current affairs : 15-feb-15

15-FEB-2015

Current Affairs

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TS to have first-ever photonics valley

Telangana State will soon have the first ever photonics valley in the world.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed on Saturday by IT Secretary, Haripreet Singh, and Los Angeles-based Photonic Corporation CEO Birendra Raj Dutt.

The Telangana government and the Photonic Corporation agreed to collaborate in setting up of an ecosystem to facilitate the institutionalization of all processes and concepts related to photonics.

It was also agreed to evolve, test and produce the next generation chips and products by using the technology of Silicon Photonics and compound semi-conductor photonics.


India’s forest cover increased by 5,871 sq km

A study conducted by the Forest Survey of India that was recently published points out that West Bengal’s forest cover has increased by 3,810 sq km, which is followed by Odisha where increase in forest cover has been 1,444 km and Kerala where the increase has been about 622 sq km.

Of the 5,871 sq km increase in the forest cover of India, West Bengal accounts for nearly 64 per cent of this rise, reveals the latest report of Forest Survey of India.

States from northeast like Nagaland, Arunanchal Pradesh, Tripura and Manipur, whose forest cover comprises over 75 percent of the State’s area, have shown a decrease in forest cover to the extent of 627 sq km.

The main reason for this is attributed to the biotic pressure and shifting cultivation in the region.


India’s Forest Cover – Contd.

In Andhra Pradesh, a State with 16.77 percent of its area covered by forest, there has been a decrease of 273 km of forest area.

While the forest cover has decreased by 176 sq km in Madhya Pradesh and 53 km in Chhattishgarh, it has increased by 496 sq km in Jharkhand and 446 sq km in Bihar.

The Satellite based remote sensing data that has been used for estimating the change in forest cover has shown that that there has been an increase of 31 sq km of ‘very dense’ forest cover compared to the last assessment carried two years ago.

It has also revealed that ‘moderately dense’ forest has decreased by 1,991 sq km while ‘open forests’ have increased by 7,891 sq km, putting the overall increase at 5,871 sq km.


Chhattisgarh government gets award for renewable power development

Chhattisgarh has won award for being one of the best-performing states in the renewable energy segment in India. Principal Secretary of Chhattisgarh’s Energy department, Aman Singh was presented this award by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the first Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet (RE-Invest) 2015 held in New Delhi.

The state was adjudged this award on the basis of criteria fixed by 13th Finance Commission headed by Vijay Kelkar

Currently, solar power is powering 600 primary health centre, 100 community health centre, 350 police stations, 1800 tribal hostels, 27 collectorates and 1,700 villages of the state.

In addition, various villages in Chhattisgarh are using 3,000 solar power pumps for drinking water and 1,500 for irrigation purpose.

State is generating 45 MW off grid solar power and 200 MW through rice husk.


293 firms commit to generate 266 GW renewable energy in 5 years

As many as 293 companies have committed to generate 266 GW of renewable energy in the next five years under the government’s ambitious RE-Invest programme unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

These companies have shown interest to set up renewable power plants in the country and some have assured to manufacture equipment as well.

Renewable energy companies including Suzlon and Gamesa have committed to manufacture equipment to help generate 11,000 mw and 7,500 mw of power respectively to be used in the non conventional energy side.

Country’s largest power producer NTPC has also said it would generate 10,000 mw of power through green sources in the next five years.

Among others are Welspun Energy with a target to generate 11,000 mw renewable energy, followed by ReNew Power 11,500 mw capacity, Reliance Power 6,000 mw, Hindustan Powerprojects 10,000 mw and Sun Edison 15,000 mw.

Country’s biggest lender SBI has said it will finance 15,000 mw renewable energy over the next five years


Iranian filmmaker Panahi wins Berlin’s Golden Bear prize

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s Taxi has won the top Golden Bear prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The grand jury prize, which comes with a runner-up Silver Bear, went to Chilean director Pablo Larrain for his movie The Club.

The best actor and best actress awards went to Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling, who play a couple in British director Andrew Haigh’s drama 45 Years.

The jury awarded two best director honours: to Romania’s Radu Jude for Aferim! and to Malgorzata Szumowska of Poland for Body.

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current affairs : 15-feb-15

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