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Varanasi Is Now Seeing Transformation Never Envisioned Before

Varanasi emerging as the gateway to east India will soon be a reality with model national highways construction, waterways development, air connectivity, rail network and freight corridor; as stated by the President Ram Nath Kovind while addressing a function hosted by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Skill Development Department of Uttar Pradesh at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Trade Facilitation Centre on March 26, 2018. President attended various events organized by NHAI and the State government including laying two projects worth Rs 3473 crores of NHAI. Varanasi currently connects north and southern parts of India through rail and road. The government is focusing on infrastructure and connectivity to make Varanasi an economic hub.

President said, “Modi is making continuous efforts for the development of Varanasi enabling the city to get global recognition. The visits of head of nations including Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, Presidents of France and Germany in recent past prove the same. This is the only city which produced five Bharat Ratna including former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri, Bhagwan Das, Pt Ravi Shankar, Bismillah Khan and Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya”.

Varanasi, name derived from combination of ‘Varuna’ and ‘Asi’ on the names of rivers, also called as Banaras or Kashi, the cradle of India’s glorious culture, a confluence of tradition, history, culture and harmony, is a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh dating to the 11th century B.C. Regarded as the spiritual capital of India, the city draws Hindu pilgrims who bathe in the Ganges River’s sacred waters and perform funeral rites. Along the city’s winding streets are some 2,000 temples, including Kashi Vishwanath, the “Golden Temple,” dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. As the Lok Sabha constituency of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi Varanasi is now seeing a transformation never envisioned before:

  • Varanasi is set to create history having already established itself as a special place in India’s heritage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government’s special efforts to showcase this ancient centre to the world as one of the cleanest, connected and conserved place on earth.
  • All efforts are on to make this city a World Heritage site with focus on state of the art tourism and infrastructure facilities including a major thrust towards cleanliness under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
  • Prime Minister has taken up the cleanliness drive with a personal involvement and regular monitoring and results are already beginning to show.
  • In Varanasi wi-fi connectivity along the major ghats is now a reality.
  • Special partnership agreement with Japanese city of Kyoto will help Varanasi demonstrate the diversity and depth of Indo-Japan relationship and its human dimension.
  • Prime Minister has also put a major emphasis on job creation in the region with the help of Indian Railways and by reviving the textile and power-loom industry.
  • Integrated power development scheme (IPDS) project for underground cabling work of over 16 sq-km has been completed by Powergrid and there is substantial improvement with almost 24×7 Electric supplies.
  • Trauma Center has been inaugurated and foundation lay of the Cancer Research Institute.

Jayapur selected under Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana by Narendra Modi, once sleepy village, which did not even have a post office until 2014, has become a centre of attraction nationally and internationally. With stress on clean energy, a pet topic of the PM, Jayapur has been transformed as it now has from ‘Solar Electricity’ generation to ‘Fancy Interlocked Stone Pathways’ to ‘Steel Benches’ at bus shelters to a ’14-House Residential Complex’ for the poorest of the poor. The village boasts two 25-kw solar power plants capable of lighting up 2 LED bulbs and a mobile charging point at each house in the village, a toilet attached with every house and 12 public bio-toilets. Besides 135 solar street lamps, the newly-built girls’ primary school and the Anganwadis also have solar power. Solar water pumps also provide drinking water. The village gets close to 12 hours water but it’s never in the dark. Everything related to Jayapur today results in folklore, which even the city’s travel agents are more than happy to share. In fact, the village is a prominent addition to Varanasi’s numerous sightseeing locations.

To Mitigate Damage by Forest Fires Cut Down Response Time

Forest fires are a global challenge. Sporadic and widespread forest fires happen during summer season in the dry Western Ghats, especially in the Theni and Palani hills. Recently 39 trekkers, on their way back on expedition from Kurangani to Bodi in the Western Ghats were trapped in a raging forest fire of March 11, 2018 that broke out deep in Kurangani hills reserve near Theni District in Tamil Nadu, of which 10 trekkers died. Rescue operations were conducted by Indian Air force. On being trapped in raging fires the danger is asphyxiation, since a vast quantity of smoke is generated, and the lack of oxygen in the immediate vicinity of tall flames can cause breathlessness. Once a person loses consciousness due to asphyxiation, the danger of being burnt alive becomes real. Dehydration is also an issue when fighting flames more than a metre high. This brings into focus forest fires in India.

NASA’s MODIS and VIIRS Satellites detect a fire anywhere in the World, Forest Survey of India (FSI) analyses the data by overlaying the digitised boundaries of forest areas to pinpoint the location to the exact forest compartment.  The FSI relays news of the fire to the concerned State, so that the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) in charge of the forest where the fire is raging is informed. The time lapse between spotting the fire and the news reaching the DFO has now been reduced to about two hours. Usually, there is a master fire control room which is informed and which sends firefighters from local fire crew stations to fight the blaze.

MODIS, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer is a key instrument aboard Terra and Aqua satellites that orbit around the Earth and are viewing the entire Earth’s surface, acquiring data to improve our understanding of global dynamics and processes occurring on the land, in the oceans, and in the lower atmosphere. MODIS is playing a vital role in the development of validated, global, interactive Earth system models able to predict global change accurately enough to assist policy makers in making sound decisions concerning the protection of our environment.

VIIRS, Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite is a scanning radiometer that collects visible and infrared imagery and radiometric measurements of the land, atmosphere, cryosphere, and oceans. VIIRS data is used to measure cloud and aerosol properties, ocean color, sea and land surface temperature, ice motion and temperature, fires, and Earth’s albedo. Climatologists use VIIRS data to improve our understanding of global climate change. VIIRS extends and improves upon a series of measurements initiated by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS).

Fire can be controlled if combustibles are removed or burnt under supervision, a system of controlled burning of undergrowth in safe seasons say during winters, so that by summers there would be nothing left to burn. To control and handle Forest are efficiently the approaches are:

  • Technological, where Helicopters or ground-based personnel spray fire retardant chemicals, or pump water to fight the blaze. These are expensive methods and make sense when one is protecting a human community.
  • Then it is to contain the fire in compartments bordered by natural barriers such as streams, roads, ridges, and fire lines along hillsides or across plains. A fire line is a line through a forest which has been cleared of all vegetation. The width depends on the type of forest being protected. Once the blaze has burnt out all combustibles in the affected compartment, it fizzles out and the neighboring compartments are saved.
  • Next approach is to set a counter fire, so that when a fire is unapproachable for humans, a line is cleared of combustibles and manned. One waits until the wildfire is near enough to be sucking oxygen towards it, and then all the people manning the line set fire to the line simultaneously. The counter fire rushes towards the wildfire, leaving a stretch of burnt ground. As soon as the two fires meet, the blaze is extinguished.
  • The other approach, which is the most practical and most widely used, is to have enough people with leafy green boughs to beat the fire out. This is practised in combination with fire lines and counter fires.

Increasing the field staff of Forest Departments by discontinuing the claimed forest plantations would help control forest fires, which in turn would help rejuvenation of fire-stressed forest ecosystems. This would help indigenous forests grow back. Communication and response time should be cut down to mitigate the damage caused by forest fires.

Symphony of the Seas – Largest Cruise Ship is Tallest Slide at Sea

Symphony of the Seas, tallest slide at sea – the Ultimate Abyss; is now the Guinness World Record holder for Largest Passenger Cruise Ship, having 16-deck – 72 metres tall, 362 metres long and 66 metres wide – just 20 metres shorter than the Empire State Building, at 228081 gross registered tons (GRT), with a capacity of 6680 total passengers and 2200 crewmembers (Total capacity 8880 persons). Symphony of the Seas is the Ultimate Family Suite and is one to beat for those who want a bit of luxury. It also has seven ‘neighbourhoods’ on board, which include a sports bar and arcade, ice cream and sweet shop, laser tag and escape the rooms.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, an American global cruise company incorporated in Liberia and based in Miami, Florida – the world’s second-largest cruise line operator after Carnival Corporation & plc., took official ownership of Symphony of the Seas, at the STX France Shipyard in St. Nazaire, France (French manufacturer) on March 23, 2018. Symphony is the newest addition to Royal caribbean’s popular Oasis class of Ships, which also includes Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas. Symphony is marginally bigger than its sister ship – Harmony of the Seas which holds nearly as many passengers, which STX France delivered to Royal Caribbean in 2016.

Michael Bayley, President and CEO, Royal Caribbean International commented: “We set out to build the best cruise ship in the world, and have done it magnificently. Together, we’ve made some truly amazing music with STX.” “Symphony will take family holidays to an all new level with energy and options never before found in one place. This ship is the perfect blend of our greatest hits,, we know guests love and a line-up of vibrant, new restaurants, activities and unparalleled entertainment – all purposefully designed around holidaymakers’ preferences.”

Symphony introduces a handful of “firsts” to the line:

  • A laser tag arena;
  • Playmakers, a sports bar, grill and arcade;
  • A production of “Hairspray”;
  • Hooked, a seafood restaurant;
  • Sugar Beach, a sweets shop;
  • El Loco Fresh, a casual Mexican eatery; and
  • The Ultimate Family Suite, a deluxe stateroom featuring a two-story slide, private 3D theatre, Lego wall, a whirlpool and balcony, table tennis and butter service, among other amenities designed just for families.

Putin the Longest-Serving Leader in Modern Russia to Focus on Domestic Matters

Russian President Vladimir Putin winning his biggest ever election victory with 76.69% votes on March 19, 2018 will extend his political dominance of Russia by six years to 2024. If his term as prime minister is counted, Putin surpasses Leonid Brezhnev – whose 18-year reign ended in 1982, as the longest-serving leader in Russia’s modern history. And that will also make Putin the longest-serving ruler since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin – who ruled for 29 years and 43 days – from January 21, 1924 until his death on March 5, 1953 and served as Premier from May 6, 1941 to March 5, 1953.

  • Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin born on October 7, 1952 in Leningrad, Russia was married to Lyudmila Putina in 1983.
  • Putin is serving as the current President of the Russian Federation since May 7, 2012. He was Prime Minister of Russia from 2008 to 2012; previously he was President from 2000 to 2008; and he was Prime Minister of Russian Federation from 1999 until 2000.
  • Putin was a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring in 1991 to enter politics in Saint Petersburg.
  • He moved to Moscow in 1996 and joined President Boris Yeltsin’s administration, rising quickly through the ranks and becoming Acting President on December 31, 1999, when Yeltsin resigned.

Putin’s securing fourth presidential term following his sweeping victory has raised Western fears of spiralling confrontation as it has come at a time when Russia stands increasingly isolated internationally, which began with Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and continuing conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, besides allegations of cyber-attacks and meddling in foreign elections; and poisoning in Britain of a former Russian spy and his daughter.

However, Putin struck a softer tone towards the West and said that he had no desire for an arms race and would do everything he could to resolve differences with other countries. He expressed his desire to focus on domestic, not international, matters, and to try to raise living standards by investing more in education, infrastructure and health while reducing defence spending.

Putin at the end of his first press conference after the elections retorted tersely, “Everything flows, everything changes,” in responding to Kremlin correspondent Andrei Kolesnikov’s question, “In the coming six years, will we see a new Putin or an old one?”  But in the days after Putin’s win, Russia observers have expressed scepticism that things in the country will indeed “flow and change”.

Putin’s comments are likely to be heard with some scepticism in the West following years of confrontation, as during his bellicose election campaign, Putin had unveiled new nuclear weapons which could strike almost any point in the world.

Last Minute Preparation Tips for Competitive Exams

Any competitive exam can be a nerve wrecking experience for the students. Once you are all set and the exam is just a few hours away, it is the most stressful time for you. First thing first, do not panic. You have been preparing for your exam so you need to be fully confident.

Here we are providing a few last minute tips for competitive exams.

  • Manage your stress – competitive exams are all about stress management. Though a little bit of stress is necessary to improve and motivate you to work hard but undue stress can be your biggest enemy. Opt for some magazine subscriptions that can help manage stress.
  • Relaxation is the key – Your mind reaches its maximum ability only when it is relaxed. So you must find your ideal way to loosen up a bit and relax. Listen to music, go for a long walk, hit the gym, or choose your very own way to de-stress.
  • Go through your weak spots – Clearing any exam requires your sincere dedication and practice. When time is less, just reach out for the topics that are not your strength. Go through them attentively.
  • Revise the formulas and short cuts – Quant questions are always important. It is not possible to solve all different kinds of questions at the last minute, so take out your list of formulas and short cuts and go through it sincerely and thoroughly.
  • Brush up your GK and Current Affairs – It is common knowledge that GK and Current Affair awareness is built up through regular study and follow up of newspapers and competitive exam magazines. During the last few hours go through your GK notes and brush up your points.

At last, just remember that an exam is not a life-defining event. When you will look at it with this perception, things will seem easier and fear will be minimized. Remember, success is not always defined by academic achievements but by the positivity you bring into your life.

 

ISA for Affordable Solar Power & Raising its Share in Energy Mix

International Solar Alliance Founding Conference co-chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron was attended by 23 Heads of States besides other dignitaries from all over the world in New Delhi on March 11, 2018, where Modi offered $1.4 billion line of credit, one of the world’s largest investment plans in solar energy that will cover 27 projects in 15 countries and boost the much-required financial power to the solar sector and presented a 10-point action plan aimed at making solar power more affordable while raising the share of solar in the energy mix. Macron said France was committed to providing an additional €700 million in loans and support by 2022 to emerging economies for solar energy projects and assured that every single hurdle – financial, regulations and capacity – the solar energy sector is facing shall be lifted. Macron identified three issues to be addressed — the solar energy potential to be identified in each country; mobilisation of finance; and the provision of a favourable framework. He said the member countries of the ISA would ensure distribution of finance and expertise. France has so far committed $1.3 billion.

  • International Solar Alliance (ISA), an alliance dedicated to the promotion of Solar energy among its member countries was unveiled by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then French President Francois Hollande at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris on November 30, 2015
  • ISA brings together countries with rich solar potential to aggregate global demand, thereby reducing prices through bulk purchase, facilitating the deployment of existing solar technologies at scale, and promoting collaborative solar R&D and capacity building.
  • ISA is open to 121 prospective member countries, most of them located between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn as this is the region worldwide with a surplus of bright sunlight for most of the year.
  • ISA’s major objectives include global deployment of over 1,000GW of solar generation capacity by 2030, which according to Macron would require $1 trillion to achieve.
  • ISA is the first international body that will have a secretariat in India, headquartered at Gurugram
  • India will produce 175 GW electricity from renewable sources by 2022 and 100 GW will be from solar energy and would account for a tenth of ISA’s goal.
  • India will provide 500 training slots for ISA member-countries and start a solar tech mission to lead R&D

India has moved to quickly scale up its use of renewable power as in 2014 India had 3 GW of solar power and by the end of 2017; it had nearly 7 times that, or 20 GW and now targets 175 GW by 2022, a goal once seen as hugely ambitious but now considered within reach by energy experts.

India added the third largest amount of national solar capacity in 2017, just behind the U.S. and China, and was overtaking Japan, according to Australia-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) research.

According to the International Energy Agency, as China’s economic growth slows, India’s is heating up, along with its energy demand. India is today the top contributor to growth in energy demand.

Now, in partnership with France, India wants to take its growing resources and knowledge on solar power and use it to help other sunny countries jumpstart their solar ambitions as well.

Prime Minister Modi and the French President Macron pressed a button to energise the solar panels and dedicated the 75 MW Solar Plant to the people that will generate 15.6 crore units of electricity annually, about 1.30 crore units per month. Built at a cost of around Rs 500 crore by French firm ENGIE, the Solar Plant has come up at Dadar Kalan village on the hilly terrain of the Vindhyas range. 118600 solar panels have been set up in over 380 acres. Power would be transmitted to Jigna sub-station of Mirzapur range of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd.

Indian & European Union’s Earth Observation Satellites Data Sharing for Economic Development

Copernicus – European Union’s Earth Observation and Monitoring Programme and Indian fleet of Remote Sensing Satellites will now be sharing Earth Observation Satellite Data to allow the benefits to extend beyond the borders of the partners, as per a landmark Cooperation Arrangement signed on March 19, 2018 at Bengaluru between European Commission (EC) and India’s Department of Space (DOS), with the aim to strengthen and stimulate cooperation on Earth observation and mutual access to the data from the European Union’s Sentinel series of satellites and from the Indian Earth observation satellites.

According to  Philippe Brunet, Director for Space Policy, Copernicus and Defence, Copernicus programme has also signed in March 2018 Cooperation Arrangements with Brazil, Chile and Colombia besides India, following those already in place with the United States and Australia, now one-third of the world’s population has privileged access through high bandwidth connections to Copernicus free and open data and information.  These agreements are important because Earth Observation open data has become a tool of economic development which can benefit EU and partner countries businesses and entrepreneurs through increased collaboration and partnerships

Copernicus, previously known as GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), provides a wide range of applications, e.g. climate change, land, ocean and atmosphere monitoring as well as support in the forecasting, management and mitigation of natural disasters.

India has a developed ambitious and wide-ranging Earth Observation Programme which is managed by the Department of Space of India and implemented by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Under the Cooperation Arrangement:

  • European Commission intends to provide India with free, full and open access to the data from the Copernicus Sentinel family of satellites using high bandwidth connections
  • Indian DOS will provide the Copernicus programme and its participating states with a free, full and open access to the data from ISRO’s Earth observation satellites.
  • ISRO’s satellite data will be made available for distribution on the ‘Copernicus hub’.
  • This comprises land, ocean and atmospheric series of ISRO’s civilian satellites: Oceansat-2, Megha-Tropiques, Scatsat-1, SARAL, INSAT-3D, INSAT-3DR; with the exception of commercial high-resolution satellites data.
  • The Cooperation Arrangement includes technical assistance for the establishment of high bandwidth connections with ISRO sites, in particular through setting up of mirror servers, data storage and archival facilities.
  • ISRO will co-ordinate access to in situ data and promote the use of information and data provided by the Copernicus programme with various institutions and government agencies, particularly the environmental sector and all other users, including academia and the private sector.
  • Copernicus services rely on data from in situ monitoring networks (e.g. ground based weather stations, ocean buoys and air quality monitoring networks) to provide robust integrated information and to calibrate and validate the data from satellites. The in situ networks are managed by Members States and international bodies and make data available to the services by agreement.
  • This Cooperation Arrangement is also expected to lead to the development of an active downstream sector in the European Union and in India.
  • The aim is at facilitating the involvement of diverse users in the development of products and services.
  • They intend to encourage cooperation on data processing for common use in line with the EU-India Agenda for Action-2020, e.g. long-term management of natural resources, monitoring of 2 marine and coastal areas, water resource management, impacts of climate variability and climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, food security and rural development, infrastructure for territorial development and health management issues.

Copernicus provides a unified system through which vast amounts of data are fed into a range of thematic information services designed to benefit the environment, the way we live, humanitarian needs and support effective policy-making for a more sustainable future.

Copernicus, a leading provider of Earth observation data across the globe, already helps save lives at sea, improves our response to natural disasters such as earthquakes, forest fires or floods, and allows farmers to better manage their crops, collects data from Earth observation satellites and ground stations, airborne and sea-borne sensors. The benefits of the Copernicus programme extend globally.

European Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre had activated Copernicus Emergency mapping service for damage extent delineation maps following the severe floods which affected the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh in October 2014 and after a tropical storm that affected the State of Odisha in 2013.

Copernicus processes data and provides users with reliable and up-to-date information through a set of services that fall into six main categories: Land Management, Marine Environment, Atmosphere, Emergency Response, Security and Climate Change. These services are operational and are enabled by the Earth observation data from the six Copernicus Sentinel satellites currently in orbit, as well as a number of contribution missions from other operators.

In essence, Copernicus will help shape the future of our planet for the benefit of all. European Space Agency (ESA) is contributing by providing a proven framework for the development of operational systems on behalf of the user community, paving the way for investment in future generation systems. ESA is exploiting its 30 years of expertise in space programme development and management to contribute to the success of Copernicus.

India’s Splendid Performances at Commonwealth Games

Gold Coast 2018 officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games, an international multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, were held between 4 and 15 April 2018 in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; in which some of the world’s best athletes from 71 nations and territories competed in 275 events in 19 sports and 7 Para-sports; with its main venue at Carrara Stadium. The event was first held in 1930, and has taken place every four years since then.

Australian flag bearer of the XXI Commonwealth Games (CWG) closing ceremony Kurt Fearnley the 13-time Paralympic medallist who had earlier praised organisers for integrating the para-sports programme into the wider Games event, said it was time for Australia to embrace inclusion of people with disabilities.

Australia finishing on top with 168 medals including 80 Gold 59 Silver and 59 Bronze is followed by England with 136 medals including 45 Gold 45 Silver and 46 Bronze and India finished third with 66 medals including 26 Gold 20 Silver and 20 Bronze, it was a successful CWG for India. India bettered its showing in Glasgow Games 2014, where it finished fifth overall, by just two medals. In Glasgow, India had claimed 15 Gold 30 Silver and 19 Bronze. Importantly, the number of Gold rose from 15 to 26 at the Gold Coast.

India’s best remains 101 in New Delhi in 2010, followed by 69 in Manchester in 2002. Host nation India had finished Second for the very first time in Commonwealth Games history with a tally of 101 medals including 38 Gold 27 Silver and 36 Bronze at the XIX Commonwealth Games held in Delhi, India from 3 to 14 October 2010. It was the first time that India hosted the Commonwealth Games and the second time it was held in Asia after Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998.

At the Gold Coast 2018 there were world-class efforts from Indians. India got maximum medals in shooting winning 16 medals with splendid performances of Indian teen shooting sensations Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala to clinch Gold and Anish Bhanwala, aged 15, creating history by becoming the country’s youngest ever Gold medal winner in the Commonwealth Games, in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol.

India won 9 medals in Weightlifting with world champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu claiming India’s first Gold, in the Women’s 48 kg, broke three Games records in the ‘snatch’ section, the ‘clean and jerk’ and the overall Games record. Teenager Deepak Lather from Haryana became the youngest Indian weightlifter to claim a medal at the CWG, clinching a Bronze in the men’s 69kg category.

India’s most valuable player Manika Batra 22-year-old from Delhi whose performance was par excellence and made history as she became the first Indian woman to win an individual Table Tennis Gold at the Games and she picked up medals in all events she competed: Singles Gold, Women’s Doubles Gold, Women’s Team Gold and rounding off the Games with Mixed Doubles Bronze. The 10-member Indian Table Tennis team secured 8 medals that include 3 Gold, 2 Silver and 3 Bronze, which turned out to be their best-ever medal haul in the history of the Games.

Saina Nehwal became the first Indian to win two singles Gold after defeating PV Sindhu who won Silver at the much-anticipated women’s final, both trained at Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy. Saina had also won the title in 2010 in New Delhi. The unexpected Gold in the mixed team event and the emergence of some doubles combinations were the high points. Indian Badminton contingent’s total of 7 medals that include 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze turned out to be the best performance by any Indian badminton team at the Games.

Neeraj Chopra 2016 world junior javelin champion from Haryana became the first Indian Javelin thrower to claim Gold at the Games in 2018. His medal is only the fifth track-and-field Gold for India at the Commonwealth Games, the other four being Milkha Singh in 1958, Discus thrower Krishna Poonia in 2010, the women’s 4x400m Relay Quartet of Manjeet Kaur, Sini Jose, Ashwini Akkunji and Mandeep Kaur in 2010 and Shot-putter Vikas Gowda in 2014.

Mary Kom won India’s first Gold medal in Boxing when she won the women’s 48 kg final at the 2018 CWG in Gold Coast in addition to Gaurav Solanki and Vikas Krishan being the other two Indian boxers to win Gold medals

Wrestler Sushil Kumar clinched his third CWG Gold and stood proudly on the podium for the third time in eight years that he has made his own. Wrestlers Sumit Malik and Vinesh Phogat also won Gold in wrestling.

TAPI to Feed Natural Gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan & India

TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India), the long-awaited 1814-kilometers Gas pipeline project, was officially inaugurated by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani in the country’s western Herat province with the launching of construction work on the Afghan section of a natural gas pipeline near the town of Serhetabat, Turkmenistan on February 23, 2018 in the presence of  Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and India Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar. This $22.5-billion TAPI project will stretch from resource-rich Turkmenistan and feed natural gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, and seeks to promote regional integration and stability. Interestingly, Afghan Taliban, in a rare announcement, vowed to support and protect the pipeline in areas under its control, and claimed credit for the TAPI project, implying that it was initially planned during the Taliban regime in the late 1990s. Berdymukhamedov hopes that apart from the economic benefits, TAPI project will be an important step forward in the political dynamics of the region.

  • TAPI Pipeline Company Limited (TPCL) was incorporated in November 2014, in Isle of Man, a British Crown dependency.
  • Share Holders Agreement of TPCL was signed on the 13th of December 2015 with the shareholding percentage in the TPCL to be Turkmenistan 85%, India 5%, Pakistan 5% and Afghanistan 5%.
  • Ground breaking ceremony to start the work on the Turkmen leg of the TAPI pipeline was held at Mary, Turkmenistan on the 13th of December, 2015.
  • The technical study of the TAPI project has estimated an overall project duration of 6¾ years from the start of the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) process till handing over of the pipeline for commercial operation.
  • The Pipeline will enter India at Fazilka, Punjab. The gas available from the project is expected to boost development of industrial and commercial activities in Fazilka district, including start of CNG and City gas
  • TAPI project holds tremendous potential in terms of economic growth and stability for Afghanistan as the Afghans stand to gain about $500 million annually in transit fees; apart from jobs. The Afghan stretch of the pipeline is about 800 km.
  • The pipeline will transfer 33 billion cu. m of Turkmen natural gas annually for 30 years
  • Galkynysh, the world´s second-biggest gas field, will feed the TAPI

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani said that the TAPI is the start of a new beginning for the region. “We hope that TAPI project will pave the way for hundreds of other projects and the hope is that our future generations will view this not only as the inauguration of a project and an economic corridor, but the foundation of a shared vision which will help us fight poverty, unemployment, extremism and insecurity in our region”. “The policy of cooperation will ensure prosperity for our people, and economic prosperity is an important pillar of security and stability”.

Straw Management System to Save Environment from Air Pollution

Super Straw Management System is now mandatory in Punjab while using the combine harvester machines for harvesting paddy (rice) crop to check the dangerous trend of stubble burning and to save environment from air pollution. Issuing the instructions, on Monday 12 February 2018, under section 31 A of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, Punjab Pollution Control Board chairman K.S. Pannu said that Punjab has been declared air pollution control area and added that, “Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, has also recommended that super straw management system be attached to self-propelled combine harvesters, which cuts the paddy straw into small pieces and spread the same. With this method, farmers are not required to burn paddy straw before sowing the next crop”.

Straw Management System (SMS) attached to combine harvesters enables the machine to shred the straw in small pieces and scatter it behind the tail of the machine. It saves time and diesel, used in baler, mulcher or chopper machines. The small scattered pieces of straw after harvesting help in retaining moisture for a longer period, as they get mixed in the soil. It also helps in checking the burning of crop residue by farmers as they are able to sow wheat using a ‘Happy Seeder’ without having to bury the residue to clear the fields.

‘Happy Seeder’, developed in last few years can plant the wheat seed without getting jammed by the rice straw. Happy Seeder is a cost-effective, tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat into the bare soil, and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. Happy Seeder is a zero tillage technology that helps farmers save, on average, Rs. 1,000/ha by cultivating plots.

Economic Survey 2017-18 tabled in Parliament on 29 January, 2018 by the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley had expressed concern over air pollution in Delhi with the onset of winter due to crop residue biomass burning, besides other factors; and notes the use of technology to convert agricultural waste into usable fodder or bio-fuels and provide incentives to shift to non-paddy crops and as a point in case quotes the straw management system for rice and wheat farming, as an example. It suggests that the solution is to address each source problem systematically, coordination between agencies and Central and State Governments and sustained civic engagement.  It also mentions the Happy Seeder machine that sows seeds without removing paddy straw and suggests that such a technological solution must be combined with economics, by providing incentives to Centre and states and should be implemented through agricultural cooperatives and local bodies.