Neutrino Observatories to be set up in the country
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, DrJitendra Singh today said in a written reply in Lok Sabha that Government has a proposal to set up Neutrino Observatory in the country. India based Neutrino observatory (INO) will observe neutrinos produced in the atmosphere of the Earth. This observation will tell us more about the properties of neutrino particles, whose main source is the Sun and the Earth’s atmosphere. The neutrino detector will be a magnetized iron calorimeter, which will be the heaviest one made by any country. The site identified is in Bodi West Hills, in Theni district, Tamil Nadu.
SOURCE: The Hindu
GoI sets Hydrogen Energy Development Targets
Currently the Government of India has set a target to generate 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2022 and hydrogen has not been included in the target. This includes, 100 Watts of solar power, 60 gigawatts of wind, 10 GW from biofuels and 5 gigawatts from hydro based projects. According to TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), the hydrogen used in India will expand between 3 to 10 times by 2050 if the country shifts its focus towards a carbon neutral economy. A committee of officials have been formed as a part of the hydrogen mission. This committee is to focus towards creating regulations, generating volumes, supporting demonstrations and Research and Development.The national hydrogen energy roadmap was adopted in 2006 by the national hydrogen energy board. The main objective of the roadmap was to introduce hydrogen energy gradually into the economy and accelerate and commercialize hydrogen energy infrastructure in the country. It also looks after production, storage, transport, delivery and application of hydrogen energy in the country. Currently hydrogen is being produced for non-energy applications. This includes petroleum refineries and fertilizer Industries predominantly.
SOURCE: The New Indian Express
12 Opposition parties give notice of no-confidence against RS Deputy Chairman
Twelve opposition parties gave notice for a no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, accusing him of violating the parliamentary procedures in trying to pass the farm sector Bills in haste, circumventing all demands for proper voting.Mr. Harivansh was re-elected for the second time to the post only six days back.
The no-confidence resolution has been signed by MPs from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, RJD, TRS, NCP, AAP, CPI, CPI (M), JD (S), IUML and Kerala Congress (Mani). The Opposition parties condemned the Deputy Chairman for cutting short the speech by former Prime Minister Deve Gowda.The Opposition also accused Mr. Harivansh of acting like a rubber stamp of the government. “Deputy Chairman of RS has been a very close personal friend of mine for a long time. Till July 2017 he was a bitter critic of the PM, until his party abandoned the grand alliance in Bihar. Since then he has become an unthinking rubber stamp in the important position he occupies. Very sad,” Congress Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh tweeted. Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said Rajya Sabha witnessed the murder of democracy in the way the two Agriculture Bills were passed. DMK’s Tiruchi Siva said his repeated calls for division were completely ignored. “He had his head down looking at his papers. And no matter how many times I called out, he never looked. This is unacceptable,” Mr. Siva said.
SOURCE: The Hindu
No preference for ‘Make in India’ in World Bank project to curb coronavirus
The $1 billion World Bank loan to prevent, detect and respond to the threat of coronavirus and strengthen national health systems for preparedness as India combats the ongoing pandemic comes with a condition of “universal eligibility” in procurements.
This would mean that all preferential market access policies, including Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, Micro Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) Policy, certain benefits to start-ups, shall not be applicable on purchases made while implementing the national project. Confirming this, the Ministry of Railways, in a note to all Zonal Railways, production units and other major establishments, said the tender documents should be amended to remove such references and ensure that contractors explicitly agreed to comply with the relevant provisions of the World Bank’s anti-corruption guidelines and prohibited policies of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
SOURCE: The Hindu
India launches first Cargo Ferry Service to Maldives
India and the Maldives on Monday launched a cargo ferry service connecting Tuticorin and Cochin ports with Male with the aim of cutting costs and time taken to transport goods between the two countries. The launch of the ferry service came a day after India provided a 10-year soft loan of $250 million to the government of the Maldives as budgetary support to mitigate the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. India will subsidise the ferry service in its initial stage with $3 million, officials said. The maiden voyage of the ferry service was launched during a virtual ceremony by India’s minister of state for shipping Mansukh Mandaviya and the Maldives’ minister of transport and civil aviation Aishath Nahula. The ceremony was joined by representatives of Tuticorin and Cochin ports and officials of the Maldives Ports Limited and the foreign ministry of the Maldives. The cargo vessel MCP Linz, operated by the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), will travel from Tuticorin to Cochin and then to Kulhudhuffushi port in the north of the Indian Ocean archipelago on September 26 before making its way to Male on September 28.
SOURCE: Hindustan Times
.png)
