Thousands of Indians Flown Out of Ukraine under Operation Ganga
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that the government of India launched a multi-prong evacuation plan titled 'Operation Ganga' to evacuate Indian citizens stranded in Ukraine, adding that thousands of Indian citizens have been flown out of the conflict-ridden country.
The India Government is bearing the cost of evacuation given the emergency situation prevailing. Indian Embassy in Kyiv as well as the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi issued a number of advisories prior to the situation developing, requesting Indian citizens to leave Ukraine.
MSME Technology Centre to be Set Up in Sindhudurg
Union Minister for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), Narayan Rane announced the establishment of MSME-Technology Centre with an outlay of Rs. 200 crore, in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra. The MSME-Technology Centre would provide the best of technology, incubation as well as advisory support to the industry, especially MSMEs, to enhance their competitiveness and provide skilling services for the employed and unemployed youth of the area to enhance their employability.
The Ministry is presently focussing to create a benchmark for MSMEs across the country by scaling them to new heights in terms of exports, quality of products, contribution to GDP and providing World-class infrastructure to all MSMEs in India.
Feb 27, 2022
Centre Notifies Appointment of Four New Judges in Delhi High Court
The Centre notified the appointment of four new judges to the Delhi High Court.
A notification from the Ministry of Law and Justice said that Neena Bansal Krishna, Dinesh Kumar Sharma, Anoop Kumar Mendiratta, and Sudhir Kumar Jain will assume charge of their respective offices as Judges of the High Court.
Sudhir Kumar Jain is currently serving as the district and sessions judge at the Rouse Avenue Court while Neena Bansal Krishna was holding the office of the Principal District and Sessions Judge at Saket (South East) District Court.
In a first, Union Law Secretary Anoop Kumar Mendiratta has been elevated as judge of the High Court. In his earlier deputation, he had served as Principal Secretary Law Department with the Delhi government.
Dinesh Kumar Sharma is currently serving as the District and Sessions judge of the New Delhi District Court.
President Ram Nath Kovind Inaugurates Year-long Celebration Marking 400th Birth Anniversary of Ah...
President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the year-long celebration of the 400th birth anniversary of Lachit Borphukan, commander of the Ahom forces and an icon of Assamese nationalism. He also laid the foundation stone for the Alaboi war memorial, a tribute to soldiers who had fought and suffered a setback against the Mughals at Alaboi, two years before Lachit's decisive victory at the battle of Saraighat in 1671.
Indian Railway's First Solar Power Plant
A 1.7-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant was commissioned by Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) at Bina, Madhya Pradesh for the Indian Railways.
Power to the traction systems of Indian Railways will be fed directly through this plant.
This plant was commissioned after the Indian Railways decided to become self-reliant for their electricity need and planned to solarise railway stations by utilizing the vacant lands it has for various Renewable Energy (RE) projects.
This is the first such Solar Power Plant commissioned on the Indian Railways network to directly feed Traction Power.
The Solar Plant commissioned at Bina covers an area of over ten acres. 5800 solar modules are put on 145 sets of modular mounting structures on 1015 pile foundations at the Solar Plant.
The electricity generated in this plant will be provided to the Indian Railways free of cost.
Feb 26, 2022
Sustainable Cities India Program
The World Economic Forum (WEF) and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to design 'Sustainable Cities India' program.
This partnership between WEF and NIUA is significant in the light of India's commitment of achieving net zero carbon emission by 2070, made at COP26 summit in Glasgow.
WEF and NIUA will adapt WEF's 'City Sprint' process as well as 'Toolbox of Solutions' for decarbonisation of five to seven Indian cities in two years.
City Sprint Process is a series of multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder workshops that involved government, business, and civil society leaders to enable decarbonisation, specifically through clean electrification and circularity. It will help to jumpstart and accelerate net zero action and planning. The workshop series will shortlist relevant policies and business models, which will help in reducing emissions and maximizing System Value, like improved air quality or job creation.
The City Sprint Process uses "Toolbox of Solutions", which is a digital platform comprising of more than 200 examples of clean electrification, efficiency & smart infrastructure best practices and case studies across energy systems, buildings, and mobility from 110 cities of the world.
Nepal, India Agree to Build New Projects by Investing in Energy Sector
Nepal and India agreed to build new projects by injecting joint investment in the hydropower sector.
As per the agreement reached at Nepal-India Energy Joint Meeting, a joint technical team will be formed to carry out the study as per the proposal made by India.
In the meeting held in Kathmandu the two countries agreed to build more transmission lines, complete the transmission lines that are under construction and proposed new cross -country transmission lines, completion of Arun 3 hydropower project and energy export and import.
Lavender is Brand Product of J&K's Doda District
The Union Minister of Science & Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, chaired the District Development Coordination & Monitoring Committee (DISHA) meetings of several districts in Jammu & Kashmir recently. A key decision taken during the meeting was that Lavender was designate as a Doda brand product, to promote lavender under the 'One District, One Product' initiative of the Modi Government.
Doda district in J&K is the birthplace of India's Purple Revolution or the cultivation of Lavender. Though, Lavender cultivation is practised in almost all the 20 districts of Jammu & Kashmir.
Purple Revolution (Lavender cultivation) was launched under the Aroma Mission of the Union Ministry of Science & Technology. The Aroma mission was implemented by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) through its Jammu-based laboratory, the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicines (IIIM).
Feb 25, 2022
Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh Becomes 100th 'Har Ghar Jal' District
Jal Jeevan Mission achieved the significant milestone of providing tap water to every home of 100 districts across the country. Chamba, in Himachal Pradesh, became the 100th 'Har Ghar Jal' district, the fifth aspirational district to be covered under the initiative. The other four Har Ghar Jal Aspirational districts are Bhadradri Kothgudem, Jayashankar Bhupalpalli, Komram Bheem Asifabad (all in Telangana) and Mewat in Haryana.
To translate Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's vision of providing clean tap water to every home in the country by 2024, in a short span of two and half years and despite COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown disruptions, Jal Jeevan Mission, has provided tap water supply to more than 5.78 crore rural households.
Feb 24, 2022
Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia Gets PWD Portfolio from Satyendar Jain
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was allocated the Public Works Department, which was held by Health Minister Satyendra Jain.
This new responsibility is in addition to the portfolios already held by him.
Sisodia is already handling 10 important departments which include Education, Finance, Planning, Tourism, Art and Culture, and Employment among others. With the new responsibility, now he holds charge of a total of 11 departments.
ED Arrests Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik in Money Laundering Case
In a blow for the coalition government in Maharashtra, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested NCP leader and state cabinet minister Nawab Malik in connection with a case of alleged money laundering and "active involvement in terror funding" linked to a land deal in 1999 with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's sister.
Malik is the second senior NCP leader to be arrested by the central agency over the last four months, after Anil Deshmukh, the former state Home Minister, was taken into custody and jailed last November over another alleged case of money laundering.