Why in News

• Power Secretary reviews status of Biomass utilization in Thermal Power Plants in the country: SAMARTH (Sustainable Agrarian Mission on use of Agro Residue in Thermal Power Plants)

About the Mission 

• Union Power Secretary chaired the second meeting of Steering Committee for SAMARTH i.e., National Mission on Use of Biomass in coal based thermal Power Plants
• He reviewed the status of bio-mass co-firing and progress of the actions being taken to promote the co-firing in the thermal power plants in the meeting.
• In order to reduce stubble burning and to reduce carbon footprint of Thermal Power Plants while increasing the income of farmers, Government of India has taken various proactive step with the establishment of National Mission on Use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants.
• The agro-residue/biomass earlier considered as a waste product has now begun to produce zero-carbon electricity for the citizens of the country.
• In turn farmers are getting additional income by selling the stubble/ biomass for conversion into torrefied/non-torrefied biomass pellets.
• For overall monitoring of the Mission and to facilitate the Mission on inter-ministerial issues/ constraints, a Steering Committee under the chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Power (MoP) has been constituted.
• Ministry of Power’s policy on “Biomass Utilisation for Power Generation through Co-firing in Coal based Power Plants” issued in October 2021 mandates all thermal power plants in the country to use 5 to 10% biomass along with coal for power production. The policy has started showing promising results.

Why in News

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, greeted the people of Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura on their statehood day and praised them for their “vibrant contributions” to the country’s development.
• The three States were formed on this day 50 years back in 1972 with the enactment of North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.

Historical Importance

• The princely states of Manipur and Tripura were first merged with India in 1949. They were upgraded as union territories in 1956 till the next upgradation as full-fledged state on January 21, 1972.
• Meghalaya on the other hand was created as an autonomous state within assam in 1970.

Why in news?

• Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur inaugurated and laid foundation stones of 17 development projects worth Rs 283.19 crore at Dharamsala in Kangra district on Wednesday.
• The projects include inauguration of Dharamsala Skyway (Dharamsala ropeway) constructed at a cost of Rs 207 crores.
• The Dharamsala Ropeway would connect Dharamsala with McLeodganj. It has the hourly capacity of carrying 1,000 persons and would reach Dharamsala to McLeodganj in five minutes.
• The length of the ropeway is 1.8 km. The ropeway has 10 towers and 2 stations at Dharamsala and McLeodganj.

Why in news?

• “There will be mutual coordination between scientists and teaching faculty members of the institutions.
• They will visit each other to encourage and promote educational activities. Scientific information and new research will be shared on mutual basis.
• Workshops would be organised and educational initiatives taken jointly

Why in news?

• The International Financial Services Centers Authority (IFSCA), with an objective of capacity building of professionals in the insurance sector in International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs), has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Insurance Institute of India (III).

About the MOU/agreement

• The International Financial Services Centers Authority (IFSCA), with an objective of capacity building of professionals in the insurance sector in International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs), has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Insurance Institute of India (III).
• The Insurance Institute of India (III) in involved in devising and continuously upgrading the curriculums and imparting the training programs for the professionals in the insurance industry in India and abroad, to meet the needs of the ever-dynamic insurance sector. The certification by the institute is recognized by the insurance industry, regulators, and other internationally reputed insurance education providers. The Institute is also the member of the Institute of Global Insurance Education (IGIE).

The key areas of MOU are as follows:

• (i) III would undertake study to make changes to the academic curriculum in meeting the current needs of the insurance industry participants in IFSCA with the view to introduce certificate courses and professional examinations.
• (ii) III would be working on fulfilling the medium- and long-term capacity building requirements of insurance professionals resulting into deepening of insurance business activities in the IFSCA.
• (iii) III would jointly with IFSCA conduct seminars/ workshops/ conferences to pool knowledge of professional workforce for the insurance industry at the infrastructure and facilities available with III for academic activities.
• (iv) III would promote research topics/ subjects relating to working of IFSCA to the students enrolling for doctoral studies under its agreement with the University of Mumbai.
• (v) On the request of IFSCA, III would nominate its faculties for training and research on global insurance reinsurance laws and regulations of major financial hubs.
• IFSCA’s regulatory framework for insurance requires periodic professional examinations and training. III would design and conduct such examinations and training for professional in IFSC which would aid in having skilled talent in IFSC eco-system.

Why in news?

• Recently, the ‘Inequality Kills’ report was released.

About the report

• India’s richest families saw their wealth reach a record high in 2021, even as 84 per cent of Indian households saw an income decline amid the pandemic, according to a report from non-profit Oxfam India titled ‘Inequality Kills’.
• It said the richest 98 Indians own the same wealth as the bottom 552 million people.

Why in news?

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda via video conferencing.

About the address

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Davos Agenda where he said that India has given the entire world a “bouquet of hope”. “The bouquet contains – trust towards democracy, technology to empower 21st century and talent & temperament of us Indians,” he said.
• The WEF’s annual meeting, which has been taking place in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos for 50 years now, could not take place in 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic and has been deferred till early summer this year.
• However, the virtual summit ‘Davos Agenda’ summit would be held for the second consecutive year on the dates originally scheduled for the physical annual meeting.

Why in news?

• Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkar recently inaugurated Madhavbaug’s (Vaidya Sane Ayurved Labs Ltd), Power MAP, in a ceremony that was held digitally.

About Power MAP

• Power MAP is a medical analytics application developed by Madhavbaug under the trusted leadership of their CEO, Dr Rohit Sane. The application is built for doctors to help them get necessary medical intelligence regarding a patient’s clinical parameters to reverse their chronic diseases effectively.

The Power MAP application integrates various medical services like pathology labs, dietitians, exercise experts, stress counsellors and other specialised consultants who follow a synergistic approach to support the doctor to help improve the health outcomes of patients – all at a click of a button.

Why in news?

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team on their Raising Day.

About National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)

• The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is an Indian specialized force constituted “for the purpose of special response to a threatening disaster situation or disaster” under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
• The “Apex Body for Disaster Management” in India is the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
• The Chairman of the NDMA is the Prime Minister.
• The responsibility of managing disasters in India is that of the State Government.
• The ‘Nodal Ministry’ in the central government for management of natural disasters is the Ministry of Home Affairs (MH).

Why in news?

• The capital of Indonesia is being shifted from Jakarta to East Kalimantan, and will be called

About the news

• Indonesia passed a bill replacing its capital Jakarta with East Kalimantan, situated to the east of Borneo Island. The new capital city of the country will be called Nusantara.
• Plans to relocate the government from Jakarta – a bustling metropolis of 10 million people that suffers from chronic congestion, floods, pollution, and is sinking because of over-extraction of groundwater – have been floated by multiple presidents, but none have made it this far.