Facts in News

Facts in News

Vande Bharat Mission (VBM)

• It was started by the Indian government on 6^th May 2020 in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant lockdowns.
• Under it, Air India and private Indian carriers have been operating unscheduled repatriation flights for Indians stuck abroad during the pandemic.
• It has turned out to be one of the largest evacuations of civilians by a country.
  • Into the middle of Phase 10, it surpassed the large-scale airlift of 1,10,000 people in 1990 at the onset of the Gulf War.
  • The Gulf War (August 1990-February 1991) was an international conflict that erupted after Iraq invaded neighbouring Kuwait and the US and its allies had to force Iraq out of Kuwait.

RESPOND Programme

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) started the RESPOND (Sponsored Research) programme in the 1970s.
• Objective
  • To establish strong links with premiere academic institutions in the country.
  • To encourage academia to participate, contribute and carry out R&D projects relevant to Space.
  • To enhance academic base, generate quality human resources and infrastructure.
• It provides necessary financial and technical support for activities related to Space Science, Space Technology and Space Applications.
• A detailed list of R&D areas/sub areas/topics have been evolved as per major programmes of ISRO, by the various centres of ISRO which are published annually.
• It is mutually beneficial to ISRO and Academia, wherein the rich talent of Academia/faculty is being harnessed to support the nation’s Space programmes.

US Defense Production Act

• It is an emergency law that requires domestic manufacturers to prioritize federal (central) government purchase orders.
• It is the primary source of presidential authorities to expedite and expand the supply of materials and services from the US industrial base needed to promote the national defense.
• It has been used by the US to expand domestic vaccine manufacturing and prioritize the supplies, in the wake of the Covid-19.
• This act has been evoked by both Joe Biden, putting an embargo on raw materials to assist the production of Covid-19 vaccines.
  • The Serum Institute of India’s (SII) Covishield uses bioreactor bags from US firms to grow cells for their vaccines.
  • It also uses filters, microcarrier beads and cell culture media, all of which are in short supply.

Boao Forum for Asia (BFA)

• It is an international organization jointly initiated by 29 member states.
• It holds its annual conference in Boao, Hainan on a regular basis.
• It is Headquartered in China.
• The first conference of BFA was held in, 2001in Boao, Hainan Province, China
• Objectives –
  • To promote economic integration in Asia.
  • To pool positive energy for the development of Asia and the world.

Bru community

• The Brus or Reangs is a community indigenous to the Northeast, living mostly in Tripura, Mizoram, and Assam.
  •  In Tripura, they are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group.
    • It is a classification by the Government for more vulnerable tribes among the tribal groups.
    • The tribe has a declining or stagnant population, low level of literacy, pre-agricultural level of technology and are economically backward.
    • They generally inhabit remote localities having poor infrastructure and administrative support.
• In Mizoram, they were targeted by ethnic organisations who demanded that the Brus be excluded from electoral rolls.
• A four-party agreement was signed in 2020, between the Centre, the Mizoram government, the Tripura government, and an apex body of the internally displaced Brus in the presence of the Home Minister to arrive at a solution for the Bru repatriation issue.
•  This agreement will allow the displaced refugees to permanently settle in Tripura.

Britcoin

• The term Britcoin refers to a cryptocurrency.
•  It is a Bank of England (BoE) or central bank-backed digital currency.
• It is aimed at tackling some of the challenges posed by cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.
• The new currency, if it comes to pass, would be a new form of digital money for use by households and businesses and would exist alongside cash and bank deposits, rather than replacing them.

Cryptocurrency

• It is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. .
• It is supported by a decentralized peer-to-peer network called the blockchain. Blockchain technology ensures that all transactions in cryptocurrencies are recorded in a public financial transaction database.