Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India's first overnight Vande Bharat sleeper train connecting Kolkata (Howrah) and Guwahati (Kamakhya). This launch, held in Malda, West Bengal, marks a significant upgrade in rail infrastructure, aiming to provide ease of travel and trade between the two states. The train will operate six days a week, covering the journey in approximately 14 hours. Alongside this, four other Amrit Bharat Express services were launched. The Prime Minister emphasized that these 'made in India' trains reflect the nation's push towards self-sufficient railways and modernization of the rail network, with 150 Vande Bharat trains currently operational.
The Vande Bharat sleeper train is designed for overnight travel, enhancing connectivity between West Bengal and Assam.
It connects Howrah station in Kolkata to Kamakhya station in Guwahati, reducing travel time to about 14 hours.
The initiative is part of a broader plan to modernize Indian Railways and achieve 'self-sufficient railways.'
Exam Points
Route: Howrah (Kolkata) to Kamakhya (Guwahati).
Number of Vande Bharat trains currently in India: 150.
Google's Project Suncatcher is experimenting with placing datacentres in low-earth orbit (LEO) to address the massive energy consumption of AI workloads. These space-based facilities would utilize solar energy directly, bypassing terrestrial electricity constraints. The project proposes a constellation of satellites that maintain a constant line of sight with the sun. While this offers a sustainable energy solution, significant challenges remain, including thermal management in a vacuum, high-bandwidth communication requirements, and the economic feasibility of launching and maintaining hardware in space. ISRO is also reportedly studying similar space-based datacentre technologies to support future digital infrastructure.
AI models require immense processing power, leading to a surge in global electricity consumption by terrestrial datacentres.
Project Suncatcher aims to use solar-powered satellite clusters in LEO to process AI workloads.
Space-based datacentres face technical hurdles like heat dissipation in a vacuum and radiation-induced hardware failures.
Exam Points
Project Name: Project Suncatcher (Google).
Orbit Type: Low-Earth Orbit (LEO).
Radiation threshold: Irregularities observed after 2 krad(Si) cumulative dose.
The PSLV-C62 mission, launched on January 12 from Sriharikota, failed to deploy its primary payload, the EOS-N1 surveillance satellite, into the designated orbit. The rocket encountered an anomaly during the third stage (PS3), characterized by a 'roll rate disturbance' and a drop in chamber pressure. ISRO has constituted a Failure Analysis Committee (FAC) to investigate the mishap, with a report expected by mid-2025. This failure is notable as it is the first time the PSLV failed while carrying customer satellites from Indian and foreign entities. The incident raises questions about transparency, as recent FAC reports have not been made public.
The PSLV-C62 mission failed during the third stage (PS3) due to technical anomalies in the rocket's flight path.
The primary payload was EOS-N1, a surveillance satellite for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
A Failure Analysis Committee (FAC) is a non-standing body of experts tasked with reconstructing the failure using telemetry data.
Nearly six years after the 2019 amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, the Union government is yet to constitute the Arbitration Council of India (ACI). The ACI was envisioned as a regulatory body to promote institutional arbitration and grade arbitral institutions. However, concerns regarding its independence persist, as the council would comprise members nominated by the executive. The draft Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2024, seeks to address these issues by introducing structural reforms, redefining 'arbitral institutions,' and recalibrating the role of courts in granting interim relief to reduce judicial intervention and curb delays in the arbitration process.
The ACI was proposed by the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee to make India a hub for international arbitration.
Critics argue that government dominance in the ACI's composition could compromise its institutional impartiality.
The 2024 draft Bill aims to limit court intervention by requiring arbitration to commence within 90 days of interim relief.
Exam Points
Relevant Act: Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (and 2019 amendments).
Ahead of the Union Budget, wind energy producers in India are advocating for the introduction of a Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. While India has significant local assembly capacity for wind turbines, it remains heavily dependent on imports for high-value components like gearboxes, special bearings, and controllers. Industry leaders argue that this dependency impacts costs, technology control, and strategic autonomy. A PLI scheme would incentivize domestic manufacturing of these critical components, helping to curtail long-term import reliance. Additionally, the industry is seeking a rationalization of import duties to provide short-term support for the sector's growth.
The wind energy sector is pushing for PLI schemes to boost domestic manufacturing of critical high-value parts.
Current manufacturing is mostly local assembly, but core components are imported from international markets.
Reducing import dependency is seen as vital for maintaining technology control and strategic autonomy in renewable energy.
Exam Points
Key imported components: Gearboxes, special bearings, controllers, and yaw machines.