11-10-22 Daily-Karnataka-KPSC Current Affairs

Karnatakais one of the key states fast losing large swathes offorest landto mining and developmental projects.

And the most recent instance is the Hubballi-Ankola rail, clamour for which has reached a new crescendo, especially after the visit of an experts’ committee, even as conservationists oppose the proposed diversion of 595.6 hectares of forest land for the project.

The state has lost 746.1 hectares of forest land in just three years, including two pandemic years which saw minimal activity. According to data from the forest department, Ballari andUttara Kannadahave been the worst-affected districts losing much of the forest areas.

Japan will host the 2022 edition of the Malabar naval exercise consisting ofIndia, Australia, Japan and the U.S. in the second week of November,according toofficial sources.INDIAN NAVY will also participate in theInternational Fleet Review(IFR)being hostedin the first week of Novembertocommemorate the 70thanniversary ofthe Japanese Maritime Self DEFENCE Force (JMSDF).

Thisis the latest in aseries of bilateral and multilateral exercises in which the Indian armed forces have taken part recently.End of October,theIndia-U.S. bilateral Army exercise Yudh Abhyas is scheduled to take placein the high altitude areasofUttarakhand, around 100 km(aerial distance)from the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

India is currently hosting the multilateral anti-terror exercise Manesar Anti-terror 2022 under the ambit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure scheduled from October 8 to 13.

Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia said the Union Government will draw a national plan for helicopter emergency medical Services in the country and a pilot project towards it would soon be launched at Aiims Rishikesh.

Mr. Scindia said that under the pilot project Sanjeevani, a helicopter will be deployed in the next few weeks to provide emergency medical services at AIIMS Rishikesh. The helicopter will have a service cover of 150 km radius and will provide emergency evacuation within 20 minutes.

The Minister on the day also unveiled the guidelines for a new initiative called fractional ownership of helicopters, under which multiple owners share the cost of acquisition and operation of the aircraft in return for rights to use them for a specified number of hours or days in a year.

President Droupadi Murmu launched herSTART, an initiative of the Gujarat University Startup and Council (GUSEC) aimed at supporting Women-led startups.

The herSTART platform will boost innovation and start-up efforts of women entrepreneurs and also help them connect with various government and private enterprises, according to a government release. The platform will include a digital platform to provide Resources and training modules free of cost to aspiring women entrepreneurs, a digital community for them, and a digital publication to spread their success stories.

India has moved from 81st position to 40th position in the Global Innovation Index (GII) of 2022 as a result of the startup program started across the country with the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the President said in her address.

The National Education Policy-2020 is an initiative towards making India a super power. She lauded various efforts made by Gujarat in the field of primary and higher education in the last two decades and the results obtained. She lauded the state on the reduction in the drop out rate, as well as the real-time monitoring of the education system of more than 55,000 schools in the state by the Vidya Review Centre. The President also appreciated a project of upgrading the Infrastructure of about 20,000 schools of the state through Mission School of Excellence.