26-27.02.23 Daily [Uttarakhand] UKPSC Current Affairs

TheUttarakhandtourism department, in the presence of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, signed a Rs 166.8 crore memorandum of understanding (MoU) with two private firms for the ambitiousYamunotri ropewayproject.

The 3.38km ropeway would be mono-cable detachable type with the capacity of carrying 500 people in an hour. The lower terminal would be made on a 1.7 hectare land at Kharsali and the upper terminal at Yamunotri on 0.9 hectare land.
Using the ropeway, pilgrims would be able to cover the five km distance, presently covered by trekking, in a span of just 20 minutes.
The ropeway is regarded as an important one as pilgrims in the past have lost their lives while trekking on the tough route.

India’s power regulator has approved a proposal to start a separate spot market segment for ‘expensive’ power, according to an order handed down to the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), with record demand levels expected this summer.

The approval from the (CERC), given to the country’s largest spot power market, is for electricity derived from costlier sources of imported coal and gas, as well as battery storage.

Other power Plants operating on low-cost fuel will not be allowed to sell electricity on the new market segment, according to the order, a move seen as ensuring increased electricity availability.

The power regulator fixed a ceiling of 50 rupees ($0.6042) per unit of electricity (kWh), according to the order.

Most of the plants based on costlier fuel operate at low capacity for lack of buyers. However, until last year states purchased electricity at 20 rupees per unit to meet high demand during summer months and crop sowing seasons.

India currently ranks first in terms of AI skill penetration and AI talent concentration and fifth in AI scientific publications, aNasscomreport said.

India’s ‘AI Skills Penetration Factor’ has been reported to be 3.09 — the highest among all and OECD countries.

It shows that India’s tech talent is 3X more likely to have or report AI skills than other countries, according to the report by the National Association of Software and ServicesCompanies(Nasscom) in PARTNERSHIP with Salesforce and Draup.

India is also expected to witness high Growth in the demand for data science and AI professionals with an estimate of more than 1 million professionals by 2024.

More than 1,900 AI-focused startups are providing innovative solutions, primarily in the areas of conversational AI, NLP, video analytics, disease detection, fraud prevention and deep fakes detection.

Astronomersfrom McGill University in Canada and theIndian Institute of Science(IISc) in Bengaluru have used data from the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in Pune to detect a radio signal originating fromatomic hydrogenin an extremely distant galaxy.

The astronomical distance over which the signal was picked up is so far the farthest. This is also the first confirmed detection of strong lensing of 21 cm emission from a galaxy.

Israel’s parliament overwhelmingly approved a law to strip Arabs convicted in nationalistic attacks of their Israeli or residency and deport them if they have accepted stipends from the Palestinian Authority.

The decision, which could potentially affect hundreds of Palestinian citizens and residents of Israel, was condemned as racist by Arab lawmakers as well as Palestinian officials in the occupied West Bank.

The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority has long provided stipends to the families of Palestinians killed or imprisoned for attacks on Israelis.

Prisoners are widely seen as heroes in Palestinian Society, and the PA considers these payments as a form of welfare to needy families. But Israel says they reward violence and serve as an incentive for others to carry out attacks.