KERALA
Thiruvananthapuram Corporation hits 50% fund expenditure for AMRUT projects
The city Corporation has finally hit 50% fund expenditure for projects being executed under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme. As on Saturday, the Corporation has spent 50.55% of a total of ₹357.50 crores allocated for the scheme, with some of the bigger projects under it awaiting commission.
After initial hiccups in getting the scheme started, the civic body maintained a steady pace for projects under the scheme. However, the last year and a half has been beset with delays due to a variety of reasons. Following the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, most of the projects came to a standstill, as some of the major projects depended on labourers from outside the State, many of whom had travelled back home then.
Two extended periods of model code of conduct, first due to the local body elections towards the end of the previous year and the ongoing one owing to the Assembly elections, have also affected the pace of projects.
The maximum expenditure comes in water supply projects, with 76.57% of the funds spent and 30 out of a total of 45 projects being completed. In the sewerage and septage management projects, 74 out of a total of 114 projects have been completed, with an expenditure of 38.29%.
INTERNATIONAL
Discovery of Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy
Astronomers discovered a new active galaxy. That galaxy has been identified as the farthest gamma-ray-emitting galaxy discovered so far.
This active galaxy is called the Narrow-line Sever 1 (NLS1) galaxy and is about 31 billion light-years away. It opens the way for the exploration of more such galaxies that emit gamma rays.
Scientists from ARIES, Autonomous Research Institute, Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Government of India, in collaboration with researchers from other institutions, studied about 25,000 luminous active galactic nuclei (AGN) through the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and discovered a unique object, The object emits high-energy gamma rays with a high redshift (greater than 1). They identified it as the NLS1 galaxy emitting gamma rays, which is a rare entity in space.
SDSS is the main optical imaging and spectroscopy survey of astronomical objects in operation over the past 20 years. It was founded by the University of Chicago.
NATIONAL
Bilateral Collaboration of India and Denmark
India and Denmark work together to cooperate globally through the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), and work together to address world-class innovative solutions to water challenges and sustainable development goals.
The Atal Innovation Group (under NITI Aayog) and the Danish Embassy in India announced their cooperation.
Under this partnership, the Danish Innovation Center of India will work with AIM to support various current and future plans of AIM, NITI Aayog and its beneficiaries in India, and develop a global innovative green economy partnership that achieves SDG goals.
The purpose of the cooperation is to work together to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among aspiring entrepreneurs.
The partnership will be implemented through the Danish Innovation Center (ICDK) under the auspices of the Danish Embassy.
Government to try out digital farming in 100 villages
The agriculture ministry has selected 100 villages in six states — Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh — for pilot projects on digital farming, leveraging the use of technology, data and artificial intelligence (AI) in supporting farmers in multiple activities. It has signed an MoU with Microsoft India to develop farmers’ interface for post-harvest management and distribution.
This project will reduce input costs for farmers and make farming easy. It is proposed to undertake similar pilot projects with other public and private players to create a vibrant digital agro-ecosystem in the country.
Microsoft India has joined its local partner, CropData, to do the pilot projects in 100 villages across 10 districts in six states. Digital technology and data will be used to assist farmers in taking right and cost-effective decisions.
These three states see highest EV sales in India
India’s electric mobility sector is on a steady road to recovery, post a lockdown-induced dip in sales. The sector registered nearly 1.35 lakh EVs in FY21, according to CEEW Centre for Energy Finance’s (CEEW-CEF) electric mobility dashboard.
The updated dashboard released on Wednesday highlighted that electric vehicle (EV) registrations formed 0.88 % of all vehicle registrations in the last financial year – the highest share ever achieved. The Indian automobile market has registered over 6.38 lakh EVs since 2011-12.
The mobility dashboard shows that the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) in India – II scheme has achieved only 4.25% of its sales targets till now. One major barrier could be that many potential EV buyers are unaware of the financial incentives available to them such as user subsidies and significant exemptions from road tax and registration fees.
Launch of MANAS Mobile App
The “MANAS” App was introduced by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India to encourage health among all age groups.
NIMHANS Bengaluru, AFMC Pune, and C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) Bengaluru collaborated on the project.
The Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council approved MANAS, which stands for Mental Health and Normalcy Augmentation System, as a national programme (PM-STIAC).
It’s a nationwide interactive wellness network that’s robust, scalable, and customizable. It’s an app that was created to help Indian people improve their mental health.
It brings together various government ministries’ health and wellness efforts, scientifically validated indigenous resources, and gamified interfaces developed/researched by various national bodies and academic institutions.
The app was unveiled as part of C-DAC’s 34th anniversary celebrations.