JANUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-8)

• Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy have announced that India’s grid-connected solar power generation capacity has crossed the 5,000 MW mark. Top grid-connected states are Rajasthan (1,264.35 MW), Gujarat (1,024.15 MW), Madhya Pradesh (678.58 MW). Presently, Government has set an ambitious plan to achieve 175 GW of power generation capacity from renewable sources by 2022. It includes 100 GW from solar and 60 GW from wind. Under the National Solar Mission, Union Government increased the solar power generation capacity addition target by five times from 20,000 MW to 100000 MW by 2022.
• Union Government has signed a loan agreement with World Bank for the Neeranchal National Watershed Project to improve watershed management in rural rain fed areas. The loan credit will support the watershed activities of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) in selected sites in 9 states. These states are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unveiled the ‘Start-up India, Stand-up India’ action plan in New Delhi to boost startup ventures in the country. Start-up profits to be tax-free for 3 years and also no labour inspections for 3 years of launch of the venture. Compliance regime will be based on self-certification for labour and environmental laws. Government will create Rs. 10,000 crore corpus fund for development and growth of innovation driven enterprises. It will be Rs. 2500 crore a year for four years Liberalised Fast-track mechanism for start-up patent applications under intellectual property rights protection with 80% cost rebate.
• Indian writer Anuradha Roy has won the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for her novel ‘Sleeping on Jupiter’. Her novel ‘Sleeping on Jupiter’ deals with the subject of violence against women with story revolving around girl named Nomi and is set in Jarmuli, a city of temples.
• United States has removed a wide range of nuclear sanctions against Iran after it has meet its commitments to roll back its nuclear programme. These sanctions were lifted after International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran has met its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA) or Vienna agreement with P5+1 countries signed in July 2015.
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has successfully launched the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Jason-3 Ocean-monitoring satellite. It was launched from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base and the satellite has been successfully inserted it in the desired orbit. Jason-3 is the 4th mission in the joint US-European series of satellite missions that measure the height of the ocean surface.
• Cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) has approved setting up over 5,000 Mega Watt of Grid-Connected Solar Photo Voltaic Power Projects on build, own and operate (BOOT) basis. It is implemented by Solar Power Developers with Viability Gap Funding under Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM).
• Governor’s rule has been imposed in the state of Jammu and Kashmir for sixth time as the process of formation new government following the death of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is taking some time. In case of failure of constitutional machinery in any other state of India, the President’s Rule is imposed under Article 356 of the Constitution. But in case of J&K, as per Section 92 of state Constitution, the Governor’s Rule can be imposed for a period of six months in the state. Governor’s Rule can be imposed only after the consent of the President of India in case of failure of constitutional machinery. During the Governors rule, State Assembly is either suspended or dissolved and the state completely comes under direct Central rule. If the Constitutional machinery in the state is not restored before the expiry of this six month period, the provisions of Article 356 of the Constitution of India are extended to J&K and the President’s rule is imposed in the State.
• As per recently released World Economic Forum report, oceans will have more plastics than fish by 2050 if the ongoing practice of dumping plastics continues. This report has been prepared as part of Project Main Stream which is a joint collaboration between the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and WEF with support from McKinsey & Company. Sikkim was first state in India to achieve the status of plastic bag-free status.
• The first Ministerial Meeting of Arab-India Cooperation Forum was held Manama, capital city of Bahrain. The forum seeks to provide platform for India’s bid to reach out to West Asian nations (22 Arab League nations) to further strengthen the economic, trade and financial cooperation. Both sides also issued a joint statement called the Manama Declaration.