India’s Foreign Policy
Joint venture in T.N. defence corridor
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- Indian firm Merlinhawk Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. Signed a joint venture agreement with Italy’s Vega Composites S.r.l. to establish a manufacturing and design facility in the Tamil Nadu defence corridor for advanced composite material – based products.
- The new entity will be called Merlinhawk Composites and Engineering Private Limited.
- The joint venture is the first such agreement signed between an Italian and Indian company.
Govt – Welfare oriented Govt schemes, their utility
Urban Affairs Ministry starts data portal on cities
- The Amplifi 2.0 (Assessment and Monitoring Platform for Liveable, Inclusive and Future – ready urban India) portal was recently launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
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- The portal contains the data about Indian cities on a single platform which would help the academics, researchers, and stakeholders in better policy making.
- By 2030, India is projected to have 60 crore (40%) of the population living in urban areas.
- The 2011 Census shows that urban India contributed 63% to the country’s GDP which is projected to increase to 75% by 2030.
Public Awareness & General Administration
Phased introduction of biogas blending
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- India will start blending compressed biogas with natural gas to boost domestic demand and cut reliance on natural gas imports.
- The mandatory phased introduction will start at 1% for use in automobiles and households from April 2025.
- The government also aims to have 1% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in air craft turbine fuel by 2027, doubling to 2% in 2028.
- The steps are aimed at helping India achieve net zero emissions targets by 2070.