INS SUNAYNA: INS Sunayna visited Mombasa, Kenya towards strengthening bilateral ties with maritime neighbours on the theme of the Ocean Ring of Yoga. It is a Saryu class Offshore Patrol Vessel which was commissioned at Kochi. It is based under Southern Naval Command and is built at Goa Shipyard Limited. The warship is designed to undertake fleet support operations, coastal and offshore patrolling, ocean surveillance and monitoring of Sea Lines of Communications and offshore assets, and escort duties.
It can achieve speeds of 25 knots.
The ship also has an automatic power management system. It is fitted with the latest Navigation, Communication and Electronic Support Systems. Other Sarayu class includes the INS Sumitra and INS Sumedha.
Mineral Security Partnership: India was recently inducted into the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP). It is an ambitious new initiative to bolster critical mineral supply chains, announced by the United States (US) and key partner countries in June 2022. The goal of the alliance is to ensure that critical minerals are produced, processed, and recycled in a manner that supports the ability of countries to realise the full economic development benefit of their geological endowments. The focus of the grouping would be on the supply chains of minerals such as Cobalt, Nickel, Lithium and also the 17 “rare earth” minerals.
Critical mineral:There is no global definition of critical minerals, but essentially, they are mineral deposits with high economic vulnerability and high global supply chain risk.
Kalasa-Banduri Project: The Karnataka government recently submitted a revised proposal to the National Wildlife Board (NWD) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFC) for the Kalasa-Banduri project. The project involves the construction of dams and a canal system to divert water from the Mahadayi River, located in Goa, to the Malaprabha River (a tributary of the Krishna River) basin in Karnataka.
The main goal of the project is to meet the drinking water needs of the districts of Belagavi, Dharwad, Bagalkot, and Gadag in Karnataka. Though the project was first proposed in the early 1980s, it has remained on paper owing to a dispute between Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. As per plans, barrages are to be built against Kalasa and Banduri streams — tributaries of Mahadayi — and water will be diverted towards Karnataka’s parched districts.
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS): BIS recently notified 31 Indian standards related to Ayush, which includes 30 herbs and 1 product (stainless steel neti pot). These standards were recently published through a gazette notification. BIS is the National Standards Body of India established under the BIS Act 2016.
Objective: Harmonious development of the activities of standardisation and quality assurance of goods and articles. It works under the.BIS represents India in International Organization for Standardization (ISO)and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
ISO: It is an independent, non-governmental international organisation with a membership of 167 national standard bodies. Through its members, it brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market-relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.
