UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 31-12-2020

Sahayak-NG

• Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) successfully conducted the flight trial of Sahayak-NG.
• Sahayak-NG, with a parachute system, is an advanced version of Sahayak Mk I air droppable container.
• It is capable of carrying critical stores for commercial and fishing ships in emergency and distress at sea from Indian Navy’s Fixed Wing Aircraft.
• It has a Satellite-based Reporting Terminal, which provides its precise GPS location enabling the ship in distress to pick up critical stores.
• After safe separation from the aircraft, the parachute controls the descent of Sahayak-NG for safe touchdown on water.
• The airworthiness of the system was certified by the Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification (CEMILAC).

Akash Missile

• The Union Cabinet approved the export of Akash missile system.
• Akash is a short-range Surface to Air Missile (SAM) system that has a range of 25 km.
• It is developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation under the Integrated Guided Missile Development programme (1984).
• It can simultaneously engage multiple targets in all weather conditions.
• It has a large operational envelope from a low altitude of 30 metres to a maximum of up to 20 km.
• It was inducted in 2014 in the Air Force and in 2015 in the Indian Army.

Light House Projects

• Light House Projects (LHPs) showcase the new-age best of alternate global technologies, materials and processes in the construction sector at a large scale for the first time in India.
• They are being constructed under Global Housing Technology Challenge-India (GHTC-India).
• They will be constructed at six sites across six states such as Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.
• They comprise about 1000 houses at each location along with allied infrastructure facilities.
• They will demonstrate and deliver ready to live houses within twelve months, as compared to conventional brick and mortar construction.
• They will serve as live laboratories for facilitating transfer of technology to the field and its further replication.

Global Housing Technology Challenge-India

• GHTC envisages to provide an ecosystem for adoption of innovative technologies in the housing construction sector in a holistic manner.
• This was launched by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.
• Components of GHTC-India include,
  1. Construction Technology India Biennial Expo-cum-Conference
  2. Identifying and Mainstreaming Proven Demonstrable Technologies for Construction of Light House Projects
  3. Identifying Potential Future Technologies for Incubation and Acceleration Support through Affordable Sustainable Housing Accelerators - India (ASHA - India).

ASHA-India

• It aims to promote domestic research and entrepreneurship by providing incubation and acceleration support to potential future technologies.
• Under ASHA-India initiative, five ASHA-India Centers have been set up for providing incubation and acceleration support.
• The potential technology winners under acceleration support will be announced by the Prime Minister.
• The technologies, processes and materials identified through this initiative will provide a major fillip to young creative minds, start-ups, innovators and entrepreneurs.

Dedicated Freight Corridors

• Prime Minister has inaugurated a part of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) in Uttar Pradesh.
• A 351km section between Khurja and Bhaupur for commercial operations and Operation Control Centre in Prayagraj was inaugurated.
• DFC project is a broad-gauge railway corridor exclusively for freight transportations.
• The concept of DFC was mooted in 2006 to generate substantial capacity for freight traffic by developing separate tracks on identified route.
• The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) is a special purpose vehicle of the railways to develop DFCs in the country.
• There are two arms – Western and Eastern dedicated freight corridors.
• Western DFC runs from Dadri near Delhi to Jawahar Lal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai.
• It covers the States of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
• It is funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
• Eastern DFC is from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni in West Bengal.
• It covers the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
• It is funded by World Bank.
• There is also a section under construction between Dadri and Khurja to connect the Eastern and Western arms.
• Other DFC - East-West DFC (Kolkata-Mumbai), North-South DFC (Delhi-Chennai), East Coast DFC (Kharagpur-Vijaywada) and the Southern DFC (Chennai-Goa).

Source: PIB, The Hindu