General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - July 2016

Jul 2016

May 22, 2020

State Includes 2,092 Villages in Western Ghats Eco-Sensitive Area

The Maharashtra government included more villages in its proposed final Western Ghats eco-sensitive area (ESA) notification, but has excluded previously identified villages falling in crucial wildlife corridors, sanctuary buffer areas and near tiger reserves.
The state's final proposal requests the Centre to include 2,092 of 2,133 villages or 15,359 sq km of the originally proposed 17,340 sq km, thereby excluding 11.4% of the draft ESA area.
Declaring an area as ESA means putting restriction on mining, quarrying, thermal power plants, setting up of industries and construction to ensure buffer areas of a protected zone, in this case, the Western Ghats, remains protected.

President Ram Nath Kovind Accepted Credentials from Ambassadors and High Commissioners of Seven C...

In a first, the new envoys of seven countries presented their credentials to President Ramnath Kovind via video conference.
They were from North Korea, Senegal, Trinidad and Tobago, Mauritius, Australia, Côte d'Ivoire and Rwanda.
The move comes amid the current novel coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than five million people worldwide since it first emerged in China in December 2019.

Govt Releases Rs 170 Crore as MGNREGA Wages

Ahead of Eid ul Fitr, the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has disbursed Rs 170 crore into the accounts of beneficiaries under MGNREGA.
The department has disbursed around Rs 183 crore to benefit the poor which have been otherwise rendered jobless due to the prevailing lockdown.
Since April 20, 2020, the Department has taken up more than 14000 development projects under MGNREGA which include 1670 water conservation and irrigation works, 4000 rural infrastructure works and 8300 PMAYG houses generating as many as Rs 5.28 lakh person-days in J&K.

May 21, 2020

NCDEX to Launch India's First Agri-Futures Index

Leading agri-commodity bourse NCDEX will launch the country's first agri-futures index, NCDEX AGRIDEX, on May 26, 2020.
According to the NCDEX, the AGRIDEX represents a basket of ten liquid agricultural commodities on the NCDEX and will serve as a broad benchmark for India's strong agricultural sector.
AGRIDEX is a return-based index with commodity wise and sector wise floors and caps, with no single commodity or sector dominating the index.

Coir Geo-Textiles to be Used in Rural Road Construction Under PMGSY-III

The government said coir geo-textiles will be used in the construction of rural roads under the third phase of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY-III).
Coir geo-textiles are permeable fabric, which are natural, strong, highly durable, resistant to rots, moulds and moisture, and free from any microbial attack.
They will be used for construction of rural roads under the PMGSY-III, according to a communication from the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency under Union Ministry of Rural Development.

May 20, 2020

Indian Railways Operationalises First 12,000 hp Electric Loco

The Indian Railways has operationalised its first 12,000 hp electric locomotive manufactured locally by French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom.
The locomotive made its maiden commercial run between Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Station to Shivpur.
It has been manufactured at the Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL), in Bihar, which is a joint venture between the French major and the Indian railways holding an equity share of 74% and 26% respectively.
India became the sixth country in the world to join the club of countries producing high horsepower locomotive indigenously.

Star Ratings of Garbage Free Cities Released

The government released a rating of cities for their garbage management, giving the top 'five-star garbage-free' tag to six cities including Chhattisgarh's Ambikapur and Madhya Pradesh's Indore, while saying that the Swachh Bharat Mission has been the "greatest strength" in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced the results of garbage-free star ratings for the cities.
A total of 141 cities have been rated — six of them 5-star, 65 of three-star, 70 one-star.
Apart from Ambikapur and Indore, Gujarat's Rajkot and Surat, Karnataka's Mysore and Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai have been rated five-star.

May 19, 2020

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Eight Others Sworn in As Legislative Council Members

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took oath as a member of the Legislative Council on May 18, 2020.
Thackeray was administered the oath of the office by Council Chairman Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar at a function held at the Vidhan Bhawan in south Mumbai.
Along with Maharashtra CM, eight others were also sworn in to the council including Council Deputy Chairperson Neelam Gorhe (Shiv Sena), four BJP candidates, two NCP candidates and one Congress Candidate.
All the members were elected to the upper house of the Maharashtra state legislature unopposed on May 14, 2020.

J&K Notifies Amended Domicile Certificate Rules

Jammu and Kashmir government notified Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules, 2020.
These rules prescribe the procedure for issuance of Domicile Certificate, which has been made the basic eligibility condition for appointment to any post under the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Under the rules, 15 days will be required for issuance of the certificate, after which the applicant shall be free to approach an Appellate Authority.

May 18, 2020

Centre Approves Modified DPR of Ujh Multipurpose Project in Jammu and Kashmir

The Centre approved to modification of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Ujh multipurpose Project (MPP) located on the river Ujh, main tributaries of river Ravi in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir at the estimated cost of Rs.9,167 crore.
The advisory committee of Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD & GR) approved the DPR of Ujh MPP project chaired by Union Secretary U P Singh.

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