Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited

• The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is a Public Sector Enterprise of the Department of Atomic Energy and fully owned by the Government of India. The mandate of NPCIL is implementation of the first stage of the indigenous three-stage nuclear power programme comprising of natural uranium fuelled Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) and Light Water Reactors (LWRs) set up with foreign technical cooperation.
• NPCIL activities include all aspects of commercial nuclear power reactors encompassing Design, Construction, Commissioning, Operation & Maintenance, Renovation & Modernisation, Research & Development, Upgrades, Life Management and Waste Management.

Energy transition Index

• The Index is released by World Economic Forum.
• The report titled “Fostering Effective Energy Transition”, ranks countries on how well they are able to balance energy security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability.
• The overall list was topped by Sweden, followed by Norway at the 2nd position and Switzerland at the 3rd rank.
• India has been ranked at 78^th among 114 countries on the Energy Transition Index.
• India is ranked lower than its emerging market peers like Brazil and China.
• However the report stated that India has taken “bold measures” to improve energy access, energy efficiency, and to improve the deployment of renewable sources of energy.

North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme

• In 2017, Government of India approved North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) for the period of 2017-18 to 2019-20
• The scheme is completely funded by the central government.
• The funds under the scheme, will be distributed among eight North Eastern States
• The distribution of funds will be on the basis of well-defined criteria on certain parameters e.g. Area, Population, Human Development Index, Road density, etc.
• The new scheme will broadly cover creation of infrastructure under following sectors:-

1. Physical infrastructure relating to water supply, power, connectivity and specially the projects promoting tourism;
2. Infrastructure of social sectors of education and health.

• In addition the scheme will also cover the projects that promote tourism.
• The scheme will act as a catalyst in overall development of the region.

Right to Die

• Right to die peacefully is part of Fundamental Right to Life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
• Article 21 provides that “no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law”.

International Solar Alliance

• India, a founding member of the International Solar Alliance, has said that membership of the body will be thrown open to all countries that want to join the grouping, with no restrictions on duration of sunlight or geographical location.
• When the International Solar Alliance was announced in 2015, 121 nations situated between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn and receiving 300 days of sunlight were deemed eligible for membership.
• The Paris Declaration establishes ISA as an alliance dedicated to the promotion of solar energy among its member countries.
• The ISA’s major objectives include global deployment of over 1,000GW of solar generation capacity and mobilisation of investment of over US$ 1000 billion into solar energy by 2030.
• The alliance is a treaty-based inter-governmental organization.
• The alliance is also called International Agency for Solar Policy and Application (IASPA).
• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is headquartered in India.

Border Sharing between India and Bangladesh

• In a first for both countries, the director generals of the Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have declared an 8.3 km stretch of the Indo-Bangladesh border as a ‘crime-free zone’.
• Bangladesh and India share a 4,156 km long international border. This includes 262 km in Assam, 856 km in Tripura, 180 km in Mizoram, 443 km in Meghalaya, and 2,217 km in Bengal.

Diu as fully solar energy efficient:

• In a major boost for utilisation of renewable energy in the country, Diu has become the first and only Union Territory to be fully solar energy efficient.

Cyber Gram Project for Digital Literacy of Minority Communities

• The Ministry of Minority Affairs has launched a pilot project for minority Cyber Gram for digital literacy in a minority dominated village Chandauli in Alwar district of Rajasthan.
• The Ministry mainstreamed the Cyber Gram project with the Multi-sectoral Development Program in the year 2014-15 as a special initiative.
• The initiative covers students of Class VI to Class X belonging to notified minority communities residing in minority concentration areas indentified under Multi-sectoral Development Program (MsDP).
• Minority communities include Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains.
• The project is being implemented through Common Service Center (CSC) e-governance India Ltd-a company under Department of Electronics and Information Technology with support of States/UTs.

The aim of the initiative is

1. To provide hands on training in computers for students from minority community
2. To enable them to acquire basic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills to become digitally literate
3. To actively involve them in knowledge based activities, access financial, social and government services and to use internet for communications.