National
Public Systems Lab (PSL) at IIT Delhi
⇒ Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textile Shri Piyush Goyal inaugurated Public Systems Lab (PSL) at IIT Delhi.
» The Minister said, “Public systems lab can play a vital role in multiple ways. Public food procurement and distribution are crucial programmes in which this innovation can contribute immensely”.
- “Public Systems lab is a perfect example of innovation that will contribute towards the development of our nation and rid the country of corruption by bringing in efficiency in the Public Distribution System”.
Key Points:
- The launch of Public Systems lab (PSL) will greatly impact citizens, and deliver significant benefits for academia and other stakeholders.
- The lab will use knowledge of Operations Research, AI, Data Science etc to solve critical problems that are vital for improving the lives of crores of people.
- It will work in the field of Food, Health, Transportation & Good Governance. The current focus is optimising Food Supply Chains and Public Transport.
Guinness World Record of World’s ‘Largest Human Image of a Waving National Flag’
⇒ Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched “Har Ghar Tiranga” campaign to encourage people to bring the Tiranga home and hoist it to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence.
Guinness World Record:
» Guinness World Record of World’s ‘Largest Human Image of a Waving National Flag’ in Cricket Stadium, Sector 16, Chandigarh with the participation of 5,885 people have been created during the campaign.
- The event was organised by the NID Foundation and Chandigarh University to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
» Also, to mark the celebrations under ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign as a part of ongoing ‘Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav’:
- The District Administration Srinagar established a national record by displaying 1850-metre long National Flag at Bakshi Stadium to celebrate 75 years of Independence.
The commemoration of 75 years of independence started on 12th March 2021 as a 75-week countdown to 15th August, 2022 and will continue till 15 August, 2023.
HPCL launches its first HaPpyShop in Delhi retail market
⇒ Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. unveiled its branded store “Happy Shop” in the National Capital on 17 August 2022.
- The store was inaugurated at Servicircle outlet, Mathura Road by HPCL’s Chairman and Managing Director, Shri Pushp Kumar Joshi.
In pursuit of enhancing customer experience on a continuous basis, HPCL is ever expanding the bouquet of services being offered to its esteemed customers. “Happy Shop” is the latest offering in this series, which marks its push into non-fuel retailing in a big way.
Key Points:
- The store will stock home utility products including food, toiletries, healthcare products, bakery products, groceries, vegetables and more – available to customers at competitive prices.
- It is also equipped with advanced digital technology to give a seamless shopping experience to the customers.
- Along with the experience of physical store, it has the option of online shopping with a door delivery model.
- Customers will be able to browse & shop the merchandise on HPCL’s “HP Pay App” and have goods delivered to their homes. The services will be available 24X7.
» The company decided to set up its own chain of multi-channel retail stores late last year and at present, 10 “Happy Shops” are running in cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Coimbatore.
Coal Minister’s Awards for 2021-22 in Different Categories
⇒ Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi addressed the function to confer coal minister’s awards for 2021-22 on 18 August 2022.
Started last year, the purpose of the Awards was to not only appreciate and acknowledge the best performers among CIL’s coal producing companies, but also to create a congenial and competitive spirit to outperform each other.
Category of Awards:
- The first ever awards of last year were in three categories of safety; production & productivity; sustainability.
- This year two new additional categories of quality and ERP implementation have been added.
- In another upshot, General Managers of best performing areas are also acknowledged and awarded this year in four subcategories.
Award Winners:
- Of the awards in five categories Mahanadi Coal Fields Ltd (MCL) bagged the first prize in three categories namely safety, production & productivity and quality.
- While the first prize in sustainability category went to Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) bagged first prize in implementation of ERP.
International
10th Asian Textiles Conference TEXCON
⇒ Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal delivered the Keynote address at the 10th Asian Textiles Conference TEXCON on 17 August 2022 in New Delhi.
Theme:
The theme of the 10th Asian Textiles Conference TEXCON was ‘Reimagining the Textile and Apparel Industry for the next Decade’.
» Shri Goyal said that innovation is going to be the defining feature in India’s march towards becoming a Developed Nation.
- He highlighted the role of innovation across all value chains in the Textile sector and also urged the Textile sector to focus on recycling and digitization.
- Complementing Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, CITI, for bringing together all stakeholders of the Textiles value chain on one platform, the Minister said that the theme is very appropriate, specially with Indian textile exports aiming to reach the target of $100 billion by 2030.
MoU:
CITI and Egyptian Cotton also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in the presence of the Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal. Both the industry bodies will work together for mutual benefits.
Other Points:
- The share of textile, apparel and handicrafts in India’s total exports was 10.62 per cent in 2021-22.
- In addition to being the largest producer of cotton and jute, India is the second largest producer of silk.
- The technical textiles segment too has an estimated 9-11 per cent share in the global market.
Important Day
28th Foundation Day of NCTE
⇒ National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) on 17 August 2022 celebrated its 28th Foundation Day in New Delhi.
The National Council for Teacher Education as a statutory body came into existence in pursuance of the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993 (No. 73 of 1993) on the 17th August,1995.