National
Prime Minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of multiple projects
⇒ The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Varanasi on 7th July, 2022. The Prime Minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of multiple projects worth over Rs 1800 crores at an event at Dr Sampurnanand Sports Stadium, Sigra, Varanasi.
Inauguration and foundation stone of multiple development initiatives:
» The Prime Minister inaugurated projects worth over Rs 590 crores in Varanasi.
- Among these are multiple initiatives under Varanasi Smart City and Urban Projects, including the re-development of Namo Ghat in Phase-I along with the construction of bathing jetty; conversion of diesel and petrol engines of 500 boats into CNG; redevelopment of Kameshwar Mahadev ward of Old Kashi and over 600 EWS flats constructed in village Harhua, Dasepur; new Vending Zone and urban place prepared under Lahartara-Chowka Ghat Flyover; tourist facility and market complex at Dashashwamedh Ghat; and 33/11 KV Substation at Nagwa under IPDS Work Phase-3.
» The Prime Minister also inaugurated various road projects. He also inaugurated various projects related to the improvement of sewerage and water supply in the district.
» Various social and education sector-related projects was inaugurated include ITI at Village Mahgaon, Phase-II of Vedic Vigyan Kendra in BHU, Govt Girls Home at Ramnagar, Theme Park in Govt Old Age Women Home at Durgakund.
» The Prime Minister inaugurated a synthetic athletic track and synthetic basketball court in Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Sports Complex, Bada Lalpur and various police and safety fire projects.
» During the programme, the Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for projects worth more than Rs 1200 crores.
- Among these are multiple road infrastructure projects including a six-lane widening of road from Lahartara – BHU to Vijaya Cinema; four-lane widening of road from Pandeypur Flyover to Ring Road; Four lanes of road from Kuchaheri to Sandaha; widening and strengthening of Varanasi Bhadohi Rural Road; construction of five new Roads and four CC roads in Varanasi rural area; construction of ROB near Babatpur railway station on Babatpur-Chaubeypur road.
» To give a fillip to tourism in the region, Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of multiple projects including the development work of the Sarnath Buddhist Circuit under the World Bank-aided UP Pro-Poor tourism development project, construction of Paavan Path for Asht Vinakaya, Dwadash Jyotirling Yatra, Asht Bhairaw, Nav Gauri Yatra, Tourism Development work of five stoppages in Panchkosi Parikrama Yatra Marg and Tourism development various wards in Old Kashi.
» The Prime Minister also laid the foundation of Phase 1 of redevelopment works of Sports Stadium at Sigra.
NTPC REL signed a MoU with GACL in New Delhi
⇒ NTPC RE Limited (NTPC REL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL) in New Delhi on 06 July 2022.
MoU:
- The MoU has been signed to realize green energy and green hydrogen objectives and the Government of India’s efforts toward the carbon-neutrality economy.
- The MoU envisages collaborating in the field of Renewable Energy, Green Methanol & Green Ammonia and mutually exploring the opportunities for the supply of 100 MW RE-RTC (Round The Clock) power and synthesizing 75 TPD Green Methanol and 35 TPD Green Ammonia for captive use for the production of various chemicals by GACL at its Vadodara and Dahej complex in Gujarat.
» This would be the first commercial-scale Green ammonia and Green methanol project in the country and would align with the vision laid out by the Prime Minister for Atmanirbhar Bharat.
About NTPC:
- NTPC is India’s largest Power Utility and its core business is power generation with a total installed capacity of 69 GW (including JVs and subsidiaries).
About GACL:
- Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL), incorporated in Mar 1973, is a state-owned chemical manufacturing unit.
- GACL is one of the largest producers of Caustic Soda in India, with a production capacity of over 1400 TPD at their two complexes in Dahej and Vadodara.
- GACL has its subsidiary company viz GACL-NALCO Alkalies and Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. (GNAL) putting up an 800 TPD Caustic Soda Plant together with a 130 MW Thermal Power Plant (coal-based) at Dahej.
Aditya-L1 Science Support Cell (AL1SSC) conducted a workshop
⇒ Aditya-L1 Science Support Cell (AL1SSC) conducted a workshop from 27th June to 6th July 2022.
- The workshop was a joint effort of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and ARIES, Nainital, an autonomous institute under the Dept. of Science & Technology (DST), Govt of India.
- It was a part of the activities commemorating ‘75 years of India’s Independence: Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
- It covered talks and demo sessions on topics such as the sun, observation techniques, the Aditya-L1 mission, statistical & AI/ML techniques, and data analysis techniques by experts in solar physics from various institutes in India.
Key Points:
- The Aditya-L1 mission is India’s first dedicated spacecraft mission to study the Sun.
- It will enable a comprehensive understanding of the dynamical processes of the Sun and address some of the outstanding problems in solar physics and heliophysics.
- AL1SSC has been set up to act as a community service centre for the guest observers in preparing science observing proposals and analyzing science data.
- This support cell provides tools and documentations required to understand, download and analyse the data.
Union Steel Minister of India
⇒ Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia took charge as Union Steel Minister in addition to his existing portfolio of Minister of Civil Aviation at Udyog Bhawan on 07 July 2022.
Shri Scindia represents Madhya Pradesh as Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha and is Cabinet Minister for the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Steel. Shri Scindia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard University, USA and an MBA degree from the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, USA.
SVANidhi Mahotsav – a cultural festival for celebrating the success of PM SVANidhi Scheme
⇒ The Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri launched the SVANidhi Mahotsav – a cultural festival for celebrating the success of PM SVANidhi Scheme and SVANidhi Mahotsav website on 07 July 2022.
During the event, the Union Minister said that Street Vendors have been an essential part of India’s economic growth story with linkages with the formal economy and play a significant role in reducing cost of living, by providing goods and services at affordable rates.
Organized by:
The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) organised ‘SVANidhi Mahotsav’ from 09 July to 31 July, 2022 in 75 cities across 33 States/UTs of the country.
About Mahotsav:
The ‘SVANidhi Mahotsav’ was a cultural festival for celebrating the success of PM SVANidhi Scheme and the beneficiary street vendors & their families.
- The aim of the festival was to celebrate 75 years of India’s independence with these nano-entrepreneurs, honoring their journey under PM SVANidhi scheme for demonstrating credit discipline, digital behavior and displaying their astute business acumen.
The Mahotsav showcased a series of activities like:
- Cultural activities,
- Digital transaction training,
- Loan mela,
- Felicitation ceremony for distinguished street vendors,
- Experience Sharing,
- Nukkad nataks to propagate the features and benefits of the Scheme.
About PM SVANidhi:
- PM SVANidhi scheme was launched on June 1, 2020 to facilitate working capital loans to the street vendors to help them restart their businesses which were adversely impacted due to the lockdowns imposed during COVID-19 pandemic.
- This scheme is the first comprehensive effort for financial inclusion of the street vendors. Prior to this Scheme, street vendors were dependent on the informal credit channels paying high rates of interest.