Headlines at a Glance – 17th January 2022
Govt inaugurates India’s first coal to methanol plant in Hyderabad
Union Minister for Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey on Saturday dedicated India’s first BHEL-built ‘coal to methanol’ (CTM) pilot plant to the nation here, as part of the ongoing ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations, an official release said.
Pandey also inaugurated an exhibition on Products Developed under Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ organised at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited’s (BHEL) Hyderabad unit, it said. The 0.25 TPD (tonnes per day) capacity CTM pilot plant that has been indigenously designed, developed and installed by BHEL is currently producing methanol with purity of more than 99 percent from high-ash Indian coal. Significantly, this conversion of high-ash Indian coal to methanol through the gasification route is the first-of-its-kind technology demonstration in India, the release added.
SOURCE: Business Standard
CRISIL Ratings to start disclosing ESG impact on credit profiles
Crisil Ratings on Saturday said it will start disclosing the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) parameters separately when assigning credit ratings. The move comes on the back of increasing ESG impact in investment decisions. Notably, the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) factors determine a company’s impact on society and environment.It gives a non-financial glimpse on the prospects of future opportunities and risks to the business. Accordingly, the assessment will be based on a proprietary framework that weighs sectoral impact on environment and social factors, and the relative performance of a company on ESG aspects. In addition, the move comes as the top 1,000 listed companies will now have to mandatorily disclose non-financial information from next fiscal under SEBI’s Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) norms.
SOURCE: The Hindu
Power ministry revises norms for pro-actively setting up EV charging infra
The power ministry has unveiled revised norms to support creation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, with an aim to enable a faster adoption of EVs in the country by ensuring a safe, reliable ecosystem. The revised guidelines include allowing EV owners to charge them at their residence/offices using their existing electricity connections and de-licensing the setting up of EV charging infra. Infrastructure requirements for public charging infrastructure as well as for public charging infrastructure for long-range EVs and/or heavy-duty EVs have been outlined, it stated. Any individual/entity is free to set up public charging stations without the requirement of a licence provided that such stations meet the technical, safety as well as performance standards and protocols.
SOURCE: The Indian Express
January 16 to be celebrated as ‘National Start-up Day
January 16 would now be celebrated as National Startup Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Saturday. The move was announced to help the startup culture spread better across India. PM Modi was interacting with various startups virtually as part of the Startup India Innovation Week when he made the announcement. The PM asked innovators and entrepreneurs not to keep their dreams local, adding that hundreds of hackathons organised by the government in record time had provided many solutions for the country. PM Modi said that as against 4,000 patents registered in 2013-14, last year (2020-21), the comparative figure was 28,000. He said that the drive towards innovation has improved India’s ranking on the Global Innovation Index from 81 to 46.
SOURCE: India Today
Navies of India and Russia conduct passing exercise in Arabian Sea
The navies of India and Russia conducted a passing exercise in the Arabian Sea, the Indian Navy said today. Indian Navy’s indigenously designed and built guided missile destroyer INS Kochi exercised with Russian Federation Navy’s destroyer Admiral Tributs on Friday, it mentioned. “The exercise showcased cohesiveness and interoperability between the two navies and included tactical manoeuvres, cross-deck helicopter operations and seamanship activities,” the Indian Navy’s statement said. A passing exercise is done to ensure that two navies participating in it are able to smoothly coordinate and communicate in times of any disaster or war.
SOURCE: The Hindu
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