30th Oct Daily current affairs for UPSC Civil Service Exam

India-Afghan Connectivity

• Iran's key strategic port of Chabahar became operational with the maiden shipment of wheat from India to Afghanistan recently.
• This is a major push for India's Afghan outreach bypassing Pakistan  for the first time under the 2016 Indo-Afghan-Iran trilateral pact.
• India is also constructing a railway line between Chabahar and Zahedan to connect the port to rest of the Iranian railway network.
• It is further to be linked with Delaram-Zaranj road, built by India in Afghanistan that connects at Afghan-Iran border via rail through Zahedan.
• The port, through Zahedan railway network, could also be linked with the International North South Transport Corridor connecting India with Russia.

International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC)

• INSTC is a multi-modal connectivity project via ship, rail and road route for moving freight between India, Russia, Iran, Europe and Central Asia.
• INSTC would enhance accessibility to the land locked central Asian nations.
• The current members are India, Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, and Bulgaria (observer).

Centres for vulnerable victims

• The Supreme Court has recently ordered the setting up of at least two vulnerable witnesses’ deposition centres in the jurisdiction of every High Court.
• It is primarily to help witnesses in criminal cases, often minor survivors of rape or victims of sex abuse, to testify without fear or intimidation in a conducive environment.
• The order upholds the right of vulnerable witnesses to be protected while testifying in court and is in consonance with international norms in these matters.

INS Viraat

• INS Viraat, the second aircraft carrier in the Indian naval fleet is set to become museum which was proposed by the Andhra Pradesh Government.
• INS Vikrant is India's first aircraft carrier.
• INS Viraat is the second centaur class aircraft carrier in service.
• Earlier known as HMS Hermes, it served Royal Navy of UK from 1950 to 1980's and later re-commissioned in Indian Navy in 1987.
• It holds the Guinness Record for being the oldest-serving warship.
• It played a pivotal role in the Indian peacekeeping operations in Sri Lanka and the 1999 Kargil War.
• It also took part in major operations like Op. Parakram – a India Pakistan in the LOC and Op. Pawan by IPKF to take control of Jaffna from the LTTE as part of the Indo-Sri Lankan accord.

INS Vikramaditya

• US team members of joint working group (JWG) on aircraft carrier cooperation have been allowed to visit and operate Russian built Aircraft INS Vikramaditya.
• INS Vikramaditya is a Kiev class aircraft carrier which was commissioned by Russian Navy in 1987 under the name Baku.
• It was later renamed as Admiral Gorshkov and later offered to India in 2004.
• It is the biggest and heaviest ship to be operated by the Indian Navy.

INS Vishal

• INS Vishal is a follow up of INS Vikrant class air craft carriers.
• It is currently being built by Cochin Shipyard limited for the Indian Navy.
• It is intended to be the first supercarrier to be built in India.
• It would be a 65,000-70,000 tonne, nuclear-powered vessel that launched aircraft with an "electro-magnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS)".
• EMALS uses electro-magnetic energy to catapult aircraft to launch speed.
• India's selection of EMALS would allow the US a place in the design of the ship.

Source: The Hindu, Economic Times