Siemens Ltd signs 2 separate MoUs with IISc

• Siemens Ltd (India) signed 2 separate Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with Smart Factory, Indian Institute of Science (ISC), Bengaluru & Smart Manufacturing Demo and Development Cell (SMDDC) at Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI), Bengaluru for the establishment of 1st of its kind Digital Transformation labs. The Agreements were signed for a period of 3 years.

• With these agreements, Siemens Ltd aims to support the Smart Advanced Manufacturing and Rapid Transformation Hub (SAMARTH) Udyog initiative of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India.

• To increase the expertise of researchers at IISc & technical skills of professionals in the machine tool industry. Particular focus will be given to development of industrial Internet of Things (IoT) & Industry 4.0 enabled products and technologies

About Siemens Ltd (India):

• Indian subsidiary of Germany Company Siemens AG headquarters at Munich, Germany Managing Director & CEO - Sunil Mathur
• Head Office - Mumbai, Maharashtra

MoD and BEL Signed Contract for Procurement of DR-Tac

• Ministry of Defence and the Defence Public Sector Undertaking Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) have signed a contract for procurement of Software Defined Radio Tactical (SDR-Tac) worth over Rs 1,000 crore in New Delhi

About Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL):

• Chairman & Managing Director (CMD)- M. v gawtama

• Headquarters - Bengaluru, Karnataka

DRDO & IISc Bengaluru signed a MoU to create JATP-CoE

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Institute of Science to create Joint Advanced Technology Program Center of Excellence(JATP-COE) in the premises of IISc.

• The MoU was signed by Dr. G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary of Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) & Chairman DRDO and Prof Govindan Rangarajan, Director IISc at a virtual event held in DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi

• Under the MoU, DRDO will support JATP to equip it with advanced and unique research facilities which will enable the faculties and scholars of IISc to conduct advanced research.

JATP-COE:

• JATP was created by Former President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam in 1983.

• The scientists of DRDO actively collaborate with the faculty of IISc to work on various missile technologies.

About IISc:

• Director- Govindan Rangarajan
• Location- Bengaluru, Karnataka

About DRDO:

• Chairman-G Satheesh Reddy Headquarters, New Delhi

Gol approves Srivilliputhur-Meghamalai Tiger Reserve in TN

• The Government of India has approved the Srivilliputhur-Meghamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu, it will be Tamil Nadu's 5th Tiger Reserve and the Largest ever Tiger Reserve in the state. It is also India's 51st Tiger Reserve. SMTR is spread over an area of 1 Lakh Hectares and encloses lands which fall under the Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary & Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS).

• The approval for setting up SMTR was given by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under Section 38 V(1) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

• Meghamalai WLS covers the district of Theni & Madurai and Srivilliputhur WLS lies along the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala

• Forest Officials have identified around 14 Tigers in Meghamalai and Srivilliputhur Wildlife Sanctuaries.

• Apart from helping in conservation of Tigers, SMTR will also help in rejuvenation of Vaigai river by protecting its origin in the Forests

• The river Vaigai originates from the Varusanadu Hills of Western Ghats. Tiger Reserves are declared by NTCA via Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2006 under the scheme 'Project Tiger'.

• Tiger Reserves - Anamalai, Kalakad Mundanthurai, Mudumalai, Sathyamangalam

'Mukhyamantri Vigyan Pratibha Pariksha', a Science Scholarship Scheme

• The Delhi Cabinet approved Mukhyamantri Vigyan Pratibha Pariksha scheme, under which Rs. 5000 will be provided as a science scholarship to 1000 meritorious students of Class 9 in the schools of Delhi.

• To enhance science education in secondary school level.

• Under the scheme, the students who secure over 60% in Class 8 will be eligible to take up the examination.

• Up to 5% of marks will be given as a relaxation to the students who belong to SC, ST, PH, or OBC category Other Approval of Delhi Cabinet

3rd Phase of Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Mela in Guwahati

• Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister attended the 3rd phase of the Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Mela held in Guwahati, Assam. The event was organised at the Assam Veterinary College Playground at Khanapara, Guwahati.

• The Finance Minister also distributed the 3rd tranche of financial assistance to the tea garden beneficiaries under the Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Scheme.

• The government of Assam distributed a financial assistance of Rs.3000 to around 7.5 lakh people of the tea garden areas.

• The Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar scheme was launched by the Government of Assam in 2017-2018.

• To bring the tea labours closer to the banking sector and promote cashless transactions.

• Around 6.3 lakh beneficiaries were provided financial assistance of Rs.2500 in their bank accounts as a part of the first phase of the Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Mela 2017-2018.

• In the second phase of the scheme in 2018-2019, another Rs 2500 was credited to the accounts of around 7.15 lakh accounts, which were uninterruptedly operated for 6 months,

Wipro 3D Collaborates with HAL to Manufacture Metal 3D Printed Aircraft Engine Component

• Wipro 3D has collaborated with Engine Division of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to Manufacture Aero Engine Component, Nozzle Guide Vane (also called the Inner Ring)

• The Inner Ring has also received Airworthiness Certifications from Centre for Military Airworthiness and certifications(CEMILAC).

• The Wipro 3D manufactured components will be installed in HAL manufactured helicopter engines.

CEMILAC

• It is a regulatory body under Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO), Ministry of Defence(MoD) that provides Airworthiness Certification for Military Aircraft, Helicopters, Aero-engines, Air launched weapons and other Airborne Stores
• Director/ Chief Executive APVS Prasad
• Headquarters, Bengaluru, Karnataka

About Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL);

• Chairman and Managing Director- R Madhavan
• Headquarters - Bengaluru, Karnataka

About Wipro 3D:

• Headquarters - Bengaluru, Karnataka

• Vice President and Business Head- Ajay Parikh

Denmark is set to Build the World's First Energy Island in North Sea

• Denmark approved the plan to build the world's first energy island (Artificial island) in the North Sea which will produce and store green energy enough to cover the electricity requirement of 3 million households in Europe.

• The construction of the island will cost around 210 billion Danish krone (around Rs 2.4 lakh crore).

• Denmark aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030 from 1990 levels.

• This is the biggest construction project in the history of Denmark.

• The government will hold 51% stake of this island and the remaining 49% will be held by the private sector.

• The island will be constructed about 80 kilometers away from the west coast of Denmark and the initial capacity of the surrounding wind turbines will be 3 gigawatts (GW).

• The island is expected to commence operation by 2033

About Denmark:

• Prime Minister- Mette Frederiksen

• Capital - Copenhagen
• Currency- Danish krone

Bank of Maharashtra Entered into a Co-Lending Agreement with Loan Tap

• Bank of Maharashtra(BOM) entered into a co-lending agreement with Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), LoanTap Credit Products to extend credit to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise(MSME) loans.

• Under this agreement, 80% of the loan will be braced by the bank and the remaining 20% by the Loan Tap.

• Already, BoM has partnership with fintech company Atyati Technologies, but is limited to sourcing proposals.

About LoanTap:

• Headquarters, Pune, Maharashtra

• CEO and Co-Founder- Satyam Kumar

Vijayanagara district Becomes 31st District of Karnataka

• Karnataka government in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (4) of section 4 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964 has given approval to bifurcate Vijayanagara from Ballari(Bellary) district. With this, Vijayanagara becomes the 31st district of the state.

Praveen Sinha appointed as acting chief of CBI

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed Praveen Sinha, currently serving as the Additional Director of Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI), as the acting Chief of CBI. He succeeds Rishi Kumar Sukla

• He has served in CBI at various capacities like Superintendent of police, Deputy Inspector General, Joint Director and Additional Director between 2000-2021.

• He has drafted the Vigilance Manual 2017 of the CVC and CBI(Crime) Manual, 2020.

About Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI):

• Motto- Industry, Impartiality, Integrity . Headquarters, New Delhi

Bellatrix Aerospace is building a 'space taxi' for satellites

• Bengaluru, Karnataka based Bellatrix Aerospace is building a Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) that will work as a "taxi in space" to ferry small satellites into multiple orbits.

• The space startup's vehicle is expected to launch to low earth orbit in 2023 on the Vikram rocket of Skyroot Aerospace, a Hyderabad-based rocket startup by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists.

• Bellatrix Aerospace has built homegrown electric as well as chemically powered engines or thrusters to manoeuvre satellites in space.

• Bellatrix is incubated on the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru. In addition to Skyroot, it have partnerships with Bengaluru-based area providers supplier Dhruva Space.

About Bellatrix Aerospace:

• Founded- 2015
• Founders- Yashas Karanam, Rohan M Ganapathy

A book titled "Platform Scale: For A Post-Pandemic World" Authored by Sangeet Paul Choudary

• A book titled 'Platform Scale: For A Post-Pandemic World' has been authored by Sangeet Paul Choudary. The book has been published by Penguin Random House India.

• It explains about the importance of inner workings of platform business models and their ability to scale rapidly.

• It describes how the decade that led to the COVID-19 pandemic witnessed the rise of platform business models.

• It also acts as a guide for entrepreneurs, innovators and educators who are looking to understand and implement the inner workings of highly scalable platform business models.

Hunter Biden's New Book A Memoir Titled "Beautiful Things"

• Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden has authored the memoir titled "Beautiful Things" which is set to be released in April 2021. The book is published by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

'By Many a Happy Accident: Recollections of a Life'

• Former Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari has authored a book titled 'By Many a Happy Accident: Recollections of a Life'. The book is published by Rupa Publications.

• It describes the unplanned happenings that took place in the life of M. Hamid that changed his way from his deferred fancy for academia to professional diplomacy and then co-opted in public life and became the Vice President of India for 2 consecutive terms.

Arjuna Awardee & Former Davis Cup Coach, Tennis Legend Akhtar Ali Passed Away

• Indian Tennis Legend, Akhtar Ali, the former Davis Cup Coach, passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal. He has supported the career development of the legendary Leander Paes.

• Akhtar Ali has played in 8 Davis Cup Ties Between 1958 to 1963.

• He has also led the Indian team as both Captain and Coach .He won the Junior National title at age 16 in 1955 & also a National squash champion in 1968.

• He is the father of the current Davis Cup Coach Zeeshan Ali.

• He received the Arjuna Award in Lawn tennis for his lifetime contribution to tennis in 2000.