Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Editorials are covered separately. HINDU NOTES are available free date wise| CLICK HERE

Netanyahu’s visit to give a leg-up to India-Israel ties

News

Israeli Prime Minsiter Benjamin Netanyahu will visit India between 14-19 January, 2018, the Ministry of External Affairs announced.

Beyond News

The visit is a reciprocating gesture from Israel to the first Prime Minister-level visit from India undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2017.

The visit marks the high point of the 25th anniversary of normal diplomatic ties between the two countries.

China breaks India’s internet monopoly in Nepal

News

China became Nepal’s second internet service provider, breaking India’s monopoly in providing internet access to the Himalayan Kingdom.

Beyond News

The Hong Kong and Beijing based China Telecom Global (CTG) a company formed in 2012 has teamed up with Nepal Telecom to provide alternate cyber-connectivity to Nepal.

So far, Nepal had been linked to the global internet network through Indian telecom operators, using optical fiber connections in Biratnagar, Bhairahawa and Birgunj, among others.

But a new terrestrial fiber cable launched in 2016 by CTG will now connect Nepal and China through the Jilong (Rasuwagadhi) border gateway.

Media reports in Nepal say that the new fiber link extends to China’s Hong Kong Data Center one of Asia’s largest global data centers.

 

Coming soon: orange passports sans parents’ names

News

Orange will be the colour of jackets of new general passports, announced the Ministry of External Affairs indicating a facelift for the blue booklet, essential for the Indian travellers.

Beyond News

• The announcement came even as the ministry responding to a single mother’s application for her child’s passport, conducted extensive consultations and did away with the usual last page of the document, which contained names of parents, and home address of the applicant.
• However, the passports that are currently in circulation would remain valid till the printed date of expiry in the booklet.
• The announcement on the new look passport came along with the decision of the MEA to do away with the back page of the passport that has been subjected to criticism from single parents as it required names of both parents.

After consulting the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regarding compatibility of passport booklets minus the last page, with Machine Readable Travel Documents, the MEA concluded that, the last page of the passport and other travel documents issued under the Passports Act, 1967 and Passport Rules, 1980 would no longer be printed.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

ISRO’s 42nd PSLV successfully puts 31 satellites in orbit

News

The 42nd Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), PSLV-C40, was launched successfully by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from the First Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota and it placed 31 satellites across two orbits.

Beyond News

The PSLV, launched at 9.29 a.m., had as its primary payload the country’s fourth satellite in the remote sensing Cartosat-2 series, weighing 710 kg. The 30 other co-passenger smaller satellites, together weigh 613 kg. Of them, 28 are from other countries.

The Cartosat-2, whose imagery will be used to develop various land and geographical information system applications, was placed in a circular polar sun synchronous orbit 505 km from the Earth.

It is the two other Indian satellites in the payload that have generated much excitement. Both are called technology demonstrators, indicating significant strides in miniaturisation.

The other one, a nanosatellite, named Indian Nano Satellite (INS) – 1C, is the third in its series; its predecessors were part of the PSLV-C37 launch of February 2017.

Of the 28 foreign satellites, launched as part of deals made by ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix Corporation Limited, three were microsatellites and 25 nanosatellites.

There were 19 satellites from the United States and five from South Korea. The United Kingdom, France, Canada and Finland had a satellite each.

CLICK HERE TO SEE DATE WISE CURRENT AFFAIRS