Tata Power commissions India’s largest floating solar power project
Tata Power Solar Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power, has accomplished a remarkable feat by commissioning India’s largest floating solar power project in Kayamkulam, Kerala. On a 350-acre water body, backwaters area, having an installed capacity of 101.6 Megawatt Peak. Tata Power Solar successfully built a scaffolding platform on the water body to make the entire solar plant float on water.
About the project:
This project is the first one in the Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FSPV) through Power Purchase Agreement category. This plant boasts a floating inverter platform having a 5 Megawatt (MW) capacity.
The entire array involving floats and solar panel modules had to be towed for 3 kilometers on a sea-linked National waterway, which was 15 meters deep, exposing the solar modules to high winds and gushing tides often reaching a height of about 3.5 meters.
To operationalize the project, Tata Power Solar ‘s execution team was successfully able to synchronize the 33/220 Kilovolts Air Insulated Substation (AIS) with 220 Kilovolts existing Gas Insulated Substation (GIS
Bharat Electronics signed an MoU with Belarusian Company for supply of Airborne Defence Suite
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Defense Initiatives (DI), Belarus, and Defense Initiatives Aero Pvt Ltd, India (a subsidiary of DI Belarus). The MoU is signed to build cooperation amongst the three companies for the supply of Airborne Defense Suite (ADS) for Indian Air Force’s helicopters.
ADS is used for providing protection to helicopters. BEL will be the prime contractor and will be supported by DI with manufacturing and maintenance for the supply of advanced Electronic Warfare (EW) suites for helicopters under the ‘Make in India’ category. The MoU also aims to explore various business opportunities for India and global markets for ADS. The partnership has evolved under the guidance of Sanjay Jaju, Additional Secretary, Department of Defence Production, and Indo Belarusian Joint Commission (IBJC) on Military Cooperation.
Mufin Finance get Prepaid Payment Instrument licence from RBI
One of the top NBFCs, Mufin Finance, has received preliminary authorisation from the RBI to issue semi-closed prepaid payment instruments. Digital banks, fintech companies, and major consumer-facing applications are able to introduce features like digital payment solutions for lending thanks to a semi-closed PPI licence. Following well-known companies like Bajaj Finserve, Manapurram, and Paul Merchants, Mufin Finance is the fourth NBFC to get a similar licence from the RBI.
KEY POINTS:
The company is currently putting the groundwork in place for the launch of MufinPay, a digital payment solution that will support its lending operation.
Mufin Finance, which was founded in 2016, wants to use the MufinPay platform to better service its 50,000+ customers and bring on new users.
Digital wallets, smart cards, magnetic chips, and vouchers are all examples of PPI. PPI serves as a store of value that may be used to purchase products and services as well as transfer money.
PPIs come in the shape of gift cards, payment wallets, smart cards, and vouchers. Debit cards, on the other hand, can only be issued to banks and require an open PPI licence.
Last August, the RBI approved expanded PPI usage, including cash withdrawal of fully KYC PPI. Recent limits on lending through non-bank PPIs were put in place by the RBI.
About Mufin Finance:
Since its founding in October 2016, Mufin Finance has developed into a full-service provider of financial services, offering consumers working capital, personal loans, SME loans, and auto financing. They operate without paper and have state-of-the-art loan origination and loan management systems. They have operations all throughout India, are present in seven states, and manage the assets of more than 150 FinTech & Tech partnerships. Since its founding, the company has disbursed loans totaling almost INR 1500 crores. Their main goals are to serve the underserved market and become one of India’s top Fintech Enablers by focusing on social and green impact loans.
IRARC’s Avinash Kulkarni to head India Debt Resolution Company
The chief govt of India Resurgence Asset Reconstruction Firm (IRARC), Avinash Kulkarni, has been chosen to head the India Debt Decision Firm (IDRCL). Kulkarni is a (SBI) veteran, having undertaken numerous roles on the public sector behemoth. His engagements on the SBI group have included assignments within the funding banking and advisory arm, Capital Markets.
Kulkarni was selected from among a shortlist of about six candidates earlier this month. With this selection, the key executives are in place to start consolidating bad loans from banks through the NARCL.
Kulkarni’s appointment follows another SBI veteran Natarajan Sundar being selected as CEO of the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) in April. Sundar took over as the CEO at the end of May. Both appointments now mean that the key executive leadership to run the government-backed ARC is in place.
IN-SPACe authorises India’s first set of space start-ups to launch payloads
The Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has started authorising Indian private firms, marking the beginning of private space sector launches in India. IN-SPACe is an autonomous, single window nodal agency; formed to promote, authorise, monitor and supervise the space activities of non-governmental private entities (NGPEs) in India
Key Points:
Dhruva Space Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad and Digantara research & technologies Pvt. Ltd. Bengaluru, were authorised by IN-SPACe on June 24 to launch their payloads.
Dhruva Space is a space technology start-up focused on building full-stack space engineering solutions, involved in building application-agnostic satellite platforms.
Digantara research and technologies is engaged in development of end-to-end solutions focused on safe and sustainable space operations through its Space Situational Awareness sensor network, platform and data products.
Largest bacteria in the world discovered in Caribbean mangrove swamp
In a Caribbean mangrove swamp, researchers found the largest bacterium known to science. While the majority of bacteria are tiny, this one is so large that it can be seen with the unaided eye. It is by far the largest bacterium known to date, according to Jean-Marie Volland, a marine biologist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a co-author of a paper reporting the finding in the journal Science. The thin white thread is about the size of a human eyelash.
The cell has a shape that is unusual for bacteria, according to the researchers, but they have not yet been able to develop it in lab culture. One significant distinction is that it includes a sizable central compartment, or vacuole, which enables some cell functions to take place there rather than all across the cell. The reason the bacteria is so enormous is unknown to the researchers, although co-author Volland proposed that it might be an adaptation to assist it avoid being eaten by smaller creatures.