Current Affairs Plus-(12th June 2018)

Lithium Ion Battery project

Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CECRI), Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu and RAASI Solar Power Pvt Ltd have signed a Memorandum of Agreement for transfer of technology for India’s first Lithium Ion (Li-ion) Battery project.
CECRI is under Central Science and Industrial Research (CSIR).
CSIR-CECRI has set up a demo facility in Chennai to manufacture prototype Lithium-Ion cells.
It has secured global IPRs with potential to enable cost reduction, coupled with appropriate supply chain and manufacturing technology for mass production.
Currently, Indian manufacturers source Lithium Ion Battery from China, Japan and South Korea among some other countries.
India is one of the largest importers and in 2017, it imported nearly 150 Million US Dollar worth Li-Ion batteries.
Li-Ion batteries have applications in Energy Storage System – from hearing aid to container sized batteries to power a cluster of villages etc.,
Lithium-ion batteries can power any electrical application without the need of physical wires-means wireless.

Table of Contents

To bring transparency and to disseminate information to public at large following Apps are launched by the Ministry of Power:

SAUBHAGYA – App for tracking household electrification.
VidyutPravah – The Mobile/Web App provides real time information of current demand met, shortages if any, surplus power available and the prices in Power Exchange.
UJALA (UnnatJyoti by Affordable LED`S for All) – App provides real time updates on the LED distribution happening across the country.
UrjaMitra – monitoring of power availability and sending power cut information through SMS
MERIT– information pertaining to marginal variable cost and source wise purchase of electricity.
UDAY- Allows people to compare DISCOMs on the basis of 26 major performance parameters.
URJA (Urban Jyoti Abhiyaan) – It is an informative App for Urban Distribution Sector. It captures Consumer centric parameters from the IT systems created under IPDS.
TARANG (Transmission App for real time monitoring & Growth) – It is an IT Web/mobile based platform to provide status of both inter and intra state Transmission Projects in the country. This platform also shows the prospective interstate as well as intra state Transmission Projects.
DEEP e-bidding (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) – The portal will provide a common e-bidding platform with e-reverse auction facility to facilitate nation-wide power procurement through a wider network so as to bring uniformity and transparency in the process of power procurement.
Ash Track- linking fly ash users and power plants for better ash utilization.

About SCO

SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation.
It was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The headquarters in Beijing, China.
June 2017, at a summit in Astana, India and Pakistan officially joined SCO as full-fledged members.
Currently, China is the host and chair of the SCO.

SECURE

PM Modi also spelt out his new mantra applicable to the SCO, which he termed as SECURE:

The theme of the Conference will be “Vaishvik Hindi Aur Bharatiy Sanskriti“
Mauritius is going to host 11th World Hindi Conference (विश्व हिंदी सम्मेलन) in its capital city Port Lois from August 18-20, 2018. It will be organized by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India in association with Government of Mauritius.
The conference is aimed at providing common platform to several Hindi scholars, writers and laureates from different parts of the world to contribute the language.

World Hindi Conference

The World Hindi Conference is major event organized every three years by MEA to increase the popularity of Hindi globally. The first conference was held from 10 to 12 January 1975 in Nagpur, Maharashtra and was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
In remembrance of the first conference, every year 10th January is being observed as World Hindi Day. The 10 edition of World Hindi Conference was held

in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (India) in 2015 with the theme of “Hindi Jagat-Vistar and Sambhavnaye”.