General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - November 2019

Nov 2019

Jul 30, 2020

Green-Ag Project in Mizoram

Green-Agriculture (Green-Ag), a project funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF) was launched in Mizoram, India. It was launched by Agriculture Minister of Mizoram C. Lalrinsanga.The project will be implemented in Dampa Tiger Reserve in west Mizorams Mamit district and Thorangtlang Wildlife Sanctuary in Lunglei district in the southern part of the state covering more than 30 villages.
Mizoram is among the five states where the Green-Ag project, funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF), is being implemented. The other states are Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.
As per Lalrinsanga, the launch of the project and inclusion of Mizoram among the five states is a milestone for the northeastern state.
The project seeks to mainstream biodiversity, climate change, sustainable land management objectives and practices into the agriculture sector.

Punjab is Part of India, UK on Khalistani Extremist Group Planning Referendum

The British government rejected the Khalistani extremist group Sikhs for Justice's Referendum 2020 which seeks the separation of Punjab from rest of India saying that it considers Punjab as part of India.
A British High Commission spokesperson in response to a question on the SFJ-led referendum said, "This is a matter for the government and people of India, not foreign countries or overseas organisations. While we support the right of anyone to voice their opinion, the UK government is not involved in anyway with this unofficial and non-binding referendum," he said, adding, "We consider the Indian Punjab to be a part of India."
The so-called referendum is to form an "Independent country" in India's Punjab and has found support in Pakistan. Referendum posters have been seen at important Sikh gurudwaras, a matter that was raised with Islamabad by New Delhi.
The development comes, days after Canada dismissed support for Khalistani separatism. Last weekend, the Canadian foreign ministry had said, "The Canada-India bilateral relationship is a priority for the government of Canada. We respect the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of India."

Guwahati Gets Northeast's First Manhole Cleaning Robot 'BANDICOOT'

The Northeast got its first-ever manhole cleaning robot to end manual scavenging. Manholes in Guwahati will now be cleaned by robots named 'BANDICOOT'. The robot was procured by Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC). The robot, given by Indian Oil Corporation, was inaugurated by Guwahati Development Department (GDD) Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya. The BANDICOOT robot is also the first of its kind in the world. 'BANDICOOT' was developed by a start-up India company called Genrobotics. The robot was developed under the Make in India initiative. It was funded by CSR of Indian Oil Corporation Limited. Guwahati is India's third city to procure this innovative technology to clean manholes. Earlier, Gurugram and Coimbatore had procured BANDICOOT robots.

Jul 29, 2020

Bombay Flying Club Becomes India's 1st DGCA-approved Drone Training School

According to the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Bombay Flying Club has become the first DGCA-approved drone training school of the country.
In an order, the DGCA approved the club's application for conducting remote pilot training for remotely piloted aircraft systems.
However, it said that the club will have to fulfill certain conditions regarding aerial photography, safety, insurance and take clearances from local administration, the Defence Ministry, the Home Ministry, the Indian Air Force and the Airports Authority of India.

India to Set up Solar Power Plant in Sri Lanka

Under the aegis of International Solar Alliance (ISA) NTPC Ltd, the largest power generation utility of India plans to establish solar power plants in Sri Lanka as a part of the strategy to exhibit the presence of India in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) amid China's attempt to attract nations into the "Belt and Road" initiative.
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has an installed power generation capacity of around 35.8 GigaWatts(GW).
The NTPC's Sri Lanka Solar park with installed capacity of 62.91 GW is one of the contracts to help the ISA member countries to build a 10 GW solar capacity.
The proposed solar park follows the Colombo coal fuelled power project which was scrapped due to environmental issues.
Petronet LNG ltd, announced its plan to establish a terminal for liquefied natural gas in Sri Lanka.
As a part of creating a new energy ecosystem in the South Asian neighbourhood, India explores laying overhead electricity links with Sri Lanka.

Union Cabinet Approves New National Education Policy

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the new National Education Policy (NEP) and renamed the HRD Ministry as Education Ministry.
A panel led by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Kasturirangan had submitted the draft of the new NEP to Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' when he took charge last year.
The draft was then put in public domain to seek feedback from various stakeholders.
The existing NEP was framed in 1986 and revised in 1992. A new education policy was part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto ahead of the 2014 general election.
The drafting experts also took into account the report of a panel headed by former cabinet secretary T. S. R. Subramanian and formed by the HRD Ministry when it was being headed by Union Minister Smriti Irani.

Jul 28, 2020

India and Indonesia Resolve to Expand Defence Ties

India and Indonesia vowed to expand security cooperation in a range of areas including defence industries and technology sharing, as the two maritime neighbours aimed at injecting a new momentum to their strategic partnership.
The possible areas of further expansion of defence and military ties were discussed during talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Indonesian counterpart General Prabowo Subianto.
As per reports, the issue of possible export of BrahMos cruise missile to Indonesia by India and ways to further deepen maritime security cooperation figured prominently in the talks.
Both the ministers agreed to further enhance the bilateral defence cooperation in mutually agreed areas. Potential areas of cooperation in the field of defence industries and defence technology were also identified by the two countries.

Bijapur in Chhattisgarh Tops List of Aspirational Districts for the February-June 2020 Period

Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh topped the list of aspirational districts ranked by government think-tank NITI Aayog for the February-June 2020 period.
Ri-Bhoi (Meghalaya) and Bahraich (Uttar Pradesh) were placed at the second and third positions respectively.
Nawada (Bihar) was ranked fourth and Moga (Punjab) is at the fifth place.
The delta rankings took into account incremental progress made by over 112 aspirational districts across six developmental areas during February-June this year.
Health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development and basic infrastructure were the development areas that were taken into consideration for the ranking.
The aspirational districts programme, launched in January 2018, aims to transform districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas and have emerged as pockets of under-development.

Government Appoints Anil Kumar Jha Member of Key Green Panel

The government appointed former chairman of Coal India, Anil Kumar Jha, as a member of a key panel that deals with violation of environment rules.
The Expert Appraisal Committee formed by the Environment Ministry appraises projects that are commissioned without obtaining prior environmental clearance and have been termed as cases of violation. The panel was earlier constituted in June 2017 for three years. Its tenure has now been extended till June 2021.
The role of the panel comprising members with expertise in different sectors is to appraise and make recommendations to the centre with respect to cases of environment rules violation.
Jha retired as of Coal India's chairman in January 2020. He has three decades of experience in coal mining. During his tenure Coal India's output surpassed 600 million tonnes in 2018-19.

India Hands over 10 Broad Gauge Diesel Locomotives to Bangladesh

External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal flagged off virtually to Bangladesh ten Broad Gauge locomotives in a handing over ceremony.
From the Bangladesh side, Railway Minister Md. Nurul Islam Sujan and Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Abul Kalam Abdul Momen received the locomotives on behalf of their government.
The handing over of these locomotives, under grant assistance from India fulfills an important commitment made during the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in October last year.
In keeping with the requirements of Bangladesh Railway, the locomotives have been suitably modified by the Indian side.

Jul 27, 2020

Centre to Convert Ravines of Chambal Region into Arable Land with World Bank Support

As per Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the Centre, in collaboration with the World Bank, has decided to convert large area of ravines in Gwalior-Chambal belt of Madhya Pradesh into arable land, and a preliminary report for the same will be prepared in a month. After preparation of the initial report, subsequent meetings will be held with the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for further course of action.
A decision in this regard was taken in a virtual meeting with World Bank representative Adarsh Kumar, who said that the bank is keen to work in Madhya Pradesh.
More than 3 lakh hectares of rugged land is not cultivable and if this area is improved, then this will help in the integrated development of the Bihad area in Gwalior-Chambal region.

First in the World: India Builds Electrified Rail Tunnel Capable to Run Double-stack Containers

India builds one km long world's first electrified rail tunnel that fits double stack containers. It cuts through Aravali Mountain on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) near Sohna, Haryana.
The project is implemented by the DFCCIL (Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited).
The tunnel breaking was completed in July 2020. The project is expected to complete in the next 12 months.
One end of the tunnel is at Rewari, Haryana and the other end is at Dadri, Uttar Pradesh (UP).

India Extends Medical Assistance to North Korea

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India has extended medical assistance worth about USD 1 million to North Korea in response to a request received from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
India is sensitive to the shortage of medical supply situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and decided to grant humanitarian assistance of USD 1 million in the form of anti-tuberculosis medicines.
The medical assistance is under the aegis of an ongoing WHO anti-tuberculosis programme in DPRK.
The consignment of medicines was handed over by Indian Ambassador to DPRK Atul Malhari Gotsurve to North Korean Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Pak Myong Ho along with a floral basket and a congratulatory letter addressed to the Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Un, on the occasion of the 8th anniversary of conferment of the title of 'marshal" on him.

Jul 26, 2020

Kashmir Saffron Gets GI Certificate

Saffron grown in Kashmir received the geographical indication (GI) tag, with Lieutenant Governor G. C. Murmu said that it is a major historic step in bringing the valley's brand on the global map. The Union government issued a certificate of GI registration for the saffron grown in the Kashmir Valley.
Soon after taking over as lieutenant governor, Girish Chander Murmu took a personal interest in ensuring that Kashmir saffron gets GI certification. Pampore, the hub of saffron in Kashmir, is expected to have a bumper crop of the spice this season due to initiatives taken by the National Mission on Saffron (NMS).
Under the NMS, a project of Rs. 411 crore was approved by the Union government under which an area of 3,715 hectare for saffron was proposed to be rejuvenated. The GI certification will stop the prevalent adulteration of Kashmir saffron, thereby, authenticated saffron will fetch much better prices.
With the GI tag, Kashmir saffron will acquire more prominence in export market and will help farmers get the best price for it.

India-EU Renew Agreement to Expand Scientific and Technological Cooperation

India and the European Union have renewed their agreement to expand scientific and technological cooperation aimed at strengthening their collaboration in this area in the next five years. Last week, the two sides agreed to renew the agreement on scientific cooperation till 2025 at the 15th India-EU Summit, which was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Indian side.
The European Union delegation was headed by European Council President Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. The agreement was initially signed on November 23, 2001, and renewed in 2007 and 2015.

Union Civil Aviation Ministry Sets the Stage for Greenfield Airport at Pantnagar

Union Civli Aviation Ministry cleared the deck for Greenfield Airport at Uttrakhand's Pantnagar by submitting pre-feasibility report for airport.
The pre-feasibility report was submitted by Aviation Secretary Pradeep Kharola and Airport Authority of India chairman Arvind Singh to Uttrakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.
As per reports, Kharola and Singh submitted the report giving a 'yes' to 1100 acre land for Greenfield airport at Pantnagar after inspecting the land earmarked for the project.
The Ministry has also proposed that the Greenfield airport at Pantnagar would be upgraded to international airport in future.
Pantnagar airport currently has about 267 acres of land with a 530 sqm of passenger terminal. The current handling capacity of the airport is 50 passengers in peak hours. CM Rawat has directed the concerned officials to complete the necessary procedures for the greenfield airport as soon as possible.

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