Current Affairs 28th November, 2015

National

NHAI approves pilot project for developing greenbelts along National highways

National Highways Authorities of India (NHAI) has approved a pilot project for undertaking scientific studies on designing greenbelts along national highways.

Proposal in this regard was submitted by Nagpur based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).

Key facts

The pilot project will be implemented on a 5 km stretch on NH-7 (Varanasi to Kanyakumari) between Jam and Hinganghat in Nagpur region. Around 20,000 scientifically chosen species of trees are proposed to be planted on both sides of this stretch in multiple rows at an estimated cost of 11 crore 80 lakh rupees.

The project will run for five years’ time span. During this period various experiments will be conducted in NEERI laboratory to record the impact of greenbelt development.

Work activities have been delineated considering two major factors such as Highway requirement and objectives along with Plant characteristics to fit in the site requirement.

Highway requirement and objectives includes traffic frequency, available space, soil type, water availability, climatic conditions and anthropogenic interference Plant characteristics to fit in the site requirement would depend on height, canopy cover, air pollution Tolerance Index and sociability of selected species of trees.

Besides developing greenbelt, the project will also assist in developing relevant research infrastructure that may be used for similar studies in future.

International

India-Israel co-developed LRSAM missile successfully tested

Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM) co-developed by India and Israel was successfully test-fired for the first time from an Israeli Naval Platform.

Test: The trial test was undertaken by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in the presence of Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists.

During the test the missile achieved the desired goal by hitting the incoming target.

About Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM)

LRSAM is also called Barak 8 missile in Israel which in Hebrew language means Lightning. Barak 8 is an advanced, long-range missile defence and air defence system.

Its main features are long range, active radar seeker missile, vertical launch and multiple simultaneous engagements.

For the LRSAM, DRDO has developed dual pulse propulsion system along with other safety arm mechanisms for Solid Propulsion system.

The LRSAM programme consists of Missiles, Weapon Control System, MFSTAR (Radar), Vertical Launcher unit and two- way data link.

It is capable to counter a wide variety of air-borne threats such as anti-ship missiles, aircraft, UAVs and drones as well as supersonic cruise missiles.

The successful test marks a milestone in bilateral cooperation of the two countries in developing advanced weapon systems. It is also considered as the major milestone in proving the missile system is compatible with the Ship Borne Tracking Equipments (SBTE).

New Appointments:

Patricia Scotland Commonwealth’s new Secretary General

Dominica-born British lawyer Patricia Scotland (60) has been elected as the new Secretary General of the Commonwealth.

With this, she becomes its first woman and also first British citizen to be elected secretary-general of the 53-member bloc’s history.

She will succeed Kamalesh Sharma from India and enter into the office on 1 April 2016 for four-year term i.e. till 2020.

About Patricia Scotland

Patricia Scotland is prominent lawyer and for first time she became a member of House of Lords (Upper House) of the British parliament in 1997.

Earlier, she had served as Attorney General (AG) for England and Wales and Northern Ireland from 2007 to 2010.

She was UK Minister of State (Home Office) from 2003-2007 and UK Parliamentary Secretary (Lord Chancellor’s Department) form 2001-2003.

She also had served as UK Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1999 to 2001.

About Commonwealth Secretary-General

The Commonwealth Secretary-General is the head of the Commonwealth Secretariat which is the central body that has served the Commonwealth of Nations.

Secretary-General can now serve a maximum of two four-year terms and its duties involve representing the organisation globally and also promote its values and principles maily democratic standards and development.

Commonwealth Secretariat was established in 1965 and responsible for representing the Commonwealth publicly. Its headquarter is at Marlborough House in London.

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