RAJASTHAN

Despite the increase in prices of solar panels in recent months and the GST burden, Hero Solar Energy Pvt Ltd and SBE Four Ltd bagged 500 megawatt (MW) offering to sell solar power to Uttar Pradesh government at Rs 2.47 and Rs 2.48 per KWh, respectively. This is slightly higher than the record lowest rate of Rs 2.44.

Rajasthan will be the solar hub of the country and the state has the potential to export power to states like UP, Delhi, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, etc. where barren land and required radiation are not available. This is a great opportunity for the state to project itself as the most viable investment destination in green energy. We need to capitalise on the God gifted opportunity and be a leading hub for solar like Andhra Pradesh in electronics, Gujarat in auto and Karnataka in IT.

For Rajasthan’s solar industry, Uttar Pradesh’s projects is a new high. Before this, the solar projects in the state that have come up are for Rajasthan’s consumption only. With rich radiation and abundant infertile desert land, Rajasthan has the potential to produce solar power for other states under the inter-state open access system. With Power Grid Corporation of India building its grid substations at five places in Rajasthan to evacuate power and feed into the national network, the state’s attractiveness as a destination for investments in solar has increased manifold.

INTERNATIONAL

· Birmingham to Host Commonwealth Games in 2022

The Birmingham city will host the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games were originally given to Durban in 2015, but the South African city was stripped of the event this year because of financial difficulties.
The multisports event was last in Britain in 2014 when it was held in Glasgow.
Before that, Manchester hosted in 2002.

NATIONAL

· National Mathematics Day is observed on 22nd December

The famed Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan’sbirth anniversary on December 22 is celebrated as National Mathematics Day.
It was in 2012 that then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared December 22 as National Mathematics Day.
In 1917, Ramanujan was elected to be a member of the London Mathematical Society. In 1918 he also became a Fellow of the Royal Society, becoming the youngest person to achieve the feat. He passed away on April 6, 1920.

The Minister of Communications Shri Manoj Sinha has launched DARPAN – “Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India” Project to improve the quality of service, add value to services and achieve “financial inclusion” of un-banked rural population.

He said, the goal of the IT modernization project with an outlay of Rs. 1400 Crore is to provide a low power technology solution to each Branch Postmaster (BPM) which will enable each of approximately 1.29 Lakhs Branch Post Offices (BOs) to improve the level of services being offered to rural customers across all the states.

Shri Sinha said that as on date, 43,171 Branch Post Offices have migrated under the “DARPAN”project with the aim of financial inclusion to rural population and it is targeted to complete the project by March, 2018.

The Indian Army’s Southern Command had conducted exercise ‘Hamesha Vijayee’ in the deserts of Rajasthan to evaluate the capability of the armed forces to strike deep into the enemy territory in an integrated air-land battle.
The military exercise is being carried in the general area of Barmer and Jaisalmer and aimed at fine-tuning surveillance and destruction mechanisms to support precision strikes and manoeuvres by network-enabled forces.

In an eco-friendly measure to cut power consumption, the Indian Railways planned to make all stations cent per cent LED lit by March 31, 2018.

The railways said it was actively working to provide 100 per cent LED lighting for energy needs in railway staff colonies, stations and platforms.

Till November 2017, about 3,500 railway stations had already been provided with cent per cent LED lights. About 20 lakh such lights were installed.

Gk bit – LED

The light-emitting diode (LED) is one of today’s most energy-efficient and rapidly-developing lighting technologies. Quality LED light bulbs last longer, are more durable, and offer comparable or better light quality than other types of lighting.

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits visible light when an electric current passes through it. The light is not particularly bright, but in most LEDs it is monochromatic, occurring at a single wavelength. The output from an LED can range from red (at a wavelength of approximately 700 nanometers) to blue-violet (about 400 nanometers). Some LEDs emit infrared (IR) energy (830 nanometers or longer); such a device is known as an infrared-emitting diode(IRED).

CFL bulbs are referred to as “Compact Fluorescent light” light bulbs are more energy efficient bulbs as compared to the incandescent bulbs, but less efficient than LED. These bulbs are made up of Argon and the small amount of mercury. They are used in offices, stores, homes, and schools, etc. for the lighting purposes.

Indian Naval ShipsTrikand and Teg are deployed to Oman for bilateral exercise‘Naseem Al Bahr’ or ‘Sea Breeze’.
This exercise is the 11th edition and has been a biennial feature since 1993.
The bilateral relation between Indian and Oman were formally established with the signing of a 1953 Indo-Oman Treaty of friendship, Navigation and Commerce, a first between India and an Arab country.
The first exercise Indian Navy with Royal Navy of Oman was conducted in 1993.

India’s first and only design university, ‘ the World University of Design’ opened its campus at Sonipat, Haryana. The University is promoted by Om Parkash Bansal Educational and Social Welfare Trust of Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab.
The university is currently located in a sprawling lush green picturesque campus with the state-of-the-art infrastructure and world-class facilities. WUD is India’s first university dedicated to education in the creative domain.