General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Jan 31, 2018

Meet Called After 16-Month Gap

The State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) meeting, which is to be held after a gap of 16 months, seems to have been called to mostly clear housing and road widening projects by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Mumbai-Nagpur Super Expressway. The meeting will be chaired by CM Devendra Fadnavis, the SBWL chairperson. As per the agenda of the 13th SBWL meeting, almost 60% of the projects to be cleared are for housing schemes of realtors falling in the vicinity of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Borivli and Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Thane.

Scorpene-class sub launch

The third Scorpene class submarine, INS Karanj, will be launched at Mazagon Dock on 31st January. The Scorpene sub is designed to operate in all theatres, including the tropics. A navy official said that the Scorpene-class submarines are provided with all means and communications to ensure inter-operability with other components of a naval task.

Jan 30, 2018

In 2016, city's air pollution levels 3rd highest in state

Mumbai recorded the third highest annual pollution levels in the state in 2016, next only to Nanded and Dombivli, found a recent study by Greenpeace. The city's monthly average in December 2016 was the year's worst. 'Airpocalypse II: Assessment of Air Pollution in Indian Cities', a study conducted by the Greenpeace organization for 2015 and 2016, shows the air quality in the country is worsening. The particulate matter 10 data found that of the 25 cities surveyed in the state, none complied with the annual permissible concentration of 60-g/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre) prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board and the 20-g/m3 limit set by WHO in 2016.

1/3rd of flights late, Jet worst in delays in '17

National carrier Air India has always been the worst in punctuality, but now that ignominy has passed to Jet Airways in India. It got the tag of the worst on time performance in eight out of 12 months in 2017, with as many as a third of its departures delayed. Jet Airways and Jet Lite carried 20.7 million domestic passengers in 2017. For the businessmen, industrialists and other frequent flyers among this lot, Jet's poor punctuality record has turned flying into a pain. AI largely had the worst on-time performance (OTP) until March 2017.

Jan 29, 2018

Jaishankar Shaped Policies by Building MEA-PMO Bridge

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, after completing three years as foreign secretary, is credited with building a bridge between the external affairs ministry and the Prime Minister's Office and helping shape a more robust foreign policy. During his tenure, which included a one-year extension, Jaishankar provided more muscle to the external affairs ministry's policy, planning and research division that is expected to help decision-makers in the future. In this backdrop speculation is rife over a possible new role for Jaishankar where he can contribute to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy vision.

Vedanta Gets Two Bauxite Mines in Odisha

Vedanta's Anil Agarwal finally hopes for a turnaround for his mega aluminium operations in Odisha as the company has been awarded two bauxite mines by the state. This will help reverse the massive financial drain the group has endured since 2013.

Racing Against Flipkart, Amazon Pumps Record Capital into India

Amazon has pumped record capital into its main India unit this financial year, adding crucial firepower with its latest infusion of Rs. 1,950 crore as the global online retail giant accelerates efforts to race past larger domestic rival Flipkart. Overall, Amazon Seller Services has received Rs. 8,150 crore, or about $1.3 billion, so far in 2017-18 from its US parent, as per filings submitted with the Registrar of Companies. The latest capital infusion is the fourth since Flipkart raised $4 billion (about Rs. 25,380 crore) around the middle of last year.

Jan 28, 2018

IIT-JEE (Adv) to go fully computerised this year

The IIT-JEE (Advanced) will move to a fully electronic platform this year, with candidates having to typein their answers on computers, much like it happens in the Common Admission Test (CAT) for IIMs. The exam is scheduled to be held on May 20. Candidates will have to submit the papers on which they scribble their rough work.

Jan 27, 2018

'Aadhaar' Hindi word of the year

Aadhaar, which was at the centre of national conversation in 2017, has become Oxford Dictionaries' first Hindi 'word of the year'. It beat the challenge of words like notebandi, swachh, vikaas, yoga and bahubali.

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