Bihar Affairs
Nitish bats for ‘one nation, one power tariff’
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, called for a ‘one nation, one power tariff’ policy, stating that some States have to purchase power at a higher rate than others.
Unveiling power department projects worth 15,871 crore, he said, Bihar gets electricity from the Central Government’s power Plants at a higher rate compared to other States.
He said that his Government has decided to install smart prepaid electricity meters in the State to ensure transparency.
Kumar said that his Government ensured electricity connection to every household of the State in October 2018.
National and International Affairs
Coal Sector Constructs Eight Eco-Parks to promote
As part of the ongoing efforts of the Coal Ministry to develop Eco-Parks on reclaimed land and to promote mine tourism eight eco-parks have been constructed recently in different parts of the country and two more such parks will be completed in 2022-23.
MOU between NCL and Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board to boost Singrauli Eco-Tourism Circuit and another MOU by WCL with Directorate of Tourism, Maharashtra are also to further promote Eco-tourism in coal sector.
Aadhaar based e-KYC transactions jumped 22% in Nov; Aadhaar authentication transactions grew 11%
Aadhaar usage by residents is witnessing continued progress across the country. In November alone, 28.75 crore e-KYC transactions were executed using Aadhaar, a 22% Growth over the previous month.
By the end of November 2022, the cumulative number of e-KYC transactions has gone up-to 1350.24 crore. Aadhaar e-KYC service is increasingly playing a crucial role for Banking and non-banking financial Services by providing transparent and improved customer experience, and aiding .
An e-KYC transaction is executed, only after the explicit Consent of the Aadhaar holder, and eliminates physical paperwork, and in-person verification requirement for KYC.
Similarly in November, 195.39 crore Aadhaar authentication transactions were carried out, over 11% more than October. A majority of these monthly transactions were carried out by using fingerprint biometric authentication, followed by demographic and OTP authentication.
So far, cumulatively 8621.19 crore Aadhaar authentication transactions have been executed by the end of November 2022, indicative of how Aadhaar is increasingly playing a role in <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/good-Governance“>Good Governance and aiding welfare delivery to residents.
ADB ranks WAPCOS amongst
In a major breakthrough for WAPCOS, a Government of India Enterprise under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the Asian (ADB) in its report released on Annual Procurement, ranked WAPCOS as Top amongst Consulting Services Firm in Water and other Infrastructure Sectors, with highest sanctioned financed amount.
In another report on its Members Fact Sheet – 2022 released by the ADB, WAPCOS figured amongst the Top 3 Consultants from India involved in Consulting Services Contracts under ADB Loan, Grant and Technical Assistance Projects in Energy, Transport and Water & other Urban Infrastructure Sectors. WAPCOS is the only Indian Public Sector featuring in the above categories.
WAPCOS is a leading technology driven Consultancy and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) organization in the fields of <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/water-Resources“>Water Resources, Power and Infrastructure Development.
Apart from India, the Company has successfully completed/on-going consultancy assignments in more than 51 Countries covering Asia, Africa, CIS, Pacific Islands and South America.
India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Comes into Force
India, Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement comes into force from 29
December. India and Australia signed the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA)on the 2nd of April 2022. ECTA is the first trade agreement of India with a developed countryafter more than a decade. The agreement encompasses cooperation across the entire gamut ofbilateral economic and commercial relations between the two friendly countries.
Under this trade agreement, Indian exports will benefit from preferential zero-duty market
access in Australia for 100 per cent of its tariff lines. It will benefit Indias labour-intensive
sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, furniture, food and agricultural products,engineering products, and medical devices.