ASSAM

Assam fire: MB Lal Committee recommendations not implemented for a decade

The recent massive fire at the Baghjan Oil field, Assam had caused serious environmental damages and led to migration of 1000s of people in the region.

The Government of India has taken several measures to address the issues of such oil field fires.

In 2009 GoI constituted the M B Lal Committee following the fire accident at the IOCL terminal in Jaipur.

The Committee had made 118 recommendations in regards to the safety guidelines to be followed by the oil companies while installing oil wells.

INTERNATIONAL

World Wind Day :15th June

Global Wind Day is a worldwide event that occurs annually on 15 June.

The event is celebrated to spread awareness about wind energy, the various uses of wind energy, and the ways and possibilities as to how wind energy can help change the world.

EWEA established the day as Wind Day in the year 2007 and later in 2009, EWEA (European Wind Energy Association) and GWEC (Global Wind Energy Council) teamed up with aims to coordinate the events globally and the name was changed to World Wind Day.

Global Wind Day began in Europe in 2007 and globally in 2009.

NATIONAL

CIMAP announces photography competition on medicinal and aromatic plants

In an effort to create awareness about the usefulness of Medicinal and aromatic plants, the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic plants (CIMAP) has announced a photography competition on medicinal and aromatic plants.

Through this competition, CIMAP also wants to convey the message of conservation of these medicinal plants.

The theme of the competition is ‘Know your Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs)’.

Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) is a research institute of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

It is located in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Centre distributed assistive aids and devices to divyangjan under ADIP Scheme

Government of India has taken special measures to benefit the welfare scheme for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) amidst the prevailing unprecedented situation faced by the society due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Virtual Assistance to Disabled Persons (ADIP) Scheme for free distribution of assistive aids and devices at Block level for Divyangjans under the ADIP scheme was organized at Talwandi Bhai Block of Firozpur district in Punjab.

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has announced that the Virtual ADIP Camps will be organized nationwide for distribution of aids & assistive devices to Divyangjan during the pandemic.

Under the Ministry, several schemes have been initiated to provide financial assistance and scholarships to Divyangjan students to pursue their education to become self-reliant.

Centre also invited Divyangjan and their family members to get enrolled for Unique ID Cards for Divyangjan which are valid all over India.

31 Lakhs Unique ID Cards have been delivered to Divyangjan so far.

Centre launched online delivery-based gas trading platform, Indian Gas Exchange

The Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan launched the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX).

It will be the first nationwide online delivery-based gas trading platform.

IGX will act as a delivery-based trading platform to deliver natural gas.

The launch of IGX aims to help the nation move towards free-market pricing of natural gas

It is incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), India’s energy market platform.

IGX will enable market participants to trade in standardized gas contracts.

The fully automated platform is a web-based interface and it provides seamless trading experience to the customers.

IGX is expected to play a bigger role in realizing a free market for gas.

IGX, India’s vision on mega investments on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals, gas pipelines, City-gas distribution (CGD) infrastructure, and permission for market-driven price mechanism will be materialized.

India joined GPAI to support the responsible and human-centric development and use of AI

India has joined as a founding member and launched the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI or Gee-Pay). Under this move, India has joined along with the league of leading economies including Australia, the US, the UK, European Union (EU), Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Korea, Singapore.

Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI):

GPAI initiative aims to guide the responsible development and use of AI across the world.

The first of its kind initiative aims to evolve a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities around AI using the experience and diversity of participating countries.

The main objective of the initiative is to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.

They will evolve new methodologies through which AI can be leveraged to better respond to the present global crisis around COVID-19 pandemic.

APSC Notes brings Prelims and Mains programs for APSC Prelims and APSC Mains Exam preparation. Various Programs initiated by APSC Notes are as follows:-

For any doubt, Just leave us a Chat or Fill us a querry