Rs 1,000 crore for Rajkot power infrastructure

The central government has allotted Rs 1,000 crore for strengthening the electricity distribution in the Rajkot district. The power ministry allotted the fund under a revamped distribution sector scheme.

The central government has allotted Rs 1,000 crore for strengthening the electricity distribution infrastructure in the Rajkot district. The power ministry allotted the fund under a revamped distribution sector scheme.

MoUs worth Rs 1.36 lakh crore inked, 17,000 jobs likely

As part of InvestRajasthan initiative, the signedMoUsworth Rs 1.36 lakh crore in sectors like RENEWABLE ENERGY, tourism and Industry. These projects are expected to generate EMPLOYMENT for 17,000 people.
A total of 26 MoUs were signed during the event in the presence of chief ministerAshok Gehlot, who said due to several investor friendly policies, industrialisation in the state is growing rapidly.

Ongc singed an MoU to invest Rs 25000 crore for setting up 5GW renewable energy project. Similarly, Tepsol Sun Sparkle Pvt Ltd will invest Rs 25000 crore to set up 5.2GW renewable energy.Greenkois another renewable energy company that will invest Rs 13500 crore for upstream closed loop pump storage project to generate 2650 MW to renewable energy. ReNew Power will invest Rs 10,000 crore for a pump storage project.

Land-swap deal of Assam & Meghalaya hits satra wall

For the ruling BJP inAssam, safeguarding the Vaishnavite satras (monasteries) and namghars (prayer halls) was the prime agenda in 2021 assembly polls, where it registered a thumping win.

Many Vaishnav-inhabited areas voted decisively in favour of the saffron coalition in an election, which was a battle of two civilizations for the BJP to resist the one represented by migrant Muslims. Eight months after the poll results, as Assam andMeghalayagovernments finalised a land-swap agreement to settle the decades-long border land disputes, it is the Vaishnavite satras in the fringe villages under West Guwahati constituency that have opposed handing over of Assam lands where their disciples prevented Meghalayas alleged Christian aggression by

firmly upholding the Vashnavite culture propagated by the satra and namghars.

Guwahati may have crossed 3rd Covid wave peak: Experts

Assam capital Guwahati, the gateway to the northeast, might have crossed the peak of the third wave on January 18 and 19 when the overall daily positivity rate had surged beyond 20% inKamrup(Metro) that alone logged nearly 2,000 cases or one-fourth of the states total cases.

Health experts said the rate of infection has shown a continuous declining trend in the last five days here, indicating that the peak may be over. Even after uniform testing during mid-January, the highest 1,996 and 1,929 cases were detected in Kamrup (Metro) on January 18 and 19 respectively. The last 15 days have been most alarming so far as the third wave in the city is concerned. The positivity rate touched 10.12% on January 10, more than double of the states positivity rate of 4.49% on the same day, which set alarm bells in thestate health department. At an uneven trend, the positivity rate continued to hit worrying figures for the next one week and shot up to 20.62% on January 18, followed by 20.17% on January 19.

Odisha: Coal-based projects to boost state

Odisha, which has the second largest coal reserves after Jharkhand, has reasons to cheer the Budget announcement by finance ministerNirmala Sitharamanof four pilot projects for coal gasification and conversion of coal into chemicals for the , feel industry insiders.

A director ofWestern Coalfields Limitedand vice-president of Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry Limited, said Jharkhand, which has the countrys highest coal reserves (27%) followed by Odisha (24%) andChhattisgarh(17%), would have the highest opportunities for coal-based projects. Coal gasification if successfully implemented will immensely help these states, he said.

Madurai plans single window system for poll-related nods

TheMaduraiDistrict Administration is planning to set up a single window system to provide permission for election-related issues, including campaigns as the https://exam.pscnotes.com/model-code-of-conduct”>Model Code Of Conduct for the local body Elections has come into effect, district collector S AneeshSekharhas said.

The collector said that 200 polling booths have been identified as vulnerable and they would be monitored by videographers and micro observers in addition to the CCTV monitoring.

Kerala: CIAL retains its position as third busiest airport

Amid the rising number of Covid cases inKerala, theCochin International Airport Limited(CIAL) retained its position as the third busiest airport in India in 2021 in international sector. As per the latest statistics released byAirport Authority of India(AAI) on international travel, CIAL secured third position in December too, similar to previous months in the year.

As per the report, CIAL registered 301,338 international passengers during December 2021. WhileDelhi airportcontinued to top the list with 8,42,582 passengers and Mumbai airport retained its second spot with 4,51,212 passengers in the said period. CIAL is followed by Chennai airport which handled 2,46,387 international passengers.

CIALs passenger volume has almost increased by a million in 2021 compared to that of 2020. The airport handled a total of 43,06,661 passengers in 2021 and 18,69,690 among them were international passengers.

Karnataka: 12th century inscriptions discovered in Udupi village

Two Kannada inscriptions belonging to 12th-century Alupa era were found recently in Udupi district by a research team.

“We’ve confirmed that one inscription belongs to the period of Alupa King Kulasekhara I. The second inscription, discovered in less than a week from the same place, is also from the 12th century. Only a few alphabets were visible on it,” said HISTORY and archaeology research student Shruthesh Acharya Moodubelle, who led the team.

The inscriptions were found in Bannadi village coming under Vaddarse panchayat of Brahmavar taluk in Udupi district. The 18-line inscription is found engraved on a granite plaque that is 5ft tall and 2ft wide. It was found on an agricultural land belonging to B Kusha Acharya.

Another inscription was discovered at the Hebbarvolal, about 1km from the place where the first inscription was found, in Bannadi village. This inscription was discovered under the guidance of SA Krishnaiah, director of Oriental Archives Research Centre, Udupi; Raghavendra Shenoy, an English teacher at Indira Gandhi residential school, Siddapura; and Shruthesh.

Telangana industries minister seeks Rs 14,000 crore for key projects

Ahead of the Union Budget, which is to be presented on February 1, industries ministerKT Rama Rao has written nearly half a dozen letters to Union finance ministerNirmala Sitharamanseeking budgetary support of over 14,000 crore for key industrial projects set to come up in Telangana.

These include the projects like Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Vijayawada, Hyderabad-Warangal andHyderabad-Nagpurindustrial corridors as well as theHyderabad Pharma Cityproject that has bagged the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) status.
KTRhas urged the FM to sanction additional nodes at Mancherial (3,000 acres) under the Hyderabad-Nagpur corridor, Huzurabad as part of the Hyderabad-Vijayawada corridor and Jadcherla-Gadwal-Kothaguda node under the Hyderabad-Bengaluru corridor.

He has sought provision of 5,000 crore for these three nodes in the budget estimates for 2022-23, including 2,000 crore for Mancherial and 1,500 crore each for Huzurabad and Jadcherla-Gadwal-Kothaguda nodes.

Andhra Pradeshs energy demand for next fiscal projected at 66,530 MU

Discoms in the state have projected a sale of 66,530 million units of electricity for the 2022-23 financial year. TheAndhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commissionconcluded its (virtual) public hearings and state advisory committee meetings on tariffs and aggregate revenue requirements for the next fiscal.

The electricity demand projected for Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and other agriculture allied Services is 19,819 MU for nearly 19 lakh services.

As much as 38,199 MU (57% of the total energy demand projected for next year) is towards domestic and industrial categories. These two categories add up to 1.52 crore consumers, constituting 80% per cent of the total 1.91 crore electricity consumers in the state.

TheAPERChas strongly felt the need to balance the interest of consumers and discoms. It has stressed on a consumer-centric approach in the power sector, improving financial stability and operational efficiency of the discoms to ensure quality and reliable power supply.