NETRA, the R&D wing of NTPC, has developed an Indigenous Catalyst for Hydrogenation of CO2 to Methanol in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Dehradun. A catalyst is an essential component for any chemical synthesis.
After characterization of catalyst, long duration quantitative & qualitative performance assessment of catalyst is being carried out in a specially designed 10 Kg/day methanol pilot plant. Here, 1 mole CO2 and 3 moles of H2 passed through fix bed down flow reactor. The purity of methanol produced by this catalyst is more than 99%.
NTPC Green Energy Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of NTPC, is aggressively pursuing initiatives aimed at reducing its carbon footprint, in line with global climate action targets and India's pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh virtually dedicated to the nation 'Desh ka Vallabh' statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Major Ralengnao 'Bob' Khathing 'Museum of Valour' at Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.
The Defence Minister carried out the inauguration from 4 Corps Headquarters in Tezpur, Assam.
Manipur CM N Biren Singh who was present in Tawan for the inauguration said it reflected the spirit of unity and harmony.
This event, coinciding with various celebrations, underscores unity and development. The ceremony saw notable attendees, with Singh highlighting the significance of Northeast's development and military contributions towards regional security and unity.
The Ministry of Coal has achieved a notable upswing in overall coal production during October 2024, reaching 84.45 million tonnes (MT) and surpassing the 78.57 MT of the corresponding month last year, registering an increase of 7.48%.
Coal production from captive and other entities also showed substantial growth, rising to 16.59 MT in October 2024 compared to 11.70 MT in the same period last year, reflecting a remarkable growth rate of 41.75%. The Cumulative coal production for the fiscal year up to October 2024 reached 537.45 MT, an increase from 506.56 MT during the same period in FY 2023-24,
representing growth of 6.10%.
Additionally, coal dispatches witnessed a significant boost in October 2024, reaching an impressive 82.89 MT, showcasing a 4.60% increase over the 79.25 MT recorded in October 2023. Coal dispatch from captive and other entities also grew to 16.18 MT in October 2024, compared to 11.83 MT in October 2023, representing a growth of 36.83%.
Cumulative coal dispatch (up to October 2024) has risen to 571.39 MT in FY 2024-25 as compared to 541.51 MT during the corresponding period in FY 2023-24, reflecting growth of 5.52%. The Ministry of Coal remains committed to ensuring a reliable coal supply to meet India’s energy demands, with a continued focus on boosting production, and streamlining logistics.
The Government has approved the Central Sector Scheme ‘Namo Drone Didi’ for providing Drones to the Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) under DAY-NRLM, with an outlay of Rs. 1261 Crores. The scheme aims to provide drones to 14500 selected Women SHGs during the period from 2024-25 to 2025-2026.
for providing rental services to farmers for agriculture purpose (application of liquid fertilizers and pesticides for the present).The Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare has released the Operational Guidelines this scheme and all the stakeholders have been requested to make meaningful use of these operational guidelines to ensure prompt rollout and implementation
of the ‘Namo Drone Didi’ Scheme. The major components of the operational guidelines are as under:
- The Scheme will be governed at the Central level by the Empowered Committee of the Secretaries of Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Department of Rural Development, Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Women and Child Development.
The Implementation and Monitoring Committee headed by the Additional Secretary, Department of Rural Development and having representation from all other stakeholders will be responsible for effective planning, implementation and monitoring of the scheme and it will provide overall advice and guidance to all technical matters related to the implementation of the scheme.
- Under the scheme, Central Financial Assistance @ 80% of the cost of drone and accessories/ancillary charges up to a maximum of ₹ 8.0 lakhs will be provided to the women SHGs for the purchase of drones as a package.
- The Cluster Level Federations (CLFs) of SHGs/SHGs may raise the balance amount (total cost of procurement minus subsidy) as a loan under the National Agriculture Infra Financing Facility (AIF). Interest subvention @ 3% on the AIF loan will be provided to the CLFs/SHGs.
Under the scheme, not only the drones but, drones as a package will be supplied. The package will consists of basic drone with spray assembly for spraying liquid fertilizers and pesticides, Drone carrying box, standard battery set, downward facing camera, dual-channel fast battery charger, battery charger hub, anemometer, pH meter and 1 year onsite warranty on all items.
The package also includes 04 spare battery sets, one spare propeller set (each set contains 6 propellers), nozzle set, dual channel fast battery charger, battery charger hub, 15 days training for drone pilot and drone assistant, one year comprehensive insurance, 2 years annual maintenance contract and applicable GST.
One of the members of the women SHGs will be selected for 15 day training comprising of mandatory drone pilot training and additional training for agriculture purpose for nutrient and pesticide application. The other member/ family member of the SHG with inclination to take up repairs of electrical goods, fitting and mechanical works will be trained as drone assistant.
The Lead Fertilizer Companies (LFCs) responsible for the States will be the implementing agencies of the scheme at the State level and they will establish necessary coordination with the State Departments, Drone manufacturers, Cluster Level Federations of SHGs/SHGs and the farmers/beneficiaries etc.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has started the country’s first analog space mission at Leh in Ladakh, where space agency will simulate life in an interplanetary habitat. The move assumes significance as India is planning to send a human to the Moon in the near future.
Analog space missions are field tests in locations on Earth that have physical similarities to the extreme space environments and play a significant role in problem-solving for spaceflight research.
Ladakh has been chosen for such a mission as the geographical features of the area – dry and cold climate, barren land, high-altitude terrain, and extreme isolation –
are considered to closely resemble Martian and lunar landscapes.
The month-long mission comes in the wake of India’s plans to set up lunar habitats, which could provide a base to launch interplanetary missions.
The mission includes a compact, inflatable habitat named Hab-1, which is equipped with essentials like a hydroponics farm, kitchen, and sanitation facilities.
It provides a self-sustaining environment, offering valuable data as India is planning long-duration space missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
ying at an elevation over 3,000 metres above sea level, Ladakh has oxygen levels only 40 percent of those at sea level.
The 352nd Governing Body meeting of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is underway in Geneva.
During the meeting Labour and Employment Secretary Sumita Dawra highlighted India’s commitment to improving living standards reflected in significant initiatives,
covering all dimensions of poverty that have led to 248 million individuals escaping multidimensional poverty in the last nine years as measured by the multidimensional poverty index. She also stated the employment growth within the country adding around 170 million persons in economic activity during 2016-17 and 2022-23 as per provisional estimates.
Duma Boko, the presidential candidate of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), was declared Botswana’s sixth president today. Botswana’s Chief Justice, Terence Rannowane, announced on national television.
According to the southern African country’s electoral law, the polling will determine 61 members of the National Assembly and 609 local councillors,
with the party that holds at least 31 parliament seats to be declared as the winner.
While the counting is yet to be finalised, UDC has already secured 34 members of the National Assembly, and the ruling party, the Botswana Democratic Party, got four seats.
India’s Atanu Das has bagged a Bronze medal in the Swiss Open Indoor Archery in Lausanne, Switzerland. Olympian Atanu Das defeated Switzerland’s Thomas Rufer 6-4 in the Recurve Men’s Bronze medal match.
Earlier in the Semifinals, Atanu faced a defeat against Romain Fichet of France 4-6. Romain clinched the silver while Italy’s Alessandro Paoli clinched the gold.
The 2025 Indoor Archery World Series kicked off, featuring over 300 archers from 31 countries. The Swiss Open includes both recurve and compound divisions. There will be six events held during the 2025 season 1, starting in November 2024 and ending in March 2025.
India’s Krisha Verma clinched a gold medal yesterday at the U19 World Boxing Championships in Colorado, USA. However, five other Indian boxers in contention for the gold medals went down in their respective final.
Krisha defeated Lerika Simon of Germany 5-0 to win the gold medal. Chanchal Chaudhary,
however, went down to Ruby White of England in the female 48kg category final as the Indian boxer was disqualified, forcing her to settle for the silver medal.
In the female 57kg category, Anjali Singh, who put up impressive shows through the tournament, succumbed to a 0-5 defeat to Mia-Tiah Ayton of England in the final.
Rahul Kundu, competing in the male 75kg category, also settled for a silver medal as he lost to the USA’s Joseph Awinongya 1-4 in the final of his category.
In the female 60kg category, Vini put up a solid fight but was edged out by Ella Lonsdale 3-2. Also losing in the final was Akansha Phalaswal in the female 70kg category, who also settled for the silver medal.
In cricket, Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma has attained a career-best No. 2 spot in the Women’s ODI bowlers’ rankings in the latest update released by the International Cricket Council. Deepti’s three wickets in the first two matches against New Zealand have helped her gain two places, moving her to second in the latest rankings for ODI bowlers.
The India spinner has obtained a new career-high rating, closing in on No.1 ranked ODI bowler Sophie Ecclestone of England. Deepti also clinched three wickets in the third and final match of the series against New Zealand. She helped win the first match with an all-round effort of 41 runs and one wicket for 35 runs and has advanced one place to fourth position in the list.
South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada reclaimed the top spot in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings. He has overtaken Josh Hazlewood, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravichandran Ashwin to take the top spot.
The 29-year-old also achieved the milestone of becoming the fastest South African to reach 300 Test wickets. Rabada had previously held the top ranking in January 2018.
n Wrestling, India’s Mansi Ahlawat has clinched the bronze medal in the women’s 59kg category at the Seniors World Championships, in Tirana, Albania. Mansi defeated Laurence Beauregard of Canada, 5-NIL, in the bronze medal match.
Risako Kinjo of Japan won the Gold, Tserenchimed Sukhee of Mongolia grabbed the Silver, while Elena Heike Brugger of Germany shared the Bronze with Mansi.
Karnataka celebrates Bali Padyami festival on the fourth day of Deepavali. It is believed that the Asura king Bali Chakravarty comes out of Pathala loka and visits Bhuloka as per the boon given by Lord Vishnu during Vamana Avatar.
After worshipping Ganga matha on the first day, Naraka Chaturdashi on the second, and Lakshmi Pooja on the third day of Deepavali, the festival of Bali Padyami derives significance.
The temples are adorned with colourful rangoli and thousands of lamps are lit around them at night. Special Abhisheka of the diety is performed with milk and other auspicious ingredients.
State-owned Punjab & Sind Bank said it has launched e-Bank Guarantee (e-BG) facility in partnership with National e-Governance Services Ltd (NeSL) that replaces the paper-based BG issuance process with e-stamping and e-signatures. With the secured transmission and enhanced transparency, beneficiaries will save efforts and time in the verification of physical BGs.
It is a landmark step towards enhancing the ease of business for applicants and beneficiaries, he said, adding that it will not only reduce the TAT (turnaround time) but also be a game changer to curb the frauds and inconvenience caused on the physical movement of documents.
Public sector banks (PSBs) and financial institutions have realised Rs 4.5 crore through scrap disposal during one month-long special campaign with a special focus on minimising pendency and institutionalising Swachhata from October 2-31, 2024.
The Department of Financial Services (DFS) launched Special Campaign 4.0 with special impetus on better space management, customer-centric initiatives, making the environment clean and green, record management, and disposal of scrap, an official statement from the finance ministry said.
All the organisations of DFS, PSBs, Public Sector Insurance Companies and other Public Sector Financial Institutions like NABARD, SIDBI, EXIM Bank, NHB, IIFCL etc. actively participated in the Special Campaign 4.0.
The DFS achieved 100 per cent disposal of all identified Public Grievances, Public Appeals, PMO references and MP references, it said.
As much as 11.79 lakh square feet of space has been freed and revenue of Rs 4.50 crore has been earned through scrap disposal, it said, adding that the campaign was conducted in more than 38,500 sites across the country.
During the campaign period, 12 PSBs and 43 Regional Rural Banks organised Pension Grievances Weeks
In a move aimed at enhancing the timely deployment of funds raised through mutual fund (MF) schemes during new fund offering (NFO) periods, the markets regulator -- Securities and Exchange Board (Sebi) proposed a 30-day deadline for fund managers.
Currently, there is no stipulated time frame for the deployment of NFO proceeds in line with the specified investment strategy.
In a consultation paper, Sebi outlined that this timeline could be extended to 60 days with approval of the fund house’s investment committee, but only under specific conditions, such as “expensive valuation in specific sectors or market capitalisations, market dynamics, uncertainty following geopolitical developments, or unavailability of securities with specific maturity.
There were 16.58 billion Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions worth Rs 23.5 trillion in October, the highest numbers for the digital system since it became operational in April 2016.It was the first time that UPI crossed 16 billion in volume and Rs 23 trillion in value.
October witnessed a 10 percent increase in volume and 14 percent in value compared to September.
There were 14.96 billion UPI transactions amounting to Rs 20.61 trillion in August, according to data shared by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Daily UPI transactions in October crossed 535 million in volume and Rs 75,801 crore in value. That is compared to 501 million in volume and Rs 68,800 crore in September.
In October, UPI volume and value grew 45 percent and 37 percent year-on-year (Y-o-Y).
There were 467 million Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions in October, up 9 per cent from 430 million in September. In value terms, IMPS transactions grew by 11 per cent to Rs 6.29 trillion compared to Rs 5.65 trillion in September.
In August, the volume and value of transactions were 453 million and Rs 5.78 trillion. October numbers were down 5 percent in volume and up 17 percent in value Y-o-Y.
The number of FASTag transactions increased 8 per cent in October to 345 million, compared to 318 million in September.
There were 126 million transactions on the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) in October, up 26 per cent from 100 million in September. There were 100 million transactions in August too.
