BIHAR
Bihar govt to table ‘green budget’
In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, the state government will table a ‘Green Budget’ in the legislative assembly on March 15 after the general budget, which would be present on February 25 by deputy CM and finance minister Sushil Modi.
In the green budget, the finance minister would present the gross allocation to be spent by various departments on environment conservation measures to be taken in the 2020-21 fiscal
HAL inks pact to make & sell Israeli drones
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has signed a pact with Israel Aerospace Industries Limited (IAI) and Dynamatic Technologies Limited (DTL) for marketing, manufacturing and selling IAI’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones in India.
UAVs are playing a significant role in wars and other tactical missions such as intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance.
IAI as design authority, HAL as principal contractor and DTL as a principal subcontractor will complement each other to provide best in class ‘Make-in-India’ UAVs to the defence forces
The third Scorpene submarine, Karanj
The third Scorpene submarine, Karanj, will be delivered to the Indian Navy by December and all six submarine deliveries would be completed by 2022
The Scorpene submarine has the ability to be equipped with an AIP system (Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) modules on all Scorpenes beginning 2023). The first AIP will be equipped during the first refit of the first Scorpene
The first Scorpene, Kulvari, was commissioned in 2018 and it would go for a normal refit after six years in 2023, during which time time the AIP would be installed. Second Scorpene Khanderi was inducted in September last.
Bhutan ends free entry for Indian tourists
Bhutan has decided to levy a daily ₹1,200 ($17) fee for “regional tourists” from India, the Maldives and Bangladesh, beginning July 2020.
The fee, called a Sustainable Development Fee (SDF), is meant to help the government deal with burgeoning numbers in tourist traffic, which it is seeking to regulate through a new tourism policy.