01-07-22 Daily-Punjab-PPSC Current Affairs

Quite contrary to the tall claims made to bring Punjab out of the fiscal mess five years back, the five-year Congress rule pushed the state further into vicious debt trap, says a latest report by the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) tabled in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday.

As per the the State of Finances Report for the financial year 2020-21, it was found that the outstanding total debt of the state was Rs 2,49,673 crore (47.13 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product) as on March 31, 2021. In just four years of the Congress rule, between 2017-18 and 2020-21, the states debt increased by Rs 54,521 crore.

Total debt of the typically constitutes internal debt of the state (market loans, ways and means advances from the RBI, special securities issued to National Small Savings Fund and loans from financial institutions, etc.), loans and advances from the Central Government, and public account liabilities.

Indian startups are now working on Software solutions to manage space debris, science & technology (S&T) and space minister Jitendra Singh said after hosting a high-level joint meeting of all science ministries and departments. He added that after the unlocking of the space sector for private players, innovative startups are coming up in a big way to explore the untapped potential of this sector.

The minister said more than 50 startups are working in the space sector and about 10 of them have received funding of over Rs 50 crore or more each. He noted that apart from applications based on NavIC (Indias system), startups are also working on software solutions for debris management in space with global ramifications.

The minister informed thatGujaratis the only state to have a S&T policy but after brainstorming sessions for the last four months, 11 more states, includingSikkim, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, are preparing their S&T policies.

All India Mayors Council unanimously decided to request their states to implement the 74th Constitutional AmendmentBillto strengthen local self-government in their states.

All India Mayors Council, not only demanded implementation of the Amendment Bill but also alleged that some states were not adopting it because they had an apprehension that the Bill would give more rights to mayors.

TheCentrehas released 126.7 crore to various states for modernisation ofPoliceforces, construction of fortifiedpolice stationsand implementation of a host of other schemes.

Under theSecurityRelatedExpenditure(SRE) scheme, an amount of Rs 22.59 crore was released toChhattisgarh, Rs 2.63 crore to Jharkhand and Rs 14.76 crore to Odisha by the Union Home Ministry.

Further, Rs 7.5 crore was released under Special Central Assistance (SCA) scheme to Maharashtra by the home ministry, an official said.

The ministry also released Rs 8.39 crore to Jharkhand and Rs 1.61 crore to as reimbursement of claims under the Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS) including construction of fortified police stations.

The central government further released Rs 69.215 crore to various states under the centrally-sponsored scheme for modernisation of police forces.

The reimbursement for the SRE is given to the states seriously affected by the militancy or insurgency. Under it, the expenditure incurred by the states on raising of India Reserve Battalions, Logistics provided to the central police forces, the army among others are being reimbursed.

The SCA is provided to the states as an additive to their Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP). The main objective of SCA to SCSP is to give a thrust to the development programmes for Scheduled Castes.

Russia has announced to transfer the Iskander-M Missile System to Belarus. This missile system can use ballistic or cruise missiles, in their nuclear and conventional versions.

Iskander-M missile system is codenamed as SS-26 Stone byNATO. Russia uses the term Iskander-M to define transporter-erector launch system as well as short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) fired by it. This system can be used to fire ground-launched cruise missiles (GLCMs) viz., SSC-7 and the SSC-8. This system has been exclusively used by Russian military. It was first launched in 1996, successfully.

Iskander-M missile has a range of 500 km. It is capable of carrying a payload of up to 700 kg. It can carry conventional as well as nuclear warheads. Conventional warheads can be equipped with bunker-buster munitions, cluster bombs and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) warheads.

The newly launched aircraft carrier is most advanced and first fully domestically built naval vessel.

It was launched at a brief ceremony, at Shanghais Jiangnan Shipyard.

It is the first domestically designed and built catapult aircraft carrier.

It has a flat, straight flight deck that has been equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices.

Launch of Fujian ship was delayed by two months, because of COVID-19 lockdown of Shanghai. Spacecraft was scheduled to be launched on April 23, 2022 to mark 73rd anniversary of Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

Liaoning was the first aircraft carrier of China. It was a refit of Soviet-era ship commissioned in 2012. This launch was followed by indigenously built 2ndaircraft carriernamed Shandong, which was launched in 2019. Liaoning and Shandong carriers have also been named after provinces in China.