Union Minister of Heavy Industries &Public Enterprises, Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Information & Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar today inaugurated ELECRAMA 2020, at India Expo Mart in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) R K Singh and Minister of Industries in Uttar Pradesh Government, StatishMahana were also present on the occasion.

ELECRAMA is the flagship showcase of the Indian electrical industry and a platform to connect the world with Indian industry in respect of technology, new trends and innovation for future energy transition.

In his special address, Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises said that the annual growth of energy should be 10% for many years to come even if the country’s economy grows at the rate of 6% annually. Referring to demand for more relief by the industry, he said that industry’s cause must translate into societal cause for the benefit of society as well as the industry.

He said that electricity for a poor household is not only a facility but also an empowerment and main source of inspiration. The Minister also referred to electrification of 18 thousand unelectrifiedvillages and congratulated the Power Minister, RK Singh for fulfilling this commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi within a time frame of 1000 days. He further stated that 3.5 crore households were given power connections under SAUBHAGYA (PradhanMantriSahajBijliHarGharYojana) scheme.

The Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Minister asked the electrical industry to focus on quality of electrical equipment stating that main cause of fire incidents in many cases is poor quality of equipment and faulty wiring. The Minister urged the power industry to become part of product chain and not just supplier of spare parts. He mentioned the success story of LED bulbs which led to saving of thousands of crores of rupees in power bills to the customers and also protecting environmentthrough installation of 400 million LED bulb. Shri Javadekar said that energy efficiency is a big issue and to tackle the adverse impacts of climate change tools of energy efficiency must be used.

Emphasising on the quality of electrical goods, Shri Prakash Javadekarsaid there can be no compromise on quality. People want ease of living and new facilities for which electricity is an asset, the Minister pointed out. People will need more electricity and more electrical equipment and therefore demands of power as well as electrical goods are bound to go up, said the Minister. He said that the per capita consumption of energy is very low in India as compared to developed countries.

The Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Ministersaid that electrical vehicle is the future of India and the work on it has begun. Electrical vehicles will reduce environmental pollution and also lead to efficiency in use of energy. He informed that there are around 5 lakh electrical vehicles including two wheelers and four wheelers in the country.

Speaking on the occasion, Power Minister R.K. Singh said that the electricity sector has been transformed in the last few years and the whole country has been connected with one grid and one frequency. Now India has become power surplus country and is exporting power.

He said that investment in transmission and distribution system is continuing and will pick up pace. The Power Minister said that per capita consumption need to be tripled to reach the global average of 3600 units. He said that government is revamping energy tariff policy and any subsidy, that has to be given to any category of electricity consumers by the State Governments, should be done through direct benefit transfer scheme.

The Power Minister also spoke about the need of reform in the power distribution system. He said that the government is coming out with a new trajectory of loss reduction and distribution companies will have to follow this trajectory if they want to get further grants from the Central Government or if they want to access loans from the Power Finance Corporation.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways, Piyush Goyal, will lead the Indian delegation to the 50th World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos from January 20th to 24th 2020.

The Commerce and Industry Minister will participate in the WEF along with Union Minister of State for Shipping and Chemical and Fertilizers, Mansukh L. Mandaviya and Chief Ministers of the States of Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, Finance Minister of Punjab and the IT Minister of Telangana.

Secretary Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, senior officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Invest India are also part of the delegation.

Commerce and Industry Minister will hold bilateral meetings with Ministers of Australia, South Africa, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Korea and Singapore. He will also meet Director General of World Trade Organization and Secretary General of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Apart from this Commerce and Industry Minister will hold bilateral meetings with CEOs of companies, attend WEF sessions and round tables on Accelerating Investments in Indian Railways and attracting Global Institutional Investments in India.

Commerce and Industry Minister will also participate in an informal WTO Ministerial gathering being held in Davos during this period. The WEF annual meeting in Davos engages the world’s top leaders to shape global, regional and industry agendas at the beginning of the year. The theme of the 2020 meeting is stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) celebrated its 15th Raising Day here today . The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai was the chief guest on this occasion and Shri G.V.V. Sarma, Member Secretary, NDMA was the Guest of Honor.

About Coronavirus: Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.

Symptoms: Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

Transmission: Human coronaviruses most commonly spread from an infected person to others through: the air by coughing and sneezing. close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands. touching an object or surface with the virus on it, then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes before washing your hands. rarely, fecal contamination.

Sikhs in the US will be counted as a separate ethnic group in the 2020 census for the first time.

Background: Over a million Sikhs are estimated to be living in the US. One of the reasons for advocating the inclusion of Sikhs as a separate ethnic group is so “that action can be taken to address Sikh issues of significance such as bullying, intimidation and hate crimes against the community.”

How are race and ethnicity defined under the US Census? The US Census Bureau considers race and ethnicity as two distinct and separate concepts. It adheres to the 1997 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) standards on race and ethnicity.

There are five broad categories under which race is categorised. These are White, Black or African American, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. This is a social definition of race recognised and not an attempt to define race biologically, anthropologically, or genetically. Ethnicity determines whether a person is of Hispanic origin or not. For consideration under the US Census, ethnicity is broken down into two categories: Hispanic or Latino and Not Hispanic or Latino.

What are the benefits of this move? Ensure an accurate count of Sikhs in the United States. Help in tracking and measuring hate crimes against the community. Ensure an equal and accurate representation of Sikhs. Useful in providing access to members of Congress and other essential government services for the needs of the community.

Elsewhere: Apart from the US, Sikhs in Britain have also demanded inclusion as a separate ethnic group. In November 2019, British Sikhs took the government to court over the “unlawful” refusal to treat them as a separate ethnic group. It is estimated that there are over 800,000 Sikhs in the UK.

Furthermore, Sikhs are one of the fastest-growing religious minorities in New Zealand, where they are considered to be a distinct ethnic group. Other ethnic groups in New Zealand include Punjabis, Bengalis, Indian Tamils and Fijian Indian, among others.