National
NATRAX- the High Speed Track
⇒ Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Shri Prakash Javadekar inaugurated NATRAX- the High Speed Track (HST) in Indore on 29 June 2021.
About HST:
NATRAX, a world class High Speed Track of 11.3 km is developed in an area of 1000 acres of land. NATRAX is the Asia’s longest and world’s fifth longest High Speed Track for automobiles.
It is a one stop solution for all sorts of high speed performance tests for widest categories of vehicles from 2 wheelers to heavy tractor trailers.
Use:
High Speed Track is used for measuring the maximum speed capability of high-end cars like BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Tesla and so forth which cannot be measured on any of the Indian test tracks.
Enforcing Contracts Portal
⇒ On 28th June, 2021 an exclusive “Enforcing Contracts Portal” was inaugurated by Shri Barun Mitra, Secretary (Justice) at the Department of Justice, Delhi.
Aim:
The portal aims to promote ease of doing business and improve ‘Contract Enforcement Regime’ in country.
Significance:
The portal will be a comprehensive source of information pertaining to the legislative and policy reforms being undertaken on the “Enforcing Contracts” parameters.
The portal will provide easy access to latest information on commercial cases in Dedicated Commercial Courts of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata. The portal will also provide access to repository of commercial laws for ready reference.
Glacial Lake Atlas of Ganga Basin
⇒ The Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD & GR), Shri Pankaj Kumar released the Glacial Lake Atlas of Ganga Basin on 29 June 2021.
About Atlas:
The present glacial lake atlas is based on the inventoried glacial lakes in part of Ganga River basin from its origin to foothills of Himalayas covering a catchment area of 2,47,109 sq. km. The study portion of Ganga River basin covers part of India and transboundary region.
Use:
» The Glacial Lake Atlas to be used in carrying out climate change impact analysis and disaster mitigation planning.
» The atlas provides a comprehensive and systematic glacial lake database for Ganga River basin with size > 0.25 ha.
NHP-Bhuvan Portal:
During the event, the Secretary, Department of Space & Chairman, ISRO, Dr. K. Sivan also launched the ‘National Hydrology Project or NHP-Bhuvan Portal’ of National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC).
The NHP-Bhuvan Portal is a repository of information on the initiatives undertaken by NRSC under NHP with a facility to download the reports and knowledge products being developed by NRSC.
Atmanirbhar Krishi APP
⇒ The Office of Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India launched an Atmanirbhar Krishi APP.
The Atmanirbhar Krishi app has been created to equip farmers with actionable agricultural insights and early weather alerts.
About App:
Data related to soil type, soil health, moisture, weather, and water tablewere aggregated and analysed to generate personalized insights related to crop selection, fertilizers requirements, and water needs for each farmer at the farm-holding level.
In the App, data has been made comprehensible for farmers by simplifying the language. The app is also available in 12 languages.
India Smart Cities Awards for 2020
⇒ The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) organised an online event on 25 June 2021 to commemorate 6 years of the transformative Urban Missions- Smart Cities Mission.
During the online event of the 6th Anniversary of Smart Cities Mission, India Smart Cities awards for 2020 were declared by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
This year, Indore & Surat won the City Award jointly for their overall development and Uttar Pradesh won the State award.
Read More About India Smart Cities Awards Contest (ISAC) 2020
International
World's second-biggest hydroelectric dam in China
⇒ The Chinese government officially turned on the first two generating units of the world’s second-biggest hydroelectric dam in southwestern China. These two generating units are part of the Baihetan Dam on the Jinsha River, a tributary of the Yangtze.
About Dam:
The 289-meter-tall (954-foot-tall), Baihetan Dam is planned to have 16 generating units, with a capacity of 1 million kilowatts each. That will make it second in size after the Three Gorges Dam, opened in 2003 on the Yangtze, with 22.5 million kilowatts of generating capacity.
Built By:
Both the dams were built by the state-owned Three Gorges Group Corp., the world’s biggest investor in hydro, solar, and wind generation.