Telangana Affairs
Telangana mulls first Buddhist university in south at Nagarjunasagar, eyes foreign students
To attract students, including international pupils from Far East and Southeast Asia, thegovernment is planning to establish a Buddhist University atNagarjunasagar, about 165 km from Hyderabad, in Nalgonda. This will be the first university in south India and unique in terms of courses being proposed.
The State Government has already developed Bhuddavanam in a sprawling 274 acre at Nagarjunasagar and part of the land, about 40 to 60 acre, would be allocated for the university. Nagarjunasagar has been chosen for setting up the university as first Buddhist philosopher and monk, Acharya Nagarjuna, lived at Nagarjunasagar and preached Mahayana.
He said as many as 68 subjects (themes) Buddhist culture, architecture, literature and other subjects such as medicine, paintings, Philosophy, hospitality, martial arts, engineering, administration, management and technology at the time of Buddha will be taught. A Malaysian group has come forward to develop the university as the owner of the group is a follower of Acharya Nagarjuna. The firm is also setting up a Food Processing Industry at Siddipet.
National and International Affairs
Brand India Campaign
Commerce Ministry of India is planning to launch Brand India Campaign in order to give momentum to exports of Services as well as products in new markets.
Campaign will be launched in the Light that; Indias outbound shipments is set to cross $400 billion in fiscal year 2021-22.
Brand India Campaign would serve as an umbrella campaign to promote goods and services exported by India.
Campaign would focus on Indian exports in specific sectors like gems & jewellery; textiles; plantation products like tea, coffee & spices; healthcare; Education, engineering and pharma; in the initial phase.
It would focus on quality, technology, heritage, value, and innovation.
Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India
The Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India was released by Environment ministry in the 19th meeting of .
Under the action plan, 50 cheetahs will be introduced in India, in the next five years.
Around 12 to 14 cheetahs will be imported from South Africa or Namibia.
Each of the cheetahs will be fitted with a satellite-GPS-very high frequency radio-collar.
International Transportation of the cheetahs will be done by either a commercial airline or by a chartered flight. They will be transported to Kuno Palpur National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh.
Under the plan, Union Government, ministry of environment and Cheetah Task Force will form a formal framework for collaborating with governments of Namibia and/or South Africa.
ECRP II Funds
The Indian government recently declared that 50 percent of the ECRP II has been disbursed.
Highlights:
The declaration was made in response to media reports that only 26.14 percent of the monies had been disbursed.The main goal of the ECRP is to hasten the healthcare system’s readiness.
From July 2021 and March 2022, the ECRP II will be implemented. Rs 23,123 crores has indeed been set aside for phase two.
The central government will contribute Rs 15,000 crores, with the states picking up the balance
Digital Yuan Wallet
The Chinese government intends to introduce the Digital Yuan, Digital Currency to the rest of the world at the 2022 Winter Olympics. It has the same value as paper currency.
China’s digital currency is the Digital Yuan. It was first released in 2014 and it has been operational (at least in test mode) since then.
The Digital Yuan is a fiat currency, not a . The Chinese Central Bank is in charge of it.
The workings of the Digital Yuan are divided into two categories. Expenses and Distribution The Chinese central bank distributes the digital Yuan to Commercial Banks.
Japan Australia Defence Agreement
Japan and Australia will sign a DEFENCE agreement to boost security and defence cooperation. The signing of the agreement is considered historic. This is to anger China. The agreement is to expand Quad agenda. The agreement will reduce Chinese influence in ASEAN. It will aid in achieving free and open Indo Pacific.
The agreement includes sharing military facilities between the countries, landing rights, securing port access, logistic support, legal regimes, logistic support. This means the advanced F-35s (fighter jet) of Japan can now practice in Australian . The Australian submarines can now operate in Japanese waters. The countries can build special forces together. Both Japan and Australia share a common interest of keeping the US engaged in the Indo Pacific.
The ASEAN countries are important for both Japan and Australia. China is trying to break ASEAN countries away from world countries. China is also trying to weaken their regional cooperation. According to Japan and Australia, the diplomatic efforts like that of the defence agreement will stop China from turning ASEAN into its business clients.
North Korea Hypersonic Missile
North Korea fired a hypersonic missile on January 5, 2022, that successfully hit a target.
It was North Koreas second such test, as the country pursues new military capabilities because of stalled denuclearisation talks.
The launch by North Korea was the first since October 2021.
It was detected by several militaries in the region.
However, this test drew criticismfrom governments in the United States, Japan and South Korea.
North Korea had first tested a hypersonic missile in September 2021 and joined a race headed by major military powers for deploying the advanced weapons system.