Current Affairs in Short: 16 March 2022

Central Government grants permission to Reliance Jio, Bharat Airtel, Vodafone and MTNL for conducting 5G Technology trials

• The Union Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan has announced that the Government of India has granted permission to Reliance Jio, Bharat Airtel, Vodafone, and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam to conduct 5G Technology trials in India.

• The Union Minister shared the information in a written reply in Lok Sabha on March 16, 2022.

• The minister further stated that the frequency band opened for the International Mobile Telecommunications including 5G Technology in India has enough guard band to ensure that there is no aeronautical interference.

Supreme Court upholds decision on One-Rank-One-Pension for defence forces

• The Supreme Court of India has upheld the Central Government’s decision on One-Rank-One-Pension for the defense forces.

• The apex court did not find any form of constitutional infirmity on the OROP Principle and the notification of November 7, 2015.

• According to the Supreme Court bench, the policy decision of the Central Government of OROP is not arbitrary and it is not for the court to go into the policy matters of the government.

• The court also directed that the pending re-fixation exercise of OROP must be carried out from July 1, 2019.

Union Minister Gadkari to inaugurate pilot project for Hydrogen based advanced fuel cell electric vehicle

• The Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate the pilot project for Hydrogen based advanced Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle.

• This will be the first of its kind project in India that aims at spreading awareness about Hydrogen. The country has been committed to cleaner energy and the low-carbon pathway for achieving accelerated economic growth.

• Hydrogen is known to be a key element of the energy strategy and also plays a key role in the low-carbon energy pathways.

• Transportation powered by Green Hydrogen is also going to be a key technology option of the future with significant application.

Prime Minister of Japan to visit India on March 19

• Japan and India will cement their economic cooperation during Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to India on March 19, 2022. Both leaders will also share their assessments on the crisis in Ukraine and Indo-Pacific.

• Japanese Prime Minister’s visit to India is a continuation of the physical summit between PM Modi and PM of Japan which was canceled due to the orchestrated protests in Assam because of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

• During the Japanese Prime Minister’s visit to India, he is expected to address a business event where the possibility of expanding the bullet-train project beyond the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor will be discussed.

• An early date for Prime Minister Modi and the Japanese Prime Minister meeting was sought by the Japanese side despite the global turmoil because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

New Zealand restarts tourism

• The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern has announced that the country is ready to welcome the world back. Most tourists are allowed to return by May as the nation eases its covid-19 restrictions.

• The tourists from Australia, under the new timeline, will be able to visit from April 12 and the tourists from other visa-waiver countries can visit from May 1, 2022.

• Notably, the tourists from non-waiver countries including China and India will need to wait unless they already have valid visitor visas.

• The tourists visiting New Zealand must be vaccinated and must be tested negative for the virus before leaving their home country and again after arriving in New Zealand.