Prashant Mavani, is an expert in current affairs analysis and holds a MSc in Management from University of Surrey (U.K.). Above all he is a passionate teacher.
Aims: To provide electricity to un-electrified households by March 2019. To provide subsidy on equipment like transformers, meters and wires. Budget: Rs 16000 crore No price will be charged for the poor to get an electricity connection. Compare Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana & Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana Saubhagya it hopes to improve electricity access within villages that are already classified as electrified, according to the criterion that 10% of households enjoy access to electricity. Universal access to electricity is a long-standing promise. 4 crore people of the country are yet to get electricity. India which used to face power shortage, is now a power surplus country. Mr Modi said, the installed power capacity has increased by 12 per cent during last three years and 60 thousand Mega Watt power has been added.
Modi has signalled he is serious. Require more than just budgetary fund, address structural issues. The real problem of affordability What about recurring burden of power bills Shoot-up supply; prices will fall down, making it more affordabe The power generation utilities remain vastly under-utilised. The plant load factor (PLF) of coal and lignite-based plants, an indicator of capacity utilisation of power generation units, has dropped consistently over the decade from 77.5% in 2009-10 to 59.88% in 2016-17, according to data from the Central Electricity Authority. Silent on illegal connections i.e. power theft
Demand side management is missing in our country. Efficiency: a) Bills down b) Less generation stress c) Less carbon Real success: no need of invertors/generators Distribution companies are suffering Freedom to sell at profitable prices Prepaid Meters 100% meter coverage If Discoms are doing well, then they will spread their horizon. UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) Financial Turnaround Operational improvement Reduction of cost of generation of power Development of Renewable Energy Energy efficiency & conservation
A. Ramaswami Mudaliar, then the Dewan of Mysore added prose to that poetry as he spoke on behalf of undivided India with the words, There is one great reality which all religions teach the dignity of the common man. June 1945, India s princely states sent a single representative to sign the Charter of the United Nations at the San Francisco conference. A word war Bitterly divided Indian and Pakistani delegations Reality was in short supply Of course, the India-Pakistan word-war was outdone by the U.S. and North Korea who sparred over Pyongyang s latest provocations.
Secretary General s list UN s 72nd General Assembly one of its most disappointing sessions UN s ineffectiveness on each of the issues confronting the world today spelt out by the Secretary General António Guterres in his speech on September 19 We are a world in pieces, we need to be a world at peace, World s seven biggest threats 1. nuclear peril 2. terrorism 3. unresolved conflicts 4. violations of international humanitarian law 5. climate change 6. growing inequality 7. cyber warfare and misuse of artificial intelligence, and human mobility, or refugees.
Sanctions UN s actions in response to North Korea s missiles and nuclear tests Past history points to the slim chances of success of this tack. Since 1966, the UN Security Council has established 26 sanctions regimes. Of which about half are still active. sanctions only squeezed the country s poor and not the top people Taliban regime in Afghanistan The truth is that sanctions do not work on rogue states; they only help isolate their populations from the world, which in turn tightens the regime s stranglehold on its people, and strengthens its resolve to disregard the UN.
Lacking guarantees The UN has done itself no favours by failing to censure NATO on violating its mandate only to the responsibility to protect (R2P) and not for regime change in Libya in 2011. Threat from the U.S. of walking out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (P5+1 agreement). Climate change agreement Threats to cancel funds etc Myanmar: former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to prepare a report on Rakhine state, post-democracy Myanmar has been able to carry out one of the region s most frightening massacres just days after the report was submitted. Impotent when it comes to the issue of terrorism UN s powerlessness to enforce even the basic strictures against terrorists it sanctions Hafiz Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Masood Azhar Increasing number of cyber-attacks, especially from non-state actors Such things further reduces the respect it is viewed with.
Each one first Mr. Guterres pointed out that eight men represent as much of the world s wealth as half of all humanity, will be a harder and harder task for the UN, where member countries speak only of putting themselves first. UN s first Secretary General, Trygve Lie, who ran an equally divided forum and finally resigned from his post in 1952 saying, The United Nations will not work effectively if it is used merely as forum for destructive propaganda. Neither will it work if it is used only as a convenience when national interests are directly involved, and regarded with indifference, or bypassed or opposed, when the general world interest is paramount.
All help, but no troops to Afghanistan India on Tuesday ruled out deploying troops in Afghanistan it pledged to expand development and medical assistance for the strife-torn nation. It was the first ministerial engagement India has already extended $3 billion aid to Afghanistan provides security assistance in the form of training also supplied some utility and attack helicopters Two leaders also resolved to eradicate terrorist safe havens across the globe Maritime engagements; increasing Chinese presence in the region Freedom of navigation, over-flight and unimpeded lawful commerce Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific Region
Centre forms group to work on plans for 5G roll-out by 2020 The government has formed a high-level panel to evaluate and approve road maps and action plan to achieve the target of rolling out 5G technology in India by 2020. The Centre has created a support fund of about Rs. 500 crore to facilitate research and development for 5G. We missed the opportunity to participate when the standards were being set for 3G and 4G, and don t want to miss the 5G opportunity. Now, when the standards are being set for 5G across the world, India will also participate in the process, Minister of State for Communications Manoj Sinha told reporters. As per the OECD Committee on Digital Economic Policy, it has been stated that 5G technologies roll-out will help in increasing GDP, creating employment and digitising the economy, Mr. Sinha added. The 5G 2020 forum will also aim to strengthen domestic telecommunication equipment manufacturing that is necessary for the technology, with the aim that local manufacturers should be able to capture 50% of the Indian market and 10% of the global market over the next five to seven years
U.S. nudges India-Afghanistan trade Intensifying trade links is at the top of the agenda as Afghanistan s Chief Executive, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, arrives in Delhi on Wednesday for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Dr. Abdullah, who will be accompanied by several ministers, is here to inaugurate an India-Afghanistan trade fair, sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development This is the biggest such event we have had so far, said a senior U.S. official. At about $684 million (2014-15), India- Afghan trade is far lower than its potential.
149 Indians in Sharjah jails to be released soon
Questions 1. Discuss difference between Strategic Partners and Allies. 2. Late Lakshman Madhav Rao was in news recently. He was famous in which state and for what? 3. Scorpene class submarine will be commissioned shortly. The Mazagaon Dock a state owned dock has produced it in collaboration with which country? a. USA b. Australia c. France d. Germany
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