1) Dharmendra Pradhan to host first LPG Panchayat in Gandhinagar
•Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan will inaugurate one of the ambitious programmes of the Centre — LPG Panchayat, aimed at encouraging rural communities to turn to clean fuel.
•The Centre plans to organise one lakh LPG Panchayats across the country, where discussions will take place between officials of fuel companies and villagers on awareness and uses of the LPG. The First LPG Panchayat will be held in Gandhinagar, where Pradhan will preside over the interaction between women using LPG under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY) and the companies.
•According to data shared by the oil marketing companies, so far three crore connections have been allotted under the PMUY against the target of five crore by 2019.
2) India Gets its First High Horsepower Locomotive from France
•India has receieved its first High Horsepower Locomotive with the bodyshell of 12000 HP loco from Alstom France at Kolkata port. This first-of-its-kind high-power electric locomotive will be used to haul freight trains at twice the existing speed by 2018.
•This is the first major FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) project in the rail sector. The first such locomotive is estimated to cost about Rs 30 crore. The Indian Railways is currently using 6,000HP locomotives for freight services. The locomotive will run at a speed of up to 120 km/h.
3) Govt Launches Campaign to Sensitise Women About Cancer
•Minister of State Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel launched a nationwide health campaign to sensitise women about the early screening and the preventive care for cancer.
•Themed 'Nurturing the Nurturer', the campaign was launched by FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) in partnership with the Apollo Hospitals group.
4) Dr. Harshvardhan Launches Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana
•Dr. Harshvardhan launched “Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana” which will experiment and endeavour to formulate and implement appropriate S&T Interventions for Sustainable Development through cluster approach in Uttarakhand.
•Department of Science and Technology is implementing several initiatives for upliftment and economic development of rural areas in the country.
5) Balraj Joshi Appointed as New NHPC Chairman
•Balraj Joshi was appointed the chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of NHPC Ltd, the country’s premier hydro power utility. Joshi is at present director (technical) in the organisation.
•According to another order, P. Alli Rani has been appointed the CMD of Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) Ltd. She is at present director (finance) in Container Corporation of India Limited. Rani has been appointed to the post for a period of five years.
6) SBI launches Indian bond index series in London
•State Bank of India (SBI) has launched the FTSE SBI Bond Index series in partnership with global index provider FTSE 100, which will give tools to investors from India, the UK and globally to analyse India’s government bond market, and drive growth in this market.
•This index, launched in collaboration with the London Stock Exchange, will ensure that international investors have an international benchmark that is transparent, that is well governed and that is something they can easily rely on.
