Indian Air Force (IAF) and Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) are participating in a bilateral exercise named “Eastern Bridge-VI” to enhance operational efficiency through interoperability.

• Eastern Bridge-VI Air Exercise has started from February 21, 2022 and will end on February 25.

• This is the 6th edition of the exercise, which is being held at Air Force Station Jodhpur.

purpose of the exercise

The exercise is being conducted with an aim to provide an opportunity to enhance the operational capability as well as the interoperability between the two Air Forces.

The participation of IAF and RAFO in this exercise will enhance operational knowledge and promote exchange of experiences. This will also strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries. It will provide a platform for both the Air Forces to learn best practices from each other and work together.

previous version of exercise

Eastern Bridge V was conducted in 2019 at Air Force Base Masirah, Oman. The IAF contingent consisted of MiG-29 and C-17 aircraft. This was the first time that MiG-29 fighter jets participated in international exercises outside India.

India-Oman Defense Partnership

Oman is one of India's strongest defense partners in the Gulf region. The three services of India have bilateral exchanges and exercises with the services of Oman. Oman provides operational support to the Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea. India has access to Dukm port. This port has strengthened India's capability and maritime strategy in the Indian Ocean region.

A new naval air defense system named 'C-Dome' has been successfully test-fired by Israel. This missile system will be used on the Israel Navy's Sa'ar 6-class corvettes.

• The C-Dome is the naval version of Israel's Iron Dome.

• The Iron Dome is an Israeli missile system used to destroy and intercept short-range missiles and rockets from the Gaza Strip.

• The successful test of Sea-Dome will further strengthen the country's maritime defense.

• The test was conducted on various incoming threats which included cruise missiles, rockets and drones.

C-Dome Defense System

This new missile system of Israel has been developed with the aim of countering any attack on the country's maritime security. The C-Dome missile system will be included in Israel's missile defense system. This missile system is similar to Iron Dome, it is a naval version of it.

Iron Dome

Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafale Advanced Defense Systems have developed the Iron Dome missile system, the country's all-weather air defense system. The missile system is deployed to intercept and destroy missiles and short-range rockets that are fired from a range of 4 to 70 km. Israel plans to increase the range of the system from 70 km to 250 km and make it versatile enough to intercept rockets coming from two directions simultaneously. The Iron Dome has successfully intercepted 90 percent of the missiles that were launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel.

India's Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa defeated reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway. The victory came in the eighth round of the preliminary phase of the Airthings Masters chess tournament being held online.

• The tournament is the first of nine events under the US$1.6 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.

• The tour will run from February to November 2022.

• The time of this tournament is 15 minutes per game per player, with an increment of 10 seconds after each move.

• The 16-year-old is the third Indian after Pragyananand Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishna to defeat Magnus Carlsen.

AirThings Masters Chess Tournament

'The Airthings Masters' features 16 of the world's best players, including Carlsen, China's Ding Liren, Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi, America's Levon Aronian, Netherlands' Anish Giri and Azerbaijan's Shakhriyar Mamedyrov.

Pragyananand is the third lowest ranked player in this tournament with an Elo rating of 2612, while Carlsen is the top seed with an Elo rating of 2865.

R. Pragyanananda (R. Praggnanandhaa)

He is the Chess Grandmaster of India. He is the fifth youngest person to receive the title of Grandmaster. Her sister Vaishali Rameshbabu is also a chess player and has won the title of International Masters and Woman Grandmaster.

Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen is a five-time world chess champion and chess grandmaster from Norway. He has won the World Rapid Chess Championship three times and the World Blitz Chess Championship five times. Since 1 July 2011, he is ranked first in the FIDE World Chess Rankings. With the highest rating of 2882, he holds the record for the highest peak recorded in the history of the sport.

Gobar Dhan Yojana 2022 was launched by Prime Minister Shri Modi on 25 February 2022 for the farmers of the country, under this scheme all the farmers of the country can provide benefits like business from their farming. Under the objective of the scheme, the government will buy animal dung and agricultural waste materials (wet and dry waste) and mechanize them to make gas. Can I get income too?

What is GOBAR Dhan?

This scheme is also known as Galvanizing Organic Bio Agro Resource Dhan Scheme and Govardhan Yojana. There can be many sources for setting up this cow dung gas plant, such as individual, community, self-help group or through cowshed, you can set up a dung gas plant.

Gobar Dhan Yojana 2022 will be started in every village of the country but initially this scheme will be started in only one village of each district and in 700 districts from Karnal to Kunjpura.

Under the Gobar Dhan scheme, a technical expert will also be placed on each Gobar gas plant from the government side and at the same time the central government will help the gram panchayats in setting up a gas plant.

Objective

The main objective of starting Gobar Dhan Yojana is that all the farmers in the country, along with farming, should plant leaves falling from trees and other waste materials like garbage and animal dung by planting gas production plants. More and more money can be earned so that the income of the farmers can increase and they can also get money from their waste materials.

Hurricane Younis issued the first red weather warning in London on February 19, 2022. It was one of the most powerful storms in Europe since 1984, when the Great Storm affected Britain and northern France.

• At least 13 people have died in Europe due to strong winds, falling trees and debris.

• It has taken 1.4 million homes off the grid, with emergency workers struggling to restore power.

• It also severely affected travel in Britain, closing the English Channel port of Dover and the bridges connecting England and Wales.

• It has also stopped most trains in and out of London.

• It had winds of up to 200 mph.

• Younis is the second hurricane to hit Europe this week. The first storm killed at least five people in Germany and Poland.

Causes of dangerous typhoon storm in Europe

The Eunice Storm is similar to the 1987 "Great Storm", which produced typhoon winds and killed 22 people across Britain and France. Both these storms are predicted to be "sting jets". A sting jet is a small, narrow air current that can form inside a storm and produce strong winds over an area less than 100 km across. Such storms are difficult to predict and are relatively rare.

How is a sting jet generated?

Sting jets arise in a certain type of extra-tropical cyclone, which is defined as a rotating wind system outside the tropics. These air currents form about 5 km above the Earth's surface.

• On February 22, 2022, President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the 'Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate Week' in virtual mode.

• Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate is a week long nationwide program of competitions and lectures for school students and college students.

• The Union Ministry of Science and Technology has selected three institutes in Madhya Pradesh to organize this event.

• MP Council of Science and Technology (MPCST) Bhopal will organize the program at SGSITS College Indore and Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya Jabalpur.

• Students from government and private institutions can participate in this event.

• To participate in this program, students have to register on the official website.

Objective

Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate Program was started with the aim of attracting the students towards scientific knowledge of items of daily use. The purpose of this program is also to propagate scientific principles.

program theme

Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate program will be organized every day on different themes. Themes are listed below:

• On February 23, the theme will be "History of Indian Science".

• "Milestones of Modern Indian Science and Technology" on 24 February.

• On 25 February – “Indigenous Traditional Inventions and Innovations”.

• On 26 February – “Science Literature Festival”.

• On February 27 - "Science and Technology for the Next 25 Years"

• The closing ceremony will be held on February 28.

'Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate' week organized

The University Grants Commission has asked colleges to observe “Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate Saptah” or “Science Week” 2022. As a part of this week, a mega book fair will be organized at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. This book fair will be organized from February 22 to February 28, 2022 under the office of the Ministry of Culture and PCA. Science Week celebrations will culminate on National Science Day on 28 February.

National Science Day 2022

National Science Day is celebrated every year on 28 February in India. The day was celebrated by Indian physicist Sir C.V. Symbolizes the discovery of Raman effect by Raman. The Raman Effect was discovered on February 28, 1928, for which Sir C.V. Raman received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.

• On 21 February, President Ram Nath Kovind conducted a Fleet Review of the Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam.

• President Kovind is in Visakhapatnam on a three-day visit to the Eastern Naval Command.

• Visakhapatnam is hosting Fleet Review for the second time.

• The first Fleet Review was done in 2006 during the tenure of the then President APJ Abdul Kalam.

• The Fleet Review is conducted with the aim of assuring the country of the preparedness, high morale and discipline of the Indian Navy.

• This year marked the 12th Fleet Review.

• It is being organized to mark the 75th anniversary of India's independence.

Why does the President of India review the Indian Naval Fleet?

Each President of India reviews the Indian Naval Fleet once during his tenure, as he is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces.

Presidential Fleet Review

As the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, the President of India takes stock of the capabilities of the Navy in Fleet Review. The President boards a yacht, called the Presidential Yacht, and reviews the Indian Navy Fleet. This year, ships of all Naval Commands and Andaman and Nicobar Command were docked at one of the Naval Ports in Visakhapatnam for review. As part of this exercise, the President's yacht sailed past the columns of docked ships, and was given a ceremonial salute. During this review, a 21-gun salute was also given to the President.

background

So far 11 Fleet Reviews have been conducted. The first fleet was operated in 1953 under President Rajendra Prasad. In total, two reviews in 2001 and 2016 were international, in which ships from other countries also participated.

Japan has launched its first hydrogen-powered train. The unveiling is being seen as a step towards the country's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. This hydrogen-powered train will be tested in March.

The two-car train, called the "Hybari", costs US$35 million, or more than 4 billion yen, and can travel 140 kilometers, or 87 miles, at a top speed of 100 kilometers per hour when fueled by hydrogen.

Who has developed this train?

The train has been developed by East Japan Railway in collaboration with Hitachi and Toyota Motor Corporation. Japan plans to replace its diesel fleet with this hydrogen version of the trains and Japan will also consider exporting them. In 2030, commercial services are expected to begin.

Which country has launched the first hydrogen-fueled train?

Europe has been a leader in hydrogen-powered trains. Germany launched the world's first train in 2018, which was built by Alstom SA. Special fuel stations and new regional trains are being developed by Deutsche Bahn AG and Siemens AG, and will be tested in 2024.

To achieve net-zero energy, Japan has made hydrogen a major clean-energy source. Toyota is looking to increase production of its second-generation hydrogen-fueled Mirai cars tenfold, with more commercial vehicles and fuel-cell buses hitting the road.

The Japanese government plans to increase the use of hydrogen to 20 million tonnes by 2050. Energy industries such as Kawasaki and Iwatani Heavy Industries are attempting to develop a hydrogen supply chain to reduce fuel costs.