Rural Inflation Higher Than Urban Inflation Now

• Urban inflation has usually tended to be higher than rural inflation by an average of about 0.8 percentage points through most of 2021 — the only exceptions being August when both stood at 5.3% and May when rural inflation was 6.6% and urban inflation was 5.9%.
• In March, the gap between the two has surpassed 1.5% with urban inflation at 6.12% and rural areas clocking 7.66%.
• While food inflation was the key driver for the headline inflation rate jump in March, with the overall consumer food price index racing to 7.68% from 5.85% in February, the spike was far more pronounced in rural India where food inflation hit 8.04%.
• While high inflation affects the poor the most in general, the fact that price rise in food, the largest component of their consumption basket, is driving the current surge is particularly burdensome.

FDA Authorizes First COVID-19 Diagnostic Test Using Breath Samples

• The InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer is about the size of a piece of carry-on luggage and can be used in doctor’s offices, hospitals and mobile testing sites.
• The test, which can provide results in less than three minutes, must be carried out under the supervision of a licensed health care provider.

Fuel ship sinks off Tunisia, threatens marine life

• The Tunisian Navy had rescued all seven crew members from the ship, which was heading from Equatorial Guinea to Malta, and sent a distress call 11 km away from southern city of Gabes.
• The cause of the incident was bad weather, the Environment Ministry said, adding that water had seeped into the ship, reaching a height of two metres.
• Gabès is the capital city of the Gabès Governorate in Tunisia. It is located on the coast of the Gulf of Gabès.
• The Gulf of Gabes, also known as Lesser Syrtis, is a gulf on Tunisia''s east coast in the Mediterranean Sea, off North Africa.

Centre extends tenure of environmental clearances

• The EC for river valley projects will now have a 13-year validity, and nuclear power projects or those involving the processing of nuclear fuel 15 years. Projects and activities other than the mining and river valley projects will have their EC valid for 10 years.
• Explaining its rationale, the Ministry said that nuclear power projects and hydropower projects had “high gestation” period due to “geological surprises, delays in forest clearance, land acquisition, local issues, rehabilitation and resettlement and such other factors which are often beyond the control of project proponents.
• In this context, the Central government “deems it necessary” to extend the validity of Environmental Clearance (EC) for such projects.
• An EC is a long-drawn process that is mandatory for projects beyond a certain size and often involves an environment impact assessment of a potential project and sometimes public hearings involving the local populace who might be affected by the project.
• One of the conditions of an EC is that a project must begin construction in the period that it has been granted an EC and if unable, a fresh process must begin. This leads to projects being financially unviable.
• Mining leases are now granted for a period of 50 years but the Environment Clearance is valid for 30 years.

Centre would establish seaweed park with special economic zone status in Tamil Nadu

• The project will be the first of its kind in India and will come up under the PM Kisan Sampada Yojana.
• The state government has been asked to locate the project site and acquire the land, after which the works on the project will start. He further said the Centre has plans to implement projects worth 20-thousand crore rupees, under the PM Kisan Sampada Yojana.
• Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae.

Govt to launch e-Sanjeevani Tele-consultation facility at one lakh health and wellness centers

• More than one lakh 17 thousand Health and Wellness Centres have been operationalized in the country so far.
• Now the common citizens will also be able to take advice from the big doctors of the country through e-Sanjeevani Tele-consultation facility.
• E-Sanjeevani is providing affordable and accessible health care as envisioned by the Prime Minister. Teleconsultation services are very crucial for people in remote areas and are helpful in making healthcare services accessible for all.

Aviation Ministry''s ''UDAN'' scheme awarded Prime Minister''s Award for Excellence

• The government has initiated this award to acknowledge, recognize and reward extraordinary and innovative work done by Districts and Organizations of State and Government.
• The Ministry said, UDAN scheme emphasises on Good Governance, Qualitative achievements, and last mile connectivity rather than only on achievement of quantitative targets.
• The award consists of a trophy, scroll and an incentive of ten lakh rupees. The Ministry of Civil Aviation will receive the award at Civil Service Day function on 21st of April.
• In a short span of five years, 415 UDAN routes have connected 66 underserved and unserved airports, including heliports and over 92 lakh people have benefited from it.
• UDAN scheme has immensely benefitted several sectors pan-India including Hilly States, North-Eastern region and Islands.

SECI issues tender for 500 MW/1000 MWh Standalone Battery Energy Storage Systems

• A first-of-its-kind tender in the country, it will provide Discoms with storage facilities to be used on an “on-demand” basis. The tender has been issued under the Standard Bidding Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Power in March 2022.
• The total capacity to be set up under the RfS is 1000 MWh (500 MW x 2hrs), which will constitute two projects of 500 MWh (250 MW x 2 hrs) capacity each.
• The Projects will be installed in the vicinity of the Fatehgarh-III Grid-Substation of the ISTS network, in the State of Rajasthan.
• The Buying Entities will be offered the storage capacity to charge and discharge the same daily through RE power, as per their energy shifting requirements.
• The Projects will be set up on a “Build-Own-Operate” basis, with the connectivity and necessary permissions being under the scope of the Project Developer.