KERALA
Kochi to host ASCEND 2020, the Global Investors Meet
Kerala is organizing the Global Investors Meet ‘ASCEND 2020’. The meet will be held from 9-10 January 2020 in Kochi, Kerala. The meet will be organized by the Industries Department of the state government.
ASCEND 2020:
In the meeting, the government will highlight a Kochi-to-Palakkad integrated manufacturing cluster, a Rs.131 crore Defence Park at 60 acres in Ottapalam of Palakkad district and an electronic hardware park in Ernakulam district among 18 mega projects the state government.
The meet will focus on integrated solid waste management systems at Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, and Malappuram.
It will focus on the medium density fiberboard plant in Perumbavoor.
The organizers of the program will showcase 70 other projects classified as large, medium and small to provide jobs.
The megaprojects require an estimated investment of more than Rs.100 crore.
These projects are expected to give direct employment to at least 500 people.
The proposed mega-projects also include a Propylene Oxide manufacturing plant of 2,00,000 MPA capacity in the vicinity of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)-Kochi Refinery, a Rs. 1,864-crore KINFRA-initiated Petrochemical Park of international standards at Ambalamugal in Ernakulam district and a Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) manufacturing facility of capacity 150,000 TPA.
To showcase the meeting, the Kerala State government has launched the Invest Kerala Portal. It will provide a single-window facilitator for easy investment promotion under its Ease of doing business initiatives.
INTERNATIONAL
Google searches for Operation Twist surge in India
Google searches for Operation Twist surge in India. The announcement came after the central bank announced its version of the U.S. Federal Reserve unconventional monetary policy. The searches for the term came from Delhi, Maharashtra.
The central bank buys long-term bonds while simultaneously selling short-term government securities to cheapen long-term borrowing and boost bank lending. The Reserve Bank of India buys longer-tenor bonds to sell for shorter debt. The Operation Twist in 2011-2012 to cheapen long-term financing and spur bank lending. It is India’s central bank that controls the issue and supply of the Indian rupee. RBI is the regulator of entire Banking in India. It plays an important part in the Development Strategy of the Government of India.
NATIONAL
India first Transgender University to come up in Uttar Pradesh
India’s first university for the transgender community will be opened in the Fazilnagar block of the Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh. The transgender community members will be able to get an education.
The university is being built by Akhil Bhartiya Kinnar Siksha Seva Trust (All-India transgender education service trust). The university will facilitate its members to study right from class 1 to Post Graduate (PG) and even do research and get a PhD degree. The Members of the transgender community will get an education and will be able to give a new direction to the country. From 15 January 2020. The two children who are brought up by community members will get admission and from February and March 2020 other classes will start.
Digital Radio to be launched in 2024
Centre government planning to revamp All India Radio officially known as Akashvani by introducing Digital Radio in India by 2024. The country will be technologically-equipped for it. The announcement in this regard was made by Union Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Prakash Javadekar at the 2019 Akashvani Annual Awards in New Delhi.Digital Radio launched by the year 2024, there will be more clarity as the audio of digital radio. There will be four times radio stations.
It is officially known since 1956 as Akashvani, is the national public radio broadcaster of India and is a division of Prasar Bharati. It was founded on 1936.
NTPC to invest 50,000 crores for 10 GW solar capacity
NTPC planning to add 10 GW of solar energy generation capacity by 2022. An investment of ₹50,000 crores to be funded mainly by green bonds.
NTPC installed renewable energy capacity of 920 MW, which constitutes mainly solar energy. It formulated a long-term plan to become a 130 GW company by 2032 with 30% non-fossil fuel or renewable energy capacity. The company will tender 2,300 MW of solar energy capacity by the end of this fiscal. NTPC plans to add 10 GW solar energy capacity assume significance in view of India’s ambitious target of having 175 GW of clean energy by 2022.
The power would set up some of its solar energy projects under a scheme to keep the tariff below the ₹3-per-unit level. The company will also set up solar energy projects without long-term (25 years) power purchase agreements as it aims to sell the electricity to industrial as well as commercial consumers and also at energy exchanges. The Central Electricity Regulatory Authority approved the real-time power market and 48 sessions of half an hour each in a day to allow consumers to get the desired power supply within an hour.
WCD Ministry invites application for Nari Shakti Puraskar for 2019
Ministry of Women and Child Development has invited applications for Nari Shakti Puraskar for the year 2019.
The National Award is given annually to individuals, groups, institutions in recognition of their exceptional work towards the cause of women empowerment, especially for vulnerable and marginalized women.
Nearly 40 Nari Shakti Puraskar will be given on International Women’s Day observed on 8th March 2020.
Union Cabinet approves creation of CDS single-point military adviser to govt
Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved the chief of defence staff (CDS)point military adviser by the Kargil Review Committee in 1999. The department of military affairs headed by the CDS will be created under the defence ministry. The CCS approved the report of a high-level committee. It is headed by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, which finalised responsibilities and the enabling framework for the CDS.
The cabinet approved the creation of defence staff. The CDS is a four-star general who will also head the department of military affairs. The CDS will be first among equals among service chiefs.
The main aim of the CDS to ensure joint manship among the three services. This includes powers to work on setting up a few theatre commands as well as allocating military assets among the services to synergise their operations. The three services coordinate their work under the framework of the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS). The CDS will act as a single-point military adviser to the prime minister and defence minister on key defence and strategic issues.