UPSC Prelims News 20 October 2022

UPSC Prelims News of 20 October 2022

Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG)

Context: Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas inaugurated Asia’s largest Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plant in Punjab’s Sangrur.

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The plant has been set up with Rs. 220 crores FDI by Verbio AG, one of Germany’s leading bio-energy companies.
The plant has capability to process 300 tonnes of paddy straw per day to produce 33 TPD of compressed biogas.
Significance: The plant will generate additional income for the region’s farmers and will also provide a much-needed alternative to stubble burning.
It will contribute towards India’s COP26 Climate Change target and the target of achieving net zero by 2070.
The plant will generate direct and indirect employment.

Compressed Biogas (CBG)

Compressed Biogas (CBG) is formed by removing hydrogen sulphide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapour from biogas and compressing it.
- Biogas is a biomethane produced by anaerobic digestion of Agri-residues/organic wastes.
CBG ‘s calorific value and other properties are similar to CNG and hence can be utilized as green renewable automotive fuel.
Sources of CBG can be agricultural residue, cattle dung, sugarcane press mud, municipal solid waste, sewage treatment plant waste, etc.

UPSC Prelims News of 19 October 2022

Integrated Portal for Pensioners

Context: The Union Minister of State for Personnel launched a single Integrated Portal for Pensioners to ensure “ease of living” for the Central Government pensioners.

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The portal will act as a one-stop solution for all the pensioners’ needs and has been developed in collaboration with State Bank of India (SBI).
The portal will be linked to ‘Bhavishya’, CPENGRAMS (Centralised Pension Grievances Redress and Monitoring System) and Anubhav (a platform for retiring government officials to leave a record of their experiences while in government service and suggest improvement).
After the complete integration, the retirees can choose a bank and branch for opening an online pension account, monitor their monthly pension slips, Form 16, status of life certificate as well as change the bank disbursing pension through Bhavishya.

Bhavishya:

It is portal for end-to-end electronic processing of all retirement dues besides real-time tracking of pension processing file by retiree.
It will allow pensioners to get all information and services at one place with single login.
Bhavishya is currently rated as the 3rd best portal among all Indian government’s service portals by National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA).

National Maritime Heritage Complex

Context: The Prime Minister asserted that the upcoming National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal will act as a centre for learning India’s diverse maritime history.

About the National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC)

NMHC is being developed in Lothal region of Gujarat.
It would be developed as an international tourist destination, where the maritime heritage of India from ancient to modern times would be showcased.
The purpose of the museum complex is edutainment (education + entertainment).
It is going to cover an area of 400 acres, with structures such as Heritage Theme Park, National Maritime Heritage Museum, Lighthouse Museum, Maritime Institute, eco-resorts, and more.
The unique feature of NMHC is the recreation of ancient Lothal city, which is one of the prominent cities of the ancient Indus valley civilization.

About Lothal

Lothal was one of the southernmost sites of the Indus Valley civilization, located in the Bhāl region of what is now the state of Gujarat.
The meaning of Lothal in Gujarati is “the mound of the dead”.
The port city is believed to have been built in 2,200 BC.
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) discovered Lothal in 1954.
Lothal had the world’s earliest known dock, which connected the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati River on the trade route between Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra.
Lothal was a vital and thriving trade Centre in ancient times, with its trade of beads, gems, and valuable ornaments reaching the far corners of West Asia and Africa.
The Lothal site has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its application is pending on the tentative list of UNESCO.

Mission DefSpace

Context: The “Mission DefSpace” has been launched.

About the Mission DefSpace

It is an initiative of the Government of India to enable the development of innovative solutions for the defence forces in the space domain through industry and startups.
Under this Mission, 75 challenges are being opened to get innovative solutions, based on the defence requirements in the space domain.
Significance:
- It will strengthen the forces, encourage innovation, and provide new and innovative solutions.
- It will prepare India for future possibilities in space domain and will also increase the country’s preparation further.
- It will help in leveraging the India’s space technology for the benefits of defence forces.
- With the wide range of defence-space applications, it will enhance the capability of the three Services.

UPSC Prelims News of 21 October 2022