General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

May 26, 2020

In a First, Uttarakhand Releases Report on Conservation of Endemic, Threatened Floras

Uttarakhand has become the first state to release a unique report highlighting its conservation efforts to save over 1,100 rare plants from extinction.
Herbs like 'Ashwagandha', 'Giloy', 'Kalmegh' and 'Chitrak', which are presently part of scientists'' research to find a possible cure to coronavirus, are included in this conservation programme.
As many as 1,145 plant species have been conserved out of which 46 species are endemic to Uttarakhand and 68 species are rare, endangered or threatened, under red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) or under state biodiversity board, under this project by the research wing of the state forest department.

May 25, 2020

Former SC Judge Justice Sikri Inaugurates Indian Dispute Resolution Centre

Former Supreme Court judge Justice A K Sikri has inaugurated the Indian Dispute Resolution Centre (IDRC), which provides a paperless dispute resolution environment.
The e-inauguration of IDRC centre offers offline as well as e-alternate dispute resolution (ADR) facility through its state-of-the-art e-arbitration, e-meditation and e-conciliation software portal.
The e-inauguration was followed by a panel discussion on ''Adhoc v. Institutional Dispute Resolution''.

Mizoram Grants 'Industry' Status to Sports

The northeastern state of Mizoram has accorded 'industry' status to sports.
The Cabinet cleared the Sports and Youth Service department's proposal to recognise sports as an 'industry' in the state.
Mizoram is known for its love for sports — especially football which is played competitively through the Mizoram Premier League, the state's highest football league.
Through the new status, the government hopes to commercialise sporting endeavours and woo investors.

RITES Signs Pact to Acquire 24% Stake in Indian Railway Station Development

State-owned RITES Ltd has signed an agreement to buy 24% stake in Indian Railway Station Development Corp. Ltd, (IRSDC), the company tasked with redeveloping railway stations across the country.
RITES has also resumed operations at most of its offices and project sites after the government eased the covid-19 induced lockdown rules across the country.
It has achieved more than half of its capacity and will scale up its activities going forward.

IMD Launches Weather Services in UMANG App

Seven services hosted on website of Indian Metrological Department, IMD have been onboarded to UMANG application.
These services are Current Weather, Nowcast, City Forecast, Rainfall Information, Tourism Forecast, Warnings, Cyclone.
The Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance, UMANG, is a unified, multi-channel, multi-platform, multi-lingual, multi-service mobile app.

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.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

October GK, September GK, August GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services and Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26