News Bulletin : January 2022 – Issue 2
1. Climate change-induced permafrost thaw threatening homes, infrastructure in Arctic
It has been well established through various studies that the Arctic permafrost has been warming and, in many areas, thawing since the 1980s due to climate change.
But new research has claimed that continuous warming could pose danger to pose humans who have established settlements in the Arctic areas.
According to a journal published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment on Tuesday, the scientists have said that buckling roads, cracks appearing in building foundations and ruptured pipelines are likely to become a common sight in and around the Arctic as warming temperatures cause the frozen ground to thaw.
Source: WIO News
2. Panel for Gati Shakti asks DPIIT to identify high-impact infra projects
The upcoming Union Budget 2022-23 is expected to give greater thrust to infrastructure creation and expedite connectivity projects in various economic zones.
The Cabinet Secretary-led panel for Gati Shakti has asked the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to ensure that “high-impact” infrastructure projects get on a fast track, and to kick-start the exercise of identifying projects for inclusion in the Budget, which will be presented by the finance minister on February 1.
Source: Business Standards
3. Maharashtra To Get 5 More Multi-modal Logistics Parks; Nagpur One To Be Functional Shortly
The Centre and Maharashtra government on Friday signed five agreements to set up multi-modal logistics parks in Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Aurangabad, Nashik and Dighi Port Industrial Estate.
These MoUs were signed by the National Highways Logistics Management (NHLML), Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) at the conference on investment opportunities in highway, transport and logistics here in the presence of Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Source: Republic World
4. Emerging technologies transforming offshore wind energy
Energy generation is the most crucial building block of a country’s economic development and a key determinant of its progress. Population growth requires a higher degree of economic development, which directly requires more energy to be generated.
Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report \”Emerging Technologies Transforming Offshore Wind Energy\”
To meet the rising energy demands, the energy sector is under pressure to expand rapidly as countries highly dependent on fossil fuels grapple with the demand-supply situation. Therefore, it is imperative for many countries to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels to minimize greenhouse gas emissions.
5. Harnessing the Brahmaputra for cargo movement
Efforts to make Haldia jetty operational for sending export, import and inland cargo to Pandu terminal in Guwahati has triggered new hopes in connectivity for the Northeast region. Apart from reducing traffic congestion along the Siliguri corridor, it is also expected to attract the attention of global players to look at the potential of National Waterway (NW)-2 from Sadiya to Dhubri along the Brahmaputra with renewed interest. The NW-2 connects with the NW-1 through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route and deepening bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh has contributed to creating the enabling ecosystem for optimal use of the old river route.
Maintenance of navigable depth has been one of the key factors behind the underutilisation of the national waterways, more so in respect of NW 2.
Source: Sentinelassam
6. Decoding India’s Maritime Policies
India will soon be approaching the 75th year of its independence. The economy is in an upswing mode with phenomenal investments in the infrastructure areas, especially in the maritime domain. Ports, shipping, and allied service providers are creating mega facilities for the coming decade.
Detailed plans and VISION documents have been made public through SAGARMALA and Maritime India Vision 2030. These demand policy alignments and some of these are being put in place; rationally, however, this could be reviewed and care exercised in implementation, with a rearview on the infrastructural alignment and efficiency from the past records.
Source: The Policy Times
7. Road logistics sector to show healthy growth in FY22 as biz activity picks pace
After a subdued beginning to the year due to the second wave of Covid-19, the road logistics sector has shown a strong recovery with most players reporting healthy growth in freight volumes, ratings agency Icra said on Tuesday. Based on the performance over the last two quarters, Icra has maintained stable outlook for the sector.
Source: Live Mint
8. ICRA hikes road logistics growth forecast to 16% from 9% in FY22
Expects industry volumes to remain stable in FY23, with expectation of steady biz activities and formalisation of the sector
Buoyed by strong growth in freight volumes aided by accelerated pace of vaccinations, pent up demand and firm freight rates, the road logistics sector is expected to grow at 13-16 per cent in FY22 against the earlier projected 6-9 per cent, ratings agency ICRA said on Tuesday.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
9. Tata-Siemens JV to develop metro corridor for Pune Metro
A joint venture between TRIL Urban Transport Private Limited (a Tata Group Company) and Siemens Project Ventures GmbH (subsidiary of Siemens Financial Services) under Public Private Partnership Route (PPP) will develop the metro corridor from Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar.
The joint venture has formed a special purpose company called Pune IT City Metro Rail Limited.
The elevated metro line connects Hinjewadi Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park to Shivajinagar via Balewadi. The 23.3 kms corridor with 23 stations will be the first metro project in India under the New Metro Rail Policy.
Source: Live Mint
10. Railways plans four more bullet train corridors
The Indian Railways plans to add four more high-speed rail corridors to the National Rail Plan in addition to the presently planned eight corridors.
The proposed eight corridors include Mumbai – Surat – Vadodara – Ahmedabad, Delhi – Noida – Agra – Kanpur – Lucknow – Varanasi, Delhi – Jaipur – Udaipur – Ahmedabad, Mumbai – Nasik – Nagpur, Mumbai – Pune – Hyderabad, Chennai – Bangalore – Mysore, Delhi – Chandigarh – Ludhiana – Jalandhar – Amritsar, Varanasi – Patna – Howrah.
Source: Swarajyamag
11. World’s largest coal port to be 100% powered by renewable energy
The world’s largest coal port has announced it will now be powered entirely by renewable energy.
The announcement from Port of Newcastle comes as coal power generation in Australia’s national electricity market fell to its lowest level in the final three months of 2021.
Though the port continues to export an average of 165Mt of coal a year, the move is part of a plan to decarbonise the business by 2040, and to increase the non-coal portion of its business so that coal only makes up half its revenue by 2030.
It has signed a deal with Iberdrola, which operates the Bodangora windfarm near Dubbo in inland New South Wales, for a retail power purchase agreement that provides the port with large scale generation certificates linked to the windfarm.
Source: The Guardian
12. Cabinet clears 12k-cr green energy corridor
Green energy corridors are being set up in two phases with the second phase of the transmission corridors to supply 20 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy to the national grid from the seven states of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
As part of India’s green energy push, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved the ₹12,031 crore second phase of setting up transmission projects for supplying electricity from renewable energy projects.
Source: Hindustan Times
13. The era of virtual power plants is here
While the battle between utilities and residential solar owners is often widely publicized — solar owners want compensation for their production, utilities aren’t too sure — one thing not making headlines is utility hatred of customer-sited energy storage. In fact, more utilities are grouping residential batteries into virtual power plants (VPPs) and paying customers for the opportunity to call on their stored energy when the grid needs it most.
It’s a considerable change in utility thinking that is sweeping the country. From progressive utilities in the Northeast to grid operators desperate for quick reliability fixes in the West, VPPs are a win-win on both sides of the electric line. Utilities get access to thousands of mini power plants and clean energy without building their own substations, and customers get extra benefits from their emergency backup resources.
Source: Solar Power world Online
14. Govt looks for major infra push with 30% budget hike for highways
The Union Budget will propose a massive 30% increase in allocations for the ministry of road transport and highways to speed up the construction of about 50km of highways per day, two people aware of the plans said
The hike in allocations will take the budget for the ministry (MoRTH) to more than ₹1.5 trillion, its highest ever.
Source: Live Mint
15. Nitin Gadkari devises a plan to put an end to bridges\’ collapse across India
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that the Centre will framework a policy to know the condition and age of all the bridges across the country.
He said that the Ministry had prepared the Indian Bridge Management System in order to collect information about all the bridges of the country.
Source: Live Mint
16. NGT resolved to address environmental disputes in 2021
The National Green Tribunal in 2021 not only flagged key environmental issues of the country but also brought a new dynamic functioning style as it sensitised the government machinery to act fast and intensify its surveillance and vigilance mechanism.
The NGT cracked the whip on industrial units causing pollution and stressed on cleaning of the Ganga and the Yamuna.
Source: The Print
17. How our miraculous transportation system turns water into brine
When English romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge published those words in 1798, there was no dense network of modern concrete and asphalt roads in Great Britain (or anywhere else) and there were no automobiles or trucks to ride on them. And so, of course, there was no salting of roads in winter.
The excerpt quoted above is from Coleridge’s famous poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” and refers to the mariner’s desperate desire for drinkable water while floating on the ocean.
Source: The Resilience
