National Water Awards 2020 Announced

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of Jal Shakti, has announced the winners of the third National Water Awards for the year 2020.

In the National Water Awards 2020, Uttar Pradesh has named the Best State for Water Conservation.

Rajasthan and Nadu come in second and third, respectively. The award includes a citation, a trophy, and a monetary prize.

The finest district prize in the northern zone went to Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar in Punjab.

The Jal Shakti Ministry established the National Water Award in 2018 to honor and motivate individuals and organizations who excel in the field of Water Resource Management.

Newly Identified Tree Species: Uvariopsis Dicaprio

A new tree species, Uvariopsis dicaprio, has been discovered. In the year 2022, this is the first new tree species to be described. It was found in Cameroon’s tropical Ebo forest and is a native of the area.

The tree has been added to the list of plant species that are Strange and Spectacular. The tree is considered to be critically endangered.

The tree’s yellow-green blossoms grow directly on its trunk. Flowers are typically created from modified shoots or modified leaves.

Sea Dragon 2022 Exercise

In the Western Pacific, India and its Quadrilateral Security Dialogue partners, Canada and South Korea are taking part in the multinational drill Sea Dragon 2022 at Guam.

The United States, Australia, Canada, India, Japan, and South Korea are among the six nations taking part in the drill.

The exercise will include more than 270 hours of in-flight training and operations ranging from tracking simulated targets to tracking a US Navy submarine.

Scope for New and Renewable Energy

In line withthePrime Ministers announcement at COP26, Ministry of New and is working towards achieving 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030, and achieving Net Zero by 2070.

A total of 172.72 GW capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy Resources has been installed in the country as on 31.10.2022. This includes 119.09 GW Renewable Energy, 46.85 GW Large Hydro and 6.78 GW Nuclear Power capacity. This constitutes a share of 42.26% of total installed generation capacity in the country i.e. 408.71 GW as on 31.10.2022.

Further, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has carried out generation expansion studies with the projected All India peak electricity demand and electrical energy requirement of 325 GW and 2256 BU respectively for the year 2029-30 (as per the draft 20th EPS projections). Study reveals that the share of RE based installed capacity (including Large Hydro) in the capacity mix is likely to increase to around 480 GW by 2029-30. The share of RE (including Large Hydro) in the generation mix of the country, which stands at around 22% as of March, 2022 is likely to increase to around 41% by 2029-30.

Villages electrified under Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)

Government of India launched the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) in December, 2014 for rural electrification works across the country.

Under DDUGJY and thereafter under Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya), the electrification of all villages and all willing Households was completed by 31stMarch, 2019 as reported by all State Governments.

A total of 2.86 crore Households were electrified under the aegis of Saubhagya including additional households in two tranches that were unwilling for electrification earlier but became willing later. TheRevamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) has provisions for providing assistance for giving connectivity to any habitation/household which may have been left out, provided that the said house/habitation was in existence when DDUGJY/Saubhagya were sanctioned.

Government to launch the Digital India Innovation Fund for Catalyzing deep tech start-ups

The Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill development & , Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar today said that the Government of India is going to launch a Digital India Innovation Fund that will support Deeptech Startups.

The Minister made these remarks during his address to over 1000 college students as part of the New India for Young India: Techade of Opportunities program at the Catholic Bishop House Campus, Thamarassery, Kerala.

Food Processing Industry Invests Nearly Rs 4,900 Crore Under PLI Scheme

The government said that the Food Processing has invested Rs 4,900 crore so far underthe production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. The PLI scheme for the food processing industry was approved in March 2021, with a budget outlay of Rs 10,900 crore. It will be implementedfor seven years, until 2026-27.

A total of 182 applications have been approved under the PLI scheme for the food processingindustry. This includes 30 applications for Millets-based products under the PLI scheme (8 largeentities and 22 SMEs). Incentives amounting to Rs 800 crore are likely to be disbursed in thecurrent financial year. Sales-based incentive of Rs 107.3 crore has been disbursed so far.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk Becomes First Person Ever to Lose $200 Billion

Tesla and Twitter CEOElon Muskbecame the first person to lose$200 billionfrom his net worth. Elon Musk has seen a drop of up to $137 billion in his wealth after a recent drop in Tesla . The shares of his electric car company are down nearly 65 percent.Elon Muskbecame therichest personin the world for the first time in January 2021 with a net worth of more than $185 billion.

However, he was replaced byBernard Arnault,the chief executive of luxury brand Louis Vuittons parent company LVMH as the worlds richest man.

PM To Launch Delhi Dehradun Corridor

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to inaugurate Delhi Dehradun corridor.

Highlights

The PM will also launch several other projects along with the corridor, which will reduce the distance between the two cities from 248 km to 180 km.

The primary purpose of the corridor is to decongest North East Delhi.

The corridor will improve the Mandola Vihar Yojana of the Government of Uttar Pradesh and also the Growth potential of Tronica city.

PM Modi will set the foundation stone for the Delhi Dehradun corridor, which will be built at Rs 8,300 crores.

The project is to be executed in Engineering, Procurement and Construction mode, where the government pays the private developer for constructing roads. And the toll revenue accrues to the government.

The highway is divided into four sections, and Section 1 is to be developed as 6 lanes.

Also, it is divided into two packages where package 1 falls in the Delhi portion, and Package 2 falls in the Uttar Pradesh portion.

The Exercise Ekuverin is a joint military exercise held between India and Maldives. It is held between the armies of India and Maldives.

Ekuverin means Friends in Dhivehi language. It is an Indo Aryan language. It is spoken in India, Lakshadweep and Maldives.

The Exercise is being conducted between India and Maldives since 2008.

In 2019, the exercise was held in Pune, Maharashtra and in 2018, it was held in Maldives.

The exercise focused on enhancing inter operability between the armed forces of India and Maldives.

It also included counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations.

The joint exercise in 2021, also conducted Sports and cultural activities to enhance the bilateral and DEFENCE relations.

The Climatic Zones of India AGRO

Agro Climatic Zone is suitable land for growing a particular crop type.

Highlights:

It is essential to delineate the land in the country into agro-climatic zones for sustainable agricultural production.

The Agro Climatic Zone has two significant modifications – Climate and growing periods.

The Agro-Ecological Zone has four vital variables – climate, types, Landforms and length of the growing period.

An Agro-Ecological Zone is created from the Agro Climatic Zone. The land unit acts as a conditioner to climate and length of the growing period. There are 20 agro-ecological zones in India.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research began the National Agricultural Research Project to set up zonal research centres in each agro-climatic zone.

These centres will analyse agro-ecological requirements and Cropping patterns in the regions.

There are 15 agro-climatic zones in India. They are,

Western Himalayas

Eastern Himalayas

Lower Gangetic plains

Middle Gangetic plains

Upper Gangetic plains

Trans Gangetic plains

Eastern plateau and hills

Central plateau and hills

Western plateau and hills

Southern plateau and hills

East coast plains and hills

West coast plains and hills

Gujarat Plains and Hills

Western dry region and islands.