Current Affairs
Current Affairs August 22, 2023

By Manorama Horizon

Published on: 22 Aug 2023

Table of Contents:
1. Adobe Co-Founder Dr. John Warnock Passes Away  
2. World Water Week 2023  
3. T N CM Stalin Lays Foundation Stone For South-East Asia’s Largest Desalination Plant  
4. India Announces Green Hydrogen Standard  

Adobe Co-Founder Dr. John Warnock Passes Away  

Dr. John Warnock the cofounder of Adobe passed away at the age of 82.  

He founded the revolutionary software company Adobe with his partner, the now-late Dr. Charles Geschke, in 1982. Marva Warnock designed the company’s original logo, and Adobe released its first program, the desktop publishing software Adobe PostScript, two years later. Warnock served mostly as the company’s CEO until 2000 and was co-chairman of the board along with Geschke until 2017. Warnock remained on the company board of directors afterward. 

Adobe is widely-associated with Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Photoshop, but the company has maintained an impressively broad portfolio of well-regarded staple applications in multiple industries. During Warnock’s tenure as its CEO, Adobe created industry-standard software for business, graphic design, photography, video editing, audio recording, and more. Warnock co-founded Adobe in 1982. He retired as CEO in 2000 and was chairman of the board, a position he shared with Geschke, until 2017. 

World Water Week 2023  

World Water Week is a global event which is organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute every year since 1991. The programme will be held from August 20 to 24 at the Waterfront Congress Center. It is a non-profit event which aims to develop solutions for the international water crisis (alongside several other problems). 

The theme for this year is Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World. It invites a rethink of how water is managed, and urges consideration of the ideas, innovations, and governance systems that are needed in an increasingly unstable and water scarce world. 

T N CM Stalin Lays Foundation Stone For South-East Asia’s Largest Desalination Plant  

Tamilnadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday through video conferencing laid the foundation stone for a new desalination plant to come up at Perur on East Coast Road near here at a cost of ?4,276.44 crore with a capacity to treat 400 million litres of seawater per day. 

This will be the largest desalination plant in Southeast Asia and will be funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The construction of the plant to come up on 85.51 acres is expected to be over by 2026. It will benefit around 22.67 lakh people residing in Greater Chennai, Tambaram municipal corporation and 20 nearby panchayats. 

The plant will employ advanced water treatment methods like dissolved air flotation and dual media filtration. Additionally, HDPE pipelines will go 1,150m into the sea, while drinking water pipelines will be laid for 59 km from the plant to Porur. 

India Announces Green Hydrogen Standard  

In a significant move for the progress of the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the government has notified the Green Hydrogen Standard for India. The standard issued by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India outlines the emission thresholds that must be met in order for hydrogen produced to be classified as ‘Green’, i.e., from renewable sources. The scope of the definition encompasses both electrolysis-based and biomass-based hydrogen production methods. 

India has announced the definition of Green Hydrogen. The Green Hydrogen Standard for India sets a criterion of 2 kg CO2 equivalent per kg H2 as a 12-month average emission threshold. The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has characterized Green Hydrogen as having a well-to-gate emission (encompassing processes like water treatment, electrolysis, gas purification, hydrogen drying, and compression) that does not exceed 2 kg CO2 equivalent per kg H2. 

Green hydrogen (GH2 or GH2) is hydrogen generated by renewable energy or from low-carbon power. Green hydrogen has significantly lower carbon emissions than grey hydrogen, which is derived from fossil fuels without carbon capture. Green hydrogen may be used to decarbonize sectors that are hard to electrify, such as cement and iron production. Green hydrogen can be used to produce green ammonia, the main constituent of synthetic fertilizer. It can also be used for long-duration grid energy storage, and for long-duration seasonal energy storage. 

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Manorama Horizon

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