e-Pragati

•  Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu launched ‘e-Pragati core platform’ .e-Pragati, a forward-looking digital initiative, is aimed at connecting the citizen to 34 departments, 336 autonomous organisations and 745-plus services.
• Through this project, the State government intends to realise the vision of ‘Sunrise AP 2022’. The e-Pragati authority will achieve the goals of the project by supporting the seven development missions launched in the areas of e-Governance, Social Empowerment, Skill Development, Urban Development, Infrastructure, Industrial Development and the Services sector.

Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill

Why in news?

The Lok Sabha passed the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, which will now replace the Ordinance by the same name promulgated by the President in April.

• The Bill empowers special courts to direct the Central government to confiscate all the assets belonging to a fugitive economic offender, including those assets that are proceeds of the crime and that do not belong to the offender.
• The legislation gains importance against the background of high-profile cases where individuals such as Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi escaped the country.

Objections to the Bill

It did not do any more than what’s already provided for by existing legislation, that the Rs. 100 crore limit above which the law becomes applicable was untenable, and that the provision in the Bill disqualifying a fugitive economic offender from availing the Indian judicial system for civil cases was unconstitutional.

National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research.

Why in news?

Three decades after its first mission to Antarctica, the government is refocusing priorities to the other pole — the Arctic—because of opportunities and challenges posed by climate change.

• it has renamed the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) — since 1998, charged with conducting expeditions to India’s base stations to the continent — as the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research.
• It’s also in talks with Canada and Russia, key countries with presence in the Arctic circle, to establish new observation systems. Now, India only has one Arctic observation station near Norway.

Why it is Important?

Sea ice at the Arctic has been melting rapidly — the fastest in this century. That means several spots, rich in hydrocarbon reserves, will be more accessible through the year via alternative shipping routes.

Arctic council

• The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum which addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and people living in the Arctic region
• The first step towards the formation of the Council occurred in 1991 when eight Arctic countries signed the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS).
• The Ottawa Declaration of 1996 formally established the Arctic Council as a high level intergovernmental forum to provide a means for promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic states, with the involvement of the Arctic Indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.
• The member states are Canada, Denmark (representing Greenland, Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, United States.
• India is an observer at the Arctic Council — a forum of countries that decides on managing the region’s resources and popular livelihood and, in 2015, set up an underground observatory, called IndARC, at the Kongsfjorden fjord.

IndARC

• IndARC is the India’s first underwater moored observatory anchored in the Kongsfjorden fjord, half way between Norway (1100km away from Norway) and the North Pole at a depth of 192 metres.
• It has been deployed for the continuous monitoring of the oceanographic parameters from various depths in order to obtain significant inputs in the understanding of the Arctic climate and its possible link to tropical processes, specifically the Indian monsoon.

Kongsfjorden fjord

A fjord is a deep, narrow and elongated sea or lake drain, which has steep land on three sides and an opening toward the sea on the fourth side.

BRICS

Why in news?

A decision to establish a BRICS Media Academy and a BRICS news portal were among those taken at the 2018 BRICS Media Forum at Cape Town in South Africa

• The Forum, a high-level dialogue among media organisations from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, was held over two days under the theme — ‘Fostering an Inclusive, Just World Order’.
• The Forum, which opened on former South African President Nelson Mandela’s 100th birth anniversary on July 18, unanimously agreed to adopt the Cape Town Declaration 2018.

Aim

• It pledged to strive to create a media landscape that upholds the integrity of news that is created and shared through the BRICS nations.
• It also committed itself to limit the spread and effect of fake news and increase people-to-people exchanges between journalists and others employed in the media.

Digital volunteers

Why in news?

In the wake of mob lynching incidents triggered by rumours spread through social media, the Uttar Pradesh police have decided to recruit “digital volunteers” at every police station in the State to curb rumours and bust illegal activities.

How it works?

• Under this initiative, 250 digital volunteers will be recruited at each of the 1,469 police stations. They will operate through popular social media application WhatsApp.
• The WhatsApp group of digital volunteers in each thana will be linked to the district-level WhatsApp groups, which will be linked to the DGP headquarters.
• Their main task will be to assist police in rebutting rumours with facts and putting them in the public domain personally or through WhatsApp groups.
• They will also be asked to provide information on illegal businesses.

Eligibility

The volunteers will be picked from a variety of backgrounds and professions, and must be socially influential, active on social media and of a clean image.

Need of digital volunteers

• Misuse of social media by “anti-social elements” who were spreading misleading reports, pictures and videos to disrupt law and order and social harmony.
• Innocent people have even lost their lives due to the rumours in some States recently.

International Army Games

An Indian Army team has reached Moscow to participate in the International Army games scheduled from July 28 to August 11. The Army games are organised annually by Russia and this year 28 competitions will be held in seven countries. India is participating in two competitions including the Tank Biathlon and Elbrus Ring.

Exercise Pitch Black

Why in news?

An Indian Air Force contingent of Su-30MKI fighter jets departed for the multi-national exercise, Pitch Black, in Australia, scheduled from July 24 to August 18. This is the first time India is sending fighter aircraft for the biennial exercises hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force.

•  Exercise Pitch Black is a biennial warfare exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
• The exercise is normally held in Northern Australia, primarily at RAAF Bases Darwin and Tindal.
• The aim of the exercise is to practice Offensive Counter Air (OCA) and Defensive Counter Air (DCA) combat, in a simulated war environment.
• It traditionally consists of a ‘red team’ and a ‘blue team’ based at separate locations, with one attacking the other.