Punjab restores old pension scheme for govt. employees

NATIONAL: -
Punjab restores old pension scheme for govt. employees

• The Punjab government on Friday approved the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for the State government employees. 
• The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. 
• An official statement said that the employees would be given the option of adopting the Old Pension Scheme or the New Pension Scheme (NPS). 
• The OPS for employees was discontinued in the year 2004 and ever since, government employees were under the NPS. However, the employees had been long demanding the restoration of OPS.

Smarter Army posts to improve living conditions of troops

• A pilot project in the Eastern Himalayas is set to usher in smarter facilities for raising the living standards of troops posted along the border with China.
• Army engineers used a mix of materials, including bamboo and other locally available resources, to give shape to a “first­of­its­kind integrated” post beyond 10,000 ft above mean sea level in the Tawang sector of western Arunachal Pradesh in November 2021.
• There were major shortcomings with respect to living standards, protection against weather, space available to men, hygiene facilities and the ad­hoc power arrangements.
• “The plan was to create a model post for troops on the frontline as an integrated project keeping in mind the space, essential troop comfort, weather protection, amenities like running water, power requirements, safety and connectivity. The selected location for the model post was winter cut­off at high altitude.

India tests medium range ballistic missile Agni Prime

• India on Friday successfully test fired indigenously developed new generation medium range ballistic missile Agni Prime from the Odisha coast.
• The sleek missile was test fired from a mobile launcher from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island around 9:45 a.m. The solid fuelled missile met all mission parameter during the test.
• All its navigation was tracked and monitored by radars and telemetry equipment positioned along various points. The missile's strike range is between 1,000 km and 2,000 km.
• The last trial of the missile was conducted on December 18 last year from the same base, which was also successful. 
• Tejas to be integrated with BrahMos­NG missile in a few years
• In the next few years, the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas, will be able to carry and launch the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. This will be possible once the lighter version of the supersonic cruise missile, BrahMos NG (next generation), is ready.
• The BrahMos­NG development is expected to make first flight in two years and will be ready for production in 2­3 years after that. The focus of the development as of now is on the air­launched version.
• The NG will weigh almost half as much as the current air­launched version, making it possible to be mounted on the LCA in future.