CHHATTISGARH
- NMDC’s Nagarnar Plant Coke Oven set for heating on Sept 28
- NMDC Ltd’s Nagarnar Plant is all set for inaugural heating up of its Coke Oven in Bastar division of Chhattisgarh. The Coke Oven will be inaugurated on September 28.
- Union Minister for Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh will light up the Coke Oven on September 28, 2018
- Notably, the charging of the Coal Handling System has already been done at the plant and gains significance because the 3 MTPA capacity Nagarnar Steel Plant is expected to handle close to 2.5 million tonnes of coking coal annually to feed its two Coke Ovens.
- Coking coal is converted to coke for charging into blast furnace to reduce iron ore to molten steel.
- The company is executing the project in two phases. The first phase is being executed from Bacheli to Nagarnar in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh at an estimated outlay of Rs 4,000 crore; and the second phase will be executed from Nagarnar to Vizag in Andhra Pradesh at an outlay of Rs 6,000 crore.
INTERNATIONAL
· India and Morocco signed the revised Air Services Agreement
- The agreement will enable the airlines of each side to enter into code sharewith airlines of other party.
- It will also provide greater freedom in mounting direct flights.
- The revised Agreement is the outcome of three meetings of delegation from two countries who had worked towards liberalization of marketsbetween the two countries and updating of the existing Air Services Agreement.
· In a first, Japanese robots land on moving asteroid
- A pair of robot rovers have landed on an asteroid and begun a survey, Japan’s space agency said, as it conducts a mission aiming to shed light on the origins of the solar system.
- The rover mission marks the world’s first moving, robotic observation of an asteroid surface, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Gk bit – Asteroid, Aeteor, Meteorite and Meteoroids
- An asteroid is a rocky object in space that’s smaller than a planet — they’re sometimes called minor planets or planetoids.
- A meteor is an asteroid or other object that burns and vaporizes upon entry into the Earth’s atmosphere; meteors are commonly known as “shooting stars.”
- If a meteor survives the plunge through the atmosphere and lands on the surface, it’s known as a meteorite.
- Meteoroids is a general term describing small particles of comets or asteroids that are in orbit around the sun.
NATIONAL
- Lucknow Metro First From India To Get International Award
- The Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) has become the first ever metro rail corporation from India to bag the International ‘Royal Society For The Prevention Of Accidents’ (RoSPA) Award.
- LMRC has been given the Silver Award for its Phase 1A (North-South Corridor) in the Project/Infrastructure category for the year 2018.
- Cyclone-30 becomes operational in Kolkata, to boost cancer diagnosis
- India’s biggest cyclotron facility named Cyclone-30that will produce radioisotopes vital for diagnosis and treatment of cancer became operational at the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) in
- Cyclone-30 will become the first and only facility in the country to produce Germanium 68 isotopes, which is used in the diagnosis of breast cancer.
- At present, many radioisotopes are imported while some are produced in nuclear research reactors such as the Apsara at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), and remaining in cyclotrons facilities run by large private hospitals.
· India looks to procure Spike missiles
- A deal to procure the Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israel through the government-to-government route has been brought before the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) for approval.
- The deal is for 170 launchers, 4,500 missiles and 15 simulators.
- Spike is a third-generation, fire-and-forget, man-portable missile manufactured by Israel’s Rafael.
- In all, nearly 40,000 missiles are required to equip the Army’s 382 infantry battalions and 44 mechanised regiments.
· Article 370: J&K’s special status challenged
- A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the continued existence of Article 370, which gives a temporary autonomous status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir and restricts the power of Parliament to make laws for the State.
- The petition especially challenges a particular proviso in Article 370 which mandates that the President should first get the permission of the ‘Constituent Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir’ before declaring the Article null and void.
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