ODISHA
Odisha government hints at jump in paddy procurement
State food supplies and consumer welfare minister Ranendra Pratap Swain indicated the paddy procurement for the ongoing kharif season could exceed expectations with 43.38 lakh metric tonne (MT) having been procured till February 13 against the target of 51 lakh MT for the entire season that started in November last year and is set to be over in April.
With the state government introducing a centralized token system for paddy procurement this year, the minister said as many as 8.13 lakh farmers have sold paddy through this process. In contrast, 7.77 lakh farmers had sold paddy in the same period last year.
The token system has been introduced this year to ensure transparency in the procurement system and to check bogus beneficiaries from participating in the procurement system. The state government is committed to procure paddy from all genuine farmers.
INTERNATIONAL
India, US signs 2 MoUs and 1 Letter of Cooperation during Trumps State visit to India
US President Donald J. Trump along with the First Lady Melania Trump visited India on 24-25 February. During his visit, 3 MoUs and 1 Letter of Cooperation were signed.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Mental Health between Department of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of the Republic of India and Department of Health and Human Services of the Government of the US.
An MoU was signed on the Safety of Medical Products between Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) within the Directorate General of Health Services of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Republic of India and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States of America.
An agreement to purchase more than $3 billion of American military equipment
A Letter of Cooperation was signed between India’s Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and ExxonMobil India LNG Limited and America’s Chart Industries Inc.
NATIONAL
Exercise Ajeya Warrior 2020 concluded
The 5th edition of joint military Exercise Ajeya Warrior 2020 concluded at West down Camp, Salisbury Plains Training Area, UK. The exercise was held between India and the United Kingdom. Brigadier Tom Bewick, Commander of UK 7 Infantry Brigade and Brigadier Gavin, Defence Attache of the UK in India attended the closing ceremony of the event.
The exercise was aimed to conduct company-level joint training with an emphasis on counter-terrorist operations in urban and semi-urban areas.
The exercise included joint training in urban and semi-urban areas.
Important lectures, demonstrations, and drills related to counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations were rehearsed and executed jointly.
ISRO to launch geo imaging satellite on March 5
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that GSLV-F10 will launch geo imaging satellite, GISAT-1, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on March 5.
GSLV-F10 will launch geo imaging satellite (GISAT-1) from the second launch pad of the SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.
Weighing about 2,275 kg, GISAT-1 is a state-of-the-art agile Earth observation satellite that will be placed in a ‘geosynchronous transfer orbit’ by GSLV-F10.
Subsequently, the satellite will reach the final geostationary orbit using its onboard propulsion system.
Operating from geostationary orbit, GISAT-1 will facilitate near real-time observation of the Indian subcontinent, under cloud-free conditions, at frequent intervals.
MP becomes first state to launch unified vehicle registration card
Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the country to introduce the unified registration card and the second state to launch the unified driving license after Uttar Pradesh.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had issued the guidelines to bring uniformity in driving licenses and vehicle registration cards across the country in March last year.
The new cards will have more exhaustive information printed on both sides of the cards.
The unified smart cards for driving license and vehicle registration will each have a QR code that will help in verifying authenticity of the data printed on the cards.
The unified driving license card will also have information about the ability of the driver to drive in hilly and dangerous areas and an emergency contact number.
NPCI launches ‘UPI Chalega’ campaign for payment mode to gain currency
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in association with the payment ecosystem players have co-created an industry campaign “UPI Chalega” to promote UPI as easy, safe, and instant mode of payment.
The campaign is aimed to guide users towards the right usage of UPI and help create a habitual change, use of UPI in their daily life.
The campaign also focuses on safety aspects while transacting on UPI enabled apps.
The campaign targets users across all ages and aims to promote how to safely use UPI.
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