DefExpo 2022, from 10-14 March in Gujarat

The Government has approved over 1,682 crore  rupees of additional Central assistance under the National Disaster Response Fund to five States and one Union Territory. The  High Level Committee under the Chairmanship of Home Minister Amit Shah cleared over 351 crore  rupees to Andhra Pradesh, over 112 crore to Himachal Pradesh and over 492 crore to Karnataka.  More than  355 crore rupees have been granted to Maharashtra, around 353 crore to Tamil Nadu and around  18 crore rupees to  Puducherry. This additional assistance is over and above the funds released by the Centre to the States in the State Disaster Response Fund, already placed at the disposal of the States. During the financial year 2021-22, the Central Government has released over 17,747 crore rupees  to 28 States and  around 4,646 crore rupees to eight States from NDRF.

-Ministry of Defence is hosting the 12th edition of prestigious biennial defence exhibition, DefExpo 2022, at Gandhinagar in Gujarat from 10th to 14th March. This mega defence international exhibition will be focused on land, air, naval, internal homeland security and electronic systems. Government believes that India has tremendous potential to emerge as a global defence manufacturing hub. The DefExpo seminars will be held in a hybrid format, enabling the speakers as well as the audience to participate in various seminars virtually. The seminars will be streamed worldwide. They will be conducted by leading industry fora, international fora, think-tanks, media houses, Indian industry, DRDO, Ministry of Civil Aviation, and state governments. Leading international and national experts from defence and aerospace sectors have been invited as speakers for the seminars. The details of the seminars are available on DefExpo 2022 website and DefExpo 2022 mobile app.

-The Union Minister for Ayush and Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal has said that the Ayush Ministry is working on developing the Ayush infrastructure facility in Mizoram with the support of the state government. He said that Ayush health products are growing fast, creating more than 18.2 billion dollars market in the world.The Union Minister, along with the Chief Minister Zoramthanga, graced a programme in Aizawl on Thursday for laying foundation stone for three 50 bedded Ayush Hospitals, three 10 bedded hospitals and inauguration of 24 units of Ayush Health and Wellness Centres in the state. Later, while talking to the media, Sonowal said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to have speedy development in the entire Northeast, so he has accorded special care and attention to the northeast. The Minister further added that because of PM Modi’s dynamic initiative and support, the entire region has witnessed many transformations in all sectors during the last seven years.

-In Assam, all the political parties are trying to woo the voters for the polls of 80 municipal boards. Polling will be held on Sunday for 977 seats. For the first time, EVMs will be used in municipal polls in the state. Official sources said that a total of 2 thousand 532 candidates are in the fray. BJP has given tickets to a maximum 825 candidates followed by Congress in 706 seats. Asom Gana Parisahd has fielded 243 candidates while AIUDF are contesting in 17 seats while CPI-M has given ticket to 14 candidates.  Several independent candidates are also in the fray.  Over 16 lakh 73 thousand voters can exercise  their rights in 2 thousand 54 polling stations.  The BJP and Asom Gana Parishad have already won 60 seats uncontested.

-Over 140 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will take part in the 2022 edition of Vayu Shakti that will be held at Rajasthan’s Pokhran test facility on March 7.  Rafale, LCA Tejas, Sukhoi-30, and other fighter jets will participate. Vayu Shakti, which is IAF’s biggest exercise, is held every three years to showcase country's air power. A video promo, released by the IAF, depicted the objective of the exercise to showcase the capability of IAF to conduct full-spectrum operations. The exercise will also demonstrate IAF’s capability to defend vital areas and points by employing surface-to-air guided weapons. Exercise Vayu Shakti is mostly about displaying the IAF’s ability to strike targets on the ground such as enemy convoys and tanks, radar stations, railway yards, and military headquarters. The last edition of the exercise was held on February 16, 2019.