Rs 50k-cr naval project gets Cabinet nod

i. The Cabinet Committee on Security on Tuesday sanctioned the country's biggest naval project, the construction of seven stealth frigates for Rs 45,381 crore.

ii. Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL), Mumbai , will build four of these, while Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata (GRSE),.
iii. This project, dubbed Project 17A, follows on from the earlier Project 17, in which MDL built three 5,600-tonne frigates: INS Shivalik, Satpura and Sahyadri. 
iv. The Project 17A frigates, while superficially similar to those build under Project 17, will pack significantly more punch with more advanced weaponry. The new vessels will be fitted with BrahMos cruise missile for land attack, and the new Indo-Israeli Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM) that can shoot down incoming anti-ship missiles. 

Union Government launches Soil Health Card Scheme in Rajasthan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched nationwide Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme in Suratgarh town of Sriganganagar district, Rajasthan.

During the launch PM gave slogan- Swasth Dharaa. Khet Haraa (Healthy Earth, Green Farm).

Key facts  of Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme

• SHC is centrally-sponsored nationwide scheme which aims to help farmers to improve the productivity of farms by providing them basic information for use of nutrients or fertilizers.
• The card carries crop-wise recommendation of fertilisers that are required for farm lands. It also helps farmers identify health of soil and judiciously use soil nutrients.
• Under this scheme Centre plans to target over 14 crore farmers in the next three years. In financial year 2014-15, around 3 crore farmers will be covered to check the excess use of fertilisers.

Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme was announced by NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in its first budget presented in July 2014.

In the budget, government had allotted Rs. 100 crore for issuing cards under the scheme. Government also had allotted additional Rs. 56 crore to set up 100 mobile soil testing laboratories across India.

Scientist Tapan Misra appointed as Director of ISRO’s Space Application Centre

Eminent scientist Tapan Misra has been appointed the Chief of ISRO’s Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad Gujarat.

He will succeed A S Kiran Kumar, who was appointed as the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in January 2015.

Union Government approves various highway projects worth Rs 8,600 crore

GOVERNMENT GENERATES 80000CRORE RUPEES FROM COAL AUCTION

•    In a massive turnover of events recently, Union Government of India generated over, 80,000 crore rupees from Coal Auction.
•    With only 21 coal blocks, the Govt. has generated a revenue of 80,000 crore rupees.
•    There is a total of 204 coal blocks to be auctioned in various phases.

Note:- Coal Bearing states in India are Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh,West Bengal. Odisha, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.Piyush Goyal is the coal Minister