29.06.22 Daily [Uttarakhand] UKPSC Current Affairs

TheIndian Institute of TechnologyinRoorkee(IIT-R) has developed briquettes that can be used for energy generation. These cost-effective briquettes — made fromforest bio residue(like pine needles fallen from trees) — release a very small amount of carbon into the as opposed to other energy sources, according to the premier institution.

These briquettes were developed under a project — titled Socio-Economic Value Creation through Forest Bio Residue Energy Generation in Alignment with the UNs SDGs — led by professors Vinay Sharma and Rajat Agrawal from the institute’s department of management studies. The grant for the pilot project was provided by the National Mission on Himalayan Studies, a central government intervention.

As part of the project, more than 1,000 quintals of pine needles were gathered from around 100 acres of forest land with the help of theUttarakhandforest department. Subsequently, these pine needles were crushed and processed to make briquettes. In addition to manufacturing the briquettes, the institute has also developed a mobile application to streamline the process of buying and selling briquettes.

First National Excellence Awards was hosted by Government of India in New Delhi. Union minister Piyush Goyal and minister of state for commerce and Industry Som Parkash rma presented awards in 12 categories.

National Logistics Excellence Awards are presented with the aim of acknowledging many logistics service providers in India, that have been able to display innovation, efficiency and diversity.

The first edition comprises of 169 entries and 12 categories for awards.

Commerce and Industries Ministry undertook a year-long process to identify, categorise, and select qualified applications.

An expert screening committee, comprising of 18 diverse experts as well as a national jury of 9 senior dignitaries was created to make final deliberations.

Prime Minister Modi launched the NIRYAT Portal, that stands for National Import-Export Record for Yearly Analysis of Trade portal. The portal has been developed as one-stop platform for stakeholders, where they would get all necessary information related to of India. It will provide real time data to all stakeholders. NIRYAT portal was launched with the aim of facilitating further strengthening of financial sector of India in line with 3Ts namely Trade, Tourism and Technology.

In fiscal year 2020-21, Indias exports were at a total (goods and Services) of USD 670 billion.

In 2021-22, Indias merchandise exports crossed USD 418 billion as opposed to the target of USD 400 billion.

Considering the success, government has now increased its export targets and has doubled efforts to achieve them.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) unveiled its patented indigenous solar cook top called Surya Nutan.

Surya Nutan has been developed by Faridabad R&D centre of the oil refiner (IOC).

The solar cook top will aid in reducing CO₂emissions of India drastically and keep its citizens insulated from high international fossil fuel prices.

It is a rechargeable, stationary, and kitchen-connected indoor solar cooking system.

The system offers an online cooking mode while charging.

Currently, the pilot projects are being held across 60 places like Leh (Ladakh), in order to ascertain several operational and commercial aspects associated with its application.

Initial cost of the solar cooktop was Rs 12,000 for base model while Rs 23,000 for the top model. However, this cost is likely to reduce substantially with economies of scale.

SATAT Scheme stands for Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme. It has four objectives:

To utilise over 62 million metric tonnes of waste generated per year in India

To cut down import dependence

To supplement job creation India.

To reduce vehicular emissions and pollution from burning of organic waste or agricultural waste.

Vivatech 2020, “Europe’s biggest startup conference, recognized India as the country of the year.It is a huge honor for India to be named “country of the year” in Vivatech 2020. It is because of the contribution of Indian startups to the world. This is the Indian startups’ recognition.

Around 65 startups from India are taking part in Vivatech 2022 with government support.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) recently released its report on Domestic Workers. According to the report, only 6 % of domestic workers across the world have access to comprehensive social protection.

Report notes that, 94 per cent of the domestic workers are lacking access to full range of protections, covering medical care, old age, sickness, Unemployment, family, maternity, EMPLOYMENT injury, invalidity and survivors benefits.

Extension of effective coverage is lagging significantly behind the legal coverage.

In reality, only one-in-five domestic workers are covered in practice because majority are employed informally.

Despite their vital contribution to Society, they are supporting households with their most personal and care needs.

6 million domestic workers of the world face multiple barriers in enjoying legal coverage and effective access to social security.

They are usually excluded from national social security legislation.