NATIONAL NEWS

Inauguration of India Energy Forum

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the inaugural address of the India Energy Forum CERAWeek.
• The theme of this 4^th edition is "India's Energy Future in a world of Change".
• The Prime Minister said India's energy map will have seven key drivers:
  1. Accelerating our efforts to move towards a gas-based economy.
  2. Cleaner use of fossil fuels particularly petroleum and coal
  3. Greater reliance on domestic sources to drive bio-fuels.
  4. Achieving the renewables target of 450 GW by 2030.
  5. Increasing the contribution of electricity to de-carbonize mobility.
  6. Moving into the emerging fuels including hydrogen
  7. Digital innovation across all the energy systems.

Facts:

India Energy Forum:

It is an Indian Organisation representing the energy sector as a whole established in 2001, headquartered in New Delhi.

It serves as a catalyst for the development of a sustainable and competitive energy sector in India.

Prime Minister Launched Three Key Projects

• Prime Minister has launched three projects in Gujarat by video conferencing:
• Kisan Suryodaya Yojana:
  1. This scheme aims to provide power supply of 16 hours to the farmers for the purpose of irrigation.
  2. Earlier most of the farmers got power for irrigation in the night only. Under the Kisan Suryodaya Yojana farmers will get 3 phase power supply from 5 AM to 9 PM
• Paediatric Heart Hospital at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad:
  1. PM inaugurated the Paediatric Heart Hospital attached with the U.N Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre and a Mobile Application for tele-cardiology at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad.
  2. The U.N Mehta Institute will now become India’s biggest hospital for cardiology in addition to being one of the select few hospitals in the world with a world-class medical infrastructure and medical facilities.
• Ropeway at Girnar:
  1. The Girnar Mountain has Gorakhnath peak, Guru Dattatreya peak and a Jain temple.
  2. The inauguration of the world class Rope Way more and more devotees and tourists will come here.

PMRU was set up in Goa under NPPA

• A Price Monitoring and Resource Unit (PMRU) has been set up in Goa under the aegis of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India.
• The primary function of PMRUs is to assist NPPA in monitoring of prices of drugs, ensuring availability of drugs and raising consumer awareness. They act as collaborating partners of NPPA with information gathering mechanism at the grass-roots level.
• Currently PMRUs are in 15 states in the country. NPPA has plans to set up PMRU in all 36 states/UTs in the country.

Facts:

Minister of Chemical and Fertilizers: D. V. Sadananda Gowda

Atal Innovation Mission launched India-Australia Circular Economy Hackathon

• AIM (Atal Innovation Mission), in association with CSIRO, is organizing a two-day hackathon on circular economy, ‘India–Australia Circular Economy Hackathon (I-ACE)’, on 7 and 8 December.
• I-ACE will focus on identification and development of innovative technology solutions by bright-minded students, startups and MSMEs of both nations.
• The four key themes for the hackathon are as follows:
  1. Innovation in packaging reducing packaging waste
  2. Innovation in food supply chains avoiding waste
  3. Creating opportunities for plastic waste reduction
  4. Recycling critical energy metals and e-waste

IMPORTANT DAYS

Vigilance Awareness Week

• This is observed every year during the week in which the birthday of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (31st October) falls.
• This awareness week campaign affirms our commitment to promotion of integrity and probity in public life through citizen participation.
• The theme of Vigilance Awareness Week 2020 is Satark Bharat, Samriddh Bharat (Vigilant India, Prosperous India).