Bogibeel

• In a major boost to defence logistics along the border with China, India’s longest road and railway bridge connecting Dibrugarh in Assam to Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh is likely to be inaugurated later this year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The bridge will be the second longest in Asia.
• It will be the longest combined rail and road bridge in India and second longest bridge over the Brahmaputra after Dhola-Sadiya Bridge which is a road bridge of length 9.15 km.
• The bridge is 32 metres above the water level of the Brahmaputra.
• Bogibeel is part of infrastructure projects planned by India to improve logistics along the border in Arunachal Pradesh.

Digital India Internship Scheme

• Ministry of Electronics and Information technology (MeitY) has launched ‘Digital India Internship Scheme’ portal in which a token of ₹10,000 will also be offered to interns as remuneration per month.
• The portal will facilitate students to apply online for internship and its aim is to provide an opportunity to secure first hand and practical work experience under the guidance of a mentor.
• The internship scheme will enable the young students to learn closely about working of the transformative initiative of Digital India.
• It will also give exposure to the students about technology policy and decision making of the government of India.

Whale shark

• The whale shark, the largest living species of fish, comes under the category ‘endangered’ in The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
• In India, the migratory species is listed in Schedule I (Part IIA) of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which is the highest protection status for any living species in the country.
• But the fishing community in Kerala seems to have no clue about these facts, their unregulated practices causing a significant decline in the whale shark population.
• They will be educated on how to save the fish from regional extinction as part of a campaign jointly launched by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).

Manned Submersible

• India’s ambition to send humans into the deep sea and explore resources in the depths is gathering momentum.
• Union Ministry of Earth Sciences has embarked on this project and expects to have an operational vehicle ready in 2-3 years.
• ESSO-National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai has made the design for making the submersible from titanium material
• It will have two hemispheres welded together in the form of a space ship.
• At present, a few countries like US, Russia, China and Japan are said to possess the technology and submersible.
• The project is part of the overall, long-term “Deep Sea Mission” and efforts to tap into the blue ocean economics.

Channapatna toys

• Channapatna toys are a particular form of wooden toys and dolls.
• The toys are manufactured in the small town of Channapatna in the Ramnagar district of Karnataka.
• In Kannada, the place is known as Gombegala nagara which means “town of toys”.
• The work involved lacquering the wood of the Wrightia tinctoria tree or Aale mara (ivory-wood).
• It was given Geographical Indication Tag.

Integrated Control and Command Centre 

• In a major step towards realising the centre’s smart city mission (SCM), the Madhya Pradesh government on Tuesday launched the country’s first Integrated Control and Command Centre (ICCC) for all seven smart cities of the state in Bhopal.
• ICCC is a cloud-based Universal Internet of Things (UIoT) platform developed by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). It can run multiple city command centre operations through its multi-efficiency capabilities.
• ICCC would integrate a multitude of citizens’ services applications and sensors running across selected cities of Madhya Pradesh. It would enable the authorities to monitor the status of various smart civic amenities in real-time through the sensors connected to it.
• The GPS sensors installed in public transport buses, dial 100 vehicles, 108 ambulance services, smart poles, smart lights, traffic management cameras, public bike sharing, solid waste management, meteorological department updates, smart maps etc. would be linked to this centre, enabling the authorities to monitor the status of the civic amenities in real-time.

Finance Commission

• It is a body set up under Article 280 of the Constitution. Its primary job is to recommend measures and methods on how revenues need to be distributed between the Centre and states.
• The Constitution provides that Finance Commission shall consist of a Chairman and four other members to be appointed by President. The Chairman or members are eligible for reappointment.
• The Constitution authorizes Parliament to make provisions related to qualifications, conditions of service of members or powers of Finance Commission. So Parliament enacted Finance Commission Act in 1951 to determine provisions related to qualifications or disqualifications, conditions of service or miscellaneous powers to perform functions provided under constitution.
• The Chairman shall have vast experience in Public affairs and other four members shall be selected among persons who a) have qualifications as par with a judge of HC, b) has special knowledge of Finance and Accounts of govt, c) have vast experience in financial matters and d) have special knowledge of economics.

Directorate General of Trade Remedies

The Government of India has carried out an Amendment to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 substituting “Directorate General of Trade Remedies” in place of “Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties” in Department of Commerce.

• The DGTR will function as an attached office of Department of Commerce. The recommendation of DGTR for imposition of Anti-dumping, countervailing & Safeguard duties would be considered by the Department of Revenue.
• The DGTR will be a professionally integrated organisation with multi-spectrum skill sets emanating from officers drawn from different services and specialisations.
• DGTR will deal with Anti-dumping, CVD and Safeguard measures. It will also provide trade defence support to our domestic industry and exporters in dealing with increasing instances of trade remedy investigations instituted against them by other countries.

Wild Ass Sanctuary

• The sanctuary is in the Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.
• It spans the districts of Surendranagar, Rajkot, Patan, Banaskantha and Kutch.
•  The sanctuary hosts more than 30 species of rare and endangered animals, including black buck and desert fox due to its proximity to the Rann of Kutch and the variety in the region’s vegetation.
• The sanctuary is home to the ‘near threatened’ wild ass species.
• Asiatic wild asses are native to India, China, Iran, Mongolia and Turkmenistan.
• The Asiatic wild ass is the only one of its species and no sub-species exist.