The first batch of E-rickshaws under the brand name of “SmartE” was launched in Gurugram by Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways.
The E-rickshaws have been manufactured in India and are fitted with GPS and tracking system.
It has established strategic partnerships with the Haryana government and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to launch 1000 vehicles in Gurugram and Faridabad in 2017.
It will provide the last mile transport connectivity in the area and meaningful self-employment for marginalised youths in next 4-5 years.
SAUNI Yojana’
Saurashtra Narmada Avataran Irrigation Yojna is a project to divert flood waters of Narmada to Saurashtra region and fill up the reservoirs through giant pipelines.
There are 4 link canals through which the water is diverted.
Link I takes water to Jamnagar and Dwarka districts and Link II to Botad, Bhavnagar and Amreli Districts.
These two pipelines are designed to pump Narmada water in 17 identified dams in the regions such as Krushnasagar dam, Bhimdad dam (Botad), Bhogavo dam etc.
Recently, President of India laid the foundation stone of SAUNI Phase-II Link-4 canal in Rajkot.
The project targets to provide irrigation water for 10.22 lakh acres of land in Saurashtra region.
Geographical Indicators
The Cell for IPR Promotions & Management (CIPAM) has launched a social media campaign to promote Indian Geographical Indicators (GIs) with #LetsTalkIP.
It is initiated to make more people aware about the importance of Intellectual Property Rights.
A Geographical Indication or a GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
It conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness which is essentially attributable to its origin in that defined geographical locality.
Darjeeling Tea, Mahabaleshwar Strawberry, Blue Pottery of Jaipur, Banarasi Sarees and Tirupati Laddus are some of the GIs.
Polavaram Project
It is a multi-purpose irrigation project in East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh State.
The dam across Godavari River is under the construction and it aims to transfer the surplus water from Godavari to Krishna river basin.
The project is considered as “lifeline of the State” and has been declared as a national project under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.
As per the act, the central government shall execute the project and obtain all requisite clearances, including forest, environmental and rehabilitation and resettlement.
The regulation and development of the project is under the control of Union government and accordingly it constituted the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) for the purpose.
Recently, NGT has directed the Environment Ministry and the AP government to examine about huge quantity of waste material being dumped in agricultural lands near Polavaram project.
Initial Coin Offering
China has recently banned individuals and organisations from raising funds through initial coin offerings (ICO) saying the practice constituted illegal fund-raising.
ICO is an unregulated means of crowd funding for a project via use of Cryptocurrency.
The right of ownership or royalties of a project is offered to investors in the form of digital coins in exchange for legal tender or other cryptocurrencies (usually bitcoin).
The value of the coin will appreciate if the business is successful.
Presently, there is no regulator for this kind of crowd sourcing.
Secure mobile phones
There is a wave of concerns over the security of mobile phones being sold by foreign firms in the country.
Thus it has decided to secure its communication network by offering customised mobile phones to top officers in rank of Joint Secretaries and above.
The mobile phones run on Android OS and have a pre-stored directory that contains the number of all officials above the rank of joint secretary.
The Government already operates a secure landline communication network called RAX. But it has certain limitations.
