- The ‘Ex Cope India-18’ was the fourth edition in the series of bilateral drills between the Indian Air Force and the U.S. Air Force.
- An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor” and 401 and 500 is considered to be “severe”.
- Saharia, Sahar, Sehariya, or Sahariya are an ethnic group found predominantly in the state of Madhya Pradesh and in Rajasthan. This ethnic group is associated with Mandana paintings. Mandana paintings are wall and floor paintings of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, India. Mandana are drawn to protect home and hearth, welcome gods into the house and as a mark of celebrations on festive occasions.
- The Hornbill Festival is a celebration held every year in Nagaland. It is also called the ‘Festival of Festivals’. It is celebrated to To revive, protect, sustain, and promote the richness of the Naga heritage and traditions.
- Al-Hudaydah, also transliterated as Hodeda, Hodeida, Hudaida or Hodeidah, is the fourth-largest city in Yemen and its principal port on the Red Sea.
- India and Russia signed a contract for the construction of two modified Admiral Grigorovich-class (Project 1135.6P/M) guided-missile frigates destined for service in the Indian Navy. Overall, India will procure four Project 1135.6P/M frigates under an inter-governmental agreementfor four Krivak or Talwar stealth frigates signed between India and New Russia in October 2016. The frigates will be armed with the BrahMos cruise missile system fired from an eight-cell 3S-14E under-deck launcher. The two-stage BrahMos missile — named after the Brahmaputra River in India and the Moskva River in Russia – is a derivative of the Russian-made P-800 Oniks over-the-horizon supersonic anti-ship cruise missile. Initially, the range of BrahMos missile was capped at 290 km to meet obligtions of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR); after India joined the MTCR in 2016, the range was extended to 450 kms.; Arjun is the Army’s main battle tank.
- India is planning to buy MH-60R multi-role helicopters for the Indian Navy and Predator armed drones from the U.S.; The United States recently renamed its oldest and largest military and strategically important – Pacific Command (PACOM) as the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command situated at Hawaii; At the inaugural 2+2 dialogue in New Delhi, a Memorandum of Intent was signed between the DefenseInnovation Unit and the Indian Defence Innovation Organisation – Innovation for Defence Excellence (DIO-iDEX) which will look into joint projects for co-production and co-development through the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).
- The Centre has prepared guidelines for setting up of crèches at workplaces, which prescribe trained personnel to man the facility as well as infrastructure requirements and safety norms. In March this year, Parliament passed the Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, 2017, enhancing paid maternity leave from a period of 12 weeks to 26 weeks. The law is applicable to all institutions with 10 or more employees. It also makes it mandatory for every organisation with 50 or more employees to have a crèche. The guidelines made public last month recommend that a crèche be either at the workplace or within 500 metres of it. Alternatively, it could also be in the beneficiaries’ neighbourhood.
- The Central Armed Police Forces(CAPF) refers to uniform nomenclature of seven security forces in India. Under the authority of Ministry of Home Affairs. They are the Assam Rifles, Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, National Security Guard, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and Sashastra Seema Bal.
- Reggae music (originated in Jamaica), secured a spot on the UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage. Reggae joins a list of cultural traditions that includes the horsemanship of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, a Mongolian camel-coaxing ritual and Czech puppetry, among over 300 other traditional practices. A centuries-old form of Georgian wrestling called chidaoba and the Irish sport of hurling also won recognition as cultural assets.
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