Current Affairs 22nd November 2017

Current Affairs 22nd November 2017 - Important Points

• Nagaland, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu sign MoU under UDAY Scheme on - 20th November 2017
• International Seminar on Indian Space Programme inaugurated in Delhi on - 20th November 2017
• India signs USD 100 million loan agreement with World Bank for Solar Parks Project on - 20th November 2017

Current Affairs 22nd November 2017 - Details

Nagaland, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu sign MoU under UDAY Scheme on - 20th November 2017

The Union Government on 20th November 2017 signed 4 Memorandum of Understanding respectively with the State of Nagaland and Union Territories Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu under UDAY Scheme for operational developments.
With the endorsement of these 4 four MoUs, a sum of 27 states and 4 Union Territories have now joined the UDAY Scheme. The agreements were endorsed on the occasion of the 2nd anniversary of Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana-UDAY.

Key Highlights-

• These 4 State and UTs joined the UDAY Scheme just for operational developments and will not undergo financial restructuring under the scheme.
• By joining the scheme, Nagaland will enjoy an overall benefit of Rs 551 crores, Andaman & Nicobar will get Rs 18 crores, Dadra & Nagar Haveli will be profited by Rs 13 crores and Daman & Diu will get Rs 10 crores.
• These states and UTs will be gained through cheaper funds, reduction in AT&C and Transmission losses, interventions in energy efficiency during the time period of turnaround.
• AT&C mislaying and transmission mislaying will come down through consumer indexing & GIS mapping of losses, compulsory distribution of transformer metering, upgrading transformers and smart metering.
• The Union Government will also give incentives to the State and UTs for upgrading power infrastructure and for further decreasing the cost of power.
• The ultimate gain will be enjoyed by the citizens of these state/UTs as the decreased levels of AT&C losses will mean lesser price per unit of electricity to consumers.

 International Seminar on Indian Space Programme inaugurated in Delhi on - 20th November 2017

The International Seminar on Indian Space Programme: ‘Trends and Opportunities for Industry’ was initiated in New Delhi on 20th November 2017.
The seminar was organized by Indian Space Research Organization, the commercial arm of ISRO- Antrix Corporation Limited in coordination with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Main Objective-
The objective of the 2-day conference was to:

• Deliberate on the supreme practices.
• Pursue ongoing discussion process to boost further work of India's Space Sector.
  Ease arriving at a rational framework where in India's Space Sector can start enlarging the domestic and global opportunities through magnified partnerships and collaborations.
  The seminar mainly focuses to highlight the achievements and crucial milestones of Indian Space Sector in recent past and the future programs and schemes.
  It also gave a platform to stakeholders from industry, policy makers, thought leaders and academia to brainstorm on the qualified and encouraging policies of the Union Government to utilize the commercial space segment by Indian Industry focusing both domestic and international market.

Other Important details-

• The seminar incorporated sessions on Space Industry Ecosystem: Role and Opportunities for Industry, Capacity building and talent management, Leveraging Public-Private Partnership for
• Indian Space Programs and panel discussion on role of industry in Indian Space Program
• It witnessed participation from renowned speakers including M Annadurai, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre (Bangalore), SK Sivan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, P. Kunhikrishnan, Director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, P G Diwakar, Scientific Secretary, ISRO and Tapan Mishra, Director, Space Applications Centre.
• The conference facilitated gain latest knowledge on the key thrust areas of Indian Space sector.
• It also gave access to latest current and future outlook of space sector and 1st hand information on the latest developments, innovations and technologies in the space sector.

 
India signs USD 100 million loan agreement with World Bank for Solar Parks Project on - 20th November 2017

India on 20th November 2017 endorsed USD 100 million loan agreement with the World Bank for Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks Projects.
The USD 100 million loan agreement contains a IBRD Guarantee Agreement of USD 98 million and a Grant Agreement of USD 2 million.
The project agreement was endorsed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, and by Hisham A Abdo, Acting Country Director of World Bank India.
While, the Loan Agreement was endorsed by K S Popli, Chairman and Managing Director of India Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. and Hisham A Abdo, Acting Country Director of World Bank India.

Key Highlights-

• This project is composed of two components- Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks with an expected total project cost of USD 100 million and the Technical Assistance of USD 2 million in CTF approval.
• The aim of the project is to enlarge solar generation capacity through establishment of large-scale parks in the Nation.
• The project will  be assisting to establish large-scale solar parks and will help the Union Government plans to install 100 Giga-watts of solar energy, out of the total renewable power target of 175 GW by year 2022.