Assam Current Affairs - January 15 - 21, 2019 - Page 2 of 4

Current Affairs Assam – January 2019

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the month of January 2019 )

January 17, 2019

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved to increase the capacity of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) from 3 million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA) to 9 MMTPA and setting up of oil and product pipelines at a cost of Rs 22,594 crore, to meet the demands for petroleum products in the NE states.
The total project cost of Rs 22,594 crore will be financed by a mix of debt, equity and Viability Gap Funding (VGF) .
The debt of Rs 15,102 crore will be raised by NRL and apart from its internal accrual of Rs 2,307 crore, the promoters, namely, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Oil India Ltd and Government of Assam will contribute to the equity.
The project will be supported by viability gap funding of Rs 1,020 crore from the government of India.

To cut down the processing time for income tax returns from 63 days to one day, Union Cabinet has given its approval to expenditure sanction of Rs 4,241.97 crore for Integrated e-filing and Centralised Processing Centre 2.0 Project of the Income Tax Department
After the completion of this project, turnaround time for processing I-T returns will drastically come down from the current average of 63 days to one day. Refunds will also become much faster.
The e-filing and CPC projects have enabled end-to-end automation of all processes within the department using various innovative methods to provide taxpayer services and to promote voluntary compliance.

Union Cabinet approved Rs 6,000 crore capital infusion in Export-Import Bank of India through recapitalisation bonds to boost the bank’s capacity in export financing.
The EXIM Bank will be infused with Rs 4,500 crore before March and Rs 1,500 crore in the next fiscal.
The Cabinet has further approved raising the authorised share capital of the bank from Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore.

FACTFILE – EXIM Bank

Export–Import Bank of India is a finance institution in India, established in 1982 under Export-Import Bank of India Act 1981.
Since its inception, Exim Bank of India has been both a catalyst and a key player in the promotion of cross border trade and investment.
Managing Director – David Rasquinha

The Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) developed by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has completed weapon trials and is ready for operational induction.
The weapon trials were recently conducted at the integrated test range in Chandipur on Odisha coast. The attempt was claimed as the first time in the country a helicopter carried out air-to-air missile engagement.
With this, LCH has completed all weapon integration tests and is ready for operational induction.
LCH also has 20mm turret gun and 70mm rockets as its other weapons.
LCH is the only attack helicopter in the world capable of operating at altitudes as high as Siachen Glacier (in the Karakoram mountain range of the Himalayas),
The copter is equipped with helmet mounted sight and a forward looking infrared sighting system, allowing its pilots to detect and destroy any target on ground or in the air.
Capable of operating from dispersed locations and flying at ultra-low levels, LCH can provide a protective umbrella from all aerial threats.
The Defence Acquisition Council has approved the procurement of first batch of 15 LCHs – 10 for IAF and five for Indian Army.

January 18, 2019

India will train 45 countries in nano-satellite making through a new capacity building programme, The programme named Unispace Nanosatellite Assembly and Training by ISRO (UNNATI) was flagged off in the space hub by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K.Sivan and Minister of State in Deparment of Space Jitendra Singh.
The programme allows India to share its knowledge and expertise in space sector to other countries that can benefit from it.
The first batch of the initiative, which was kicked off, will have 30 participants from 17 countries, including Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Oman, Panama and Portugal.
The programme is the space agency’s initiative to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE+50) in 1968.
Through the programme, ISRO will share its expertise in the technologies related to the small satellite with 90 officials from 45 countries in three batches.

FACTFILE – Nano-satellites

The term “nanosatellite” is applied to an artificial satellite with a wet mass between 1 and 10 kg. Some designs require a larger “mother” satellite for communication with ground controllers or for launching and docking with nanosatellites.
With continued advances in the miniaturization and capability increase of electronic technology and the use of satellite constellations, nanosatellites are increasingly capable of performing commercial missions that previously required microsatellites.
As costs lower and production times shorten, nanosatellites are becoming increasingly feasible ventures for companies.
In the ten years of nanosat launches prior to 2014, only 75 nanosats were launched. Over 1100 nanosatellites have been launched as of January 2019.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh approved a report by a task force that recommends identifying areas for use of space technology for better border management.
Major recommendations of the report are to build capacity of border guarding forces (BGFs), to use space resources for security, operational planning and border infrastructure development.
The task force headed by Joint Secretary (Border Management) and having members from Border Security Force (BSF), Department of Space and Border Management division of the Home Ministry consulted all stakeholders including BGFs.
To execute the project in a time-bound manner, short, medium and long-term plans have been proposed for implementation in five years in close coordination with ISRO and MoD.
Deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in remote areas will be also coordinated through satellite communications.
Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)-based GPS will provide navigation facilities for operational parties in high altitude, remote and difficult borders, and Maoist-affected areas.

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