KARNATAKA

Special cover released to mark Global Tiger Day

India Post joined hands in promoting tiger conservation by releasing a special cover to mark Global Tiger Day at Bandipur

In all, 6,500 covers have been printed and will be made available to the public at a cost of ₹25 each. The bulk of the specially printed envelopes with a pictorial representation of tigers will be used by the Forest Department for its postal communication.

Global Tiger Day was also celebrated at the Mysuru zoo where P.S. Somashekar, former Inspector General of Forests, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), southern zone, highlighted the importance of tiger conservation, the threats posed to the big cat, and how it was on the brink of extinction till Project Tiger was launched in India in the early 70s. He said the tiger population declined from over 40,000 in the pre-colonial days to less than 2,000 post Independence.

Launched in 1973 with nine tiger reserves in the country, it has expanded to nearly 50 reserves in the present times and the objective was to ensure a viable population of tigers in India. There were local extinctions in the country in Sariska and Panna mainly because of international illegal demand for wildlife parts which hit India in 1990s.

After the constitution of the NTCA and the introduction of scientific tiger assessments, the numbers have shown a steady increase in the tiger population in the country – from 1,411 in 2006, to 1,706 in 2010, and 2,226 in 2014, which accounts for almost 70% of the world’s tiger population in the wild.

Bandipur, Nagarahole, Wayanad, Mudumalai, Satyamangalam, and BRT forests account for nearly 585 tigers across 10,925 sq km.

INTERNATIONAL

· Google has revealed about the AI chips for its data centres

At Google Cloud Next ’18 conferencein San Francisco, Google revealed that it has gone beyond and building an artificial intelligence (AI) chips for its data centres.
The aim is to help the customers in developing and deploying intelligent connected devices at scale. The first one was ‘Edge TPU,’ a new hardware chip, so small that four of them can fit on a U.S penny, Injong Rhee, VP, IoT, Google Cloud, demonstrated on the stage.

· India and US to hold first ’22 dialogue’ in September: USA

United States of Americalooking forward to the “two-plus-two”dialogue with India in New Delhi in September.

The two countries are close to signing the long-pending foundational agreements that will make it easier for the US to share classified information and undertake logistical activities together.

The September meeting will be the first “two-plus-two” dialogue between India and the United States.

It was announced last year during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Donald Trump.

NATIONAL

· India into deep ocean exploration

Indiahas allocated 8,000 crore for a deep ocean exploration. This plan will extend for 5 years. The Union Earth Sciences Ministry revealed the blueprint of the ‘Deep Ocean Mission (DOM)’. The plan includes an offshore desalination plant based on tidal energy and developing a submersible vehicle that can go to a depth of at least 6,000 metres with three people on board.Deep Ocean Mission will focus on advanced technologies that will be used for deep-sea mining, underwater vehicles, underwater robotics and ocean climate change advisory services.

Committee to address the issues of Stressed Thermal Power Projects

Stressed Thermal Power Assets are a cause of concern for the Country.

With a view to resolve the stress and revive such assets, the Government has decided to set up a High Level Empowered Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary with representatives from the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal and the lenders having major exposure to the power sector.

The Committee would look into the various issues with a view to resolve them and maximise the efficiency of investment.

Amul awarded marketer of year

Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), the marketers of the popular Amul brand of milk and dairy products, was awarded the ‘Marketer of the Year’ award by the International Advertising Association of India (IAAI).

Amul, the brand worth Rs 41,000 crore, is marketed by the GCMMF, the biggest cooperative owned by 36 lakh farmers of Gujarat.

Amul, the most preferred brand in milk and dairy products, is not only known for its cooperative structure and farmer’s faith, but is also known for its marketing and advertizing strategies.

· The two, Made in India, tank engines were handed over to the Army

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharamanhanded over two types of indigenously built high-power multi-fuel tank engines to Vice-Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Devraj Anbu. The engines, V-46-6 and V92S2, can power up the tanks – T-72 Ajeya and T-90 Bhishma. This making of fully indigenized engines, for the first time, is under the Center’s ‘Make in India’ programme.
It was produced by theEngine Factory Avadi (EFA), a unit of Ordnance Factory Board. The EFA has manufactured more than 12,000 engines since its inception in 1987 for the Indian Army.

· EIL has launched Electric Vehicle charging and battery swapping infrastructure initiative

Essel Infraprojects Ltd, (EIL) has launched Electric Vehicle chargingand battery swapping infrastructure initiative under Essel Green Mobility Limited in Lucknow. Essel Infraprojects is planning to invest 1,750 crore on this project.
Under the project, EIL has initiated 250 charging stations, 1,000 battery swapping stations in 20 cities of Uttar Pradesh. EIL will also invest in the deployment of 25,000 e-rickshaws This will create around 50,000 job opportunities.

· Government to introduce DigiYatra for air passengers

Government is in the process to introduce Digiyatrafacility to enhance the experience of air passengers. It will be one among the Digital India programme that is coordinated by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The aim is to reduce the queues at airports and bring efficiency to the boarding process. It is to place Indian Aviation amongst the most innovative aviation networks in the world.
In this facility, the image of the passenger will be captured as he/she enters the airport, and then the passenger will be able to go through the full lifecycle of the travel in a hassle-free manner. To access this facility one needs to enrol into DigiYatra program through AirSewa app. The DigiYatra programme will be launched at airports in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Varanasi and Vijayawada.

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