1) Union Power Minister assured electricity for all by May 2017
i. India would have 100 % electrification for all by May 1, 2017 was the announcement made by the Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal.
ii. He has the confident that 100 per cent electrification in rural, Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) districts and dense forests would be achieved by May 1, 2017, a year ahead of the schedule Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
iii. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and West Bengal are considered LWE or Maoist affected states.
iv. The state-run Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) is also formulating a scheme to extend soft loans to the states at a flat rate on long-term to achieve 100 per cent household electrification across the country.
v. Power ministers and officials from 20 states and two Union Territories participated in the conference along with heads of state-run energy firms.
2) India to light up IEA’s global LED programme
i. India, through its company Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), has performed exceedingly well in terms of vastly improving access to LED lighting while reducing their cost drastically.
ii. The LED programme by EESL has been so successful that IEA is partnering with it to take the programme global was reported by Paul Simons, Deputy Executive Director at the IEA.
iii. The price at which EESL has been purchasing LED lights to distribute under the government’s Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (Ujala) scheme has been consistently falling over the last couple of years. The company purchased LEDs at Rs.310 per piece in 2014, and the price fell to Rs.55 as of March 2016.
iv. The International Energy Agency (IEA)) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis.
3) 4th BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial Meeting held at Jaipur
i. 4th BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial Meeting was held at Jaipur, Rajasthan on 8 October, 2016 to strengthen the collaboration amongst the BRICS countries in the areas of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
ii. Theme – Building, Responsive Inclusive and Collective Solutions
iii. The meeting was chaired by the Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan. The Vice Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation of Brazil, Mr. lvaro Toubes Prata, Deputy Minister of Federation of Russia, Mr. Alexey Lopatia, Vice Minister of S&T of Peoples Republic of China, H.E.Mr. Jiang Hua, Minister of Science and Technology of South Africa H.E. Madam Naledi Pandor led their respective country delegations.4th BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial Meeting
iv. The Jaipur Declaration was adopted by all the BRICS countries. The member countries resolved to intensify, diversify and institutionalize STI cooperation through the BRICS research & innovation initiative.
Other related events :
♦ India hosted the 1st BRICS Young Scientists Conclave at Bengaluru and Hampi last week.
4) MP Gov launched ‘Lalima Abhiyan’ to make state free from anaemia
i. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan decided to launch a scheme-‘Lalima Abhiyan’ to make Madhya Pradesh anaemia-free. It will be effective from November 1, 2016
ii. Free iron folic acid tablets will be provided in aaganwadis’, academic institutions and hospitals.
iii. Ferrous escorbate tablets instead of ferrous sulphate tablets will be distributed by the state’s Health Minister, Jagat Prasad Nadda
iv. Minister of State for Women and Child Development Lalita Yadav has appealed to public representatives, non-governmental organisations and government officers and employees to cooperate for the success of the campaign.
5) SC widens scope of Domestic Violence Act, makes it gender-neutral
i. Supreme Court has widened the scope of the Domestic Violence Act by ordering deletion of the words “adult male” from it, paving the way for prosecution of women and even non-adults for subjecting a woman relative to violence and harassment.
ii. The apex court has ordered striking down of the two words from section 2(q) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, which deals with respondents who can be sued and prosecuted under the Act for harassing a married woman in her matrimonial home.
iii. According to the apex court, the microscopic difference between male and female, adult and non adult, regard being had to the object sought to be achieved by the 2005 Act, is neither real or substantial, nor does it have any rational relation to the object of the legislation.