NEWS 06-02-2019. NEWS FOR 8-FEB (FRIDAY) · The Union Minister of Railways and Coal, Piyush Goyal has been awarded the prestigious Carnot Prize 2018 for the transformational changes brought by him during his tenure as the Union Minster of Power. · The central banks of the UAE and Saudi Arabia will be launching a common digital currency called Aber. Aber will be used for financial settlements between the two countries through Blockchain and Distributed Ledger technologies. · Fast bowler Mohammed Shami has become the fastest Indian to claim 100 wickets in One-day Internationals. He achieved this feat in his 56th ODI match and wicket number 100 was New Zealand opener, Martin Guptill. · According to the World Steel Association Report, India has replaced Japan as the world’s second largest steel producing country. The steel production in India increased by 4.9 % from 101.5 MT in 2017 to 106.5 MT in 2018. · India’s fastest indigenous train, Train 18, also named the Vande Bharat Express will ply between Delhi and Varanasi. The 16 coach train has been built completely in India by Indian engineers in a span of 18 months in Chennai. · India has successfully flight tested the Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM) from a warship off the Odisha coast. The LRSAM was jointly developed by the DRDO Israel Aerospace Industries for the Indian Navy. It has an operational range of 75km and can destroy airborne threats like jets, aircraft, anti-ship missiles, UAVs and rocket projectiles. · The 2019 Bharat Ratna award has been bestowed upon former President Pranab Mukherjee, Nanaji Deshmuk, a social worker and singer Bhupen Hazarika. January 19 · PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the Armoured Systems Complex developed by L&T at Hazira, Gujarat. The ASC is the country’s first private facility where the K9 Vajra self-propelled Howitzer guns will be manufactured. This is a big achievement for the nation · ISRO will soon be launching a dedicated satellite for the use of defence forces to help it in strengthening its frontiers with the neighbouring countries in the West, North & East of India. · The Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the decision to induct women as Personnel below Officer Rank (PBOR) role in Corps of Military Police. The women will be inducted in a graded manner to eventually comprise 20% of the total Corps of Military Police. · India’s indigenously designed and developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) has successfully carried out air-to-air missile firing. The LCH developed by HAL has completed weapon integration tests and is ready for operational induction. · Satyarup Siddhanta, 35 year old Kolkata mountaineer has set the world record of being the youngest to climb the 7 highest mountains, 7 highest volcanoes in 7 continents in 7 years. · The Union Cabinet has approved India’s Currency Swap Agreement with Japan. The $75 billion currency swap arrangement is a milestone in mutual economic cooperation and special global strategic partnership between two countries. · Khelo India Youth Games 2019 were held at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune. The Khelo India Youth Games are held annually in January or February with an aim to revive sports culture in India at the grass root level by building a strong framework for all sports played in India and establish India as a great sporting nation. India-Myanmar bilateral army exercise IMBEX 2018-19 has begun at Chandimandir Military Station, Chandigarh. The primary objective of IMBEX 2018-19 is to train the Myanmar delegation for participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations and provide training with regard to procedures, expertise, tactics and methodology. < < Back