02 August 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

Read the daily PIB update and stay up-to-date on current affairs for the UPSC exam

SAATHI Initiative Launched

• Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Power have joined hands under the initiative SAATHI(Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help Small Industries) in order to sustain and accelerate the adoption of energy efficient textile technologies in the power loom sector and cost savings due to use of such technology.
• Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a Public Sector entity under the administrative control of Ministry of Power, will replace old inefficient electric motors with energy efficient IE3 motors which will result in energy and cost saving up to 10-15% in the first phase.
• The use of these efficient equipments will result in energy savings and cost savings to the unit owners at no upfront cost. Power loom clusters at Ichalkaranji, Bhiwandi, Erode, Surat, Bhilwara and Panipat have been identified for pilot study.

Integrate to Innovate Programme for energy Startups

Invest India has joined hands with energy sector companies to offer a unique lab-to-market opportunity for Indian startups through the Integrate to Innovate Programme.

Integrate to Innovate is a 3-month corporate acceleration programme for energy startups housed at the corporate premises.

Specific areas of interest for the Integrate to Innovate programme include:

Household

• Home Automation
• E-commerce marketplaces for smart home products and installer/support services
• Rooftop solar & home energy storage

Transport

• EV and EV infrastructure
• Gas powered trucks

Farm

• Waste to Value

Infrastructure

• Renewables
• Grid and micro-grids
• Storage battery
• Sensors, drones, data analytics, workforce mobility
• Cyber security

Utility

• Metering, Billing & Customer analytics
• Demand response & distributed energy resource management systems
• Transactive energy, blockchain based energy trading and energy marketplaces

Building

• Energy efficiency and cooling
• B2B e-markets
• Automation efficiency
• Predictive asset management (IoT and AI)

Investors’ Conference for the Holistic Development of Islands

• The Conference will attract investments for the development of eco-tourism on PPP basis in Andaman & Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Islands.
• The 11 anchor tourism projects are proposed to be implemented with private sector participation under suitable risk-sharing model and through open-competitive bidding.
• NITI Aayog, along with the respective UT Administration is organizing an Investors’ Conference on 10^thAugust, 2018, with stakeholders.

About the Holistic Development of Islands & Investors’ Conference

• Sustainable development of islands and overall maritime development has been accorded high priority by the Government. Island Development Agency (IDA) an apex body, under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Home Minister, was constituted in June 2017, while NITI Aayog has been mandated to steer the Holistic Development of Islands program, along with the respective UT administration/ State Governments. Under the said program in the first phase 10 Islands in Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep have been taken up for holistic development.
• The IDA has reviewed 11 anchor tourism projects (6 in Andaman & Nicobar and 5 in Lakshadweep) and several other infrastructure projects, inter-alia,Ro-Ro ferry services, desalination plants, digital connectivity, green energy, for implementation in the first phase for holistic development of these islands.
• For enhanced connectivity, airport at Diglipur shall be made operational for civilian aircrafts by December 2018, while Agatti airport is being expanded and in-principle clearance has been accorded for Greenfield airport at Minicoy.
• The said anchor tourism projects have been identified on Government owned land in Smith, Aves, Long, Neil & Little Andaman Islands of Andaman & Nicobar, and in Kadmat, Suheli & Minicoy islands of Lakshadweep.
• Out of these 11 projects, 7 (4 in Andaman & Nicobar and 3 in Lakshadweep) are in “Ready to Launch” stage. Detailed land survey & demarcation of project sites, carrying capacity assessment of the project islands, CRZ application and pre-feasibility study have been undertaken.

To ace UPSC current affairs section, read more PIB articles here.

Also See: