IIT Madras & DRDO tie-up for Advanced Defence Technologies
IIT Madras & DRDO tie-up for
Advanced Defence Technologies
Why In News
IIT Madras Centre of
Excellence working with DRDO on Advanced Defence Technologies including Combat
Vehicle Technologies.
Key Points
IIT Madras Centre of
Excellence working with DRDO on Advanced Defence Technologies including Combat
Vehicle Technologies. Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is
operating a Research Centre dedicated to defence technologies jointly with the
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to develop advanced
technologies for the national defence and security needs of the nation. It was
established by DRDO but IIT Madras has now taken over and converted it into a
centre of excellence.
Called ‘DRDO Industry
Academia- Ramanujan Centre of Excellence’ (DIA-RCoE), this centre has been
established to conduct directed research in advanced technologies for defence
and security and to create a world-class research centre developing
cutting-edge technologies. It will also make a major contribution towards ‘Aatmanirbhar
Bharat’ in the defence sector.
Established based on
the ‘Long Term Directed Research Policy’ of the Defence Ministry, Government of
India.
This Centre will
undertake multidisciplinary directed basic and applied research in the
following research verticals:
Electronics and
Computational Systems,
Naval Systems and
Naval Technologies
Advanced Combat
Vehicle Technologies
High Power CW Laser
sources
Next-generation
communication and networking technologies
DRDO scientists with
expertise would associate themselves with the academic faculties and
researchers, IIT Madras officials said.
RBI Survey for Price Movements, Inflation Assessment Launched
RBI Survey for Price Movements,
Inflation Assessment Launched
Why In News
The Reserve Bank of
India has launched the Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH) which
will provide useful inputs for monetary policy.
Key Points
The Reserve Bank of
India has launched the Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH) which
will provide useful inputs for monetary policy. In the January 2023 round, the
survey will be conducted across 19 cities. It aims to capture subjective
assessments of price movements and inflation, based on individual consumption
baskets.
The survey will be
conducted in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai,
Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur,
Patna, Raipur, Ranchi and Thiruvananthapuram.
The agency — Hansa
Research Group, Mumbai — has been engaged to conduct the survey of this round
on behalf of the ventral bank.
The selected
households will be approached by the agency and they will be requested to
provide their response. Other individuals, who are not approached by the
agency, can also participate in this survey by providing their responses using
the linked survey schedule.
Significance
The survey seeks
qualitative responses from households on price changes (general prices as well
as prices of specific product groups) in the three months ahead as well as in
the one-year ahead period and quantitative responses on current, three months
ahead and one year ahead inflation rates.
Govt Eyes $17 billion Cut in Food, Fertiliser Subsidies in 2023/24
Govt Eyes $17 billion Cut in Food,
Fertiliser Subsidies in 2023/24
Why In News
India aims to cut
spending on food and fertiliser subsidies to 3.7 trillion rupees ($44.6
billion) in the fiscal year from April, down 26% from this, to rein in a fiscal
deficit.
Key Points
India aims to cut spending
on food and fertiliser subsidies to 3.7 trillion rupees ($44.6 billion) in the
fiscal year from April, down 26% from this, to rein in a fiscal deficit that
ballooned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Spending on fertiliser subsidies will
likely fall to about Rs 1.4 lakh crore. That compares with nearly Rs 2.3 lakh
crore this year.
Food and fertiliser
subsidies alone account for about one-eighth of India’s total budgetary
spending of ₹39.45 trillion this fiscal year, but reducing these subsidies
could be politically sensitive given the impending elections.
The government
anticipates allocating roughly 2.3 trillion for food subsidies in the upcoming
fiscal year as opposed to 2.7 trillion for the year that has just ended on
March 31.
The amount spent on
fertiliser subsidies will probably decrease to roughly 1.4 trillion in
contrasts to 2.3 trillion this year.
The current fiscal
year’s target fiscal deficit for the government is 6.4% of GDP.
It is far above the
average of 4% to 4.5% over the past decade, excluding the pandemic years when
spending surged and the ratio peaked at 9.3%.
In 2023–2024, the
administration wants to reduce the ratio by at least half a percentage
point.
In a year with
several State elections and general elections in 2024, this will effectively
cut in half the free rations provided to the poor.
The subsidy numbers
will be announced on February 1, when Finance Minister presents the 2023/24
budget in Parliament.
Fiscal Deficit is the
difference between total revenue and total expenditure of the government.
The fiscal balance of
a country is calculated by its government’s revenue followed by its expenditure
in the provided financial year, the situation where the government expenses
increase more than the revenue in a year is a fiscal deficit.
Fiscal deficits
increase people’s purchasing power, which stimulates a stagnant economy.
Long-term deficits,
however, may also have a detrimental effect on the stability and growth of the
economy.
Ratings for the
nation may also be impacted if the fiscal deficit is large.
Odisha wins World
Habitat Award 2023 for its JAGA Mission
Odisha won the
UN-Habitat's World Habitat Awards 2023 for Jaga Mission, a 5T initiative of the
state.
Odisha won the
UN-Habitat’s World Habitat Awards 2023 for Jaga Mission, a 5T initiative of the
state. The awards recognise and highlight innovative, outstanding and
revolutionary housing ideas, projects and programmes from across the world. The
Jaga mission is the land titling and slum upgrading program that aims at
empowering the lives of slum dwellers.
Jaga mission is the
world’s largest land titling and slum upgrading program which aims at
empowering the lives of slum dwellers. Under the inspiring leadership of Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik, the Government of Odisha has set itself the ambitious
target of becoming the first slum-free state in India and is leading the Jaga
Mission programme to upgrade all of the state’s 2,919 slums. In the last 05
years of the initiative, 1,75,000 families have been granted land tenure
security. 100% households in 2,724 slums have been provided with pipe water
connections, 707 slums transformed fully into Liveable Habitats, 100%
households in 666 slums have individual toilets, and 8 cities have become
slum-free.