24-02-22 Daily-Tamilnadu-TNPSC Current Affairs

The Nadu government has informed the Madras High Court that it has decided to recover losses to the tune of 5,832.44 crore from private beach sand mineral exporters, seize all the stocks available with them and constitute a Special Investigation Team to probe illegal mining since 2000-01.

In a counter-affidavit filed before Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, who were seized of a suo motu PIL taken up in 2015, Industries Secretary S. Krishnan sought the courts nod to seize 1.55 crore tonnes of stocks and hand them over to Indian Rare Earths Limited, a central Psu.

The counter-affidavit pointed out that the government had originally issued 64 beach sand mining licences (52 in Tirunelveli and six each in Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari districts) to seven miners. However, following complaints of large-scale illegal mining, the government banned the mining as well as the transportation of beach sand Minerals in 2013.

The Ministry of Education has approved the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme until 31 March 2026.

Highlights

The Ministry of Education has approved the continuation of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme till 31 March 2026 with an expenditure of 12,929.16 crores.

The new phase of the scheme would support around 1,600 projects. Out of Rs 12,929.16 crores of expenditure, the center will share Rs 8,120.97 crores, and therefore the state will share Rs 4,808.19 crores.

The new phase of the scheme has been designed to implement a number of the recommendations of the New Education Policy (NEP).

Under the new phase of the scheme, State Governments will support Gender inclusion, Initiatives, Enhance employability through vocationalisation and skill upgradation.

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan:

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan was launched in 2013. it’s a Centrally.

Sponsored Scheme to supply government universities and colleges funding.

Its main objective is to enhance the standard of state institutions and ensure reform in affiliation, academic, and examination systems.

The Indian Railways has shared new images of the country’s first cable-stayed bridge on the Anji river in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district.

Highlights

The Indian Railways has shared new images of the country’s first cable-stayed bridge on the Anji river in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district.

The under-construction Anji Khad bridge, a part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, will connect Katra and Reasi areas through rail links.

The bridge will stand at 331 meters above the river bed above the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The bridge’s total length is 473.25 meters, and 96 cables support it.

The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link is one of the foremost challenging projects undertaken within the Indian subcontinent.

Milan is the name of the multilateral naval exercise which is hosted by the INDIAN NAVY. This is a biennial exercise and features seminars, Sports, social events, and professional exercises among the participating nations.

Along with the Indian Navy, the navies of Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka had participated in the inaugural edition of this exercise.

All editions of Milan were held in the , under the Andaman and Nicobar Command.

The Navy, in 2020, announced that the next edition of Milan will be held at Visakhapatnam, under the Eastern Naval Command.

This exercise is held under various themes like anti-submarine warfare, and other areas.

Capacity building, training, marine domain awareness, technical assistance, hydrography, and operational exercises are among the areas of cooperation for the exercise.

Through professional engagement with friendly navies, the exercise aims to hone operational abilities, instill best practices and procedures, and enable Learning in the maritime Environment.

India and France have inked a roadmap to reinforce their bilateral exchanges on the blue economy and ocean Governance.

Highlights

India and France have inked a roadmap to reinforce their bilateral exchanges on the blue economy and ocean governance.

Dr. S Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to France, from 20 February to 22, 2022, to attend EU Ministerial Forum for Cooperation within the Indo-Pacific scheduled for Washington’s Birthday.

The agreement on ‘Roadmap on Blue Economy and Ocean Governance’ was signed between India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Russian President Putin has recognized the independence of separatist regions in eastern Ukraine Donetsk and Luhansk.

Highlights

Russian President Putin has recognized the independence of separatist regions in eastern Ukraine Donetsk and Luhansk.

Putin’s announcement paved the way for Russia to openly send troops and weapons to the long-running conflict pitting Ukrainian forces against Moscow-backed rebels.

Russian-backed rebels have been fighting Ukrainian troops in Donetsk and Luhansk since 2014, with regular violence despite a ceasefire agreement.

Putin signed decrees recognizing the Donetsk and Luhansk regions’ independence, eight years after fighting erupted between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces, and called on lawmakers to approve measures paving the way for military support.

Russia has acquired the proper to create military bases in Ukraine’s two breakaway regions under new agreements with their separatist leaders.