Sumitra Mahajan inaugurated 2-day South Asian Speaker’s summit at Indore in Madhya Pradesh

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan inaugurated the two-day South Asian Speaker’s summit at Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

Speakers of six countries will deliberate on ways to achieve sustainable development goals. Summit is organized by the Indian Parlianment and Inter-Parliamentary Union which is focused on Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in member countries. 

Representive from Afganistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri lanka are attending the summit. Representatives from Pakistan and Myanmar are not attending the sumit due to their personal reasons.

Vetiver Network launched

India Vetiver Network (INVN) has been launched at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.

INVN is a not-for-profit scientific network to promote vetiver in India. Vetiver has worldwide application to tackle many environmental issues like soil erosion, mitigation of soil and water pollution. 

The mission of INVN is environmental protection using vetiver. Promotion of research in vetiver identification of varieties, improved production technologies and distillation techniques.

Axiscades partners Slovakian firm

Axiscades, a aerospace and defence technologies company and Virtual Reality Media a Slovakian firm have signed an industrial cooperation agreement (ICA) at the Aero India 2017.

Sudhakar Gande, Vice-Chairman of Axiscades, stated in a statement that Under the ICA, both companies will evaluate opportunities for full flight simulator for the aerospace and defence sector and to address the requirements for Russian platforms such as the Dornier 228 aircraft and other platforms.

Science Express Climate Action Special to be flagged off

Science Express Climate Action Special (SECAS II) will be flagged off today (17 February, 2017) from Safdarjung Railway station in Delhi.

The train will be open for public viewing at Delhi Cantonment Railway Station tomorrow (18 February 2017) and the day after (19 February 2017). The train will later embark upon its journey across the country. 

The SECAS II will run till 8th September and culminate its journey at Gandhinagar.During its journey, the Science Express will cover over 19,000 kilometres, and will be exhibited at 68 stations across 20 states. SECAS will roll into Tripura for the first time. 

Science Express, redesigned as SECAS, intends to contribute towards increasing understanding of the science of climate change, the observed and anticipated impacts, and different possible responses. 

The exhibition will convey a message about Climate Change and will also be a good opportunity to generate a dialogue and discussion. It aims to create awareness among various sections of society, as to how climate change can be combated through mitigation and adaptation. 

Scientists develop Thubber, stretchable rubber material with high thermal conductivity

Scientists have developed novel rubber like material nicknamed ‘thubber’ which has high thermal conductivity and elasticity. It is an electrically insulating composite material that exhibits an unprecedented combination of metal-like thermal conductivity, elasticity similar to soft, biological tissue. 

Key Facts 

Thubber consists of a soft elastomer with non-toxic, liquid metal microdroplets suspended within it. This semi-liquid state allows the metal to deform with the surrounding rubber at room temperature. When it is pre-stretched at room temperature, it stretches up to six times its initial length. During this phase, liquid metal microdroplets form into elongated pathways through which heat can easily travel through. At the same time, the material is electrically insulating. Potential applications: In developing wearable computing and soft robotics, industries like athletic wear and sports medicine and in advanced manufacturing, energy, and transportation etc.

Government to come out with 2nd PSB recapitalisation plan Indradhanush 2.0

The Union Government is planning to come out with ‘Indradhanush 2.0’, a comprehensive plan for recapitalisation of public sector lenders. Indradhanush 2.0 will be finalised by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after completion of Asset Quality Review (AQR) which is likely to be completed by end of March 2017. It aims to clean up the balance sheets of PSBs to ensure banks remain solvent and fully comply with global capital adequacy norms, Basel-III. Besides, revised programme of capitalisation will be also issued as part of it. 

Background 

The RBI had embarked on the AQR exercise from December 2015 and had set a deadline of March 2017 to complete the exercise. As part of it, RBI had asked banks to recognise some top defaulting accounts as non-performing assets (NPAs) and make adequate provisions for them. Under ‘Indradhanush’ roadmap announced in 2015, the Union Government had announced an infusion of Rs. 70,000 crore in state-run banks over four years. Banks also were allowed to raise a further Rs. 1.1 lakh crore from the markets to meet their capital requirement in line with global risk norms, Basel-III. In line with the plan, PSBs were given Rs. 25,000 crore in 2015-16, and a similar amount was earmarked for the current fiscal 2016-17. Besides, Rs. 10,000 crore each will be infused in 2017-18 and 2018-19. 

About Basel III (Third Basel Accord) 

Basel III is a global, voluntary regulatory framework on bank capital adequacy, market liquidity risk and stress testing. It was agreed by Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) members in 2010–11. It focuses primarily on the risk of a run on the bank, requiring differing levels of reserves for different forms of bank deposits and other borrowings. It does not, supersedes the guidelines known as Basel I and Basel II for the most part, rather works alongside them. In March 2014, RBI had extended Basel III deadline up to March 31, 2019, instead of as on March 31, 2018. Note: Basel series of norms are broad supervisory standards formulated by BCBS to ensure that financial institutions have enough capital on account to meet obligations and absorb unexpected losses.

India to host counter-radicalisation conference with ASEAN

India is planning to host a conference on counter-radicalisation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in October 2017. It will provide common platform to countries for sharing experiences and ideas on prevention of radicalisation amid rise of Islamic State and other extremist ideologies 

Key Facts 

This conference will also help participating countries to learn from each other’s best practices on promoting deradicalisation. It will mainly deal with the growing IS threat and make effort to counter radicalisation and misuse of religion by groups and countries for inciting hatred and terrorism India will also share its experience and also benefit from that of ASEAN countries, especially Malaysia. Besides, more countries may be also invited as observers depending on the interest. UAE will one of such country as it has expertise in deradicalisation that was one of the key areas of discussions during the recent India-UAE bilateral interactions. 

About Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) 

ASEAN is a group of 10 South Asian nations is a regional organisation comprising that aims to promote intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic integration amongst its members. It came into existence on August 8, 1967 after ASEAN declaration (also known as Bangkok declaration). Motto: “One Vision, One Identity, One Community”. Headquarters: Jakarta, Indonesia. 10 Members: Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand were founder countries. Later 5 more countries Brunei Darussalam, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam were added. Cambodia was the last entrant added in the group in 1999. Principal aims: (i) Accelerating economic growth, social progress, and sociocultural evolution among its members, (ii) Protection of regional stability and the provision of a mechanism for member countries to resolve differences peacefully.