producing electricity from water hydroelectric cell

Scientists have developed a novel way using of producing electricity from water hydroelectric cell at room temperature without using any power or chemicals. The major breakthrough was developed by team of scientists led by Dr. RK Kotnala from Delhi’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL). How does it works? In this new method, scientist had used zinc and silver as electrodes to make a cell that produces electricity. They had used nanoporous magnesium ferrite to split water into hydroxide (OH) and hydronium (H3O) ions. As magnesium has high affinity for hydroxide, it spontaneously splits water into hydroxide and hydronium ions. The H3O ions get trapped inside the nanopores of magnesium ferrite and generate an electric field. The electric field helps in further dissociation of water. To further enhance the activity of magnesium ferrite, about 20% of magnesium is replaced with lithium. The substitution of lithium at magnesium site increases the sensitivity of magnesium ferrite. This is helpful in dissociating water at room temperature as the electrons get trapped in the oxygen deficient sites. Significance: The hydroelectric cell using magnesium ferrite of 1 sq. inch size can produce 8 mA current and 0.98 volt. Further if these four cells [of 2-inch diameter] are connected in series the voltage increases to 3.70 volts and can operate a small plastic fan or a LED light of 1 watt.

Proposed Four GST slabs

Proposed Four GST slabs

The GST is proposed to be levied at 6% (lower rate), 12% (Standard 1 rate), 18% (Standard 2 rate) and 26% (Higher rates) on the goods and services. It will be 0% on host of goods and services, including food, health and education services, and 26% on luxury items, such as fast-moving consumer goods and consumer durables. On consumption of ultra-luxury items and demerit goods, such as big cars and tobacco products, cess must be imposed over and above a 26% GST rate.
What is GST Council? As per Article 279A of the Constitution, GST Council will be a joint forum of the Centre and the States. It shall consist (i) Union Finance Minister (Chairperson). (ii) The Union Minister of State (MoS) in-charge of Revenue of finance (Member) and (ii) The Minister In-charge of taxation or finance or any other Minister nominated by each State Government (Members).

current affairs 23rd october

What is National SC/ST hub? 
The objective of the SC/ST (Schedule Castes/Schedule Tribes) Hub is to provide professional support to entrepreneurs from the SC/ST. It also seeks to promote enterprise culture and entrepreneurship among the SC/ST population and to enable them to participate more effectively in public procurement. It will work towards strengthening market access/linkage, capacity building, monitoring, sharing industry-best practices and leveraging financial support schemes.

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Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has been appointed as a member of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Athletes’ Commission. It is rare honour for an Indian sportsperson. In this regard, Saina has received a letter to the effect from the IOC President Thomas Bach mentioning that she has been appointed in consultation with Chair of Athletes’ Commission. The Athletes’ Commission of IOC is chaired by Angela Ruggiero. It comprises nine vice presidents and 10 other members.


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Noted British statistician Sir David Cox (92) was awarded inaugural recipient of the International Prize in Statistics. The International Prize in Statistics Foundation has bestowed this award on Sir David Cox in recognition of Survival Analysis Model (or Cox Model) Applied in Medicine, Science, and Engineering.
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UKPCS-2016 PRE TEST SERIES BY SAMVEG IAS

UKPCS-2016 PRE TEST SERIES BY SAMVEG IAS

Kashmir’s Red Stag critically endangered:

Kashmir’s Red Stag critically endangered:

In order to get more attention and protection to Kashmir’s Red stag, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has decided to put Red Stag on the critically endangered species list.
The organisation is also aiming to enhance the conservation efforts to increase its declining population.
It is listed under Schedule-I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and J&K Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1978 and has also been listed among the top 15 species of high conservation priority by the Government of India.
The cited reasons for the decline in its population are said to be habitat destruction, over-grazing by domestic livestock, and poaching.

Prime Minister dedicates three Hydro Projects to the Nation

Prime Minister dedicates three Hydro Projects to the Nation

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today dedicated three flagship 800 MW Hydro Power Station of NTPC- Koldam, 520 MW Parvati Project of NHPC and 412 MW Rampur Hydro Station of SJVNL projects to the Nation in Mandi , Himachal Pradesh here today. Shri Acharya Devvrat, Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Shri Vir Bhadra Singh, Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh, Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare; Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State ( IC) for Power, Coal , New & Renewable Energy and Mines and eminent dignitaries were present on the occasion.

Appreciating the contribution of Public sector companies in country’s growth, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi said that these hydro projects will bring prosperity to the State of Himachal and other parts of the nation.

NHPC’s Parbati-III Power Station is a run of the river scheme having a 43m high rockfill dam, underground Power House and 10.58 km long water conductor system. A net head of 326 meter is utilized to run four vertical Francis turbines with an installed capacity of 520 MW (4x130 MW). The power plant is designed to generate 1963.29 Million Units annually. The power generated from the Parbati-III Power Station is distributed to beneficiary states i.e. Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Union Territory of Chandigarh. The Power Station is supplying 13% free power to home state i.e. 12% as home state share and 1% for Local Area Development fund. The completion cost of the project is around Rs 2600 crore and as on 30.09.2016 the total power generation is 1880 MU with revenue realization of Rs 816 crore.

With commencement of generation from four 200 MW units, NTPC- Koldam has achieved capacity of 800 MW and provides peaking capacity to the Northern grid. It shall annually generate 3054 GWh electricity at 90% dependable year basis. Twelve percent of the electricity generated from Koldam is being supplied to the home state Himachal Pradesh free of cost while 1 percent to the state on account of Local Area Development fund. All the Project Affected Families are being provided 100 units of electricity every month free of cost which accounts for 0.62 percent of the total generation. Thus a total 13.62 percent of electricity generated from the plant is supplied free of cost to Himachal Pradesh, remaining power supplied to other beneficiaries namely Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttrakhand and Chandigarh.

SJVN’s Rampur Project (412MW) in Kullu district will be operated in tandem with Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station (HPS). This project will provide 13 percent free power to the state of Himachal Pradesh

Global Conference to Make India the Centre for Arbitration

Three daylong Global Conference to Make India the Centre for Arbitration gets underway in New Delhi tomorrow

The first ever Global Conference to Strengthen Arbitration and Enforcement in India gets underway in New Delhi tomorrow. The three daylong conference titled, “National Initiative On Strengthening Arbitration And Enforcement In India” from October 21st to 23rd, 2016 is being launched by the Government and Judiciary as a major initiative to change the face of dispute resolution in India.

NITI Aayog, Ministry of Law & Justice, DIPP, National Legal Services Authority, International Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution, National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development have collaborated to make India the centre of arbitration. Also for the first time six leading international arbitral institutions (HKIAC, ICC, KLRCA, LCIA, PCA and SIAC) and all major industry associations (FICCI, PHD Chamber, CII and ASSOCHAM) have come together to drive this initiative. The Conference seeks to provide impetus to commercial arbitration in India, which is fast gaining pace across the world, for faster, more efficient dispute resolution outside the court room.

The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjeea will inaugurate the three-day global Conference on Friday, the 21st October while the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will deliver the valedictory address on 23rd October. The Conference will have the Chief Justice of India, Shri T.S. Thakur as its Patron-in-Chief. Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitely and the Union Minister for Law and Justice and Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad will also address the conference in addition to luminaries from legal and corporate world.

Chief Justices of six countries are participating at the first ever Global Conference on Arbiration in India to share their thoughts. Distinguished Jurist Fali Nariman and William Rowley, QC, Chairman, LCIA Board are amongst the keynote speakers. The best minds from Indian and international legal bodies, corporate houses and the legal fraternity are participating in the Conference. The Conference will serve as a platform for discussing critical issues, sharing experiences on the best international practices and creating a roadmap to strengthen arbitration and its enforcement in the country.

The Conference will have 7 intensive brainstorming technical sessions. These will dwell on different facets to strengthen institutional arbitration and ensure a facilitative judiciary to encourage Indian and foreign parties to arbitrate in India. More than 1000 experts and Government functionaries are expected to participate in the Conference besides 1200 students and faculty from various law colleges.

Background:

The Conference comes in the backdrop of the immense losses suffered by the business enterprises and the economy at large, due to enormous backlogs involved in dispute resolution in Indian courts. This keep resources and money of the businesses trapped till resolution of the dispute. This is a major disincentive for foreign companies coming to invest in India. So they seek alternatives. One such alternative is arbitration which can be cost effective and quick.

Increasingly, foreign companies that partner with Indian businesses are approaching countries outside of India for dispute resolution. In the World Bank Report on the Ease of Doing Business India has improved its position by 12 ranks. However, on the Enforcement of Contracts India fares extremely poorly and ranks 178 out of 189 countries. The World Bank Report suggests that improving the mechanism to resolve commercial disputes in India will go a long way in bettering India’s rank. Many Indian companies are going to foreign arbitration centres like Singapore, London and Paris taking a huge chunk of dispute resolution business outside India. Statistics make this picture clear. In 2012, 49 of the total 235 cases in Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) involved an Indian party. This figure grew to 85 out of 259 cases in 2013.

India has already undertaken major structural reforms to facilitate ease of doing business recently, including legal reforms to revamp the existing arbitration framework. The Parliament has recently passed an Amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Moreover, the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, 2015 has been passed to fast track commercial dispute resolution.

Building over these reforms, the initiative by Government and Judiciary will help to improve the institutional capacity necessary to create a vibrant ecosystem to make India the next big hub for international commercial arbitration