OPTICAL GROUND WIRE (OPGW)
To improve telecom connectivity in hilly areas, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), has recently signed an agreement with Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd. (HPSEBL) in Shimla (H.P.) for utilization of 500 Kms of OPGW Telecom network.
About:
- Through this OPGW Network, Telecom Service providers will be able to provide uninterrupted mobile/Internet services to the people of the state.
- An optical ground wire is also known as an OPGW or, in the IEEE standard, an optical fiber composite overhead ground wire.
- It is a type of cable that is used in overhead power lines. Such cable combines the functions of grounding and communications.
Construction of OPGW:
- OPGW is optical fiber composite ground wire. This cable contains a tubular structure having one or more optical fiber and surrounded by layers of aluminium and steel wires.
- This layer of aluminium and steel wires serves to connect the tower to the ground. The optical fiber within the cable is used for the high speed data telemetry between the utilities or sold to some third parties for high speed fiber interconnection between the cities.
EXERCISE DESERT KNIGHT-21
Indian Air Force and French Air and Space Force will conduct a bilateral Air exercise, Ex Desert Knight-21 at Air Force Station Jodhpur from 20 to 24 Jan 2021. The exercise is unique as it includes fielding of Rafale aircraft by both sides.
About:
- As part of Indo-French defence cooperation, Indian Air Force and French Air and Space Force have held six editions of Air Exercises named 'Garuda', the latest being in 2019 at Air Force Base Mont-de-Marsan, France.
- As measures to further the existing cooperation, the two forces have been gainfully utilising available opportunities to conduct 'hop-exercises'.
- The French Air and Space Force deployment while ferrying to Australia for Ex Pitchblack in 2018 was hosted by IAF at Air Force Stations Agra and Gwalior for exercise with fighters and MRTT aircraft.
- Presently, the French detachment for Ex Desert Knight-21 is deployed in Asia as part of their 'Skyros Deployment' and will ferry in forces to Air Force Station Jodhpur.
PARAKRAM DIWAS
Government of India has decided to celebrate birthday of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on the 23rd day of January every year as ‘PARAKRAM DIWAS’.
About:
- Objective is to remember Netaji’s indomitable spirit and selfless service to the nation and to inspire people of the country, especially the youth, to act with fortitude in the face of adversity as Netaji did.
- Gazette Notification for declaring 23rd January as “Parakram Diwas” has been published.
V. SHANTA
The Prime Minister Modi has expressed grief over the demise of Dr. V Shanta.
About:
- Viswanathan Shanta (1927 – 2021) was an Indian oncologist and the chairperson of Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai.
- She was best known for her efforts towards making quality and affordable cancer treatment accessible to all patients in her country.
- She was associated with Adyar Cancer Institute since 1955, and held several positions, including that of the director of the institute between 1980 and 1997.
- She served as a member of several national and international committees on health and medicine, including the World Health Organization's Advisory Committee on Health.
MONSOON
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) may introduce new monsoon models this year to better forecast changes in rainfall.
About:
- There were three different models that could be tested this year. Two of them were dynamical models and one a statistical model.
- In the former, the climate on any particular day is simulated on supercomputers and meteorologists observe the changing daily output.
- The other is the traditional statistical model that equates relationships of physical parameters, such as for instance sea surface temperatures, snowfall, the temperature of landmass etc, with the actual observed rainfall in the past.
- The three models under consideration are:
- 12 global circulation models (dynamical) whose outputs would be combined into a single one;
- a model that gauges rainfall based on the sea surface temperature in the tropics (developed by Professor Sumant Nigam, University of Maryland, U.S.) and
- the statistical model based on climate variables observed during the pre-monsoon.
- 12 global circulation models (dynamical) whose outputs would be combined into a single one;
- All of them are ‘ensembles’ meaning smaller models are combined to arrive at an average value.
- The traditional statistical model would continue to be used this year.
‘REGULATION S’ BONDS
State Bank of India (SBI) recently raised $600 million of ‘Regulation S’ bonds — via its London branch — at a coupon rate of 1.8%.
About:
- The bond is priced at a spread of 140 basis points over the 5-year U.S. Treasury rate and will be listed on SGX-ST and India INX. The issuance represented SBI’s return to the international public bond markets after a gap of close to two years.
- Regulation S offerings are typically referred to as “Offshore Offering” because they mainly have to either do with a foreign company creating an offering, or an US company that is offerings its debt or equity overseas, i.e. outside the United States.
- A Regulation S offerings is typical of many European offerings and the larger clearing firms in Europe, often grant access to their systems via a Regulation S offering.
MOUNT SEMERU
Indonesia's Mount Semeru has erupted, pouring ash an estimated 5.6km (3.4 miles) into the sky above Java, the country's most densely populated island.
About:
- Semeru - also known as "The Great Mountain" - is the highest volcano in Java and one of the most active. It is also one of Indonesia's most popular tourist hiking destinations.
- The volcano previously erupted in December, when about 550 people were evacuated.
- Within the last week, Indonesia has endured multiple landslides, a deadly earthquake on Sulawesi island, and the loss of a Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737 with 62 people on board.
BAD BANK
As the problem of non-performing assets (NPAs), or loans on which borrowers have defaulted, persists in a sector stressed by the pandemic, the RBI Governor has agreed to look at a proposal for creating a bad bank.
About:
- A bad bank conveys the impression that it will function as a bank but has bad assets to start with.
- Technically, a bad bank is an asset reconstruction company (ARC) or an asset management company that takes over the bad loans of commercial banks, manages them and finally recovers the money over a period of time.
- The bad bank is not involved in lending and taking deposits, but helps commercial banks clean up their balance sheets and resolve bad loans.
- The takeover of bad loans is normally below the book value of the loan and the bad bank tries to recover as much as possible subsequently.
Comments
Post a Comment