United Nations adopted resolution to observe November 5 as World Tsunami Awareness Day

• United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution recognizing November 5as World Tsunami Awareness Day.
• The proposal regarding the World Tsunami Awareness Day was suggested byJapanese Government after the Third UN Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai in March 2015.
• The day will be observed in order to reduce human and economic losses due to natural disasters.

China builds 3rd largest hydropower station on Yangtze River

China started construction of its third largest hydropower station on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Project oultay – 100 billion yuan (USD 15.4 billion)

• The project has a designed capacity of 10.2 Gigawatt and will be able to generate 9 billion kwh of electricity per year after its 12 generating units start operation first unit is expected to start operating in 2020.
• The project’s construction will require more than 16,000 workers in the next few years.

Union Ministry of Environment notified norms for Coal-based Thermal Power Plants

In a bid to cope with pollution the Union environment ministry has notified revised norms of emission standards for coal-based thermal power plants in the country and made it mandatory for the existing plants to meet those parameters within two years.

Key Provisions of revised norms

• The new power plants (to be commissioned from January 1, 2017 onwards) will have to achieve “zero waste water discharge”.
• The new standards are aimed at reducing emission of PM10 (particulate matter), Sulphur Dioxide and Oxide of Nitrogen, which will improve the Ambient Air Quality (AAQ) in and around thermal power plants & will control the mercury emission (at about 70-90%).
• In case of PM10, the new plants will have to restrict the emission to 30 mg per cubic meter as compared to 100 mg per cubic meter in older plants.

Policy Intiative Development of Industrial / Economic

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that the GOI has adopted the strategy of developing integrated industrial/economic corridors in partnership with State Governments for boosting industrial development.

• National Industrial Corridor Development Authority (NICDA) has not been constituted yet.

The 5 industrial/economic corridors are as follows:

• Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC): The project spans the States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra along the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) of the railways. Initially, 8 nodes/cities in the six DMIC states have been taken up for development.
• Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC): Master Planning of Ponneri (Tamil Nadu), Tumkur (Karnataka) and Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) has been completed.
• Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC): The Dharwad (Karnataka) has been identified for master planning
• Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC): Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Srikalahasti-Yerpedu (Andhra Pradesh) have been identified for master planning.
• Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC): Feasibility study with respect to the Inception Report has been completed.

Indian Navy conducts large scale fleet exercise on eastern seaboard

The Indian Navy has been conducted large scale Fleet exercise on the eastern seaboard to maintain high levels of combat readiness and counter emerging threats.

• The exercises were conducted across a vast geographical area, extending from the Northern Bay of Bengal to the Andaman Sea.

About Exercise

• 24 ships, 2 submarines and over 10 aircraft participated in the exercise, which included the nuclear submarine Chakra as well as units from the Andaman-Nicobar Command.
• A ship from the Western Naval Command with the Kamov 31 Air Early Warning helicopter was also deployed for the exercise.
• To refine war fighting skills and concepts, various aspects of maritime warfarewere introduced into the exercise.
• A wide range of weapons, including Surface to Surface missiles (SSMs),Surface to Air missiles (SAMs) and Land Attack Missiles (LAMs) were fired from various platforms.
• The Hawk Fighter aircraft and P8I Long Range Maritime reconnaissance aircraft were also integrated into the exercise.

It was conducted as there have been increased sightings of Chinese submarines in the region, including a nuclear attack boat.

Bihar Government banned 15-year-old diesel vehicles from plying on Patna roads

The Bihar government has banned 15-year-old diesel vehicles from this capital’s road in a bid to control air pollution.

• The decision comes after an advisory issued by the Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) showing air quality in Patna was “very poor” on 20 days and “severe” on nine days of November 2015.

“Severe” means particulate matter-2.5 (or PM-2.5) is over 400 and can affect healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases. “Very poor” meansPM-2.5 is between 301 and 400 and can cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure.

• The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has listed Patna as a “non-attainment city” with PM-10 and PM-2.5 levels persistently exceeding national ambient air quality standards.

CCEA approved investment of 5000 crore rupees into ONGC Videsh

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its approval for investment of Rs.5, 000 crore by Oil and Natural Gas Company Limited (ONGC) in the equity share capital of ONGC Videsh by conversion of existing loan of equivalent amount into equity.

• Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) had extended a loan of Rs 6,000 crore to its overseas investment arm to meet its acquisitions requirements. Of this, Rs 5,000 crore is being converted into equity.
• With this, the equity base of OVL will rise to Rs 15,000 crore. The entire loan ONGC had given to OVL was at zero interest.