1. Sumitra Mahajan launches Energy Conservation Building Code for Residential Building
• Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has said sustainable development and conservation of resources are practised by India for many thousand years.
• She said energy conservation and the use of clean energy resources are the priority areas for the government as well as the people of the country.
• The electricity sector has seen a significant transformation in the last 4.5 years and the country has been united into one grid.
• During the function, the Lok Sabha Speaker launched the Energy Conservation Building Code for Residential Building ( ECBC-R) to push for energy efficiency in the residential sector.
2. President Kovind dedicates ACARE project to people of Myanmar
• President Kovind dedicates ACARE project to people of Myanmar President Ram Nath Kovind dedicates - India assisted project `Advanced Centre for Agricultural Research & Education` - to the people of Myanmar; project focuses on Genetics, Post-Harvest Technology, Participatory Knowledge Management and capacity building for farmers in Myanmar.
• It was established as per an MOU between both the countries for research and capacity building of Myanmar students and scientists.
• The programme is run by IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute).
• The President also dedicated the Rice Bio-Park to the people of Myanmar
3. Saubhagya scheme
• Nine States have achieved complete household electrification under the Saubhagya scheme. They are Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Sikkim, Telangana and West Bengal.
• With this, 16 States in the country now have 100 per cent household electrification.
• Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – ‘Saubhagya’ was launched in September, 2017.
• Under Saubhagya free electricity connections to all households (both APL and poor families) in rural areas and poor families in urban areas will be provided.
• Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) has been designated as nodal agency for the Saubhagya scheme.
• The scheme aims to achieve universal household electrification in all parts of the country.
• The prospective beneficiary households for free electricity connections under the scheme would be identified using SECC 2011 data. However, un-electrified households not covered under SECC data would also be provided electricity connections under the scheme on payment of Rs. 500 which shall be recovered by DISCOMs in 10 instalments through electricity bill.
4. Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has approved registration of record 15 new breeds of livestock and poultry this year
• ICAR has approved registration of record 15 new breeds of livestock and poultry this year alone taking the total to 40 during 2014-18.
• Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh at a ceremony for awarding breed registration certificates to the stakeholders said that the 15 newly registered breeds include two cattle breeds - Ladakhi (J&K) and Konkan Kapila (Maharashtra & Goa); three buffalo breeds - Luit (Assam & Manipur), Bargur (Tamil Nadu), Chhattisgarhi (Chhattisgarh); one sheep breed – Panchali (Gujarat); six goat breeds – Kahmi (Gujarat), Rohilkhandi (UP), Assam Hill (Assam & Meghalaya), Bidri (Karnataka), Nandidurga (Karnataka), Bhakarwali (J&K); one pig breed – Ghurrah (UP); one donkey breed – Halari (Gujarat) and one chicken breed – Uttara (Uttarakhand).
• India have about 15% of total cattle, 57% of total buffalo, 17% of goat, 7% of sheep and 4.5% of chicken of the world.
5. European Union opens India’s first Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in New Delhi
• European Union (EU) has established India’s first Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (CoE) at Department of European Studies (DES) at Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) in New Delhi.
• Jean Monnet Center of Excellence in India-EU Interdisciplinary Studies aims to strengthen and enhance the educational connect between India and EU.
• Jean Monnet was French political economist and diplomat.
• He was influential supporter of European unity and is considered as one of founding fathers of European Union.
6. FAME-India Scheme
• In order to promote manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicle technology and to ensure sustainable growth of the same, Department of Heavy Industry is implementing FAME-India Scheme- Phase-I [Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India] from 1st April 2015.
• The scheme, which was initially up to 31st April 2017, has been extended upto 31st March, 2019 or till Notification of FAME-II, whichever is earlier.
• The Phase-II of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME-India) Scheme proposes to give a push to electric vehicles (EVs) in public transport and seeks to encourage adoption of EVs by way of market creation and demand aggregation.
• Total outlay of Phase-I of the FAME-India Scheme has been enhanced from Rs. 795 Crore to Rs. 895 Crore.
7. To connect with Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), an online portal “ENSURE” has been launched
• Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh launched a portal ENSURE- National Livestock Mission-EDEG developed by NABARD and operated under the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries.
• Under the Mission’s component called Entrepreneurship Development and Employment Generation (EDEG), subsidy payment for activities related to poultry, small ruminants, pigs etc. through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) goes directly to the beneficiary’s account.
• In order to make it better, simpler and transparent, the NABARD has developed an online portal “ENSURE” so that the information related to beneficiary and processing of application can be made readily available.
8. Home Ministry launches @CyberDost Twitter account to spread awareness about cybercrimes
• With an objective of spreading awareness about cybercrimes and precautions to be taken, the Ministry of Home Affairs has launched @CyberDost. The Twitter handles - @CyberDost - is aimed at enhancing people`s basic knowledge about cybercrimes and precautions to be taken for prevention.
• The Twitter handle is educating people about various channels through which complaints about cybercrimes can be filed and makes people aware of their duties regarding misuse of cyber space by some people in the country.
• The handle is also to mitigate possibilities of disruption in normal business
9. Implementation of Swaminathan Committee Report
• Government fixes-the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) of various agricultural crops on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP), after ascertaining the views of State Governments and Central Ministries/ Departments concerned.
• While recommending MSPs, CACP considers the cost of production and host of factors such as demand-supply situation, trends in domestic and international prices, inter-crop price parity, terms of trade between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors and the likely impact of MSP on consumers and overall economy along with rational utilization of scarce natural resources like land and water.
• National Commission on Farmers headed by Dr. M. S. Swaminathan submitted its report in 2006. One of the recommendations of Commission was that MSP should be at least 50 percent more than the weighted average cost of production. This recommendation was not incorporated in the National policy for Farmers 2007.
• However, recently Government has increased the MSP for all Kharif and Rabi crops and other commercial crops for the season 2018-19 with a return of atleast 50 percent over cost of production, which was a historic decision by the Government.
10. Kaiga power station-1
• Karnataka’s Kaiga has once again made the country proud by creating a world record for the longest uninterrupted operation for 941 days, thereby breaking the earlier record of 940 days by the United Kingdom.
• KGS-1 at Kaiga, located 56 km from Karwar has been generating electricity continuously since May 13, 2016.
• It isan indigenously-built PHWR run by domestic fuel (uranium).
• It began commercial operations on November 16, 2000, and has produced 500 cr. units of power so far.
• In June, KGS-1 had set a national record for continuous operation of 766 days.
11. NITI Aayog Launches Global Hackathon On Artificial Intelligence
• Partnering with Perlin, a Singapore-based AI start-up for the four- month hackathon.
• With the vision to further expand the idea of‘Artificial Intelligence, AI for All’ articulated in the National AI Strategy, NITI Aayog organises hackathons to source sustainable, innovative and technologically-enabled solutions to address various challenges in the development space.
• Taking the initiative forward, NITI Aayog is now partnering with Perlin – a Singapore-based AI start up - to launch the ‘AI 4 All Global Hackathon’, and is inviting developers, students, start-ups and companies to develop AI applications to make significant positive social and economic impact for India.
• The objective of this hackathon is to promote awareness and subsequently develop solutions that deliver the twin benefit of efficient computing to address the infrastructure challenges, while also not compromising on privacy of data for training AI algorithms.
• The hackathon will be run two stages with Stage One ending 15 January 2019 and Stage Two, which will only include shortlisted participants from the previous stage, will conclude on 15 March 2019.