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March 7th 2019 PIB:-Download PDF Here
Dictionary of Martyrs of India’s Freedom Struggle (1857-1947)
Context:
The Prime Minister, released the Dictionary of Martyrs of India’s Freedom Struggle, at New Delhi
Background
The project for compilation of “Dictionary of Martyrs” of India’s Freedom Struggle was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of uprising of 1857.
Who are martyrs?
In this dictionary a martyr has been defined as a person who died or who was killed in action or in detention, or was awarded capital punishment while participating in the national movement for emancipation of India.
Who are all included in dictionary?
It includes the martyrs of 1857 Uprising, Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919), Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22), Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34), Quit India Movement (1942-44), Revolutionary Movements (1915-34), Kissan Movements, Tribal Movements, Agitation for Responsible Government in the Princely States (Prajamandal), Indian National Army (INA, 1943-45), Royal Indian Navy Upsurge (RIN, 1946), etc. Information of about 13,500 martyrs has been recorded in five volumes.
New series of visually impaired friendly coins.
Context:
The Prime Minister released the new series of visually impaired friendly circulation coins, In New Delhi.Rs.1, Rs.2, Rs.5, Rs.10 and Rs.20 are the various denominations of coins released as part of the new series.
Details:
It involved the National Institute of Design for the design, Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited and the Ministry of Finance for the introduction of new coins.
Various new features have been incorporated in the new series of circulation coins to make it more easy for the visually impaired to use them
The coins are characterized by the increasing size and weight from lower to higher denominations. The newly included coin of Rs. 20, will be a 12 sided coin with no serrations.
Measures to promote Hydro Power Sector.
Context:
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, has approved Measures to promote Hydro Power Sector.
Details:
Large Hydropower Projects to be declared as Renewable Energy source (as per existing practice, only hydropower projects less than 25MW are categorized as Renewable Energy).
Tariff rationalization measures including providing flexibility to the developers to determine tariff by back loading of tariff after increasing project life to 40 years, increasing debt repayment period to 18 years and introducing escalating tariff of 2%;
Budgetary support for funding flood moderation component of hydropower projects on case to case basis; and
Budgetary support for funding cost of enabling infrastructure i.e. roads and bridges on case to case basis as per actual, limited to Rs. 1.5 crore per MW for upto 200 MW projects and Rs. 1.0 crore per MW for above 200 MW projects.
Background:
India is endowed with large hydropower potential of 1,45,320 MW of which only about 45,400 MW has been utilized so far. Only about 10,000 MW of hydropower has been added in the last 10 years.
The hydropower sector is currently going through a challenging phase and the share of hydropower in the total capacity has declined from 50.36% in the 1960s to around 13% in 2018-19.
Mobility Solutions get a boost.
Context:
National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage approved by Cabinet Mission to promote Clean, Connected, Shared and Holistic Mobility Initiatives Phased Manufacturing Programmes to be launched for batteries and electric vehicle components.
Details:
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister has approved:
Setting up of a National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage, to drive clean, connected, shared, sustainable and holistic mobility initiatives;
Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) valid for 5 years till 2024 to support setting up of a few large-scale, export-competitive integrated batteries and cell-manufacturing Giga plants in India.
Creation of a PMP valid for 5 years till 2024 to localize production across the entire Electric Vehicles value chain.
About National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Storage:
Composition:
The multi-disciplinary “National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage” with an Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee will be chaired by CEO NITI Aayog.
The Steering Committee will be comprised of Secretaries from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Heavy Industry, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, and Director General, Bureau of Industrial Standards.
Role:
The Mission will recommend and drive the strategies for transformative mobility and Phased Manufacturing Programmes for EVs, EV Components and Batteries.
A Phased Manufacturing Program (PMP) will be launched to localize production across the entire EV value chain. The National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage will determine the contours of PMP, and will finalise the details of such a program.
The details of the value addition that can be achieved with each phase of localisation will be finalised by the Mission with a clear Make in India strategy for the electric vehicle components as well as battery.
The Mission will coordinate with key stakeholders in Ministries/ Departments and the states to integrate various initiatives to transform mobility in India.
Impact:
The Mission will drive mobility solutions that will bring in significant benefits to the industry, economy and country.
These solutions will help improve air quality in cities along with reducing India’s oil import dependence and enhance the uptake of renewable energy and storage solutions.
The Mission will lay down the strategy and roadmap which will enable India to leverage upon its size and scale to develop a competitive domestic manufacturing ecosystem for electric mobility.
The actions in this regard will benefit all citizens as the aim is to promote ‘Ease of Living’ and enhance the quality of life of our citizens and also provide employment opportunities through ‘Make-in-India’ across a range of skillsets.
Largest interactive online exhibition on inventions and discoveries
Context:
National Council of Science Museums of Culture Ministry collaborates with Google Arts & Culture for largest interactive online exhibition on inventions and discoveries.
Details:
Once Upon a Try’: Epic journeys of invention and discovery – the largest online exhibition about inventions and discoveries ever curated, as an attempt to explore humanity’s greatest inventions and discoveries in an interactive online exhibition.
The online exhibition was launched yesterday and contains collections, stories and knowledge from over 110 renowned institutions from across 23 countries, highlighting millennia of major breakthroughs and the great minds behind them.
Everybody can now explore more than 400 interactive exhibitions that pay tribute to humanity’s greatest leaps in science and technology, and the visionaries that shaped our world, as well as tales of epic fails and happy accidents.
National Council of Science Museums contributes six interactive stories that share some key insights into the long and glorious Science and Technology Heritage of India. India’s historical contributions to the field are considerable but not well known.
Six stories:
Historic Beginnings: The Indus Valley Civilization
Ayurveda: Indian Contributions to Medicine
Susruta Samhita: Ancient Indian Surgical Knowledge
Rasashala: Ancient Indian Alchemical Lab
Itr: Ancient Indian Knowledge of Perfumery
Musical Instruments from the Indian Subcontinent.
National Council of Science Museums (NCSM):
A premiere institution in the field of science communication, is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Headquarters in Kolkata
Primarily engaged in popularizing Science and Technology through a network of science centres, Mobile Science Exhibitions (MSE) units that visit rural schools and plethora of activities for public and students in particular.
Nari Shakti Puraskar, 2018
Context:
President of India, present the Nari ShaktiPuraskar 2018, the highest civilian honour for women in India on International Women’s Day.
Details:
To acknowledge women’s achievements, the Ministry of Women and Child Development confers Nari Shakti Puraskaron women and institutions in recognition of their relentless service towards the cause of women empowerment and social welfare.
This year, 44 awardees have been selected for these Puraskar, out of around a thousand nominations received by the Ministry.
Awardees are scientists, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, social workers, farmers, artists, masons, woman marine pilot, woman commando trainer, journalists and film-makers and many others, who have faced their own unique challenges, but have not been deterred from achieving their dreams. The awardees have contributed in their unique ways to the society, impacting lives of people and are role models and inspirations to many others.
Read previous Best of PIB here.
March 7th 2019 PIB:-Download PDF Here
Also Read:
| NITI Aayog |
| National AYUSH Mission |
| Quit India Movement |
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