EV-charging stations

NATIONAL NEWS

EV-charging stations: India to use three technologies

• India will deploy both CHAdeMO and Combined Charging System (CCS) fast-charging technologies, besides the existing Bharat Standard, at its public electric vehicle charging stations.
• According to sources in the Power Ministry, now the push will be to have Bharat Standard, CHAdeMO and CCS charging points at all public stations.
• Earlier, there were indications that the Power Ministry wanted to have just one of the two fast-charging technologies for each public EV charging station to cut costs (from ₹25 lakh for all three to ₹10-12 lakh for Bharat Standard and any one of the two).
• Even though all three of these are fast chargers, Bharat Standard is a low voltage charging technology (72 volts – 200 volts) and can only be used to charge the Mahindra and Tata electric vehicles and similar vehicles present in the domestic market, an official told BusinessLine.
• The CCS and CHAdeMO chargers are high voltage chargers (200 volt and above) and the newly-launched Hyundai Kona will be the first vehicle in the country that can use these fast chargers. Kona will be charged using CHAdeMO.

Rajghat coal plant to be turned into solar park

• Shelving its previous plan to convert it into a waste-to-energy plant, the Delhi government announced a solar park — of 5,000 KW capacity — will come up in the spot of the defunct Rajghat thermal power plant.

India, Myanmar to exchange crucial information on drug trafficking

• India and Myanmar have resolved to exchange crucial information relating to drug trafficking and precursors. The decision was taken at the 4th Director General level talks between Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) in New Delhi.
• the two-day bilateral meeting, which will conclude, is being organized to take coordinated and concerted actions against drug trafficking between the two countries.
• On the first day, both sides shared the mutual concern regarding the menace of drugs and exchanged the operational level contacts for sharing real-time information and intelligence.
• The issues such as the trend of illicit poppy cultivation and heroin production in Myanmar, information on drug trafficking routes,controlled delivery operations, and sharing of best practices and training needs were also discussed.
• The Indian delegation was led by NCB Director General Abhay while the Myanmar delegation was headed by CCDAC Joint Secretary Police Brigadier General Win Naing.

FACTS

Capital of Myanmar-Naypyidaw

Currency-Burmese Kyat

RPF launches ‘Operation Thirst’

• In a crackdown on sale of unauthorized packaged drinking water the Railway Protection Force launched an all India drive called Operation Thirst
• 1,371 people were arrested and over 69,294 bottles were seized by the Railway Protection Force under Operation Thirst
• The operation was launched in all major railway stations across the country
• Carried out on July 8 and 9, Rs 6,80,855 fine was collected from offenders

Prasar Bharati signs MoU with IIT Kanpur for research collaboration

• Prasar Bharati signed an MoU with IIT Kanpur for research collaboration in various areas, including Direct to Mobile Broadcasting, Convergence with 5G, Rural broadband, Artificial Intelligence and Next Generation Broadcasting Standards.
• Prasar Bharati CEO, Shashi Shekhar Vempati exchanged the MoU with Director, IIT Kanpur, Abhay Karandikar in New Delhi.
• The MoU is signed for research collaboration between Prasar Bharati and IIT Kanpur.

Defence Ministry signed MoU with IPFC and NRDC

• Intellectual Property Facilitation Cell (IPFC), Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence and National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), Ministry of Science and Technology signed an MoU with a vision to bridge the capacity shortfall.
• They provide a major fillip to the ongoing efforts of Ministry of Defence towards promoting a culture of Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights IPR in Indian Defence industry.
• The move will be a boost to the Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti.
• The main aim to inculcate IP culture in Indian defence manufacturing ecosystem.
• Under this mission, an IPFC established under the aegis of Directorate General Quality Assurance (DGQA)
• It is within a short span of a year achieved the challenging target of training more than 12,000 personnel on IPR
• It facilitates the filing of more than 1000 new IPR applications.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

France adopts pioneering tax on tech giants after US threat       

• France has adopted a pioneering tax on internet giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook
• The tax amounts to a 3% annual levy on the French revenues of digital companies with yearly global sales worth more than 750 million euros ($844 million) and French revenue exceeding 25 million euros. The tax primarily targets those that use consumer data to sell online advertising.
• The French Finance Ministry has estimated that the tax would raise about 500 million euros annually (USD 563 million) at first but predicted fast growth.

Ukraine inaugurates giant dome over destroyed Chernobyl reactor

• Ukraine and its European partners on Wednesday formally inaugurated a new metal dome encasing the destroyed reactor at the infamous Chernobyl plant, wrapping up a two-decade effort.
• Branded as the world’s largest movable metal structure, the so-called New Safe Confinement seals the remains of the fourth reactor at the nuclear plant that was the site of the massive Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

FACTS

Capital of Ukraine-Kyiv

Currency of Ukarine-Ukarine Hryvnia

AWARDS

Two Indian start-ups bag honours at global manufacturing summit in Russia

• GARV wins in ‘Sustainable Cities’ category; A2P tops in ‘Sustainable Energy’ segment
• Two Indian start-ups have won the Mohammed Bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity award at the second edition of Global Manufacturing and IndustrialisationSummit (GMIS) being held in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
• GARV Toilets (providers of smart sanitation services that deploy Internet of Things) won in the ‘Sustainable Cities’ category, while A2P Energy Solutions (which seeks to prevent stubble burning by converting agricultural waste into energy) bagged the honours in the ‘Sustainable Energy’ category.
• Faridabad-based start-up GARV Toilets, founded by Mayank Midha, was set up in 2015.
• GARV’s portable toilets are made of steel and maintained through automation. They are fitted with IoT sensors to collect data on usage, functioning of the toilet and capture information on user’s hygiene behaviour
• A2P Energy Solutions, a start-up founded in 2018 by Sukhmeet Singh, who spent 11 years in tech consulting, seeks to provide solution to the most pressing issue of stubble burning that spikes pollution levels in Delhi. It seeks to offer technology to convert 500 million tonnes of agricultural waste into fuel pellets and animal feed. Pepsi, HUL and a few large pharmaceutical companies are its buyers.

APPOINTMENTS

chesskid.com launches Indian edition under the mentorship of Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand

• A US-based online chess platform chesskid.com on Thursday launched its Indian edition under the mentorship of Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand.
• Under Anand’s guidance, chesskid.com would release curated chess content and hold annual competitions for India’s aspiring young chess players, the online platform said.

RESIGNS

Afghanistan Fast Bowler Aftab Alam Suspended for One Year

• Afghanistan fast bowler Aftab Alam has been handed a one-year suspension by the country's cricket board for a code of conduct violation at the ongoing World Cup in England and Wales.
• The decision to suspend Alam from domestic and international cricket for one year came after an investigation by the Afghanistan Cricket Board's disciplinary committee, following a decision taken at the board's annual general meeting in Kabul.

OBITUARY

Kundu passes away

• Former Bengal and Railways leg-spinner Soumendranath Kundu passed away here on Thursday. He was 77.
• Kundu took 127 wickets in 30 First Class matches between 1958-59 and 1968-69. This included 13 five-wicket hauls, including his personal best of eight for 104. He also took 10 wickets in a match thrice.
• Kundu was conferred the CAB Kartick Bose Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013-14. “This is a great loss for Bengal cricket. He was a leg-spinner in the classical mould.