RAJASTHAN
- Rajasthan government plans 9,894 community loos by March in state
- Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (gramin), the state government has set a target to build 9,894 community sanitary complexes (CSCs) at a budget of around Rs 200 crore in the villages of Rajasthan by March 31, 2020.
- On October 2, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared India open defecation free (ODF). Now, the central government aims at buidling community sanitary complexes in every village across the country. Meanwhile, the department will conduct an inspection of 5.5 lakh non-functional toilets under SBM and the development officers will investigate the payment dues in the construction of 7.6 lakh toilets and examine how 3.39 lakh families were deprived of the baseline survey.
INTERNATIONAL
· Bangladesh partners with China to build Purbachal
- Bangladeshhas partnered with Chinato build its first smart city and the biggest planned township on the outskirts of Dhaka. The project also includes a mega water project which upon completion, will divert water from the Meghna river to the settlement. The township is signed under Bangladesh’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative. It is the first PPP project in the water sector in Bangladesh.
- In the northeastern suburbs of Dhaka, a 6,150-acre town will be developed as the first smart city in Bangladesh. The biggest planned township in Bangladesh will be named Purbachal. A Chinese company will play a leading role in building a smart city in Bangladesh. Many mega infrastructures, including an international exhibition center, is to be constructed under the construction of another Chinese firm.
- Chinese United Water Corporation and Delcot Water Limited jointly won the deal to implement the project Development of Water Distribution and Supply Facilities at Purbachal New Town via Public-Private Partnership.
- China has already implemented a $10 billion worth infrastructure project in Bangladesh. The major projects between the two countries are the Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone, the 8th China Bangladesh Friendship Bridge, the Payra Power Plant, and the International Exhibition Center. In 2019, Bangladesh set up a $400 million joint venture (JV) with a Chinese company in order to build renewable energy projects to provide a total of 500 megawatts of power by 2023.
· NASA detected a massive thermonuclear explosion from outer space
- NASAdetected a massive thermonuclear explosion coming from outer space. It was caused by a massive thermonuclear flash on the surface of a The huge explosion in the space released as much energy in 20 seconds as the Sun does in nearly ten days. It was detected by NASA’s Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) telescope on the International Space Station (ISS).
- NICER figured the X-ray burst came from an object named J1808. NASA reported that this explosion is the brightest seen by NICER so far. The observations by the NICER revealed many phenomena that have never been seen together in a single burst. The details captured by NICER on this record-setting and massive eruption will help astronomers to understand and study the physical processes driving the thermonuclear flare-ups of it and other bursting pulsars.
NATIONAL