UniFocus IAS ( UNIFOCUS UNIVERSAL )

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, today approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) at a total cost of Rs.6003.65 crore from 2023-24 to 2030-31, aiming to seed, nurture and scale up scientific and industrial R&D and create a vibrant & innovative ecosystem in Quantum Technology (QT). This will accelerate QT led economic growth, nurture the ecosystem in the country and make India one of the leading nations in the development of Quantum Technologies & Applications (QTA). Key Highlights:  The new mission targets developing intermediate scale quantum computers with 50-1000 physical qubits in 8 years in various platforms like superconducting and photonic technology.  Satellite based secure quantum communications between ground stations over a range of 2000 kilometres within India, long distance secure quantum communications with other countries, inter-city quantum key distribution over 2000 km as well as multi-node Quantum netwo...

In line with Government’s commitment to make Aadhaar people-friendly and enable its voluntary use to perform Aadhaar authentication under any law or as prescribed, it is proposed to provide for preparation of the proposal for performance of such authentication by entities other than Government Ministries and Departments for prescribed purposes.  Through an amendment enacted in 2019 to the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, it was provided under section 4(4) of the Act that entities may be allowed to perform authentication if the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is satisfied that the requesting entity is compliant with standards of privacy and security specified by regulations and is permitted by law to offer authentication services or seeks authentication for a prescribed purpose. Pursuant to this amendment, the said purposes were prescribed by the Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance (Social Welfare,...

  The 13th Meeting of India Thailand Joint Trade Committee (JTC) was held today in New Delhi.   Thailand is India’s important trading partner in ASEAN with total trade of USD 16.89 Billion in 2022-23. Thailand accounts for 13.6% of India’s total trade with ASEAN. Thailand is an important destination for India’s gems and jewellery, mechanical machinery, auto and auto components and agricultural products especially marine products. Issues Discussed: Reviewing the status of bilateral trade and each partner’s  modest share in  other’s global imports, the chairs emphasised the need for identifying new potential products and priority sectors for expanding the bilateral trade.  Both sides also discussed various market access issues and technical barriers faced by their exporters and agreed to resolve the same through regular and sustained bilateral discussions.  India raised the restriction faced in its export of marine, poultry and meat products.  Both sides...

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar today released Crop Specific “Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the Application of Pesticides with Drones” in the public domain for the guidance of farmers and other stakeholders. Under the Agricultural Mechanization Sub-Mission, ICAR institutes, KVKs, SAUs, other State/Central Government Agricultural Institutes and Government of India PSUs engaged in agricultural activities are provided financial assistance at the rate of 100% of the drone cost (up to Rs. 10 lakh per drone) besides Contingent Expenses for the purpose of demonstration of drones in the farmers' fields. FPOs are given grant-in-aid at the rate of 75% for purchase of drones for demonstration on farmers' fields. For the purpose of providing agricultural services through the use of drones, financial assistance is given at the rate of 40% of the original cost of the drone by CHCs to Farmers Cooperative Society, FPOs and Rural Entrepreneu...

  Following the four successful rounds of bidding, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched the 5 th   round of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) to further enhance the connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country and achieve last mile connectivity. Key Features of UDAN 5.0 are as follows: This round of UDAN focuses on Category-2 (20-80 seats) and Category-3 (>80 seats). The earlier stage length cap of 600 km is waived off and there is no restriction on the distance between the origin and destination of the flight. Viability gap funding (VGF) to be provided will be capped at 600 km stage length for both Priority and Non-Priority areas which was earlier capped at 500 km. No predetermined routes would be offered. Only Network and Individual Route Proposal proposed by airlines will be considered. The airlines would be required to submit an action/business plan after 2 months from the issuance of LoA wherein they submit their ...