Telangana Affairs
Telangana has 9,000 RTI pleas pending, ranks 10th in country
In terms of of disposal rate ofRTIpleas,Telanganaranks 10th among states with 8,902 pleas pending with thestate information commission(SIC) as of June 2022, according to the Report Card of Information Commissions in India (RCICI) published by SatarkNagrik Sangathan(SNS) in December last year. Since August 2022, the SIC has been functioning without a chief commissioner.
Between July 2021 to June 2022, a total of 7,169 complaints and appeals were registered in Telangana and 9,267 were settled, including those pending from the previous years. The average annual disposal rate per commissioner stands at 1,545, placing the state at 11th rank.
The state also lags when it comes to issuing showcase notices and imposing penalties on departments. The state recorded 52 cases where a penalty of 2 lakh was imposed, but gave compensation of 6,000 in only one case to the RTI applicant. The RCICI report also said that the SIC failed to publish even a single annual report since it was established in 2017.
Around 86% of the RTIs filed in the state are by social workers and journalists. But RTI activists said that over the years certain departments have stopped bothering to reply to queries.
National and International Affairs
CERC approves proposal to start new market segment for ‘expensive’ power
India’s power regulator has approved a proposal to start a separate spot market segment for ‘expensive’ power, according to an order handed down to the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), with record demand levels expected this summer.
The approval from the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), given to the country’s largest spot power market, is for electricity derived from costlier sources of imported coal and gas, as well as battery storage.
Other power plants operating on low-cost fuel will not be allowed to sell electricity on the new market segment, according to the order, a move seen as ensuring increased electricity availability.
The power regulator fixed a ceiling of 50 rupees ($0.6042) per unit of electricity (kWh), according to the order.
Most of the plants based on costlier fuel operate at low capacity for lack of buyers. However, until last year states purchased electricity at 20 rupees per unit to meet high demand during summer months and crop sowing seasons.
India top country in AI skill penetration globally: Nasscom report
India currently ranks first in terms of AI skill penetration and AI talent concentration and fifth in AI scientific publications, aNasscomreport said.
India’s ‘AI Skills Penetration Factor’ has been reported to be 3.09 — the highest among all G20 and OECD countries.
It shows that India’s tech talent is 3X more likely to have or report AI skills than other countries, according to the report by the National Association of Software and ServicesCompanies(Nasscom) in partnership with Salesforce and Draup.
India is also expected to witness high growth in the demand for data science and AI professionals with an estimate of more than 1 million professionals by 2024.
More than 1,900 AI-focused startups are providing innovative solutions, primarily in the areas of conversational AI, NLP, video analytics, disease detection, fraud prevention and deep fakes detection.
Astronomers detect radio signal from atomic hydrogen in distant galaxy
Astronomersfrom McGill University in Canada and theIndian Institute of Science(IISc) in Bengaluru have used data from the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in Pune to detect a radio signal originating fromatomic hydrogenin an extremely distant galaxy.
The astronomical distance over which the signal was picked up is so far the farthest. This is also the first confirmed detection of strong lensing of 21 cm emission from a galaxy.
Israel approves law to strip Arab attackers of citizenship
Israel’s parliament overwhelmingly approved a law to strip Arabs convicted in nationalistic attacks of their Israeli citizenship or residency and deport them if they have accepted stipends from the Palestinian Authority.
The decision, which could potentially affect hundreds of Palestinian citizens and residents of Israel, was condemned as racist by Arab lawmakers as well as Palestinian officials in the occupied West Bank.
The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority has long provided stipends to the families of Palestinians killed or imprisoned for attacks on Israelis.
Prisoners are widely seen as heroes in Palestinian society, and the PA considers these payments as a form of welfare to needy families. But Israel says they reward violence and serve as an incentive for others to carry out attacks.