India Successfully Conducted Night trials of Agni V Ballistic Missile

India Successfully Conducted Night trials of Agni V Ballistic Missile

• India conducted successful night trials of the Agni V ballistic missile. The Agni V can strike targets beyond 5,000 kilometers. The test was carried out by the Defence Ministry, to validate new technologies and equipment on the missile and has proved that the missile can now hit targets further away than before.
• The nuclear-capable ballistic missile was fired from Abdul Kalam Island, off the coast of Odisha.This is the ninth flight of the Agni V, it was first tested in 2012 and was a routine test.
• India had announced its intention to test a long-range missile and issued a NOTAM or Notice to Airmen well before the incident in Arunachal’s Tawang.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Ko Kaam Karyakram (PMKKK) Renamed as Promotion of Prime Minister’s Heritage (PM Vikas) Scheme

• The Minister of Minority Affairs, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani in a reply to a question in the Lok Sabha informed that the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Ko KaamKaryakram (PMKKK) has now been named as Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) Scheme. 
• The integrated scheme converges five erstwhile schemes of the Ministry viz. Seekho aur Kamao, USTTAD, HamariDharohar, Nai Roshni and Nai Manzil. The scheme has been approved by the Cabinet for the period of 15th Finance Commission.
• PM VIKAS aims to improve livelihoods of the minorities, particularly the artisan communities, using the components of skill development, education, women leadership & entrepreneurship. These components complement each other in the ultimate objective of the scheme to increase the incomes of the beneficiaries and provide support by facilitating credit and market linkages.

World Bank: Curbing Air Pollution in India Needs Efforts Across South Asia

• The World Bank released a report emphasising the importance of coordinated efforts of all South Asian countries to reduce air pollution.
• There are six major airsheds in South Asia. These are:

1.    West/Central Indo-Gangetic Plain that included Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab (India), Haryana, part of Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh.
2.    Central/Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain: Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bangladesh
3.    Middle India: Odisha/Chhattisgarh
4.    Middle India: Eastern Gujarat/Western Maharashtra
5.    Northern/Central Indus River Plain: Pakistan, and part of Afghanistan
6.    Southern Indus Plain and further west: South Pakistan, Western Afghanistan and extending into Eastern Iran.

• While existing government policies can minimise particulate matter in the air, significant reduction can be achieved only if the territories spanning the airsheds implement coordinated policies.
• Using a modelling approach over South Asia as a whole, the report assesses several scenarios and costs involved in reducing the region’s average exposure to particulate matter.