India Innovation Index 2019.
NITI with the Institute for Competitiveness has released the India Innovation Index 2019.
- The index,
developed on the lines of the Global Innovation Index, would
help the innovation ecosystem of Indian states and Union Territories (UTs) to
design policies to drive innovation across regions.
- For a country as large as India, the state of innovation needs to be understood at the regional level for effective policy formulation.
- The India Innovation
Index 2019 is calculated as the average of the scores of its
two dimensions – Enablers and Performance.
- The Enablers examine innovative capacities: Human Capital, Investment, Knowledge Workers, Business Environment, and Safety and Legal Environment.
Key Findings
- The states have been
bifurcated into three categories:
- Major states,
- North-east and hill states,
- Union territories/Small states
- Karnataka emerged topper in the overall
rankings in the category of major states. With Tamil
Nadu and Maharashtra in the second and third positions.
- Maharashtra performs the best in
the dimension of Enablers.
- In terms of attracting
investment, Karnataka topped the index among major states, followed by
Maharashtra, Haryana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Telangana, Rajasthan, and
Uttar Pradesh.
- Among North East and the Hill States, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Tripura were the top three states; while among the UTs, Lakshadweep, Delhi and Goa were the top three regions.
EX EASTERN BRIDGE V
Indian Air Force (IAF) is participating in joint bilateral exercise EX EASTERN BRIDGEV with Royal Air Force Oman (RAFO).
- The exercise is being held at the Air Force Base Masirah, Oman.
Other Exercises between India and Oman
- Naseem Al-Bahr is the naval exercise conducted between both the countries.
- AL Nagah is the joint bilateral exercise between the armies of two countries.
Nuclear Energy Conclave
The 11th Nuclear Energy Conclave, organized by the India Energy Forum, was held in New Delhi on 18th October 2019.
- The theme of the Conclave was: “Economics of Nuclear Power- Innovation towards Safer & Cost Effective Technologies”.
Key Highlights
- The Minister of State
for Atomic Energy highlighted some steps taken by the Government with respect
to nuclear energy:
- Earlier the Atomic power plants were restricted in Southern India, now the Government is setting up the nuclear plants in other parts of the country.
Defense of Andaman & Nicobar Islands 2019
The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) has conducted the second edition of Defense of Andaman & Nicobar Islands 2019 (DANX-19).
- Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Special Forces from newly formed Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD), participated in this exercise.
- The exercise was carried out for mobilization and field maneuvers to validate defensive plans of ANC headquarters and ensuring territorial integrity of the A&N Islands.