1) Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags off 100th ‘Kisan Rail’
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi has flagged off the 100th ‘Kisan Rail’ on 28th December 2020. The 100th run of the Kisan Rail was flagged off from Sangola in Maharashtra to Shalimar in West Bengal virtually. Kisan Rail is a mobile cold storage to move perishable things like fruits, vegetables, milk, fish, etc., with complete security.
•The first Kisan Rail was introduced from Devlali in Maharashtra to Danapur in Bihar on August 7, 2020, which was further extended up to Muzaffarpur. Currently, of only a handful of trains plying across the India connecting states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Nagpur, there are nine Kisan Rail running on nine routes.
2) PM Modi flagged off India’s first driverless train on Delhi Metro
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi has flagged off the country’s first-ever fully-automated driverless train service on the Magenta Line of the Delhi Metro. Apart from this, PM also launched fully operational National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) on the Airport Express Line of Delhi Metro, to connect DMRC with the NCMC service.
3) India-Vietnamese Navy conducts PASSEX-2020 in South China Sea
•The Indian Navy and Vietnamese Navy undertook the naval passage exercise PASSEX in the South China Sea. The two-day exercise was conducted s part of efforts to boost maritime cooperation between the two countries. The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kiltan took part in the exercise.
•INS Kiltan, reached Vietnam’s Nha Rong Port in Ho Chi Minh City, carrying humanitarian assistance to deliver 15 tonnes of relief material for flood-affected people under Mission Sagar-III. This mission of INS Kiltan is part of India’s Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) assistance to Friendly Foreign Countries during the ongoing pandemic.
4) Skyroot Aerospace successfully test fire solid-fueled rocket engine
•Indian Space startup, Skyroot Aerospace has successfully test-fired a solid propulsion rocket engine, named Kalam-5. With this, it has become the first private company of India to successfully design, develop and test a full solid-fueled rocket stage. This crucial propulsion technology will be used for their maiden rocket Vikram-1, which is under active manufacturing and is targeted to be launched in December 2021 with the help of ISRO.
5) Myanmar Navy formally commissions INS Sindhuvir submarine
•The Myanmar Navy has officially inducted the submarine INS Sindhuvir, which was handed over by the Indian Navy to the country in October 2020. This is the first submarine in the Myanmar Navy’s arsenal. The submarine has been refurbished for the Myanmar Navy by state-run defence shipbuilder, Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) in Visakhapatnam.
6) Anshu Malik wins silver at Individual Wrestling World Cup in Serbia
•Indian wrestler, Anshu Malik has become the first wrestler of the country to finish on the podium position at the Individual Wrestling World Cup in Belgrade, Serbia. The 19-year-old won a silver medal in the women’s 57kg category to claim first international medal of the tournament for the country. She lost to Moldova’s Anastasia Nichita 5-1 in the final.
