International
Google announces $10 billion India Digitization Fund
- Google will invest $10 billion (₹75,000 crore) in India over the next five-seven years with a focus on digitising the economy and building India-first products and services
- Investment will focus on four areas important to digitization including enabling affordable access and information for every Indian in their own language, building products and services that are deeply relevant to India’s unique needs, empowering businesses in their digital transformation journey and leveraging technology and AI for social good, in areas like health, education, and agriculture.
India and EU finalise civil nuclear pact
- India and the European Union have finalised a framework agreement on cooperation in the civil nuclear sector ahead of their online summit
- The EU as a whole was India’s largest trading partner in 2018. India’s bilateral trade with the EU in 2018-19 stood at $115.6 billion with exports valued at $57.17 billion and imports worth $58.42 billion.
- The pact provides for extensive cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector.
National
“Green Railway” by 2030( Net Zero Carbon Emission)
- Electrification of all routes on Broad Gauge by December 2023
- Solar and wind energy to power the Railway electricity grid in a big way
- Indian Railways has completed electrification of more than 40,000 RKM (63% of BG routes),18,605 km electrification work has been done during 2014-20 compare to 3,835 km in 2009-14
- 365 km major connectivity work has been commissioned during even during COVID period
- 100 MW of Solar plants have been commissioned on roof-tops of various buildings including 900 stations; 400 MW are under different stages of execution
- Indian Railway has 51,000 hectare of land potential of installing 20 GW land based solar plants
- One project of 1.7 MW at Bina in collaboration with BHEL has already been installed
- In the Wind Energy sector, 103 MW wind-based power plants have already been commissioned; planned to set up 200 MW wind energy plants in next 2 years in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Karnataka
- 100 per cent LED illumination of buildings and stations
- Total 505 pairs of trains have been converted to HOG, unleashing approx 70 million liter diesel/ Rs 450 crore per annum potential of saving
- A total of 69,000 coaches have been fitted with 2, 44,000 bio-toilets in Indian Railways
NadiVigyan: A complete solution for spinal disorders
- According to Ayurveda, there are 3 doshas or three internal state of a body namely Vata (air+ether) Pitta(Fire+ water) and Kapha (Earth+ water).
- imbalance of Vata elements can cause up to 80 disorders in the human body, similarly imbalance of Pitta element can cause up to 40 disorders and Kapha element can cause up to 20 disorders in the human body.
- NadiParikshan (or pulse diagnosis) helps in determining the problems or disorders caused due to the imbalance of Vata, Pitta and Kapha. The origin point of Nadi is called as Kandasthana which is the nabi (navel area) of the human body as navel is the central power of the body. A baby in the mother’s womb also gets nourishment from the umbilical cord which is also connected to navel of the baby. Our body consists of 72,000 Nadis (or channels).
- The 72,000 nadis spring from three basic nadis – the left, the right and the central – the Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna.
Navy to get new carrier-based jet by 2032
- The Navy is expected to start receiving new twin-engine aircraft carrier-based fighter aircraft being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) by 2032 and it will be a replacement for the Russian MiG-29K carrier jets in service.
- The Navy currently operates Russian-origin carrier INS Vikramaditya and expects to have the first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-I) Vikrant operational by 2022.
India gets its first desi pneumonia vaccine
- India has got its first locally developed pneumonia vaccine, reducing its dependence on imports for immunisation against a disease that contributes to most deaths in children under five years of age.
- Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine developed by Serum Institute of India. The Pune-based company can now manufacture the vaccine in India for use.
- This vaccine is used for active immunisation against invasive disease and pneumonia caused by “streptococcus pneumonia” in infants.
- India accounted for the second highest number of deaths in under-five children in 2018 because of pneumonia. According to Unicef, India reported 1,27,000 under five deaths due to pneumonia in 2018.
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