Daily News Digest:15 January 2021

HISAR AIRPORT INAUGURATED UNDER RCS-UDAN

First flight to the newly constructed Hisar airport in Haryana from Chandigarh was flagged off. It was under the Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN) of the Government of India. The flagging off marks the operationalization of 54th airport under the UDAN scheme.

INDIAN ARMY TO PROCURE SWITCH UAV

Indian Army has signed a contract of approximately $20 million with ideaForge in order to procure undisclosed quantities of high-altitude drones which will be delivered over a period of 1 year.

SWITCH UAV (Unmanned Air Vehicles) is an indigenous system that has been built to cater to the most demanding surveillance operations of the Indian Forces.

BUDGET SESSION OF PARLIAMENT TO BEGIN ON 29TH

The Budget Session of the Parliament will begin on the 29th January. The second part of the Budget Session will begin on 8th March. Subject to exigencies of Government Business, the Session is likely to conclude on 8th April.

INDIA’S FIRST INDIGENOUSLY DEVELOPED 9MM MACHINE PISTOL

India’s first indigenous 9mm Machine Pistol has been jointly developed by DRDO and Indian Army. Infantry School, Mhow and DRDO’s Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune have designed and developed this weapon using their respective expertise in the complementary areas.

DIGITAL EVOLUTION SCORECARD 2020: INDIA RANKS 4TH IN 'BREAK OUT ECONOMIES'

India has been ranked at the 4th position in the third edition of the "Break Out Economies" report. The result was released in the Digital Evolution Scorecard developed by Mastercard in partnership with Tufts University's Fletcher School.

The first rank was attained by China, the second rank by Azerbaijan and the third rank by Indonesia.

NEW SPECIES OF BAT FOUND IN WEST AFRICA

A new species of a striking orange & black bat from the Nimba Mountains in West Africa. The scientific name of the new species of orange and black bat discovered in West Africa is Myotis nimbaensis.

The bat was discovered in the West African country of Guinea and is classified under the critically endangered species of IUCN. The bat is named after the Nimba Mountains of Guinea where it was discovered.

FLIPKART, NITI AAYOG COLLABORATE TO ENHANCE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP PLATFORM

To enhance community experience for women entrepreneurs in India, Flipkart and NITI Aayog have come together to launch the revamped Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP). The platform is a unified access portal which brings together women from different parts of India to realise their entrepreneurial aspirations.