Telangana Affairs
Telangana State Mineral Development Corporation seeks forest land for quartz mining
Raising the hackles of green activists, the Telangana State Mineral Development Corporation (TSMDC) has sought 135 hectares of reserve forest land in Mahbubnagar district to mine quartz . The TSMDC is planning quartz mining in three locations in the dense scrub forest of the district.
The TSMDC filed three separate applications to the Union ministry of environment and forest seeking clearance for its proposal.
The corporation asked for diversion of 72 hectares of land in Ibrahimbad reserve forest in Mahbubnagar range. It also sought diversion of 25 hectares in Tirumalapally village in Hanwada mandal.
Environmentalist Devidas Manghnani said in the name of quartz mining, they are diverting huge land.
National and International Affairs
Implementation Strategy of BharatNet Project
The BharatNet Project’s implementation strategy has been revised.
Highlights:
The Cabinet approved the revised BharatNet implementation strategy through Public Private Partnership mode in 16 states across the country.
The programme will be expanded to include all inhabited villages outside of Gram Panchayats (GPs)
The revised strategy also includes the creation, upgrade, operation, maintenance, and utilisation of BharatNet by the concessionaire, who will be chosen through a competitive international bidding process.
The Cabinet has given in-principle approval to cover all inhabited villages in the remaining states/UTs of the country. The Department of Telecommunications will work out the details separately.
iLEAP Program AIM
The first fintech cohort of the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), AIM-iLEAP, has concluded.
About AIM iLEAP:
This programme under the Atal Innovation Mission gives AIM-backed start-ups access to industry, markets, and investors.
The fintech cohort was formed through a series of thematic virtual demo days organised by AIM in collaboration with Startup Rseau and Visa as part of the AIM-iLEAP (Innovative leadership for entrepreneurial agility and profitability) initiative.
The AIM-iLEAP programme invites technology start-ups from a wide range of functions to present their solutions to the corporate leadership and innovation team in order to enable market access and industry partnerships.
Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme
The Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme was approved by the Union Cabinet.
About the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme:
It is a reform-based and results-oriented scheme to improve the operational efficiencies and financial sustainability of all DISCOMs/Power Departments, with the exception of Private Sector DISCOMs.
The scheme envisages providing conditional financial assistance to DISCOM to strengthen the supply infrastructure.
Assistance will be based on meeting pre-qualification criteria and basic minimum benchmarks achieved by DISCOM. These will be evaluated according to an agreed evaluation framework related to financial improvement.
Rather than a “one-size-fits-all” approach, each state would develop its own action plan for implementing the scheme.
The scheme proposes to incorporate the ongoing schemes of IPDS, DDUGJY, and PMDP-2015 for the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The scheme will be available until 2025-26.
REC Limited and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) serve as nodal agencies for the scheme’s implementation.
The scheme focuses on improving farmers’ electricity supply and providing them with daytime electricity through solarization of agricultural feeders.
India Ranked 10th in Global Cybersecurity Index
India has been ranked as the tenth excellent country in the world in the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2020, launched by ITU (International Telecommunication Union). The GCI 2020 is the 4th edition of the annual index and ranked 194 countries. The GCI measures the dedication of countries to cybersecurity at a global level. Countries have been ranked on the foundation of overall performance on five parameters, which includes: legal measures, technical measures, organisational measures, capacity development, and cooperation.
Index:
India ranked at the tenth position, with 97.5 factors to rank amongst the top ten high-quality countries in the world.
The United States has topped the GCI 2020.
The United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia is tied in the second position
Estonia was ranked third in the index.