Russia plans to deliver 10 Kamov Ka-226T military helicopters to India in a first tranche as part of a $1-billion deal, signed in Indo-Russia Summit in Moscow, 2015.
The Kamov 226T is a light weight, twin-engine multi-role chopper offers services for both military and civilian purposes.
It will replace India's ageing fleet of Cheetah and Chetak.
The military version is capable of working in extreme and difficult weather conditions such as hot climate, marine areas and high mountains.
The helicopter has a maximum speed of 250 km/hour and maximum takeoff weight is 3,600 kg.
Renewable Energy Pact
India and Germany signed an agreement on technical cooperation under the Indo-German Energy Programme – Green Energy Corridors (IGEN-GEC).
The main objective of this programme is to improve the conditions for grid integration of renewable energy.
This programme component supports the implementation of the Renewable Energy Management Centre (REMCs), Green Energy Corridors (GEC) scheme which is a prerequisite for large scale grid integration of renewable energy.
Thus the programme contributes to achieve the 175 GW target for renewable energy generation capacity by 2022.
REMC and GEC
Green Energy Corridor is grid connected network for the transmission of renewable energy produced from various renewable energy projects.
It helps in synchronising the electricity produced from solar, wind and other renewable energy resources.
This dedicated transmission network has been divided into two parts. Intra state network is being implemented by State Transmission Utilities and Inter-state network by Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.
Germany has agreed to provide Euro 1 billion soft loan to this project in 2013.
Renewable Energy Management Centre (REMC) will monitor renewable energy generation on a real-time basis and also make forecasts for hassle-free integration of solar and wind energies with the grid.
Enterprise Survey by NITI Aayog
Recently, Niti Aayog and Mumbai-based IDFC Institute have conducted an enterprise survey on ease of doing business.
The findings of the survey are at sharp variance with the World Bank’s ease of doing business report.
The WB’s report showed that it took just 26 days to set up a business in India in 2016 whereas NITI Aayog’s report says that it takes 118 days on an average to set up a business.
The WB report covered only Delhi and Mumbai, while the NITI surveyed pan-India, except Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar, and Lakshadweep.
The Niti Aayog report is focused on organised manufacturing, while the World Bank report covers both manufacturing and services.
The survey also highlighted that Tamil Nadu is the best-performing state. An enterprise can setup a business in 63 days in Tamil Nadu.
Production of Bio-Ethanol
Scientists from CSIR have produced ethanol from discarded cotton-stalks by using a combination of chemical and biological techniques.
The cotton stalks were first treated with an acid, alkali and enzymes to convert it to glucose.
Then the fermentation using a novel yeast strain was carried out to convert the glucose into ethanol.
The final alcohol obtained can be made to fuel grade Bio-ethanol, after distillation and dehydration using molecular sieves.
Bio-ethanol has a number of advantages over conventional fuels as it comes from a renewable resource.
It is mandatory to blend 10% ethanol with petrol.
Presently it is obtained by fermentation of sugar cane molasses which is a by product of sugar production, and has food value.
Converting the agro-residues (Cotton Stalks) to ethanol reduces the food and fuel competition.
Geological Stresses in Indian Ocean
A Geological stresses is building along the Indo-Australian tectonic plate boundary in the Southern Indian Ocean.
It has the potential to cause a powerful earthquake, triggering a tsunami across much of South India.
This development is mainly due to the presence of diffuse deformation zone between Indian and Australian tectonic plates.
Diffuse zones of deformation are in general characterized by complex morphological expressions and scattered seismicity of up to several 100Km width.
The zones are capable of generating undersea earthquakes up to a magnitude of 8.
Studies have to be conducted to understand how the event will unfold.
The largest strike-slip earthquake on record had happened along the Indo-Australian boundary in 2012.
Strike-slip earthquake occurrs when tectonic plates slips horizontally along a fault line, unlike most large earthquakes which are caused when two plates collided at their boundaries and one plate slid beneath the other.
