The government on Oct 4 approved Rs 26,000 crore for installation of 25,000 mobile towers in 500 days. According to the telecom ministry, the financial support for the project will be provided by Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF) and it will be implemented by Bharat Broadband Network (BBN).

USOF is a pool of funds generated by 5% Universal Service Levy charged on all telecom service operators on their adjusted gross revenue (AGR). The project was announced by Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at the three-day long ‘Digital India Conference of State IT Ministers’ that concluded on October 3.

Prosus scraps USD 4.7 billion pact to acquire BillDesk

Largest technology investor and global consumer internet group Prosus has called off the acquisition deal of BillDesk that it announced last year.

Last year, Prosus said that an agreement had been reached between PayU Payments Private Limited (PayU), a subsidiary of Prosus, and the shareholders of the Indian digital payments provider BillDesk to acquire BillDesk for $4.7 billion. BillDesk is one of the leading payment businesses in India.

The deal had received approval by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) last month.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Oct 6 launched the Cyber Security Course syllabus at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Rolling out the curriculum, UGC Chairman Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar said, “the syllabus aims to create more aware, responsive and responsible digital citizens, thereby contributing effectively to an overall healthy cybersecurity posture and ecosystem.”

He said that the importance of cyber security due to the increased dependency and use of cyberspace by all of us in our personal and professional lives could not be overemphasised.

The proposed syllabus gives broad guidelines, and teachers who would teach the subject will have enough flexibility to balance time vis-a-vis depth of coverage.

According to the UGC, students should be taught the foundation of cyber security and the threat landscape to equip them with technical knowledge and skills to implement and monitor cyber security mechanisms to protect information technology assets.

The MHA has also launched the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) to facilitate online reporting of cybercrime incidents.

A record 1.62 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir so far this year, which is the highest since independence

After three decades, Kashmir is attracting lakhs of tourists which tourism players say is the return of golden era of Kashmir tourism.

He said the record number of tourists visiting Jammu and Kashmir underlines the overall development and change that has taken place in the Union territory.

Tourism is the biggest source of employment in Jammu and Kashmir and since January, 2022 till date, 1.62 crore tourists have visited Jammu and Kashmir, which is the highest in 75 years of independence.

A record-breaking 20.5 lakh tourists, including 3.65 lakh Amarnath yatris, visited Kashmir in the first eight months of this year, drawing visitors from all over the nation to the gorgeous and picturesque Valley.

The two million tourists represent an all-time high tourist footfall for Kashmir valley.

Charles Fuller, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of the searing and acclaimed “A Soldier’s Play” who often explored and exposed how social institutions can perpetuate racism, has died. He was 83.

Fuller’s most famous work, “A Soldier’s Play,” used a military setting in its tale of the search for the murderer of a Black sergeant on an Army base in Louisiana during World War II. It dissected entrenched racism as well as internal divisions in the Black military community, wrapping it in a murder mystery.

India has initiated a probe to ascertain if a spurt in imports of Ferro Molybdenum, which is used in steel, nickel, and cobalt alloys, from South Korea is hitting the domestic producers.

According to a notification issued by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), The Indian Ferro Alloy Producer's Association together with Boon Metal &Alloy Corporation, Premier Alloys & Chemicals Pvt Ltd, and Team Ferro Alloys Pvt Ltd have filed an application that an increase in imports of the product is causing serious injury to the domestic producers.

The application was filed under the bilateral safeguard measures rules of the India-Korea free trade agreement. Under the pact, India has given customs duties concession on this product.

The applicants have claimed that the import of the product has increased in absolute terms and in relation to the production and consumption in India.

The notification stated that there is a sudden, sharp and significant increase in imports between 2018-19 and 2021-22.

In the probe, if it was established that the increase in imports has impacted domestic players, the directorate would recommend the imposition of a safeguard duty on the imports.

The finance ministry will take the final call to impose the duty. The duty helps in providing a level-playing field to the domestic industry in terms of pricing of the chemical in the domestic market.

Pricing is a key component of the quality of products in any market. The bilateral trade between the two countries increased to USD 21.5 billion in 2018-19 from USD 20.1 billion in 2017-18. It has increased to USD 25.6 billion in 2021-22. The trade balance is highly in favour of Korea.

The young India forward Mumtaz Khan on  Oct 4 was named the FIH Women's Rising Star of the Year on the back of her stellar role during the country's campaign at the 2021 Junior World Cup in South Africa

The 19-year-old Mumtaz, who hails from Lucknow, had scored eight goals in six matches, including a hat-trick, during India's fourth-place finishing campaign in Potchefstroom in April.

She finished in third place on the list of top scorers in the World Cup. She failed to score in just one game throughout the tournament, against Netherlands.

Mumtaz scored both the goals for India in the crucial 2-2 tie in the bronze medal match against England, but the team couldn't get over the line in the ensuing shoot-out to end in fourth place.

Mumtaz edged Belgium's Charlotte Englebert by a margin of just three points after votes were cast by experts (40%), teams (20%), fans (20%) and media (20%).

The young Indian finished with a total of 32.9 points, with Englebert coming in second with 29.9 points. Luna Fokke from the Netherlands finished third with 16.9 points.

Mumtaz also emerged as India's leading goal-scorer at the FIH Women's Hockey 5s 2022 where she scored five goals in four games, including a hat-trick against the hosts Switzerland.

Timothee Clement of France was voted FIH Men's Rising Star of the Year.

Q1. The Cyber Jaagrookta Diwas 2022 was observed on

1. Oct 2
2. Oct 4
3. Oct 6
4. Oct  8
5. None of These

Q2. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a global alert over four India-made cough syrups linked to the deaths of 66 children in

1. Uganda
2. Nigeria
3. Tanzania
4. The Gambia
5. None of These

Q3. A record 1.62 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir so far this year, which is the highest since

1. 1947
2. 1971
3. 2004
4. 2014
5. None of These

Q4. Name the indigenous all-terrain high mobility combat troop carrier with armour and mine protection which has been inducted by the Army's northern command on Oct 6  in Jammu and Kashmir ?

1. Vasundhra M 6
2. Vajra M4
3. Kalyani M4
4. Prahaar M8
5. None of These

Q5. Who among the following   have been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in physics for their work on quantum information science ?

1. Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger
2. Arthur Ashkin , Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland
3. James Peebles , Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz
4. Roger , Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez
5. None of These

Answers

1----------------3 Oct 6

'Cyber Jaagrookta (Awareness) Diwas' for the officials of MeitY and its attached organizations, on first Wednesday of every month from May, 2022 onwards to create awareness for the prevention of cybercrimes through awareness workshops, seminars, interactive sessions, quiz competitions, best practices, case studies etc

2-----------------------4  The Gambia

3  ----------------------1  1947

4-----------------------3   Kalyani M4

5---------------------1   Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger

The Indian Air Force inducts its first Unit of the indigenous Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) at Jodhpur, Rajasthan on Oct 3.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the Air Force saying the role of the IAF will be more effective after this induction.

The Unit which will comprise of 10 Make-in-India multi-role attack helicopters based at the Jodhpur Air Force Station have been named the 143 Helicopter Unit (Dhanush). The Helicopters have been christened as Prachand. The ceremony was presided over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in the presence of the Air Chief.

IAF Chief VR Chaudhari said the IAF's tryst with helicopters began in 1954 when sikorsky helicopter was inducted.

And it being the first Unit of the indigenous LCH.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in March this year approved the procurement of 15 Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) Limited Series Production at the cost of Rs. 3,887 crores along with Infrastructure sanctions worth Rs. 377 crores. Of these 5 LCH are to be inducted into the Indian Army.

Light Combat Helicopter Limited Series Production (LSP) is an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured state-of-the-art modern combat helicopter containing approx. 45% indigenous content by value which will progressively increase to more than 55% for SP Version, says the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The Helicopter is powered by a twin Shakti Engine and has a range of 500 km and a maximum speed of 268 kmph. It is compatible for high-altitude deployment with the capability to take off and land at about 5000 metre (16,400 feet).

The weapons onboard includes Air to Air Missile Mistral 2, Anti Tank Guided Missile Dhruvastra, and 70 MM Rockets.