News on Indian Economy
Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) minister Nitin Gadkari also informed about a project being carried out under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to manufacture ‘Cochlear implant’ equipment.
It could happen as early as next month, senior officials in the state government said. The terminal, built by the government at a cost of Rs 5.5 crore in 2009, will become the seventh civilian airport in Karnataka, though it will be used only for regional connectivity.
Indian Railways has planned to source about 1000 Mega Watt (MW) Solar Power and about 200 MW of wind power progressively by 2021-22 across Zonal Railways & Production Units. Of this, 500 Mega Watt (MW) solar plants are to be installed on the roof top of Railway buildings which will be used to meet non-traction loads at Railway Stations, etc. About 500 MW land based solar plants will be used to meet both traction & non-traction requirements.
Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the VGF amount sanctioned by the Cabinet’s panel on economic affairs will cover 60% of the Rs 9,265-crore project. The 1,656-km pipeline will connect Guwahati in Assam to major cities in the region such as Itanagar, Dimapur, Kohima, Imphal, Aizawl, Agartala, Shillong, Silchar, Numaligarh and Gangtok.
The proposed global grid plans to leverage solar power generated in one geography to feed the electricity demands of other nations. This comes against the backdrop of China’s attempts to co-opt countries into its ambitious One Belt One Road initiative, a programme to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure projects, including railways, ports and power grids, across Asia, Africa and Europe.
Kashmir will be connected to the rest of India through railway network by December next year as the government has set a fresh deadline for completion of the world’s highest railway bridge.
Railway Board has approved works for provision of Video Surveillance System covering 983 stations over Indian Railways under Nirbhaya funds, an official statement from Modi government confirmed.
NCPOR and Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), will jointly purchase an autonomous underwater vehicle — an unmanned, pre-programmed vehicle that can dive into the ocean and collect pictures and samples. Both NCPOR and NIOT are research institutions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
India’s first dedicated corridor for wild animals, this cave-like underpass connects two famous wildlife parks — Kanha and Pench — and could be vital for the long-term viability of tiger populations in the central Indian landscape
The decision of the Narendra Modi government to revamp the Railway Board (RB) and merge the existing eight services into one service, the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS), has been long overdue but came at the right time.
