Telangana Affairs
Hyderabad Open Rock Museum
The Union Minister of State for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh, inaugurated first Open Rock Museum in Hyderabad.
The museum displays about 35 different varieties of rocks from different parts of India.
Age of these rocks are ranging from 3.3 billion years to around 55 million years.
These rocks also represent deepest part of the Earth, that is up to 175 km of distance from Earths surface.
The Museum was inaugurated at the CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI).
Big Earth data have a strategic high ground in the era of knowledge economies. India has been fully exploiting this new frontier, by contributing to advancement of earth science.
Geosciences contribute significantly towards national priority and self-reliance in New India.
National and International Affairs
PMFME Scheme Recent Initiatives
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries recently launched six one district one product (ODOP) brands under the PMFME Scheme. PMFME is Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises.
Earlier the ministry had signed an agreement with NAFED. NAFED is National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited. Under the agreement ten brands of ODOP are to be selected.
The products come in unique packaging. They ensure longer shelf life. The brands are supported with separate investments to push their sale through e commerce platforms.
SAAR Launched By Smart Cities Mission
The Smart Cities Mission was the driving force for SAAR’s creation. SAAR will document the Smart Cities Mission’s projects as a part of the Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav festivities.
Highlights:
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is in charge of implementing SAAR.
The National Institute of Urban Affairs and other leading institutions in the country will join the ministry in implementing the project.
This contains 15 of the world’s best architectural schools.
The institutes will keep track of the mission’s preparation and implementation.
Students will be able to learn about urban development processes realistically due to this.
SAAR must first compile a list of 75 projects. The list includes projects that are both creative and cross-sectoral.
The project will capture the outcomes of the smart city mission and its impact on the lives of city residents.
Regulations on Waste Tyres Management
Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change shared the draft notification for regulations on extended producer responsibility (EPR) for waste tyres.
The regulation will be effective in the fiscal year 2022-23, if finalised.
Draft notification was shared in because, NGT data shows that India discards around 275,000 tyres each year, but there does not exist any comprehensive plan for them.
Furthermore, around 3 million waste tyres are imported for recycling.
Indias Non Fossil Fuel Milestone
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy recently announced that India has reached its non fossil fuel target much ahead of 2030.
At the COP21, India had pledged to install 40% of overall electric energy from non renewable sources. India aimed to achieve this target by 2030. But it has now achieved this well ahead in November 2021.
The total installed electric capacity of India is 392.01 GW. Of this, the total non fossil- fuel based energy is 157.32 GW. This is 40.1% of 392.01 GW to be precise.
India increased its investment in renewable energy programmes. According to REN21 Renewables 2020 Global Status Report, India made total investment of 64.6 billion USD in renewable energy sector. In 2019 alone, India invested 11.2 billion USD in the sector.
IEA on Indias Ethanol Consumption
As per recent research of International Energy Agency (IEA), India is on track to become worlds third-largest ethanol market by 2026.
India will only be left behind United States and Brazil by 2026, as it has accelerated the transition towards clean energy environment to become carbon neutral by 2070.
This research came after India increased ethanol use in between 2017-2021 by three-fold, to a projected 3 billion litres.
With this, India is set to overtake China as the worlds third-largest ethanol user by 2026.
According to IEA, India has made huge progress in expanding ethanol blending.
Blending was 2 per cent in 2017. By 2021, it had reached to 8 per cent. It thus brought India on target to attain 10 percent blending in 2022.
Ethanol is one of the principal biofuels. It is naturally produced by fermentation of sugars by yeasts or through petrochemical processes like ethylene hydration.