07.12.21

The flight passengers can use facial recognition as their boarding pass from 2022.

Highlights:

The first to roll out the facility are Kolkata, Pune, Varanasi and Vijayawada.

The NEC Corporation Private Limited has been approved by the Airport Authority of India to implement the project.

The details of face recognition data are to be collected in Digi Yatra Central Ecosystem.

To avail of this service, the passenger must send PNR, pax details and facial biometrics to the Biometric Boarding System of the departing airport through a mobile application. The passenger can also choose not to opt for the service.

Facial recognition Software designed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The project is to be executed as part of the Digi Yatra Policy, and the Ministry of Civil Aviation is implementing this policy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually launched a thought Leadership forum on FinTech, InFinity Forum.

Highlights:

The event was hosted by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).

It was under the aegis of the Government of India, in collaboration with GIFT City and Bloomberg.

Indonesia, South Africa and the United Kingdom are the associate countries in the 1st edition of the Forum.

The Forum centred on the theme of Beyond with various sub-themes. The sub-themes incorporate FinTech beyond boundaries, FinTech beyond Finance, and FinTech Beyond Next.

This focuses on how Quantum Computing could impact the nature of the Fintech in the future and promote new opportunities.

NITI (National Institution for Transforming India), Aayog, Invest India, FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry) and NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies) are some of the critical partners of 2021s Forum.

The India Russia 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was held in New Delhi in December 2021, between the DEFENCE ministers and external affairs ministers of the two countries.

Highlights:

This is the first 2+2 Dialogue held between India and Russia.

During the Dialogue, the countries discussed the ongoing situation in Afghanistan.

The Dialogue increased military cooperation and joint improvement between the countries.

It also centred on the production of military platforms in India.

The Dialogue discussed multipolarity and rebalancing. It also focuses on the newer challenges before the countries, such as terrorism and violent extremism.

The contracts help India enhance its regional security.

Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0 And UNDP Signed An MoU

Under Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a MoU on 6 December .

Highlights:

The MoU was signed to strengthen the Waste Management sector in the country, and the UNDP will help India integrate the informal waste pickers. It will assist India in linking them with government welfare schemes.

The MoU included digitizing the waste flow and streamlining activities in Swachhata Kendras, which will encourage machine Learning and in measures adopted under Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0.

Solid Waste Management is the critical focus of Swachh Bharat Mission Urban. It focuses on the scientific processing of municipal solid waste and source segregation of wastes and strengthens solid waste management.

It will help India achieve its vision of making cities Garbage Free.

It will assist in reaching 100% waste processing as aimed by Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0.

The MoU aims to realize the vision of Clean Air, Clean Water, Clean Land in urban India.

This is achieved through a circular approach based on the 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle) principle.

Affairs:The Chinese Lunar Rover, Yutu- 2, spotted a cube-shaped mystery hut on the moon’s far side.

Highlights:

Yutu 2 is a Chinese lunar rover launched to the moon in Chang’e 4 mission, 2018 and landed on the moon in 2019.

The Yutu 2 rovers found a cube-shaped object on the moon’s far side. A possible explanation for the object is that it can be a larger boulder unearthed by an impact event.

Change’e 4 was the fourth lunar mission of China. The Chang’e 1 and Chang’e 2 missions were orbiters.

The Chang’e 3 landed on the moon’s near side with Yutu 1. Chang’e 5 mission brought a moon sample to the earth.

Yutu 2 is solar-powered and propelled by six wheels. It landed in Von Karman crater.

In 2020, scientists reported a high-resolution image of the Lunar Ejecta Sequence for the first time.

The Yutu 2 is equipped with a radioisotope heater unit, used to heat the subsystems in the rover during long lunar nights.