Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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India, China agree to expand military ties

News

• India and China are set to expand their military ties, in tune with the spirit of the Wuhan informal summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Beyond News

• During talks between visiting Defence Secretary and his Chinese counterpart, both sides agreed to add another layer of exchanges between the military personnel of the two countries.
• For the first time, cadets from Indian and Chinese military academies, as well mid-level officers, will meet each other regularly.
• The two senior officials also agreed to continue with visits at the level of military commands and civilian officers of the Ministry of Defence.
• An Indian Embassy statement noted that “specific additional confidence-building measures at the operational level” have been included in view of the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the India-Chinaborder areas.
• The two sides stressed the need to “further strengthen military-to-military ties in order to strengthen political and strategic mutual trust between the two countries.”
• The sources confirmed that the regular hand-in-hand joint military exercise between India and China will be held before the year-end.

PM Modi participates in ASEAN-India Breakfast Summit in Singapore

News

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the ASEAN-India Breakfast Summit in Singapore and underlined the need for maritime cooperation and centrality of trade for the prosperity of the strategic Indo-Pacific region.

Beyond News

• Prime Minister began his two-day visit to Singapore by delivering his keynote address at the prestigious Fintech Festival.
• He also held separate bilateral meetings with the premiers of Singapore, Australia and Thailand and discussed ways to further strengthen ties, including in areas of trade, defence and security.
• The Indo-Pacific region also came up during the discussion between Prime Minister Modi and U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence.
• S. Vice-President spoke of a free and open Indo-Pacific. He felt that India’s contribution in ensuring this would be important.
• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional intergovernmental organisation comprising 10 Southeast Asian countries, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and socio-cultural integration among its members and other Asian states.
• The ASEAN members are Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos.

Survey shows dip in number of Indian students going to US

News

Growing intolerance in the United States and a tough visa policy has had an impact on the number of Indian students travelling to the US.

 Launching a survey of foreign students in that country, officials of the US embassy presented figures that clearly indicated that the number of Indians studying in the US declined over the last year.

Findings

• The number of Indians studying in the US increased by 5.4% over the last year. However, this figure was substantially lower than the 12.3% growth of 2015-16.
• Officials highlighted that the number of Indian students in the US was still growing but the decline was obvious in the lower rate of increase compared to the previous two years.
• Though overall the trend is upwards, the dip in the increase shows that the appeal of the US among Indian students is declining due to multiple factors, including weakening rupee which imposes a heavy burden on US-bound students.
• Report highlighted that India provided the second highest amount of graduate students. The country occupies the fourth position in providing undergraduates to the United States. Indian students currently make for 18% of the total international students in the US.
• A press release from the US Embassy pointed out that there was also an increase of 12.5% in the number of American students studying in India. At present 4,704 American students are studying in India.
• In 2017-18, the US hosted 1,094,792 students from all over the world. This reflected an increase of 1.5%. Education had featured in the recent ‘2 plus 2’ dialogue between the foreign and defence ministers of India and the United States.
• Report found that 73% students from India were enrolled in mathematics or engineering. As many as 10% were enrolled in physical science and health professions.

18 lakh foreigners visited India on e-visa this year

News

• Around 18 lakh foreigners visited India on electronic visas till October 31 this year, a Home Ministry statement said.

Beyond News

• The highest number of visitors, 2,92,143, were from the United Kingdom, followed by the United States with 2,21,339, China 1,27,022, France 1,07,185 and Germany 89,863.
• The government received $105,558,496 as e-visa fees in 2017 and $137,527,270 (₹993 crore approx) till October 31 this year.
• The e-visa facility now covers practically all the countries of the world, 166 as of now. Foreigners can arrive at any of the designated 26 airports and five seaports in India without interacting with any official before checking in at the immigration counter.
• Under the e-visa scheme, an applicant receives an email authorising him or her to travel to India after it has been approved. The tourist can travel with a printout of this authorization.
• On arrival, the visitor has to present the authorisation to the immigration authorities who would then allow entry into the country.
• E-visa is now available for five categories ie. tourist, business, medical, conference and medical attendant. To promote cruise tourism, immigration facilities have been provided at five major seaports where e-landing permits are granted to passengers for their onshore site-seeing.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

GSLV Mk III – D2/GSAT-29 Mission

GSLV Mk III – D2/GSAT-29

• It is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle, measuring 43.494 m and weighing 640 tonnes.
• The first stage has two boosters with solid propellant, the second is the core with liquid propellant, and the cryogenic engine forms the final stage.
• Weighing 3,423 kg at lift-off, GSAT-29 is the heaviest satelliteto be launched from India.
• With a mission life of 10 years, it is the 33rd communication satellite built by ISRO.
• It will be placed in a geostationary transfer orbit. At its closest point it will be 190 km above the Earth, and at its farthest it will be 35,975 km above the Earth.
• Its payloads are designed to mainly focus on connectivity to the users in the hilly and geographically inaccessible areas, especially those in Jammu & Kashmir and North Eastern regions of India.
• It also carries a Geo High-Resolution Camera to aid in high-resolution imaging. For the first time, an optical communication payload will be utilised for data transmission at a very high rate.
• ISRO’s Master Control facility at Hassan, Karnataka will take over the command and control of GSAT-29 soon after its separation from GSLV Mk III – D2.

With the success of this launch, the developmental phase of the GSLV Mk III vehicle programme will be complete and the vehicle’s operational phase will begin.

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