About Common Services Centres Special Purpose Vehicle:

• It is incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India,
• It monitors the implementation of the Common Services Centers Scheme.
  • Common Services Centres (CSC) scheme is one of the mission mode projects of the Digital India Programme.
• It provides a centralized collaborative framework for delivery of services to citizens through CSCs, besides ensuring systemic viability and sustainability of the scheme.

Key facts about Common Services Centres

• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY), Government of India.
• These act as the front-end delivery points for Government, private and social sector services to rural citizens of India, in an integrated manner.
• CSCs are the access points for delivery of various electronic services to villages in India, thereby contributing to a digitally and financially inclusive society.
• These are the access points for delivery of essential public utility services, social welfare schemes, healthcare, financial, education and agriculture services, apart from host of B2C services to citizens in rural and remote areas of the country.
• It is a pan-India network catering to regional, geographic, linguistic and cultural diversity of the country, thus enabling the Government’s mandate of a socially, financially and digitally inclusive society.

Q1: What are the provisions of the Digital India Act 2023?

It upholds the concept of an open internet, striking a balance between accessibility and necessary regulations to maintain order and protect users. It mandates stringent Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements for wearable devices, accompanied by criminal law sanctions.

Source: Common Services Centres Special Purpose Vehicle completes 15 glorious years of its establishment

About Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovation: 

• It was launched in 2017 as an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic and civil organisations.
• It was founded in Davos (Switzerland) by the governments of Norway and India, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the World Economic Forum.
• Mission: Its mission is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need.
• CEPI has supported the development of more than 50 vaccine candidates or platform technologies against multiple known high-risk pathogens or a future Disease X.
• Central to CEPI’s pandemic-beating five-year plan for 2022-2026 is the ‘100 Days Mission’ to compress the time taken to develop safe, effective, globally accessible vaccines against new threats to just 100 days.

 India- CEPI

• The Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India is supporting the implementation of the Ind-CEPI Mission, “Epidemic preparedness through rapid vaccine development: Support of Indian vaccine development.
• It is done through a dedicated Program Management Unit (PMU) at Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).

Q1: What is Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC)?

It was established by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and is aimed at strengthening and empowering emerging biotechnology enterprises to undertake strategic research and innovation.

Source: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurates Asia’s first health research related "Pre-clinical Network facility" under Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)

About INS Teg:

• INS Teg (F45) is the first of three guided missile frigates of the modified INS Talwar-class that India commissioned Russian shipyard Yantar to build under Project-17 A (the other two are INS Tarkash and INS Trikand).
• INS Teg was commissioned into Navy service on 27 April 2012.
• The Talwar-class guided missile frigates are modified Krivak III-class frigates built by Russia.
  • These ships use stealth technologies and a special hull design to ensure a reduced radar cross-section.
  • Much of the equipment on the ship is Russian-made, but a significant number of systems of Indian origin have also been incorporated.
• The main differences between Tegand the earlier Talwar-class ships are the use of BrahMos missiles in place of the Klub-N missiles.
• Features of INS Teg:
  • It is a 3,970-tonne frigate and is armed with eight 290-km BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. 
  • It is 125-metre-long and can operate an anti-submarineor early-warning helicopter from its deck.
  • It can reach a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph).
  • It has an operating range of 4,500 nautical miles (8334 km).
  • The stealth frigate, with its unique design, ensures a reduction in its radar cross-section,infrared, magnetic, and acoustic signatures, as well as radiated underwater noise, to heighten its stealth capabilities.

Q1: What is BrahMos?

BrahMos supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from land, sea, and air. It has been developed by Brahmos Aerospace, a joint venture of India and Russia. It is named after the rivers Brahmaputra (India) and Moskva (Russia). It is a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster engine as its first stage, which brings it to supersonic speed and then gets separated. The liquid ramjet, or second stage then takes the missile closer to 3 Mach speed in the cruise phase.It is one of the fastest cruise missiles currently operationally deployed, with a speed of Mach 2.8.

Source: INS Teg saves eight Indians from stricken tanker, search continues for other crew members

About MV Sea Change:

• It is the world’s first commercial passenger ferry powered entirely by zero-emission hydrogen fuel cells.
• The 75-passenger ferry was built by All American Marine Shipyard for the compatriot shipowner SWITCH Maritime.
• The vessel, designed by Incat Crowther, is fitted with hydrogen-powered fuel cells producing electricity to power electric motors, enabling the vessel to operate for about 16 hours, traveling around 300 nautical miles, between refueling sessions.
• It can reach speeds up to 20 knots, and its services speed will be about 8-12 knots.
• It uses H2 fuel cells to generate electricity through the combination of H2 from storage tanks and oxygen from the ambient air.
• Unlike current diesel-powered ferries that emit pollutants, the hydrogen-powered Sea Change produces only heat and water vapor as by products. Passengers can even drink the emissions from an onboard water fountain. 

Q1: What is a fuel cell?

A fuel cell is a device that generates electricity by a chemical reaction. Fuel cells can be used in a wide range of applications, providing power for applications across multiple sectors, including transportation, industrial/commercial/residential buildings, and long-term energy storage for the grid in reversible systems.

Source: World’s first hydrogen-powered commercial ferry launches in San Francisco