1. Union Cabinet clears 2nd tranche of PLI scheme
Tags: National National News
The Union Cabinet on September 21 approved the second phase of the Rs 19,500 crore Generation Based Incentive (PLI) scheme for the National Program for High Efficiency Solar PV Modules.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- It aims to create an ecosystem for manufacturing high efficiency solar PV modules.
Solar PV manufacturers to be selected through a transparent selection process.
Under this, about 65 thousand MW manufacturing capacity of fully and partially integrated solar PV modules will be installed annually.
This scheme will bring direct investment of about Rs.94 thousand crore and will provide direct employment to about 2 lakh people and indirect employment to about eight lakh people.
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme :
It is an initiative that provides incentives to domestic industries to promote production at the local level.
Through this scheme, the government aims to incentivize companies to increase the sales of manufactured products in domestic units.
The objective of the scheme is to make domestic manufacturing globally competitive and to become a global champion in manufacturing.
The government has launched this scheme with an outlay of around Rs 2 lakh crore for 14 sectors including Automobiles and Auto Components, White Goods, Pharma, Textiles, Advanced Chemistry Cell and Specialty Steel.
2. 11th Foundation Day of Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI)
Tags: National Important Days National News
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The 11th Foundation Day Celebration of Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) was held on 20 September.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- R K Singh, Union Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy graced the occasion as Chief Guest.
Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy and Chemicals and Fertilizers was the Guest of Honour.
As part of 11th Foundation Day, a series of events were organized including the planting of 1100 trees, blood donation camp in which 88 units were donated.
Distribution of 2100 food packets, guest lectures for around 2200 school-kids, indoor sports tournament consisting of Table-tennis, Chess, Carom, Football and various team-building activities was the part of the event.
About Solar Energy Corporation of India ltd :
It is a Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) under the administrative control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), set up on 20th Sept, 2011.
It is the only CPSU dedicated to the Solar Energy Sector.
The company holds Category 1 Power Trading Licence and is active in this domain through trading of Solar Energy from the projects set up under the schemes being implemented by it.
3. 9th session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
Tags: National National News
India is hosting the 9th Session of the Governing Body of the 'International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture' (ITPGRFA) from 19-24th September, 2022 in New Delhi.
IMPORTANT FACTS
- The GB9 is being held under the theme “Celebrating the Guardians of Crop Diversity : Towards an Inclusive Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework”.
The theme aims to acknowledge the contribution of smallholder farmers of the world in the effective management of PGRFA.
Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India participated in the 8th session of the Governing Body (GB8) in 2019 at Rome.
India is a country endowed with rich crop genetic resources.
India has successfully established the legal, institutional and educational infrastructure for using genetic diversity to breed new varieties.
About the treaty :
The ITPGRFA, also known as the International Seed Treaty or Plant Treaty, is a comprehensive international agreement in line with the Convention on Biological Diversity.
It is a legally binding comprehensive agreement adopted in November, 2001 at Rome during the 31st session of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
It entered into force on June 29, 2004.
There are 149 contracting parties of this treaty including India.
It aims to establish a global system which provides farmers, plant breeders, and scientists with access to plant genetic resources.
The treaty provides solutions to achieve food and nutritional security as well as climate resilient agriculture.
4. PM Modi chairs meeting of Board of Trustees of PM CARES Fund
Tags: National National News
PM Modi chaired a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the PM CARES Fund on September 20.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- A presentation was made in the meeting on various initiatives taken with the help of the PM Cares Fund, including the PM Cares for Children scheme, which is helping four thousand three hundred 45 children.
The Trustees appreciated the role played by this fund created at a crucial time for the country.
It was discussed in the meeting that PM CARES has a great vision to respond effectively to emergency and crisis situations not only through relief assistance but also through mitigation measures and capacity building.
The meeting was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, newly appointed trustee of former Supreme Court Justice KT Thomas, former Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha Karia Munda and Tata Sons Honorary Chairman Ratan Tata.
In the meeting, it was decided to nominate Rajiv Mehrishi, former Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Sudha Murthy, former chairman of Infosys Foundation and Anand Shah, former executive officer of Indy Corps and Piramal Foundation, to the advisory board of PM Cares Fund.
About PM CARES Fund :
Established - March 2020
It is registered as a Public Charitable Trust.
Objective :
To work for the development of infrastructure along with economic and technical assistance to the people in case of any kind of natural or human calamity in the country.
Composition :
The Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairman of the PM CARES Fund and the Union Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister are the ex-officio trustees of the fund.
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees shall have the power to nominate three trustees to the Board of Trustees.
Funding :
The fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals/organisations and does not receive any government budgetary support.
Exemptions :
Donations to the fund are 100% exempt under section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
Donations to this fund will also be counted as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure under the Companies Act, 2013.
5. Anurag Thakur inaugurates 47th Annual Gathering of AIBD
Tags: National National News
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur on 20 September inaugurated the 47th Annual Gathering and 20th Meeting of Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) in New Delhi.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- The Union Minister of State (I&B) for Information and Broadcasting, Dr. L. Murugan, Secretary, I&B Apoorva Chandra and Director, AIBD Philomena Gyanpragasam were also present on the occasion.
The theme of the event was ‘Building a stronger future for broadcasting in the post pandemic era’.
Speaking on the occasion, Thakur said that the biggest threat to the mainstream media is not from the new age digital platforms but from the mainstream media channels.
He said that genuine journalism provides a platform to know the facts, present the truth and give a platform to all the parties to express their views.
Award for 2021 and 2022 :
During the event, Union Minister Anurag Thakur presided over the award distribution for 2021 and 2022.
The Appreciation Award for 2021 was given to Radio Television Brunei.
The Appreciation Award for 2022 was shared by the Ministry of Economy, Civil Services, Communications, Housing and Community Development, Republic of Fiji and the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation.
The Lifetime Achievement Award for 2021 was conferred to Khieu Khanharith, Minister of Information and Communication, Cambodia.
The Lifetime Achievement Award for 2022 was given to Mayank Agarwal, CEO, PB and President, AIBD.
About AIBD :
AIBD was established in 1977 under the auspices of UNESCO.
It is a regional inter-governmental organisation servicing countries of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) in the field of electronic media development.
It is hosted by the Malaysia Government and its secretariat is located in Kuala Lumpur.
AIBD currently has 26 full member countries.
India has hosted the Governing Council Meetings (GC) in the years 1978, 1985, 2003.
6. Priyanka Chopra advocates children's rights in an address to the United Nation General Assembly
Tags: Person in news International News
Indian actress and the Global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 19 September 2022 in New York.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- Priyanka Chopra who was appointed UNICEF Goodwill ambassador in 2016 talked about Children's rights at the 77th UNGA High Level Week.
- The 77th UNGA opened on 13 September 2022 and the High Level Weeks will be held from 19-23 September in New York.
- High Level weeks is a five day event where invited speakers, speaks on topics selected by the United Nations like Sustainable Development Goals, Transforming Education Summits etc.
- Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is leading the Indian delegation at the 77th UNGA.
7. President Droupadi Murmu clears the appointments of Directors to 8 IITs
Tags: National Person in news National News
President Droupadi Murmu has cleared the appointments of Directors to eight Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) on 20 September.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- IIT Bhilai’s Director Rajat Moona has been appointed as director of IIT Gandhinagar.
IIT Dharwad’s Director Pasumarthy Seshu has been appointed as director of IIT Goa.
The two IIT directors who have been reappointed for a second term, they are - K N Satyanarayana (IIT Tirupati) and Manoj Singh Gaur (IIT Jammu).
Seshadri Shekhar and Shripad Karmalkar, who are professors at IIT Madras, have been appointed as directors of IIT Palakkad and IIT Bhubaneswar respectively.
Venkayappaya R Desai from IIT Kharagpur's Department of Civil Engineering has been appointed as the Director of IIT Dhardwad.
Rajiv Prakash of IIT BHU's School of Material Science and Technology has been appointed as the Director of IIT Bhilai.
8. 52nd Arab Information Minister's Council session held in Egypt
Tags: National News
The Arab League announced the start of the 52nd round of meetings of the Council of Arab Information Ministers on 19 September, chaired by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- The three-day meeting includes the 15th regular round of the Executive Office and the 97th regular round of the Standing Committee of Arab Media.
Ahmed Rashid Khattabi, Assistant Secretary-General and Observer for Media and Communications at the Arab League, attended the meeting on behalf of the Arab League's Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Gheit.
The meeting will discuss a range of issues related to continuing media support for Arab Palestine and activating the Arab Media Strategic Goals 2022-2026.
Arab Media Ministers will discuss a number of organizational and structural issues.
About Arab League :
It is a union of Arabic-speaking African and Asian countries.
It was formed in Cairo in 1945 to promote the independence, sovereignty and interests of its member states and observers.
It currently consists of 22 different member states and four observer states.
9. 30 startups identified through 'Swachhata Startup Challenge'
Tags: National Economy/Finance National News
On 19 September, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) organized a Startup Conclave at the Ambedkar International Center in New Delhi.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) will felicitate 30 startups identified through the Swachhta Startup Challenge to help strengthen the sanitation and waste management sector.
The day-long conclave will provide a platform to startups to gain experience, knowledge and learning that will help them find their way into the sector to successfully scale up their solutions.
Some Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) will engage in a 'reverse pitch' to highlight specific grassroots challenges, to motivate startups to work towards finding innovative solutions to the challenges.
Swachh Bharat Mission - Urban, implemented by MoHUA, focuses on innovation and encouragement for startups to adopt locally innovative, implementable solutions and business models and promote waste management.
About Swachhta Start-up Challenge ?
It was launched to increase innovation in waste management.
It was launched by the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) and the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, DPIIT.
The AFD is a French public financial institution that implements the policies of the French government.
The objective of this challenge is to harness the entrepreneurial potential of the waste management sector in India and promote an enabling environment for enterprise development.
The top ten winners of this challenge will be given a prize money of Rs 25 lakh.
Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) - Hardeep Singh Puri
10. Rajnath Singh signs MoU with Egypt on Defence Cooperation
Tags: International Relations International News
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a three-day visit to Egypt, met the Egyptian Defence Minister, General Mohamed Zaki in Cairo on 20 September and signed a MoU on Defence Cooperation to further expand the bilateral defence ties between the two countries.
IMPORTANT FACTS -
- During the meeting, both sides discussed steps to strengthen defense ties and a consensus was reached for joint military exercises and training, especially in the area of counter-terrorism.
In addition, they also exchanged views on regional security and acknowledged the contribution of India and Egypt to peace and stability in the world.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi agreed to focus on enhancing bilateral cooperation and security aspects.
Singh has also invited his Egyptian counterpart to the India-Africa Defence Dialogue and the IOR Defence Ministers' Conference, which is scheduled to be held in Gujarat from October 18-22 this year as part of the 12th DefExpo.
Egypt is one of the largest investment destinations for India in the region with an existing Indian investment of USD 3.15 billion.
India - Egypt defence cooperation :
To boost defence cooperation between the two countries, an Indian Air Force team arrived in Egypt on 22 June to participate in a bilateral 'Strategic Leadership Program' with the Egyptian Air Force.
The year 2022 has special significance as it marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Egypt.
There was close cooperation between the Air Forces of both countries, with efforts at jointly developing a fighter aircraft in the 1960s.
Indian Air Force pilots had also trained Egyptian pilots from the 1960s until 1984.
In recent times, since 2015, there have been a number of high-level exchanges of visits by defense delegations.
