1) INS Imphal: Indian Navy received INS Imphal, the first warship with separate accommodation for women sailors.
- INS Imphal is third ship (after INS Visakhapatnam and INS Mormugao) of Project 15B Class of stealth guided missile destroyers.
- It was built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited.
- It is armed with supersonic Surface-to-Surface ‘Brahmos’ missiles and ‘Barak-8’ Medium Range Surface to Air Missiles.
- Project 15B is a follow-on of the Kolkata class (Project 15A) destroyers commissioned in last decade.
- Indigenous content in P15B Class Destroyers is 72% (P15A had 59% and P15 had 42%)
2) Graphite: China imposes export curbs on graphite.
- China is the world’s top graphite producer and exporter.
- It refines over 90% of the world’s graphite for Electric Vehicle battery anodes
- Graphite (plumbago or black lead) is a naturally occurring form of crystalline carbon.
- Types:
- Natural- High crystalline, Amorphous and Flake
- Synthetic: produced from coke and pith
- Features:
- one of the common allotropes of carbon.
- good conductor of heat and electricity.
- Applications: used in pencils, lubricants, polishes, batteries, cores of nuclear reactors etc
3) Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 (Vienna Convention): India reiterated that seeking parity in mutual diplomatic presence with Canada in accordance with the Vienna Convention.
- Vienna Convention provides a complete framework for the establishment, maintenance and termination of diplomatic relations between independent sovereign States.
- It specifies functions privileges and immunities of diplomatic missions, rules regulating appointments, etc.
- Article 11.1 pertains to size of international missions within other countries.
- It was signed in 1961 and entered into force in 1964.
- It has 60 signatories including India and 193 parties
4) Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA): IICA and Skill Council for Persons with Disability (SCPWD) signed an MoU for ‘Job Coach for Inclusivity Programmes’.
- Aim: equipping corporates in terms of knowledge, skills, and competencies for building and managing a diverse workforce.
- IICA is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
- It acts as a think-tank and a Centre of Excellence to support the growth of the corporate sector in India through an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach.
- It was registered as a society in 2008 under Societies Registration Act, 1860
Places in News:
1) Zambia (Capital: Lusaka):
- Indian Defence Secretary held a meeting with Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Zambia.
- Political Boundaries
- It has a land border on the west with Angola.
- To the southwest is the thin projection of Namibian territory known as the Caprivi Strip, at the eastern end of which Zambia and three of its neighbours (Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe) appear to meet at a point – a “quadripoint”.
- Mozambique to the southeast, Malawi to the east, and Tanzania to the northeast and DRC to the Northwest.
- Geographical Features
- It is a landlocked country in south-central Africa.
- situated on a high plateau and takes its name from the Zambezi River.
- Highest point: Mafinga Central.
- Longest River: Kafue River (tributary of Zambezi river)
