08-12-22 Daily-Himachal Pradesh-HPPSC Current Affairs

Covid impacted the domestic and foreign tourist arrival in Himachal Pradesh in 2020, and also in 2021.

According to figures, recently placed in the Rajya Sabha, the number of domestic tourists had dropped from over 1.68 crore in 2019 to mere around 31 lakh in 2020 in Himachal. The number of tourists increased in 2020 but not much, compared to 2019. In 2021, Himachal received around 56 lakh tourists.

Similarly, the foreign tourist arrival was also majorly affected due to Covid as the state saw a major decline in their numbers in in 2020 and 2021.

While in 2019, around 3.82 lakh foreign tourists had arrived in Himachal, the numbers dropped to around 42,000 in 2020 and touched a low of just 4,932 in 2021.

In 2021, Nadu received the highest number of domestic visitors followed by Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. These states accounted for about 65.41% of the domestic tourist visits in the country.

Punjab received the maximum foreign tourists in 2021, almost 30% of the total visits, followed by Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, and Kerala. These five states accounted for about 69% of the total foreign tourist visits in 2021.

In line withthePrime Ministers announcement at COP26, Ministry of New and is working towards achieving 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030, and achieving Net Zero by 2070.

A total of 172.72 GW capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy Resources has been installed in the country as on 31.10.2022. This includes 119.09 GW Renewable Energy, 46.85 GW Large Hydro and 6.78 GW Nuclear Power capacity. This constitutes a share of 42.26% of total installed generation capacity in the country i.e. 408.71 GW as on 31.10.2022.

Further, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has carried out generation expansion studies with the projected All India peak electricity demand and electrical energy requirement of 325 GW and 2256 BU respectively for the year 2029-30 (as per the draft 20th EPS projections). Study reveals that the share of RE based installed capacity (including Large Hydro) in the capacity mix is likely to increase to around 480 GW by 2029-30. The share of RE (including Large Hydro) in the generation mix of the country, which stands at around 22% as of March, 2022 is likely to increase to around 41% by 2029-30.

Government of India launched the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) in December, 2014 for rural electrification works across the country.

Under DDUGJY and thereafter under Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya), the electrification of all villages and all willing Households was completed by 31stMarch, 2019 as reported by all State Governments.

A total of 2.86 crore Households were electrified under the aegis of Saubhagya including additional households in two tranches that were unwilling for electrification earlier but became willing later. TheRevamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) has provisions for providing assistance for giving connectivity to any habitation/household which may have been left out, provided that the said house/habitation was in existence when DDUGJY/Saubhagya were sanctioned.

The Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill development & , Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar today said that the Government of India is going to launch a Digital India Innovation Fund that will support Deeptech Startups.

The Minister made these remarks during his address to over 1000 college students as part of the New India for Young India: Techade of Opportunities program at the Catholic Bishop House Campus, Thamarassery, Kerala.

The government said that the Food Processing has invested Rs 4,900 crore so far underthe production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. The PLI scheme for the food processing industry was approved in March 2021, with a budget outlay of Rs 10,900 crore. It will be implementedfor seven years, until 2026-27.

A total of 182 applications have been approved under the PLI scheme for the food processingindustry. This includes 30 applications for Millets-based products under the PLI scheme (8 largeentities and 22 SMEs). Incentives amounting to Rs 800 crore are likely to be disbursed in thecurrent financial year. Sales-based incentive of Rs 107.3 crore has been disbursed so far.

Tesla and Twitter CEOElon Muskbecame the first person to lose$200 billionfrom his net worth. Elon Musk has seen a drop of up to $137 billion in his wealth after a recent drop in Tesla . The shares of his electric car company are down nearly 65 percent.Elon Muskbecame therichest personin the world for the first time in January 2021 with a net worth of more than $185 billion.

However, he was replaced byBernard Arnault,the chief executive of luxury brand Louis Vuittons parent company LVMH as the worlds richest man.