Today's Brief 1/11/2024

IE Analysis:

JN Analysis:

1 VAJRA PRAHAR: The Indian Army contingent departed today for the 15th edition of India- US joint Special Forces Exercise VAJRA PRAHAR.

The exercise is scheduled to be conducted from 2nd to 22nd November 2024 at Orchard Combat Training Centre in Idaho, USA. Last edition of the same exercise was conducted at Umroi, Meghalaya in December 2023.

This will be second exercise of the year between Indian and the US Army, the previous being Exercise YUDH ABHYAS 2024, conducted at Rajasthan in September 2024.

2 .Namo Drone Didi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the ‘Namo Drone Didi’ program which aims to provide drones to 15,000 women Self Help Groups (SHGs) during the period 2024–25 to 2025–2026 for providing rental services to farmers for agriculture purposes

The NAMO DRONE DIDI scheme is a Central Sector Scheme designed to harness the collaborative efforts of key government departments, including the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), Department of Rural Development (DoRD), and Department of Fertilizers (DoF). The initiative aims to promote the utilization of drones in agriculture for the precise spraying of Nano fertilizers and pesticides with the emphasis on women's engagement and their sustained participation in mainstream agriculture.

3 . Iron Ore production grows by 5.5% in first half of current financial year: Iron ore production has registered a growth of 5.5 percent in the first half of the current financial year. Ministry of Mines said that the production of iron ore increased to 135 million metric tonnes from April to September in financial year 2024-25, compared to 128 million metric tonnes recorded during the same period last financial year.

The production of manganese ore has risen by 6.2 per cent to 1.7 million metric tonne from April to September 2024-25, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

In the non-ferrous metal sector, primary aluminium production registered a growth of 1.2 percent in the financial year 2024-25, increasing to 20.90 lakh tonnes this year from 20.66 lakh tonnes recorded during April to September last year.

During the same comparative period, refined copper production grew by 4.6 percent, rising from 2.39 lakh tonnes to 2.50 lakh tonnes.

4 .Rajesh Kumar Singh: a 1989-batch IAS officer from Kerala cadre, today assumed charge as the Defence Secretary. Mr Singh succeeded a 1988-batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre Giridhar Aramane, who superannuated from service yesterday. Before taking charge, Mr Singh laid a wreath and paid homage to the fallen heroes at the National War Memorial in New Delhi.

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