TN replaces ration card with smart card
Ration cards in Tamil Nadu has gone fully digital as state has launched a smart family card scheme to replace 1.89 crore cards in the state at a cost of Rs 330 crore. Thus, now consumers can continue to buy commodities at PDS outlets by using their existing ration cards till such time they received the smart cards.
Lithium Battery Technique developed by ISRO
ISRO has developed lithium ion battery (type of rechargeable battery) for satellite and launch vehicle applications. These 4 types of batteries have been developed – 1.5Ah, 5Ah, 50Ah and 100Ah. Out of these, 1.5Ah & 50Ah have been used for space applications and 5Ah & 100Ah batteries are qualified and is ready for induction in space applications.
INLCU L51 commissioned into India Navy
Indian Navy inducts surveillance ship INLCU L51, the first of the eight ships of the Landing Craft Utility MK IV Class, was commissioned into the India Navy in Port Blair. The commissioning of the ship adds a feather to the glorious chapter in the nation’s ‘Make in India’ initiatives and indigenisation efforts in the field of warship design and construction.
‘Eva’ India’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based banking chatbot launched
- ‘Eva’ (Electronic Virtual Assistant) is the name of the India’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven banking chatbot was launched on 5 March 2017 by HDFC Bank.
- Eva is capable of answering millions of customer queries across multiple channels in less than 0.4 seconds.
DRDO signs deal with Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Limited
- India depends on imports of High Nitrogen Steel that has higher ballistic strength than normal steel.
- In order to become self dependent, DRDO has signed a technology transfer agreement with Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Limited (JSHL) for manufacturing High Nitrogen Steel.
World’s first 5G launched
- ZTE made an announcement that it has launched a next generation 5G IT baseband unit (BBU) partnered with Intel Corporation for this technology.
- The announcement was made at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.
‘Cyber Swachhta Kendra’ launched in India
- Government of India has launched Cyber Swachhta Kendra in New Delhi for Botnet cleaning and Malware analysis as a part of digital India initiative.
- Two mobile appswas also launched Mkavach to protect smart phones and tablets from hackers. Samvid to protect Desktops from suspicious applications from running
BharatQR launched to seamless digital payments without card swiping machines
- Payment networks such as MasterCard and Visa have joined hands with NPCI to launch BharatQR and with this NPCI, Mastercard and Visa provides an interoperable solution too.
- It is a common Quick Response(QR) code that would enable seamless digital payments without card swiping machines
- American Express is however not on-board this payment solution at present and will be its part in coming weeks.
- BharatQR code eliminates the need of entering the merchant’s ID or phone number to make payments. The customers can simply make payments by scanning the QR code and entering the transaction amount. The amount gets transferred directly from the bank account without the need of a swiping machine.
Cryogenic Upper Stage engine for GSLV Mark III rocket
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully ground tested at at Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. The development of C25 cryogenic stage will provide ISRO capability to launch four ton class satellites in Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
- GSLV Mark III is indigenously developed by ISRO and is a Liquid Propulsion Complex, C25 stage is the most powerful upper stage developed by ISRO and uses Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen propellant combination.
J&K launched e-Prison project
- The Jammu & Kashmir government launched the e-Prison project to enumerate jail inmates in the State to avoid delays in processing the information and manage all the jails efficiently.
- The project will digitise 25 district jails, two Central jails and one sub-jail in the State.
