GOA
Non-biodegradable garbage bill passed
The state legislative assembly passed the Goa Non-Biodegradable Garbage (Control) (Amendment) Bill, 2021. As per the bill, cess will be levied at a rate not exceeding 2% of consideration received on outway supply of goods marketed in non-biodegradable packaging.
Environment minister Nilesh Cabral said that intention of the bill is to ensure that segregation of waste is undertaken before collection.
Cabral said that all types of plastic are defined.
He also said that the bill has been introduced with an aim to keep Goa clean.
INTERNATIONAL
Elon Musk’s SpaceX creates new world record; launches 143 satellites on single rocket
Elon Musk’s SpaceX created a new world record by launching 143 satellites on a single rocket.
SpaceX has beaten the Indian space agency ISRO’s record of deploying 104 satellites in a single launch in February 2017.
The launch vehicle for the SpaceX record-breaking flight was the Falcon 9 rocket.
The 143 satellites launched include commercial and government CubeSats, microsats and 10 Starlink satellites.
With these satellites, SpaceX aims to provide near-global broadband internet coverage all over the world by 2021.
SpaceX offered a very low price of 15,000 dollars per kilogram for each satellite to be delivered to a polar sun-synchronous orbit.
Europes Largest Solar Power Plant – Francisco Pizzaro
Spain and France signed an agreement to build a 590 MW solar power plant. This solar power plant will be the largest solar power plant in Europe. The agreement was signed by Iberdrola of Spain and Donone of France.
The construction cost of the solar power plant is 364 million US dollars. The solar power plant will be located in the province of Cáceres in western Spain.
The solar power plant will avoid emissions of 245,000 tons of carbon dioxide. It will power 375,000 people every year. The project will start power supply in 2022.
Spain is currently the busiest unsubsidized photovoltaic market in Europe. In 2020, Spain put into the production of 2.9 GW of solar energy. In 2019, Spain added 729 megawatts of solar power. Therefore, the increase in 2020 is four times the increase in 2019.
India has been increasing its solar power generation capacity. As of November 2020, India’s installed solar power capacity is 36.9 GW.
India has established 42 solar parks to provide land for promoters of solar power plants. India has set a goal of achieving 100 GW of solar power generation by 2022.
NATIONAL
ECI to Launch Digital Voter ID
The Election Commission of India (ECI) will launch the Electronic Election Photo ID (e-EPIC) program on the occasion of National Voters Day. By following the upcoming polls in five states of Kerala, Puducherry, Assam, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, a new digital card was launched.
The launched Identity card is the electronic version of the Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC). It is a non-editable secure portable document format (PDF) version.
The e-EPIC consists of a secure QR code as well as images and demographic information (including serial numbers and part numbers). This portable version can be downloaded on a mobile device or computer.
In addition to the physical or regular ID that can be stored digitally, this portable ID will also be activated.
The e-EPIC program will be launched in two phases.
PLI Scheme for Promotion of Domestic Manufacturing
Approval obtained under the PLI Scheme for Promotion of Domestic Manufacturing of key critical Key Starting Materials (KSMs)/Drug Intermediates and APIs.
The PLI scheme provides production-related incentives to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large amounts of investment, such as mobile phone manufacturing, specified electronic components, pharmaceuticals, food processing, solar photovoltaic manufacturing, medical equipment and other fields.
In the pharmaceutical field, the Department of Pharmaceutical has launched the PLI scheme, which aims to achieve self-sufficiency and reduce dependence on these critical Bulk Drugs – Key Starting Materials (KSMs)/Drug Intermediates and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) countries.
Rapid Assessment System for Feedback Process
The Government uses MEITY’s Rapid Assessment System (RAS) to process feedback on Covid vaccination.
“Rapid Assessment System (RAS)” is a platform developed by the National e-Governance Division, Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) to obtain feedback from vaccinated people.
The plan aims to improve citizens’ vaccination experience while ensuring compliance with all norms during vaccination process in all vaccination centers.
This feedback system will help the Government make the vaccination process more citizen-friendly.
RAS was developed for online instant feedback (online or offline through the counter) of online e-services provided by the Indian Government and State Governments.
The main goal of RAS is to continuously evaluate the quality of e-services through feedback under each e-governance project, and to re-adjust the process to achieve the target benefits.
The RAS interface prompts citizens to provide feedback on service quality immediately after obtaining government electronic services.
The analysis function of RAS can help the integration department to improve the system and provide better services.