Union Cabinet gives nod to proposal for construct all-weather Zojila Tunnel Project

The Union Cabinet has given nod to the proposal for construction of a 14-km all-weather tunnel at Zojila pass in Ladakh region. The project would require Rs 9000 crore investment to ensure undisrupted round-the-year connectivity between Ladakh and Srinagar. The Zojila pass is located at an altitude of 11578 ft on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway (NH-1), which remains closed during the winter season due to heavy snowfall and inclement weather.

Zojila tunnel along with another 6.5 km long tunnel at Z-Morh in Sonmarg will provide road connectivity to Ladak and Srinagar areas round the year. Building the tunnel would take 7 years, and the contract for collecting toll will be for 15 years.

India’s largest Air Traffic Control (ATC) Tower unveiled at Mumbai Airport 
India’s largest 84-meter tall Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower of India was inaugurated outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai.  It is spread over an area of 2800 square meter area and is also equipped with state-of-the-art technology such as electronic flight strips that can reduce the workload of controllers and enhance safety and capacity of the airport.
The height of the ATC tower will facilitate all the controllers in having easy and non-stop view of complete operational area. It will also help in optimizing the separation of the air traffic, while boosting the traffic management capacity at the same time.
Note: India is the 9th largest aviation market of the world and has the traffic growth of 10% annually.

President’s assent to Uttarakhand Lokayukta Act, 2011 
The President of India Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill. With this the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill became an Act. The Lokayukta Act is aimed at curbing corruption in the Uttarakhand state. The Act has under its purview, the Chief Minister, ministers, MLAs and government servants, including IAS and IPS officers, will come under the ambit of the Lokayukta. Former chief ministers, former ministers and retired officers will also be within the ambit of the Lokayukta. However, the judges of the Uttarakhand High Court will are not under the purview of Lokayukta.

SEBI study suggests reduction in STT to propel Capital Market 

As per a latest study conducted by the Development Research Group (DRG) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the spot-market has been dominating the futures and option markets and the dominance of futures market over options has diminished after the increase in Securities Transaction Tax (STT). The study suggests reducing the Securities Transaction Tax to give an impetus to the capital market.

Objective of the study entitled “The Impact of Increased Derivatives-Trading in India on the Price-Discovery Process” is to examine whether the introduction of financial derivatives led to better Price-Discovery (PD) in India

New Li-Fi Technology developed by Chinese researchers 

October 21st, 2013

Researchers from Fudan University, Shanghai have developed a new cheaper way of getting connected to the internet through light bulbs instead of radio frequencies. The new technology is dubbed as Li-Fi (Light Fidelity) and an alternative to currently popular Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity).

What is Li-Fi Technology and how does it work?

The term Li-Fi was coined by byHarald Haas from the University of Edinburgh in the UK and refers to a type of visible light communication technology that delivers a networked, mobile, high-speed communication solution in a similar manner as Wi-Fi.

Light is also an electromagnetic wave just like radio waves. The researchers used LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes) which are switched ON and OFF so rapidly that the eye can not detect making the light source appear continuous. The ON-OFF of the LED is controlled with a microchip and modulated into binary code 0 (OFF) and 1 (ON) in a manner similar as Wi-Fi.