Tuesday, April 09, 2019
What is a party symbol?
Every political party in India has a symbol, which enables voters to easily identify the party on the ballot. For example, the BJP's symbol is the lotus and the Congress's symbol is the hand. Party symbols are especially important to aid voters who cannot read. But candidates also go to great lengths to be identified with their election symbols. The Election Commission stipulates that no symbol should represent a religion or a caste. A party can submit a symbol of its choice to the EC for consideration. Else, the EC allots a symbol to the party. Though the elephant is the symbol of the BSP and the lion is the symbol of the Forward Bloc, the EC in 1991 stopped allowing parties to use animals as symbols after complaints from animal rights activists.
Source: The Hindu,9/04/2019
What is 'Bicameral legislature'?
Bicameralism is the practice of having two Houses of Parliament. At the State level, the equivalent of the Lok Sabha is the Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly), and that of the Rajya Sabha is the Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council). A so-called Upper House is considered important in the parliamentary system, as only a third of the seats are filled every two years and it therefore acts as a check against potential impetuousness of electoral majorities in the Lower House. With members mostly indirectly elected, the Upper House also ensures that individuals who might not be cut out for the rough-and-tumble of direct elections too are able to contribute to the legislative process. Under Article 169, Parliament may by law create or abolish the second chamber in a State if the Legislative Assembly of that State passes a resolution to that effect by a special majority. At present, seven Indian States have bicameral legislatures. Some argue that unlike the Rajya Sabha, the Vidhan Parishad does not serve must purpose and poses a strain on States’ finances.
Source: The Hindu, 9/04/2019
India 3rd largest solar mkt globally in 2018
Top 10 Cos Account For 60% Of Projects
India emerged as the third largest solar PV (photo-voltaic) market in the world, with the country’s top 10 companies accounting for over 60% of all large-scale project installations in 2018 calendar year. According to green energy market tracker Mercom Capital’s latest report, India installed 8.3 GW (gigawatt) of solar PV capacity in 2018 against 44.3 GW by China and 10.6 by the US. Japan and Germany trailed India to the fourth and fifth-largest solar markets in the world. The report said there were over 300 utility-scale project developers in India with projects of at least 5 MW or more in operation. Currently, there are around 80 large-scale project developers with a pipeline of 5 MW (mega watt) or more in India. “Much has changed in the Indian solar industry over the last year. There was some re-shuffling when it came to suppliers after the imposition of the safeguard duty, while others have consolidated their positions,” Mercom Capital Raj Prabhu said. ACME Solar was the top developer in terms of utilityscale solar installations in 2018. It also had the largest project pipeline at the end of the year, closely followed by SB Energy (SoftBank) and Azure Power. The Adani group maintained its position as the largest project developer in terms of total cumulative installations through the end of 2018. It was also the second largest utility-scale solar installer in 2018. CleanMax Solar emerged as the top rooftop solar installer in 2018, followed by Fourth Partner Energy, whereas Tata Power still has the largest cumulative installations in the solar rooftop segment. The report said the top 10 rooftop solar installers covered just 30% of installed capacity in India in 2018. Other rooftop developers constituted 70% of the market. In the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) segment, Sterling and Wilson emerged as the top player
Source: Times of India, 9/04/2019
IIT-Madras tops NIRF ’19 rankings
Indian Institutes of Technology Madras ruled the HRD ministry’s ranking of higher education institutions, not only topping the overall category, but also emerging as the top institution in the first edition of the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA). Among the top 10 institutions in the overall category, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore dropped one position to be at the second place. Miranda House continued to be the top college. As many as six colleges of Delhi University featured in the top 10 colleges this year. IIT, Madras has been ranked on top in the overall category for the first time in the National Institutional Rankings Framework (NIRF) 2019, while it retained its number one position in the engineering category for the fourth consecutive year. IISc had been ranked on top for the first three editions of the NIRF rankings. IITs dominated the rankings with seven of them among the top 10. Two non-technological universities in the top 10 are Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and Banaras Hindu University. President Ram Nath Kovind released and presented the awards on Monday in Delhi.
Source: Times of India, 9/04/2019
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