NTPC Installed India’s Largest Floating Solar Photo Voltaic Plant in Kerala
- NTPC started power generation from India’s largest floating solar power plant at Kayamkulam in Kerala, on March 11, 2017.
- The 100 kWp floating solar generation plant, largest of its kind in I ndia, was indigenously developed as a part of’Make In India’ initiative, at Rajiv Gandhi Combined Cycle Power Plant (RGCCPP) in Kerala’s Kayamkulam district.
- These floating platform were indigenously developed by NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance, the R&D arm of NTPC limited in collaboration with Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology (CIPET) Chennai and a patent has been applied for.
- These could be installed on saline water environments too. Installation potential of such stype. of systems in India is huge because of abundance of water bodies, within NTPC, the potential is approximately 800 MW in various reservoirs of existing stations.
Lok Sabha Passed Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill, 2016
- Lok Sabha passed the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which inter-alia includes increasing maternity benefit to woman covered under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 on March 9, 2017.
- It includes 12 weeks to 26 weeks up to two surviving children in order to allow the mother to take care of the child during his/her most formative stage, providing maternity benefit of 12 weeks to Commissioning mother and Adopting mother, facilitate ‘work from home’ to a mother with mutual consent of the employee and the employer.
- It made mandatory in respect of establishment having fifty or more employees, to have the facilityof creche either individually or as a shared common facility within such distance as may be prescribed by rules & also to allow four visits to the creche by the woman daily.
- It also includes the interval for rest allowed to her and every establishment to intimate in writing and electronically to every woman at the time of her initial appointment about the benefits available under the Act.
President Inaugurated 12th CII-Exim Bank Conclave on India Africa Project Partnership
- The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the 12th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India Africa Project Partnership on March 9, 2017 in New Delhi.
- India has supported development in Africa through Lines of Credit estimated at over $ 7 billion under the IAFS process. Our collaboration extends across a wide spectrum.
- India & Africa have offered fifty thousand scholarships to our | African brothers—six thousand Africans have since trained j under IAFS. India and Africa will be home to dose to four j billion people, combined GDP will be over $ 35 trillion.
- It called upon the leaderships of India and Africa to work together for the promise of a new tomorrow for the people of India and the people of Africa.
See Also – State Current Affairs
