India’s GSAT-29 communication satellite was successfully launched by the second developmental flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MarkIII (GSLV MkIII-D2).
GSAT-29 is a multiband, multi-beam communication satellite, intended to serve as test bed for several new and critical technologies.
The payloads of the satellite are expected to cater to communication requirements for people in remote areas in the country, especially Jammu and Kashmir, and the North-East.
National Council on India's Nutrition Challenges
The Council which been set up under POSHAN Abhiyaan, it is the apex body to formulate overall policies, guide and monitor all nutrition based schemes.
The Council will submit its report to the Prime Minister every six months.
The mandate of the Council is:
To provide policy directions to address India’s Nutrition Challenges through coordinated inter-sectoral action
To coordinate and review convergence among ministries
To review programmes for nutrition on a quarterly basis
SpiNNaker
The world’s largest supercomputer SpiNNaker, was designed to work in the same way as the human brain has been switched on for the first time.
The newly formed million-processor-core Spiking Neural Network Architecture (SpiNNaker) machine is capable of completing more than 200 million actions per second.
SpiNNaker is unique because, unlike traditional computers, it does not communicate by sending large amounts of information from point A to B via a standard network.
Instead it mimics the massively parallel communication architecture of the brain, sending billions of small amounts of information simultaneously to thousands of different destinations.
Yuva Sahakar Scheme
National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has introduced Yuva Sahakar-Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme.
This is a youth friendly scheme which will attract youths to cooperative business ventures.
The scheme will be linked to Rs 1000 crore ‘Cooperative Start-up and Innovation Fund (CSIF)’ created by the NCDC.
NCDC
The NCDC has the unique distinction of being the sole statutory organisation functioning as an apex financial and developmental institution exclusively devoted to cooperative sector.
It supports cooperatives in diverse fields apart from agriculture and allied sectors.
It is an ISO 9001:2015 compliant organisation and has a distinctive edge of competitive financing.
World Diabetes Day
World Diabetes Day (WDD) was created by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes.
It is marked every year on 14 November, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.
The campaign promote the importance of taking coordinated and concerted actions to confront diabetes as a critical global health issue.
Sail Together
A sailing expedition to retrace the maritime trade route of yesteryears between the Malabar Coast and the Persian Gulf has started from Kochi.
The voyage has been planned over a distance of 1200 nm from Kochi to Muscat and back.
The route honours the socio-cultural and maritime history that is shared among populations across the Indian Ocean as a result of this trade.
The Royal Omani Vessel Zinat-al-Bihaaralong with two Indian Naval Sailing Ships Sudharshini, Tarangini, with one each “Sea Rider” from Sri-Lanka, China, United Kingdom, Australia, Bangladesh and Maldives are participating in this ‘Sail Together’.
Exercise Dharma Guardian 2018
Dharma Guardian is an exercise for fostering military and diplomatic ties between India and Japan.
The primary focus of the exercise was to train and equip the contingents to undertake joint counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations in urban and semi urban terrain.
The exercise provided and ideal platform for broadening the interoperability and cooperation between armies of India and Japan.
