Important Points @ Glance: Part 11
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The Nuclear Power Corporation of India and US firm
Westinghouse have agreed to begin engineering and site design work for six
nuclear power plant reactors in India and conclude contractual arrangements by
June 2017. Once completed, the project would be among the largest of its kind,
fulfilling the promise of the US-India civil nuclear agreement and
demonstrating a shared commitment to meet India’s growing energy needs while
reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
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India and the US have announced the setting up of two
financial assistance programmes worth $60 million for supporting India’s
much-needed clean energy initiatives including in solar power and other
renewables. This includes a creation of a $20 million US-India Clean Energy
Finance (USICEF) initiative, equally supported by the United States and India.
This is expected to mobilise up to $400 million to provide clean and renewable
electricity to up to 1 million households by 2020. The two countries have also
agreed on a $40 million US-India Catalytic Solar Finance Programme, which would
be equally supported by the United States and India. This would provide much
needed liquidity to smaller-scale renewable energy investments, particularly in
poorer, rural villages that are not connected to the grid, and could mobilise
up to $1 billion of projects.
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In a significant development, the US has recognised
India as a “major defence partner” which means that for defence related trade
and technology transfer the country would now be treated at par with America’s
closest allies. Under the ‘major defence partner’ recognition, the US will
continue to work toward facilitating technology sharing with India to a level
commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners.
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A technical arrangement was recently signed between
the Indian Navy and the US Navy concerning unclassified maritime information
sharing that will allow sharing of unclassified information on White Shipping
as permitted by respective national laws, regulations and policies, and
provides a framework for mutually beneficial maritime information.
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According to the new Landsat study, Arctic regions of
North America are getting greener due to changing climate. According to the
study, almost a third of the Arctic land cover is now looking more like landscapes
found in warmer ecosystems. Temperatures are warming faster in the Arctic than
elsewhere, which has led to longer seasons for plants to grow in and changes to
the soils. Landsat is a programme that provides the longest continuous
space-based record of Earth’s land vegetation in existence. It shows the
climate impact on vegetation in the high latitudes.
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Assam’s Guwahati became the first city in the country
to have its own city animal with the district administration declaring the
Gangetic river dolphin as the mascot. It is locally known as ‘Sihu’. The
district administration had organised online and offline voting among three
protected creatures, which are on the verge of extinction, to decide the
mascot. Along with Gangetic river dolphin, the other two animals were black
softshell turtle (Bor Kaso) and greater adjutant stork (Hargila).
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At the recent meeting of Contact Group of Piracy off
the Coast of Somalia’ (CGPCS) in Mahe, India was chosen to co-chair the Working
Group on improving maritime situational awareness in the Indian ocean region
through consensus. Seychelles is the current chairman of the CGPCS for the
biennium 2016-17.
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World Environment Day (WED) was celebrated across the
globe on 5th June. The objective of the event is to raise awareness about the
leading issue of the sustainability of our environment. It was initiated in
1973 by the United Nations General Assembly and United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) to address colossal issues like global warming, deforestation
and food shortages among many others. The Theme for 2016 is “Go Wild for Life”
(ZERO TOLERANCE FOR THE ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE). Angola is the host country of
this year.
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India has been placed at the second position in retail
potential in the 2016 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI). The country was
ranked 15 in the previous year. The report profiled 30 developing countries. It
is released by AT Kearney, a Chicago-based consultancy. India’s retail sector
has expanded at a compound annual growth rate of 8.8 per cent between 2013 and
2015, according to the report.
Important Points @ Glance: Part 2
Important Points @ Glance: Part 3
Important Points @ Glance: Part 4
Important Points @ Glance: Part 5
Important Points @ Glance: Part 6
Important Points @ Glance: Part 7
Important Points @ Glance: Part 8
Important Points @ Glance: Part 9
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