PIB Summary- 21st January, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Statehood Day

Context: Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura celebrate their Statehood Day on 21 January. 

Details about the formation of the three states

• January 21, 2021 marks the 49^th formation day of the north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura.
• The former princely states of Tripura and Manipur were blended into the Indian Union in October 1949 and became full states on January 21, 1972.
• Meghalaya, which was part of Assam, received its own full statehood under the North Eastern Region (Re-Organisation) Act, 1971.
• Before the north-eastern region turned into seven sisters with statehood of Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, the regional composition of the North East comprised Assam plains from the old Assam Province, the hill districts, and the North Eastern Frontier Tracts (NEFT) of the North-Eastern borderland.
• Manipur and Tripura merged into India in 1949 (as Part C states) and were granted the status of Union Territories in 1956.
• Within Assam, Meghalaya was given the status of an autonomous state through the Assam Reorganisation (Meghalaya) Act 1969, according to the sixth schedule of the Indian Constitution.
• It was finally, in 1972 that Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur were granted full statehood by the North East Reorganisation Act of 1971.

Raksha Mantri Padak

Context: Defence Minister confers Raksha Mantri Padak and Commendation to NCC cadets. 

About Raksha Mantri Padak

• The Raksha Mantri Padak was instituted in 1989.
• It is awarded to the most deserving National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadet every year for bravery or exceptional service of the highest order.
• Two Raksha Mantri Padak awards are given every year to two cadets with a cash incentive of Rs.30,000 each.
• Additionally, the ‘Raksha Mantri Commendation’ is another award given to four NCC personnel with a cash incentive of Rs.20,000 each.

About the National Cadet Corps (NCC)

• The NCC is the largest uniformed youth organisation in the world.
• It is the youth wing of the Indian armed forces.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi and is open to school and college students on a voluntary basis.
• The NCC is a tri-service organisation and comprises of army, navy and air force wings.
• It recruits cadets from schools and colleges from all over India.
• The cadets are given basic military training in small arms and parades.
• After the cadets complete their course, there is no liability to join the mainstream military service.
• NCC’s motto: “Unity and Discipline”
• The organisation was formed in 1948 by the National Cadet Corps Act.
• The NCC is headed by a Director General with the rank of Lieutenant General.
• The NCC aims at developing character, comradeship, discipline, secular outlook, the spirit of adventure and ideals of selfless service amongst young citizens.
• Further, it aims at creating a pool of organized, trained and motivated youth with leadership qualities in all walks of life, who will serve the nation regardless of which career they choose.
• The NCC also provides an environment conducive to motivating young Indians to join the armed forces.
• It conducts many activities such as various camps, adventure sports activities, leadership courses, cultural exchanges, etc.
• The NCC celebrates its Raising Day on 24th November every year.

Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report

Context: TRAI releases the Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report for the quarter ending July – September 2020.

What is the Report?

• The ‘Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report’ is released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
• It provides a broad perspective of the Telecom Services in India and presents the key parameters and growth trends of the Telecom Services as well as Cable TV, DTH & Radio Broadcasting services in India.
• It is compiled mainly on the basis of information furnished by the Service Providers. 

Highlights from the Report (Quarter July – Sep 2020)

• The number of telephone subscribers in India increased by 0.70% over the previous quarter.
• This reflects a year-on-year decline of 2.22% over the previous year in the same quarter.
• The total number of internet subscribers also registered an increase in the quarter, showing a rise of 3.66%. 
  • While the broadband subscriber base increased in the quarter, the narrowband subscriber base declined.
• Since its introduction in the year 2003, DTH (direct-to-home) service has displayed phenomenal growth.

Exercise Kavach

Context: The three wings of the Indian armed forces will be holding a massive joint military exercise ‘Excercise Kavach’.

About Exercise Kavach

• The exercise would involve participation of Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.
• It will be conducted under the aegis of Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), which is the only Joint Forces Command of the country.
• The joint military exercise will enhance the fine-tune joint war-fighting capabilities of the tri-services and SOPs towards enhancing operational synergy.
• During the exercise, the Army’s Amphibious Brigade, Special Forces of Navy, Armour/Mechanised components, naval ships comprising destroyers, ASW Corvettes and Landing Ships with ship-borne helicopters will be deployed.
• The IAF will display its firepower with Jaguar Maritime Strike and transport aircraft. 
• The Indian Coast Guard will also be included in the large scale joint military exercise. 
• The tri-services exercise involves synergised application of maritime surveillance assets, coordinated air and maritime strikes, air defence, submarine and landing operations.
• During the exercise, Army, Navy and Air Force would execute multi-domain, high-intensity offensive and defensive manoeuvres in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal and carry out amphibious landing operations, air landed operation, helicopters-borne insertion of Special Forces from sea culminating in tactical follow-on operations on land.

AstroSat’s Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope

Context: AstroSat’s Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope spots rare ultraviolet-bright stars in NGC 2808 in the Milky Way.

Details

• NGC 2808 is a globular cluster in the Milky Way galaxy that is said to have at least five generations of stars.
• The old globular clusters referred to as ‘dinosaurs of the universe’, present excellent laboratories where astronomers can understand how stars evolve through various phases between their birth and death with spectacular ultraviolet images of the cluster from Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT).
  • A globular cluster is a spherical collection of stars that orbits a galactic core. Such clusters are tightly bound by gravity.

Where are the Control Centres of Astrosat Located?

Control of Astrosat is based out of different centres, which are given below.

• Primary Data Archive Centre of Astrosat – Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC), located at Bangalore.
• Ground Command and Control Centre for Astrosat – ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), located at Bangalore.

What is UVIT in Astrosat Payloads?
UVIT stands for Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope. It is the long-wavelength eye of the multi-wavelength satellite Astrosat. UVIT is configured as 2 Cassegrain-telescopes, one of the telescope’s images in FUV and other telescope images in NUV and VIS. It was developed in collaboration with various research institutions in India and Canada. The list of institutes and organisations involved in this project are:

• Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore.
• Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUAA), Pune.
• Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
• CSA, Canada.

Which type of fuel is used in Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in its operations?
GSLV launch vehicles are used to put heavier satellites (4 tons to 10 tons) in Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). To achieve this objective ISRO has successfully developed Cryogenic engines which will be used in GSLV launch vehicles. The fuel used in Cryogenic engines is the liquid fuel and liquid hydrogen. To keep the fuels in liquid form, extremely low temperatures must be achieved and maintained. It is a technological breakthrough since cryogenic engines have been developed by only a few countries in the world.

Shramshakti Digital Data Solution

Context: Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Goa Government to jointly launch Shramshakti Digital Data Solution.

About Shramshakti

• It is a national migration support portal aimed at the smooth functioning of national and state level programmes for migrant workers.
• The Goa Government also launched Shram-Saathi, a training manual for migrant workers in Goa.