KERALA

500 panchayats, 50 towns to attain ‘cleanliness tag’

The state budget 2020-21 proposes to help 500 panchayats and 50 towns in the state attain complete cleanliness status. Finance minister T M Thomas Isaac in his budget speech also laid down specific criteria to realise this project focusing on source-level waste management.

In the wake of directive from National Green Tribunal, the state government is already in the process of developing model local bodies which will set exemplary standards in waste management in tune with norms laid down by ministry of environment and forests pertaining to solid waste, plastic waste and e-waste.

50,000km-long rivulets will be cleaned during 2020-21. The budget also announced special grant of Rs 5 crore each to local bodies which ensure land and public consent to set up centralised septage plants.

INTERNATIONAL

IEA released a first in-depth review of Indias energy policies

The International Energy Agency (IEA) along with the country’s policy think tank NITI Aayog released the first in-depth review of India’s energy policies. The review aims to set out a range of recommendations in each energy policy area.
The IEA regularly releases energy policy reviews for its member and association countries. For the first time, it has carried out the review for India. This is the first review IEA carried out for India.

The report highlighted the achievements made through the country’s energy policies

It suggested recommendations to support the Government of India’s (GoI) goals to promote the well-functioning energy markets and boost the deployment of renewables.

The review encourages India to institutionalize energy policy coordination across the government with a national energy policy framework.
It marked the government’s policy that provided access to electricity, affordable efficient lighting, and clean cooking through schemes like SAUBHAGYA, UJJWALA, and UJALA.

Also, India is pursuing energy market reforms and the swift deployment of renewable technologies.

It highlighted the growth of renewables in India which accounts for almost 23% of India’s total installed capacity.

The review also founded that the energy efficiency improvements in the country has avoided 15% of oil and gas imports, additional energy demand, and air pollution and 300 million tonnes (MT) of CO2 emissions between 2000 and 2018.

NATIONAL

National Youth Day: 12 January

The nation is celebrating the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda as National Youth Day on 12 January.

One of the greatest spiritual leaders of India, Swami Vivekananda introduced the world to the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga.

He became popular in the western world after his famous speech at the World’s Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893.

Vivekananda was the chief disciple of the 19th-century mystic Ramakrishna Paramhansa.

He was the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.

Home Minister Amit Shah launches country’s first Cyber Crime Prevention Unit AASHVAST in Gandhinagar

Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurates the country’s first Cyber Crime Prevention Unit AASHVAST in Gandhinagar.

He also launched Video Integration and StateWide Advance Security-VISWAS project.

The Cyber Crime Prevention Unit-AASHVAST which will have a dedicated service helpline for victims of cyber crimes.

RBI extends recurring payments feature to UPI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will now allow consumers to give an e-mandate for recurring payments made through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

This functionality will allow UPI users to bypass additional factor authentication (AFA) every time a payment is made to a regular merchant by giving a one time instruction to the UPI service provider.

This facility was earlier available for card and wallet based payments.

The limit on such recurring transactions has been set at Rs 2000.

Kolkata Port renamed as Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port

The Kolkata Port has been renamed as Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port.

The Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi announced this in Kolkata on the occasion of 150th year celebrations of the Kolkata Port Trust.

Mr. Modi launched several Port led development projects worth Rs 600 cr rupees to mark the day.

On the occasion the Prime Minister released a commemorative stamp on 150th years of the Kolkata Port Trust.

Jasprit Bumrah to receive the Polly Umrigar Award

Indian Cricketer Jasprit Bumrah is selected to receive the Polly Umrigar Award for male category for the year 2018-19. He is awarded for being the best international cricketer at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Annual Awards. It has been scheduled to be held in Mumbai.

Poonam Yadav will receive the Polly Umrigar Award for the Female category.

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