherance of objective of creating a multi-partner indigenous 5G ecosystem through Startups.
• Collaborative framework aims at accelerating indigenous development of 5G in line with the vision of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and “Start-up India”.

About (C-DOT) and Galore Networks:

• Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) is the premier R&D centre of the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Government of India. C-DOT has indigenously designed and developed various cutting-edge Telecom technologies spanning Optical, Switching & Routing, Wireless, Security and host of Telecom Software applications. C-DOT has developed its indigenous 4G solution and is keenly working in the area of 5G.
• Galore Networks, established in 2013 and headquartered in Bengaluru, is developing carrier grade products and services for global communication service providers, enterprises and critical infrastructure and vertical market segments. Galore Networks offers end-to-end solutions that are centred on complex cutting edge technology platforms like 5G, IoT, Cloud/NFV -SDN and legacy network products ranging from 2G-3G & 4G.

ANSWER: D

• Electric vehicles are vehicles that operate on electric motor and rechargeable batteries.
• Safety and performance are two critical aspects of electronic devices.
• Most of the EVs use Lithium-ion batteries because of its high power to weight ratio.

KEY POINTS:

• This standard is formulated considering real life scenarios for an electric vehicle such as vehicle is in parking (battery is not used for extended period of time), battery system is being shipped (stored), operating battery at low and high temperature etc., accordingly various tests are incorporated in this standard.
• Further, keeping view on safety aspect of batteries for EV, Bureau of Indian Standard is in the process of publishing 2 more standard related to batteries for various passenger and goods carrying vehicles.

ANSWER: C

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) organised a virtual event to celebrate 7 years of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U), which was launched by Prime Minister on 25^thJune 2015.
• The seventh anniversary celebrations highlighted the important initiatives implemented under PMAY-U Mission, which is one of the largest urban housing programmes in the world.
• An e-Book encapsulating achievements of the Mission was then released by Secretary, MoHUA. The book takes the readers through the initiatives and reforms that have been undertaken by the Mission to transform the urban landscape of India and more importantly, the impact it has had on the lakhs of beneficiaries of PMAY-U, who are proud owners of a pucca house with all basic amenities.
• At the event, winners of Khushiyon Ka Aashiyana Short Film Contest were also declared. The contest was launched by MoHUA as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.
• PMAY-U field inspection module in dashboard was also launched on the occasion. The purpose is to assist visitors to inspect PMAY-U project sites/houses construction by beneficiaries with the help of just a mobile phone.
• With a total investment of ₹ 8.31 Lakh Crore PMAY-U has so far sanctioned 122.69 lakh, out of which more than 1 crore houses have been grounded and over 61 lakh houses have been completed and delivered to the beneficiaries.

ANSWER: D

• IIT, Mandi is located in Kamand valley of Mandi District.
• IIT Mandi and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea have announced plans to explore potential collaborations on academic and research programmes.
• Y J Park, director, Indo-Korean Center for Research and Innovation (IKCRI), New Delhi, and Shri Hyo Hee Lee, the Science and Technology attaché at the embassy of the Republic of Korea, recently visited IIT Mandi.
• The two-day trip includes discussions on potential collaborations between IIT Mandi and the Korean Universities.

ANSWER: B

• The government appointed Tapan Kumar Deka, a 1988-batch Himachal Pradesh-cadre IPS officer, as the Director, Intelligence Bureau, and extended the tenure of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Samant Goel, a 1984-batch Punjab-cadre IPS officer, till June 30 next year.
• As per an order issued by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), Deka will have a tenure of two years. He will replace Arvinda Kumar, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, whose tenure ends on June 30.
• Deka is currently the head of the IB’s operations wing. He has a vast experience in dealing with issues like terrorism and religious radicalisation. He had led operations against Indian Mujahideen and credited with breaking its back.