CHHATTISGARH

Chief Minister Raman Singh launched the State-wide ‘Bonus Tihar’ from Mahupal Barai village near Bastar’s district headquarters Jagdalpur.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister inaugurated a 400/200 Kv power substation constructed at a cost of Rs 633 crore.This is the State’s third largest power substation inaugurated.

The Chief Minister had already inaugurated two more power sub stations at Raita village in Raipur district and Khedamara village in Durg district, officials informed.

Notably, Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Ltd (CSPDCL) is expected to procure power to the tune of 980 MW by the end of FY 2018-19, officials informed.

Chhattisgarh had met a peak demand of 3,638 MW during FY 2014-15, which is expected to grow to 5,857 MW by the year FY 2018-19 , they informed.

As on date, Marwa TPP of capacity 1000 MW is the only project under construction or planned in the State of Chhattisgarh .

Notably, Chhattisgarh Government is also planning to add 2640 MW of additional renewable energy capacity by financial year 2018-19, officials informed.

The State currently has total renewable energy potential of 4,500 MW which includes solar (grid connected and roof top), wind biomass and small hydro.

It has also planned to install solar powered pump sets for agriculture consumers which will benefit 16,000 consumers.

INTERNATIONAL

· Saudi Arabia announces lifting of ban on movie theatres after 35 years

Saudi Arabiawill have its first public cinemas in more than 35 years after the government announced the lifting of the ban on movie theatres. Minister of Culture and Information Awwad bin Saleh Alawwad in a statement said that opening cinemas will act as a catalyst for economic growth and diversification.
The government statement said that the licensing process for cinema operators will start within 90 days and the films will be subject to censorship according to media policy standards of the kingdom.

· Mount Hope Becomes UK’s New Highest Mountain

Britain is a new highest mountain after new satellite data revealed the peak was almost 400 metres taller than previously thought. Mount Hope, in the British Atlantic Territory, was recently re-measured and found to be 377 metres taller than previous calculations.
This takes it to 3,239 metres, meaning it knocks Mount Jackson, the current title holder at 3,184 metres, off the top spot.

NATIONAL

India has proposed USD 1 billion line of credit to promote sea, air and road connectivity projects with ASEAN, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

Apart from this, India has set up a project development fund of USD 77 million for various developments.

He was addressing the ASEAN-India Connectivity Summit jointly organised by CII and ASEAN India Centre.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced that pilgrims coming to Gangasagar next year will be covered by life insurance amounting to Rs 5 lakh each.

Around five to six lakh pilgrims attend the Gangasagar fair on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

The Union Health Minister J P Nadda has launched “LaQshya – Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative, a Safe Delivery Mobile Application for health workers who manage normal and complicated deliveries in the peripheral areas.

The goal of this initiative is to reduce preventable maternal and new-born mortality.

He also released the Operational Guidelines for Obstetric High Dependency Units (HDUs) and Intensive Care Units (ICUs).

Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched first NIC-CERT, a setup of National Informatics Centre to prevent and predict cyber attacks on government utilities.
They launched in New Delhi.
NIC-CERT has been set up with the objective of creating a comprehensive framework that integrates world-class security components and inbuilt threat intelligence for detection, prevention and incident response.