April 20th 2015

>>Indian Navy’s new destroyer, Visakhapatnam, with enhanced capability to operate in nuclear, biological and chemical atmosphere, will be launched in Mumbai on Monday.

• The ship is the first of the four follow follow-up order of the Kolkata class warships and will give a major fillip to India’s maritime capabilities when it is inducted in 2018.

Facts about the stealth destroyer:

1) The ship, named Visakhapatnam (Project 15 B), a stealth destroyer, is 65 per cent indigenous and has a number of weapon systems which have been made at home.

2) At 7,300 tonnes, Visakhapatnam will be the largest destroyer commissioned by the Indian Navy and will be equipped with the Israeli Multi Function Surveillance Threat Alert Radar.

3) The ship will be carrying 8 BrahMos missiles.

4) Navy officials said the Visakhapatnam is likely to be inducted in the Indian Navy by 2018.

5) The Visakhapatnam will be armed with a 127 mm main gun while the INS Kolkata has a 76mm Super Rapid Gun Mount. 

6) She is equipped with a Ship Data Network, an Automatic Power Management System and a Combat Management System.  Essentially, all information critical for the operation of the warship during all operations is available to key officers through the SDN which the Navy describes as a data information highway. 

7) With a displacement of 7,300 tonnes, each ship will be spanning 163 metres in length and 17.4 meters at the beam. It will be propelled by four gas turbines in Combined Gas and Gas configuration.

8) The ships are capable of achieving speeds in excess of 30 knots and have maximum endurance of 4000 nm at economical speed of 14 knots.

9) The ship’s fire power consists of sophisticated weapons-sensor suite including vertically launch capable Surface to Air and Surface-to-Surface Missiles for long distance engagement of shore and sea based targets.

>> Former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar was appointed as chief adviser of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Anti-Corruption & Security Unit (ACSU).

Decision in this regard was taken at the Governing Council Meeting of the Indian Premier League (IPL) chaired by IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla in New Delhi.

>> The Kerala government on Sunday launched a major campaign "Subodham" to help people in the state overcome alcohol, drug and other substance abuse.

• The project was launched by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Art of Living Foundation founder Sri Sri Ravishankar here in the presence of religious leaders, representatives of student organisations and NGOs working against drug abuse.
• The "Subodham" project, envisaged by the excise department, will be implemented by a high-level committee comprising experts from various fields.
• "'Subodham' heralds the first step towards 'Punarjani 2030 Project', a state government initiative to completely eradicate the menace of substance abuse in Kerala."
• The state education department, meanwhile, agreed to include anti-drug and alcohol awareness content in the state curriculum from the next academic year.

>> Chinese President Xi Jinping will launch energy and infrastructure projects worth $46 billion on a visit to Pakistan next week as China cements links with its old ally and generates opportunities for firms hit by slack growth at home.

•  Also being finalised is a long-discussed plan to sell Pakistan eight Chinese submarines. The deal, worth between $4 billion and $5 billion
• Pakistan and China often boast of being "iron brothers" and two-way trade grew to $10 billion last year from $4 billion in 2007, Pakistani data shows.
• Xi`s trip is expected to focus on a Pakistan-China Economic Corridor, a planned $46-billion network of roads, railways and energy projects linking Pakistan`s deepwater Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea with China`s far-western Xinjiang region.
• It would shorten the route for China`s energy imports, bypassing the Straits of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia, a bottleneck at risk of blockade in wartime.
• China`s own submarines could use the station to extend their range in the Indian Ocean.
• "China is thinking in terms of a maritime silk road now, something to connect the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean," .
• For Pakistan, the corridor is a cheap way to develop its violence-plagued and poverty-stricken Baluchistan province, home to Gwadar.
• China has promised to invest about $34 billion in energy projects and nearly $12 billion in infrastructure.

>> The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex policy making body of the I-T Department, has recently issued a notification making the Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) and Aadhaar, issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India, valid proof of “date of birth” for obtaining PAN card.

• Till now, both these photo ID cards were only considered as valid proof for substantiating the “identity” and “address” of an individual and not their date of birth.

• As part of the new notification, the government has also made a “photo identity card issued by the central government or state government or central public sector undertaking or state public sector undertaking or the central government health service scheme photo card or ex-servicemen contributory health scheme photo card” as the valid proofs for establishing the date of birth of an individual.

>> Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday laid the foundation stone of Dr BR Ambedkar International Centre at New Delhi

>>Chhurim Sherpa became the first woman to climb the 8850 metre (29035 feet) Mount Everest summit twice in a week. 

• Sherpa was in news as during her third ascent to Mount Everest she will take a cricket bat and two jerseys of deceased Australian cricketer Phil Hughes.