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Scientists convert carbon dioxide, create electricity

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create electricity_indianbureaucracy

Summary:Scientists have developed an oxygen-assisted aluminum/carbon dioxide power cell that uses electro-chemical reactions to both sequester the carbon dioxide and produce electricity.

While the human race will always leave its carbon footprint on the Earth, it must continue to find ways to lessen the impact of its fossil fuel consumption.

“Carbon capture” technologies — chemically trapping carbon dioxide before it is released into the atmosphere — is one approach. In a recent study, Cornell University researchers disclose a novel method for capturing the greenhouse gas and converting it to a useful product — while producing electrical energy.

Lynden Archer, the James A. Friend Family Distinguished Professor of Engineering, and doctoral student Wajdi Al Sadat have developed an oxygen-assisted aluminum/carbon dioxide power cell that uses electrochemical reactions to both sequester the carbon dioxide and produce electricity.

Their paper, “The O2-assisted Al/CO2 electrochemical cell: A system for CO2capture/conversion and electric power generation,” was published July 20 inScience Advances.

The group’s proposed cell would use aluminum as the anode and mixed streams of carbon dioxide and oxygen as the active ingredients of the cathode. The electrochemical reactions between the anode and the cathode would sequester the carbon dioxide into carbon-rich compounds while also producing electricity and a valuable oxalate as a byproduct.

In most current carbon-capture models, the carbon is captured in fluids or solids, which are then heated or depressurized to release the carbon dioxide. The concentrated gas must then be compressed and transported to industries able to reuse it, or sequestered underground. The findings in the study represent a possible paradigm shift, Archer said.

“The fact that we’ve designed a carbon capture technology that also generates electricity is, in and of itself, important,” he said. “One of the roadblocks to adopting current carbon dioxide capture technology in electric power plants is that the regeneration of the fluids used for capturing carbon dioxide utilize as much as 25 percent of the energy output of the plant. This seriously limits commercial viability of such technology. Additionally, the captured carbon dioxide must be transported to sites where it can be sequestered or reused, which requires new infrastructure.”

The group reported that their electrochemical cell generated 13 ampere hours per gram of porous carbon (as the cathode) at a discharge potential of around 1.4 volts. The energy produced by the cell is comparable to that produced by the highest energy-density battery systems.

Another key aspect of their findings, Archer says, is in the generation of superoxide intermediates, which are formed when the dioxide is reduced at the cathode. The superoxide reacts with the normally inert carbon dioxide, forming a carbon-carbon oxalate that is widely used in many industries, including pharmaceutical, fiber and metal smelting.

“A process able to convert carbon dioxide into a more reactive molecule such as an oxalate that contains two carbons opens up a cascade of reaction processes that can be used to synthesize a variety of products,” Archer said, noting that the configuration of the electrochemical cell will be dependent on the product one chooses to make from the oxalate.

Al Sadat, who worked on onboard carbon capture vehicles at Saudi Aramco, said this technology in not limited to power-plant applications. “It fits really well with onboard capture in vehicles,” he said, “especially if you think of an internal combustion engine and an auxiliary system that relies on electrical power.”

He said aluminum is the perfect anode for this cell, as it is plentiful, safer than other high-energy density metals and lower in cost than other potential materials (lithium, sodium) while having comparable energy density to lithium. He added that many aluminum plants are already incorporating some sort of power-generation facility into their operations, so this technology could assist in both power generation and reducing carbon emissions.

A current drawback of this technology is that the electrolyte — the liquid connecting the anode to the cathode — is extremely sensitive to water. Ongoing work is addressing the performance of electrochemical systems and the use of electrolytes that are less water-sensitive.

More: Science

Medium Range-Surface to Air Missile Systems

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MRSAM Systems _indianbureaucrcay
MRSAM Systems _indianbureaucrcay

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has recently flight tested 3 Medium Range-Surface to Air Missile (MR-SAM) systems successfully at Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur during 30th June – 1st July 2016. MR-SAM can detect incoming enemy aircraft at 100 km distance and destroy them at ranges up to 70 km.

Cooperation with foreign countries for development and manufacturing activities is an ongoing process based on the needs of the Services and Nation.

India at RIO Olympics

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Rio Olympics 2016-indianbureaucracy
Rio Olympics 2016-indianbureaucracy

Final Results Summary : RIO Olympics

Shooting:

ABHINAV BINDRA:  finished 4TH in 10m Men’s Air Rifle.

In the final, he went as high as second at one point, but with four shooters left, he went into a shoot-off to stay in the final. He lost the shoot-off and ended fourth in is fifth Olympics. Bindra is the only Indian to have an individual gold medal at the Olympics.

Earlier Bindra had a great finish to finish seventh and reach the final.

Gagan Narang, bronze medallist in 2012, finished 23rd and failed to reach the final.

GAGAN NARANG: 23rd in 10m Men’s Air Rifle; failed to make final.

MANAVJIT SANDHU: Shot 23-23-22 on first day; He shot 25-22 on second day to finish 16th and failed to reach the final.

KYNAN CHENAI: Shot 22-23-22 on first Day; Shot 24-23 on second Day to finish 19th, and failed to reach the final.

ARCHERY:

LAXMI RANI MAJHI – Lost to Alexandra Longova (Slovakia) 1-7

HOCKEY – MEN:

Indian Team lost narrowly 1-2 to Germany in their second match in Pool B.

  • Niklas Wellen scored for Germany in 18th minute;
  • Rupinder Pal Singh scored off a Penalty corner for India in the same quarter in 23rd minute to make it 1-1.
  • Christopher Ruhr scored with three seconds left in the match in the 60th minute to make it 2-1 for Germany.

This was India’s second match. They beat Ireland in the first match.

HOCKEY – WOMEN:

India lost to Great Britain 0-3 in their second pool match. This was their first loss after a 2-2 draw with Japan in the first pool match.

SWIMMING

SHIVANI KATARIYA – came second in her heats in 2:09.30s in the 200 women’s fresstyle but failed to make the semi-finals. The 16 best timings from six heats qualified for the semi-finals.

SAJAN PRAKASH – finished fourth in his Heat in 1:59.37 in 200m butterfly and failed to make the semi-finals.

Tenure extension to New India Assurance Company CMD

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G. Srinivasan_CMD_indianbureaucracy
G. Srinivasan_CMD_indianbureaucracy

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Department of Financial Services for further extension of tenure of Shri G. Srinivasan, CMD, New India Assurance Company Limited (NIACL) with effect from 16.04.2016 to 31.07.2018 i.e. the date of his attaining the age of superannuation, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes Shri Srinivasan the very best.

SBI to offer personal loans to 7 lakh Jan Dhan account holders

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FICCI
FICCI_logo_indianbureaucracy
State Bank of India chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said the country’s banks now need to adhere to strict norms for maintaining credibility and attracting foreign capital in a capital deficient environment. On the other hand, the lenders should adopt inclusive approach to bring more people into the system of banking backup for the financially weaker sections.
Notably, the country’s largest lender, SBI, has identified around 7 lakh accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojna for providing overdraft facility to offer small personal loans.
“Now, banks are required to maintain LCR (liquidity coverage ratio) over and above CRR and SLR. Liquidity risk is the biggest risk which the banking sector was facing today,” Bhattacharya at an event organised by industry body FICCI here.
Reserve Bank of India, however, relaxed Basel III-mandated liquidity coverage ratios for banks last month.
The SBI chief said technology was enabling the lender in reaching out to the people in the villages. Under the financial inclusion programme, the state-run bank has so far opened over 10 crore accounts.
“The 7 lakh accounts, which we have identified, are for giving loans for personal purposes, not necessarily for entrepreneurship. The people belong to low-income group and had opened accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojna,” said Bhattacharya.
Asked about the process of selecting the Jan-Dhan accounts for offering personal loans, she said, “They are basically all the people who have sufficient turnover in their accounts in order to get an overdraft.”
The size of the loans to be disbursed depends on the amount of turnover in their accounts, Bhattacharya said, adding disbursal of these small loans to the low-income group people is being carried out by business correspondents.
The SBI chairman said even after the ending of Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, people continued to open 60,000 accounts at its branches per day for the financial inclusion scheme.
Backed by the upgradation of business correspondents model, the bank is now coming up with small value insurance, investment and flexible deposits products. Bhattacharya said technology was becoming a great enabler in reaching out to the people in the villages. Currently, cyber crime was an important issue of concern among the bankers, she added.

Capacity Creation By Railways

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indian railways
indian railways

Ministry of Railways have planned an investment of Rs.8.56 lakh crore over five years (2015-2019) with an emphasis on capacity creation. Under the investment plan, major areas of priority include: Network Decongestion, Network Expansion, Safety related works, rolling stock procurement, station development works, modernization, speed raising, signalling, traffic facility works, information technology and customer service improvements.

Efforts towards enhancing internal resource generation are a continuous process on the Railways which includes a mix of traffic augmentation, non-fare revenue maximization, pricing adjustments and expenditure control measures etc.

Chimpanzees travelling more are frequent tool users

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Chimpanzees_indianbureaucracy
Chimpanzees_indianbureaucracy

Summary:Travel fosters tool use in wild chimpanzees and it may also have been a driving force in early technological evolution by humans.

Chimpanzees who travel are more frequent tool users, according to new findings from the University of Neuchâtel and the University of Geneva, Switzerland, to be published in eLife.

Hawa is a wild chimpanzee from the Budongo Forest in Uganda who burns up a lot of energy travelling, which he has learnt to replenish with a dose of honey. His friend Squibs makes less of an effort to roam and has not acquired the skills needed to enjoy this high-energy treat. This pattern was repeated in other members of the study group over seven years of observation.

A low quantity of ripe fruit also increases chimpanzees’ motivation to acquire new foraging skills, but the effect is less pronounced than travel.

“Our results show that travel fosters tool use in wild chimpanzees and it may also have been a driving force in early technological evolution by humans,” says Dr Thibaud Gruber from the University of Geneva.

The team reviewed data from nine other chimpanzee communities to confirm the pattern. Chimpanzees’ closest relative, the Bonobo, travels around the same average distance as the Sonso and other Ugandan chimpanzees and uses a similar set of tools. Gorillas and most orangutans show limited or no feeding-related tool use and spend significantly less time travelling per day on the ground compared to chimpanzees. In contrast, modern human hunter-gatherers walk on average 11.4-14.1 km per day and use many more tools than any of the great apes.

Gruber studied 70 individuals of the Sonso community of chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, known for its limited tool use behaviour. This made them ideal subjects to study how tool use emerges. The only feeding-related tools they use are folded leaves, usually to collect water, and moss to soak up mineral deposits from a clay pit. 52 of them engaged with the experiment.

“After seven years of field work, I had a massive amount of data and there was clear variation in how chimpanzees engaged with the experiment. I thought it would be interesting to analyse why,” says Gruber.

He deployed the “honey trap experiment.” The Sonso chimpanzees already used their fingers to take honey from bees’ nests, with limited success. In the “honey trap” experiment, a hole is drilled into a log and partially filled with this tempting prize so it can only be accessed with an implement. Most of the individuals who successfully extracted honey employed the community’s habitual tool, a folded leaf sponge, while two used a stick. A total of 21 instances of tool use were observed in 11 individuals.

The team reviewed the data against a whole range of variables including the quantity of ripe fruits eaten and the average daily distance the chimpanzees travelled.

“We didn’t expect travel to be that important, and were surprised that it had an even greater influence than if they fed less on their preferred food of ripe fruits,” says Gruber.

The team conclude that travel created an extra need for high-energy food while the challenge of inaccessible honey created an opportunity for innovation. The team did not analyse the potential influence of social learning to influence it. In 2011, Gruber and a colleague Catherine Hobaiter from the University of St Andrews discovered that the community’s use of moss as a sponge emerged from one individual named Nick, whose behavior was copied by a dominant female and quickly spread.

The study also reveals the influence of local ecology in the development of tool use. The Budongo Forest has provided a rich environment for chimpanzees, which could explain the previous lack of tool use in the Sonso community. However, in the last few decades, the food supply has steadily decreased.

It has been suggested that the development of tool use and sociality in early humans could likewise have been adaptive responses to heightened habitat instability caused by climate change.

“When times are changing, you have to adapt your behavior and our data illustrate that chimps will pay more attention to the possibilities offered by their environment in more demanding periods,” says Gruber.

More: Science

Road to Rio Olympics-2016 for SAJAN PRAKASH

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SAJAN PRAKASH_indianbureaucracy
SAJAN PRAKASH_indianbureaucracy

Sajan Prakash, S/o Smt.V.J.Shantymol, APO, Mines-II is one of the two Swimmers from India selected to participate in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics commencing in Brazil from 5 th Aug 2016.It is note worthy to mention that the swimmer was introduced to Swimming at the age tender age of six at NLC Swimming Pools under the guidance of Shri.Joy Joseph Thoppen and Shri Saji Sebastian, NLC Swimming Coaches.

NLC having a good sports tradition and talented Coaches easily identified his inner talent and encouraged him to participate in various age group State level Swimming championships and he got his first medal in the Nagarajan Memorial Swimming meet held at Neyveli in the year 1999. Consistent training and encouragement and motivation from his mother, who is a reputed NLC athlete herself, helped him to cross many hurdles. He was always ahead of his peers in swimming. He started winning medals for NLC as well as Tamilnadu in Sub –Junior, Junior, SGFI (School Games Federation of India), as well as Senior National Aquatic Championships during the years 2003 to 2011.He had his schooling at St.Paul’s Matric HSS, Neyveli until his 10 th std and later at Jawahar Matric HSS School, Bl-17,Neyveli that shaped his educational career while encouraging his swimming.

During his school days under the guidance of NLC Coaches and support of NLC Management he represented Tamilnadu in Sub-Junior, Junior and Senior National Aquatic Championships and won thirty medals. After completing his 12 th standard at Neyveli in order to pursue his swimming career he joined South Western Railways, Bangalore as a clerk at the age of 18 in the year 2011 and continued his swimming training at Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre, Bangalore under the National Swimming coach Shri.S.Pradeep kumar. His contribution helped South Western Railways to win four consecutive Inter Railways Championships from 2012-15 Selvan. Sajan Prakash broke the National records in his favorite events 1500 Free style and 200 Mtrs Butterfly in the year 2012 and taken part in prestigious events like Asian Championship in UAE, in Commonwealth championship in U.K, Asian Games in South

Korea and later in the prestigious World Championship in Russia in the year 2015. The steady progress in swimming fetched Selvan. Sajan Prakash, FINA (World Governing Body of Swimming) Scholarship for International training under American coaches. It is very creditable to note that he will be competing in the prestigious Rio Olympics 2016 in Brazil as first Olympian hailing from Neyveli.

The NLC Management plans to honour Selvan. Sajan Prakash on forthcoming Independence day celebrations of NLC to be held at Bharathi Statdium ,Neyveli on 15.08.2016.Shri Sarat Kumar Acharya,CMD,NLC will present a special award to him.

REC contributes Rs 25 crore towards “Swachh Bharat Kosh”

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REC_CSR_Swacch Bharat Kosh_indianbureaucracy
REC_CSR_Swacch Bharat Kosh_indianbureaucracy

Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC Ltd.), a ‘Navratna’ Public Sector Enterprise, Government of India, has sanctioned CSR assistance of Rs. 25 crore for contribution in ‘Swachh Bharat Kosh’, set up by Government of India, for improving the cleanliness level in rural and urban areas including the schools to make country open defecation free under the aegis of ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’. This is the largest contribution by any PSU till date in Swachh Bharat Kosh.

Shri Rajeev Sharma, CMD, REC, handed over a cheque for an amount of Rs. 25 crore for contribution towards ‘Swachh Bharat Kosh’ to Shri Ashok Lavasa, Finance Secretary & Secretary (Expenditure), Ministry of Finance, North Block, New Delhi, on 4th August, 2016, in the presence of Director (Finance), Director (Technical), ED (CSR), ED (DDUGJY) & GM (F&A/CSR), Rural Electrification Corporation Limited and other senior officials of Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

Domestic Tourists to get concession in Luxury Trains

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semi-luxury train_indianbureaucracy
semi-luxury train_indianbureaucracy

Concessions to domestic tourists on luxury tourist trains are offered by respective State Tourism Corporations / Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Presently, only IRCTC offers concession on its train Maharajas’ Express to domestic tourists by way of a discount of 50% to the second tourist sharing the cabin with a fully paid adult tourist, on select departures. Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, though offers no specific concession on Palace on Wheels and Royal Rajasthan on Wheels to domestic tourists, equivalent Indian National Rupee (INR) tariff for Indian Passport holders is fixed by taking the exchange rate as Rs. 60 per US$ irrespective of actual exchange rate, thereby insulating them from the fluctuation in exchange rate.

IndianBureaucracy.com welcomes the initiative.

Investment on Infrastructure Schemes

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NHAI
NHAI

During Financial Year (FY) 2014-15 and 2015-16, projects involving investment of Rs. 25,878 crore were awarded by Major Ports. National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) responsible for construction of major roads and highways in India invested Rs. 41,087 crore and Rs. 63,803 crore in FY 2014-15 and 2015-16, respectively. Ministry of Railways have spent a total of Rs. 58,718 crore and Rs 93,795 crore in FY 2014-15 and FY 2015-16, respectively on development of railway infrastructure. As per the information provided by Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of Rs. 1.17 lakh crore was received in infrastructure sector including roads, railways, ports etc in last two years.

Government has taken various steps to attract investment in infrastructure sector which includes launching of innovative financial vehicles such as Infrastructure Debt Funds (IDFs), Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)/Infrastructure Investment Trust (InVITs), National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF), laying down a framework for municipal bonds, issuance of Tax Free Bonds, allowing complete pass through of income tax to securitization trusts including trusts of Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs), bringing in 5/25 Scheme to extend long tenor loans to infrastructure projects, take-out finance, flexible structuring and refinancing of project loans, higher credit exposure limits for single and group borrowers, and single NBFC/NBFC-Asset Financing Company and Infrastructure Financing Company, amendment in investment norms of insurance companies, Employees’ Provident Funds, etc.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes the very best.

Encouraging processing & value addition of agricultural and horticultural produce

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Ministry of food Processing Industries-indianbureaucracy
Ministry of food Processing Industries-indianbureaucracy

For encouraging processing and value addition of agricultural and horticultural produce including Jack-Fruit in the country, Ministry of Food Processing Industries had been implementing a Scheme namely Scheme for Technology Upgradation/ Establishment/ Modernization of Food Processing Industries up to 31.03.2012.  Under this scheme, financial assistance in the form of grant-in-aid had been provided for Setting up/Technology Upgradation/Modernization of all food processing units in the country, which includes industries involved in value addition of Jack-Fruit also.

The quantum of financial assistance admissible for eligible entrepreneurs under the above scheme was at the rate of 25% of the cost of Plant & Machinery and Technical Civil Works subject to a maximum of Rs. 50 lakhs in case of General areas and for difficult areas, the same was at rate of 33.33% of the cost of Plant & Machinery and Technical Civil Works subject to a maximum of Rs. 75 lakhs.  The aforesaid scheme was subsequently subsumed in the Centrally Sponsored (CSS)-National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP) with effect from 01.04.2012 till 31.03.2015.  Thereafter, the said scheme got delinked from Government of India’s assistance and it was left to the State Governments to decide on its continuance from their increased resource as per recommendation of 14th Finance Commission.

As a part of the Committed / Spillover liabilities of 11th Plan period during the 12th Plan period also, Ministry of Food Processing Industries has been releasing grant-in-aid to eligible entrepreneurs under the Scheme for Technology Upgradation/ Establishment/ Modernization of Food Processing Industries, which includes entrepreneurs involved in value addition of Jack-Fruit also.

The year-wise and state-wise details regarding financial assistance released by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries under the Scheme for Technology Upgradation/ Establishment/ Modernization of Food Processing Industries during last three years, are given in Annexure.

In addition, the Government has also created a special fund of Rs. 2000 crore with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for providing affordable credit to entrepreneurs for setting up of food processing units in designated Food Parks notified by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.  The entrepreneurs involved in value addition of Jack Fruit can also avail the affordable credit under this fund for setting up of their units.