The conference will be organized by Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti (GSDS), functioning under Ministry of Culture.
UNESCO MGEIP (Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development) is in partnership with GSDS for organizing this conference.
It is being organized to mark the beginning of celebration of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
It focusses on building a network for young leaders from South Asian countries to work towards achieving UN sustainable development goals.
Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti
Union Defence Minister has launched Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti (Power of Defence Knowledge).
It aimed at educating scientists and technologists in defence public sector undertakings and ordnance factories OFs to create more patents.
A target has been set to train approximately 10,000 persons of OFs and DPSUs on IPR in the financial year 2018-19 under the mission.
Hedging Norms for Companies
A hedge is an investment to reduce the risk of adverse price movements in an asset.
RBI has recently relaxed norms for External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) by reducing the mandatory hedging provision to 70% from the current 100%.
The notification has come after strengthening of the dollar in the recent times which made ECB route unattractive to companies.
A notification issued by RBI highlights that mandatory hedge coverage has been reduced under Track I of the ECB framework.
Track I refer to medium-term foreign currency-denominated ECBs with a minimum average maturity of 3-5 years.
ECBs raised prior to this circular would be required to mandatorily roll over their existing hedge only to the extent of 70% of outstanding ECB exposure.
The move will help reduce costs for companies that raise foreign funds.
Chandrayaan – 2
The Chandrayaan-2 lunar’s orbiter with lander and rover is scheduled to be launched in January, 2019.
A crucial test before the launch called “Lander Sensor Performance Test (LSPT)” is going to be conducted by ISRO.
It involves lander’s sensors which is set to undergo test at Challakere, Karnataka.
ISRO has planned to fly the sensor on an aircraft over its artificial lunar site at Challakere, which resemble lunar craters.
It is to test how the sensor will guide the lander when it starts descending on the lunar terrain.
As the plane descends over the artifical terrain, the sensors must show how they will guide the soft landing of the lunar craft at the right spot, speed and position.
Role of Sensor in the Lander – It helps assess height from the landing spot.
It decides speed of the lander.
It helps lander navigate boulder or uneven surfaces.
Logix India 2019
It is the upcoming logistics meet to be held in New Delhi.
Delegates from more than 20 countries including Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq are expected to participate.
It will be organized by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).
It is aimed at exploring logistics partnerships with India and will improve logistics cost effectiveness and operational efficiencies for India’s global trade.
It will focus on investment opportunities in infrastructure development, warehouse consolidation, technology integration and IT enablement and skilling of manpower.
India is ranked 44 in the World Bank Logistics Performance Index 2018.
Logistics costs in India are 13-15% of the product cost, while the global average is 6%.
