The Daily Brief – 14th January 2020

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The State Energy Efficiency Index 2019 was launched by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in association with the Alliance for Energy Efficient Economy. The basic energy requirements like coal, electricity, gas and oil were taken into consideration while preparing the report, which tracks the progress of Energy Efficiency initiatives in 36 states and Union Territories. According to the report, the best performing states were Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Puducherry while the least performing states were Manipur, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. Five distinct sectors namely industry, transport, municipalities, buildings, discoms and agriculture were studied to determine the outcome. Such an index will help states track their contribution towards climate action and energy security.
The Government of India inaugurated the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and a National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal at a cost of 416 crores. The I4C will have seven major components – National Cyber Crime Threat Analysis Unit, Platform for Joint Cyber Crime Investigation Team, National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, Cyber Crime Ecosystem Management Unit, National Cyber-Crime Training Centre, National Cyber Research and Innovation Centre and National Cybercrime Forensic Laboratory Ecosystem. Around fifteen state governments and union territories have agreed to set up Regional Cyber Crime Coordination Centres. The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal will enable citizens to report cyber-crimes online and specific attention is to be paid on crimes against women, child pornography and child sexual abuse.
“Purvodaya”, a world class steel hub, was announced by the Ministry of Steel with an aim to accelerate the development programme of the eastern states. The Confederation of India Industries (CII) will join the Steel Ministry in the implementation of the hub, which will create 2.5 million jobs and will create world-class logistics and infrastructure. The steel hub also aims to achieve India’s steel policy target of 300 MT by 2030. The five eastern states – West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Northern Andhra Pradesh are extremely rich in reserves of coking coal, bauxite and dolomite and this eastern region is home to major ports like Haldia, Paradip, Kolkata and Visakhapatnam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Commemorative Stamp at the 150th celebrations of the port in Kolkata
During the 150^th anniversary celebrations of the Kolkata Port Trust on 12^th January 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Commemorative Stamp of the port in Kolkata. He also announced to rename Kolkata Port Trust as Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Port. Prime Minister also inaugurated the upgraded Ship Repair Facility of Cochin- Kolkata Ship Repair Unit at Netaji Subhas Dry Dock. He also inaugurated the Full Rake Handling Facility for smooth cargo movement and improving turnaround time.
According a report from job site Indeed, Science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM)-related job roles have increased by 44 percent between November 2016 and November 2019. These job roles in India are among the most promising for job seekers, as these job openings have seen consistent growth in the past three years. The data calculated for this report was based on job postings and searches on the Indeedplatform from November 2016 to November 2019.
World Future Energy Summit 2020 was held from 13^th to 16^th January, 2020 in Abu Dhabi under the theme ‘Rethinking Global Consumption, Production, and Investment’. It saw a participation of 33,500 visitors from 170 countries and 800 specialist exhibitors. World Future Energy Summit is the Middle East’s largest future energy and sustainability event. Climate Innovations Exchange (CLIX) and Future Sustainability Summit were also held alongside the summit.
Australian Government is to declare koalas as endangered species after the bushfire crisis which destroyed 30% of the habitat of koalas across the country. Since September last year, the raging Australian bushfires, one of the worst in its history, has killed at least 26 people, burned over 10 million hectares of land, destroyed over 2,000 homes and pushed many species towards extinction. Over 1.25 billion animals are believed to be dead in the wake of bushfires.