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• The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest report states that India is expected to add 145 Gigawatts (GW) of Renewable Energy (RE) capacity in the next five years (2022–27) with solar energy accounting for 75%.
• This addition is aided by consistent policy support and
competitive auctions implemented to achieve the ambitious target of 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030.
• Solar Photovoltaic (PV) accounts for three-quarters of this growth, followed by onshore wind with 15%, and hydropower providing almost all the rest.
• RE will comprise 90% of global electricity capacity expansion by 2027 and much of it will be in India, China, the European Union (EU) and the United States (US).
PNB Housing Finance Limited (PNB Housing), a Housing Finance Company(HFC) introduced a low-cost home loan programme namely ‘Roshni’ enabling individuals from Tier 1 & Tier 2 cities to apply for loan ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 30 lakh. Through this scheme PNB HFC is committed towards the ‘Housing for All’ mission of the Central Government.
•This launch is in line with PNB HFC’s long-term goal of enabling and assisting an individual to purchase a home.
•Recently, the Company opened branch offices focused on Roshni in the following cities:
•Chennai, Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad (Telangana), Indore/ Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh), Rajkot (Gujarat), and Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune in Maharashtra.
• The program offers a variety of loans for self-building, home expansions and renovations, plot purchases combined with construction, loans against property, and the purchase of property investment.
• Loan applicants eligible for this are first-time credit borrowers, self-employed without a professional role and salaried from a low-income group with a family income as low as Rs. 10,000 to middle-income group category.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $250 million policy-based loan to strengthen the Logistics Sector in India. This funding will support the Indian Government’s reforms to strengthen and modernize it’s logistics infrastructure, improve efficiency, reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission, and lowering cost in the logistics sector.
• The loan will finance the first subprogram of the Strengthening Multimodal and Integrated Logistics Ecosystem (SMILE), which supports the Indian government’s efforts to create a comprehensive policy, planning, and institutional framework at the federal, state, and city levels for multimodal logistics projects (MMLPs).
• It will also strengthen supply chains by simplifying external trade logistics and domestic cargo movements, modernizing warehouses, improving business processes with integrated digital platforms, and private investments.
• The subprogram also supports the India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s initiatives to issue
standards for warehousing, which would encourage operational efficiency and private sector investment
Meghalaya received an award for ‘Best Practice in Tuberculosis (TB) Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilization(ACSM)’ at the National Workshop on ACSM to end TB in India, held in New Delhi, Delhi from 7th to 8th December 2022. The award was given to recognise the effort by the Meghalaya Government for initiating ‘Jan Andolan’ (people’s movement) or ‘TB Mukt Bharat campaign’ against Tuberculosis.
The award was presented to representatives of the State Health Department.
•According to TB reports from the pre-epidemic phase, Meghalaya had the highest number of TB cases in 2021, with 4,189.
•In the first quarter of 2022, 1,075 patients were admitted for treatment against the disease.
• A National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination (2017-2025) has also been launched reorienting the programme’s focus to ensure greater community engagement.
• ‘Jan Andolan’ aims to raise awareness, eliminate stigma, and enhance demand for services across Meghalaya.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has developed and launched a designated portal for the Restoration and Repatriation of children – GHAR – GO Home and Re-Unite. It has been developed to digitally monitor and track the restoration and repatriation of children according to the protocol.
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development administers the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act, 2015)(as amended in 2021) and Rules thereunder to ensure children’s safety, security, dignity, and well-being.
• The JJ Act of 2015 protects children in need of care and protection, and those in conflict with the law, by meeting their basic needs through care, protection, development, treatment, and social reintegration.
• District Magistrates (DMs)have been appointed as the heads of District Child Protection Units (DCPUs) to ensure effective coordination in child safety, protection, and development. DMs have been given the authority to conduct regular reviews of the functions of DCPUs and CWCs to ensure that timely decisions are made in accordance with the provisions of the JJ Act and Rules, with the best interests of children in mind.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted a joint hypersonic vehicle trial along with the Headquarters of Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS). The trial matched the predetermined targets and achieved all required parameters and demonstrated hypersonic vehicle capability.
•A hypersonic vehicle can be an airplane, missile, or spacecraft that has the ability to travel five times faster than the speed of sound, or greater than Mach 5.
•It is regarded as cutting-edge technology, and countries like China, India, Russia, and the United States of America(USA) have been trying to further
enhance the ability of their hypersonic weapons.
• ISRO has been developing hypersonic missiles in collaboration with Russia.
CELLINK, the global leader in developing 3D bioprinters and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) inaugurated India’s 1st 3D bioprinting Centre of Excellence (CoE) in the Centre for BioSystems Science and Engineering (BSSE) at IISc’s Bengaluru campus, Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• The CoE was inaugurated by Dr Ashwath Narayan C N, Minister of Electronics, Information Technology- Biotechnology, Science and Technology, Government of Karnataka; Prof Govindan Rangarajan, the Director of IISc; and Tomoko Bylund, CELLINK’s Head of Sales – Asia-Pacific (APAC).
• The CoE will provide researchers with access to 3D bioprinting systems, allowing them to accelerate their work across critical applications and ultimately improve health outcomes.
• It will store several cutting-edge CELLINK 3D bioprinters
• CoE will also contribute towards exploring new pathways in 3D bioprinting research and technology development
United Nations(UN)’s Human Rights Day(International Human Rights Day or World Human Rights Day) is annually observed across the globe on 10th December to create awareness and mobilize political will to promote respect for rights and freedoms.
•The observance commemorates the anniversary of the day on which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted in 1948.
The UDHR enshrines the rights of all human beings.
•The theme of Human Rights Day 2022 is “Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All”.
•The United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/423 (V) on 4th December 1950 proclaiming the 10th December of every year as Human Rights Day.
•The formal inception of Human Rights Day dates from 1950. The first UN Human Rights Day was observed on 10th December 1950.