HEFA was formed as a non-banking financial company to give a major push for creation of high quality infrastructure in premier educational institutions.
It was registered as a Section 8 Company under the Companies Act.
It was set up as a joint venture between the HRD ministry and Canara bank.
Union Cabinet has recently permitted HEFA to mobilise Rs. 1 lakh crore to fund research and academic infrastructure in higher educational institutions by 2022.
It will rise funds from the market and mobilize CSR funds from PSUs/Corporates.
It will also have equity share from Central government (Rs. 5000 crore) and Canara Bank.
The funding will also be available to government-run schools KendriyaVidyalayas and Jawahar NavodayaVidyalayas.
Funding - HEFA will directly release the sanctioned amount to vendors or contractors only after the certification of executing agency and educational institutions.
All the Centrally Funded Institutions will have to repay the borrowed amount (loans) in a time frame of over 10 years.
Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) Scheme
RISE scheme was announced in 2018 budget to revitalize the infrastructure of higher educational institutions with a total investment of one lakh crore in the upcoming 4 years.
It will be financed via a restructured HEFA.
This scheme will cover all centrally-funded institutes (CFIs) including central universities, IITs, IIMs, NITs and IISERs.
These institutions can borrow a sum of Rs. 1,00,000 crore in next 4 years.
Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will get largest part of loans on offer under RISE Scheme.
Crew Escape System
Crew Escape System is an emergency escape measure to quickly pull the astronaut crew out to a safe distance from launch vehicle during a launch abort.
To demonstrate this system, ISRO recently successfully carried a test named “Pad Abort Test (PAT)”.
PAT is the first in a series of tests to qualify a crew escape system technology of a manned mission in the future.
PAT is viewed as a major technology demonstrator and to ascertain the trustworthiness and efficiency of the crew escape system.
The U.S, Russia and China have their own crew escape system in place.
It is a small step closer to ISRO’s ambition of sending Indians to space.
First BS-VI engine certificate
International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) releases first Bharat Stage -VI engine certificate for a heavy-duty engine model.
It is much ahead of the implementation date of 1st April 2020 for rolling out of Bharat Stage-VI norms in the country.
Thus, it gives sufficient time for product stabilization in terms of making it more robust and cost competitive for the end consumers.
ICAT is the first of new world class centers established under the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP).
It is under the administrative control of Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises.
Its main objective is to carry out Research & Development in the field of Automotive Engineering.
Bharat Stage Emission Standards
They are emission standards instituted by the Government of India in the year 2000, based on EU standards.
It is to regulate the output of air pollutants from internalcombustion engines and Spark-ignition engines equipment,including motor vehicles.
The standards and the timeline for implementation are set bythe Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry ofEnvironment & Forests and climate change.
All new vehicles manufactured after the implementation of BS norms must be compliant with the regulations.
Major emissions governed under these norms are carbonmonoxide emissions, hydrocarbon emission limits. Nitrogen Oxides and particulate matter are also significant metrics.
BS-IV standard was brought into place in country-wide in April 2017.
Implementation of the BS V standard that was earlier scheduled for 2019 has now been skipped.
In 2016, the Indian government announced that the country would skip the BS-V norms altogether and adoptBS-VI norms by 2020.
By moving to BS-VI, the country will be using the highest specifications of fuel standard available in the worldright now.
Tejas
It is an indigenous fighter aircraft inducted in to Indian Airforce in the year 2016.
It has recently commenced its operation.
It is designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
It is a single-seat, single-jet engine, multirole light fighter.
It is the smallest and lightest multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft in its class.
It can fire Air to Air Missiles, carry bombs and Precision Guided ammunition.
It has its root in the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace the ageing MiG-21 fighters.
MiG-21 fighters are purchased from Russia in 1961.
