KERALA
Commercial productionof e-auto resumes at KAL
The production of state’s first electric autorickshaw, the Neem G e-auto, has gathered steam.
The commercial production of the e-auto is going on in full swing at the Kerala Automobiles Limited in Neyyattinkara. The bookings for e-auto had begun much earlier.
The batteries for the vehicle had to be imported from China. Though the batteries had reached Delhi in March itself, however, it could not be transported to the production unit because of the lockdown.
After the lockdown eased, the batteries have been transported to the state. The company aims to produce as many as 200 vehicles per month. There will be as many as nine sales and service centres for e-auto in the state.
The centres at Attingal, Adoor, Chingavanam and Shoranur have already started functioning. The centres at Changanassery, Ernakulam, Moovattupuzha, Thrissur and Tirur will soon commence their operations.
The KAL has reached at an understanding to launch the sales and service centres at Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as well.
An e-auto costs around Rs 2.5 lakh and could be operated at an expenditure of just 50 paisa per km. The company is also planning to set up charging stations at auto stands where auto rickshaws are usually stationed for long durations.
INTERNATIONAL
World Wind Day :15th June
Global Wind Day is a worldwide event that occurs annually on 15 June.
The event is celebrated to spread awareness about wind energy, the various uses of wind energy, and the ways and possibilities as to how wind energy can help change the world.
EWEA established the day as Wind Day in the year 2007 and later in 2009, EWEA (European Wind Energy Association) and GWEC (Global Wind Energy Council) teamed up with aims to coordinate the events globally and the name was changed to World Wind Day.
Global Wind Day began in Europe in 2007 and globally in 2009.
NATIONAL
CIMAP announces photography competition on medicinal and aromatic plants
In an effort to create awareness about the usefulness of Medicinal and aromatic plants, the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic plants (CIMAP) has announced a photography competition on medicinal and aromatic plants.
Through this competition, CIMAP also wants to convey the message of conservation of these medicinal plants.
The theme of the competition is ‘Know your Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs)’.
Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) is a research institute of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
It is located in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
Centre distributed assistive aids and devices to divyangjan under ADIP Scheme
Government of India has taken special measures to benefit the welfare scheme for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) amidst the prevailing unprecedented situation faced by the society due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Virtual Assistance to Disabled Persons (ADIP) Scheme for free distribution of assistive aids and devices at Block level for Divyangjans under the ADIP scheme was organized at Talwandi Bhai Block of Firozpur district in Punjab.
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has announced that the Virtual ADIP Camps will be organized nationwide for distribution of aids & assistive devices to Divyangjan during the pandemic.
Under the Ministry, several schemes have been initiated to provide financial assistance and scholarships to Divyangjan students to pursue their education to become self-reliant.
Centre also invited Divyangjan and their family members to get enrolled for Unique ID Cards for Divyangjan which are valid all over India.
31 Lakhs Unique ID Cards have been delivered to Divyangjan so far.
Centre launched online delivery-based gas trading platform, Indian Gas Exchange
The Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan launched the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX).
It will be the first nationwide online delivery-based gas trading platform.
IGX will act as a delivery-based trading platform to deliver natural gas.
The launch of IGX aims to help the nation move towards free-market pricing of natural gas
It is incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), India’s energy market platform.
IGX will enable market participants to trade in standardized gas contracts.
The fully automated platform is a web-based interface and it provides seamless trading experience to the customers.
IGX is expected to play a bigger role in realizing a free market for gas.
IGX, India’s vision on mega investments on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals, gas pipelines, City-gas distribution (CGD) infrastructure, and permission for market-driven price mechanism will be materialized.
India joined GPAI to support the responsible and human-centric development and use of AI
India has joined as a founding member and launched the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI or Gee-Pay). Under this move, India has joined along with the league of leading economies including Australia, the US, the UK, European Union (EU), Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Korea, Singapore.
Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI):
GPAI initiative aims to guide the responsible development and use of AI across the world.
The first of its kind initiative aims to evolve a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities around AI using the experience and diversity of participating countries.
The main objective of the initiative is to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.
They will evolve new methodologies through which AI can be leveraged to better respond to the present global crisis around COVID-19 pandemic.