Current Affairs Gist - JAN-2019

National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)

·         five-year action plan

·         Base Year : 2017

·         Central ministries, state governmentsand local bodies.

·         Aim: to reduce toxic particulate matter by 2024

·         air quality monitoring network across the country for ensuring comprehensive and reliable database

India-Central Asia connectivity

·         first India-Central Asia Dialogue in Uzbekistan

·         India proposed to organize a ‘dialogue on air corridors’

·         ndia also called on the Central Asia Republics to participate in the Chabahar Port project

Waterway projects to boost N-E connectivity

·         Network of waterway projects in the North-East and neighboring countries like Bangladesh

·         309-kilometre Ashuganj-Zakiganj stretch of the Kushiyara River

·         146-kilometre Sirajganj-Daikhowa of Jamuna River

·         To enhance connectivity to the region as part of its Act East policy.

·         Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project: It connects Kolkata to Sittwe port by sea from there to Paletwa through river Kaladan and finally to Zorinpui at Mizoram border by road.

RBI eases norms for external commercial borrowing

·         Removed the sector-wise limits

·         List of borrowers expanded

·         List of lenders expanded

·         Maturity of borrowings (earlier 5 years) – now 3 Years

Rupee pact with Iran to aid pharma exports

·         India and Iran has signed Rupee Payment Agreement which can boost pharma export to Iran

·         Account maintained by UCO bank

Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana

·         Program related to Mining Affected regions

·         Implemented by the District Mineral Foundations (DMFs)

·         To implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining affected areas

·         To minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining, on the environment, health and socio-economics of people in mining districts.

·         To ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people

·         60% funds – Drinking water, Environment

·         40% funds – Physical Infrastructure, Irrigation, watershed , etc..

Methanol-blending in petrol reduces carbon dioxide

·         Methanol (M-15) blended with petrol used in BS IV cars

·         Methanol is a clean burning fuel

·         Methanol burns efficiently producing no particulate matter and almost nil (SO)x and (NO)X emissions

·         Government aims to increase fuel blending to 20% by 2030

Persian Gulf Regional Dialogue Forum

·         Iran proposed the Persian Gulf Dialogue forum at Raisina Dialogue conference held in NewDelhi.

·         It aims to address the lingering conflicts and mistrust in the Gulf region

·         Backdrop - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Universal Basic Income - Sikkim

One Family, One Job’ scheme- Sikkim

Renukaji Multipurpose Dam Project

·         Upper Yamuna Basin

·         Minister for Water Resources, Shipping, and Road Transport & Highways

·         MoU with the

1.       Uttar Pradesh,

2.      Rajasthan,

3.      Uttarakhand,

4.      Haryana and

5.    Himachal Pradesh

·       To be constructed on the river Yamuna and two of its tributaries - Tons and Giri in

Bilateral Swap Arrangement between India and Japan

·         between the RBI and the Bank of Japan

·         for a maximum amount of USD 75 billion.

Women of India Organic Festival (th)

·         Ministry of Women and Child Development

·         in Chandigarh

·         aims to encourage Indian women entrepreneurs and farmers to connect with more buyers and thus, empower them through financial inclusion while promoting organic culture in India

·         to educate people about its various initiatives and schemes relating to women and children.

Democracy Index 2018

·         released annually by  ::: Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

·         Parameters

(i) Electoral process and pluralism

(ii) Functioning of government

(iii) Political participation

(iv) Political culture

(v) Civil liberties

·         India is ranked at 41

Chakma and HajongCommunities

Chakmas are predominantly Buddhists

Hajongs are Hindus

found in ::   Northeast India, West Bengal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar

“Womaniya on GeM” – Government e.Market

·         Ministry of Commerce

·         will enable women entrepreneurs and women self-help groups [WSHGs] to sell handicrafts and handloom, accessories, etc directly to various Government ministries, departments, and institutions.

·         for MSMEs, especially to reserve 3 percentin government procurement from women entrepreneurs.

·         completely paperless, cashless and system driven e-marketplace

Trishna Gas Project

·         ONGC has discovered 10-12 gas bearing wells

·         Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary in the Gomati district of Tripura.

Hawaiian tree snail

·         Achatinella apexfulva has now been listed in the first extinction species of 2019.

Maha Agritech: An Initiative for doubling farmers income by 2022

·         cultivation from sowing to harvesting, climate, and diseases on crops

·         monitored digitally using satellite and drone technology.

IMBEX 2018-19

India-Myanmar bilateral army exercise.

Bhitarkanika National Park

·         rivers ::: Brahmani, Baitarani, Dhamra, Pathsala.

Kumbh Mela 2019

·         Kumbh Mela is celebrated four times over a course of 12 years.

1.       Haridwar on the Ganges in Uttarakhand.

2.      Ujjain on the Shipra in Madhya Pradesh.

3.      Nashik on the Godavari in Maharashtra.

4.      Prayagraj at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the mythical Sarasvati in Uttar Pradesh

UNNATI Programme (ISRO)

·         UNispace Nano-satellite Assembly and Training by ISRO

Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojana

·         employment generation Scheme

·         Ministry of Labour and Employment

Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)

·         2011 – Notification

·         2014- Nayak Committee – Recommended changes

·         2018 – Govt. Approved CRZ Notification

·         Benefits : 1. Economic Growth In Coastal Regions 2. Rejuanate Coastal Area

·         CRZ-1 & CRZ-IV -  Ministry of Environment take measures

1)    CRZ-1: Ecologically sensitive - lie between low and high tide line. Exploration of natural gas and extraction of salt are permitted

2)    CRZ-2: form up to the shoreline of the coast. Unauthorized structures are not allowed to construct in this zone.

3)    CRZ-3: rural and urban localities which fall outside the 1 and 2. Only certain activities related to agriculture even some public facilities are allowed in this zone

4)    CRZ-4: Islands

Exotic trees eating up Western Ghat’s grasslands

·         Affects Shola Grass Land Ecosystem

·         Shola are large leafed strees - never grow on the mountain tops

·         Most of this loss occurred on the mountain tops of the Nilgiri, Palani and Anamalai hill ranges, which comprise more than half of the Ghat’s shola-grassland ecosystems.

·         60% of the shola-grassland landscape has changed

·         almost 40% of native high-elevation grasslands have disappeared

RBI’s Financial Stability Report

·         Biannually releases report (once in 2 years)

·         The FSR reflects the overall assessment on the stability of India’s financial system

·         Its resilience to risks emanating from global and domestic factors

·         issues relating to development and regulation of the financial sector

Govt launches “Green-Ag”, GEF-assisted project

·         Green Agriculture – Agricultural related Program

·         Global Environmental Fecility Assists (established on 1992 Rio Earth Summit)

·         GEF Associated with

Ø  CBD Convention on Biological Diversity.

Ø  United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Ø  UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

Ø  Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).

Ø  Minamata Convention on Mercury

·         The project seeks to mainstream biodiversity, climate change, and sustainable land management objectives and practices into Indian agriculture.

·         In collaboration with the Food and Agricul Organisation (FAO)

India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway: Boost To Act East

Ø  Funded by the Ministry of External Affairs, India.

Ø  construction of 120.74 km Kalewa-Yagyi road section

Ø  construction of 69 bridges along with the approach road on the 149.70 km Tamu- Kyigone-Kalewa (TKK) road section.

Ø  The highway is constructed with the help of NHAI (It is a first international project of NHAI).

Kashmir Stag( Hangul )

Ø also called hangul

Ø  Kashmir Stag has begun using an old migratory route has given fresh hoped to conservationists.

Ø  Kashmir Vally & Himachal Pradesh

Ø  State Animal of J&K

Ø  Dachigam National Park

Ø  Rajparian Wildlife Sanctuary,

ASI declared 6 monuments of national importance in 2018

Ø  Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 2018

1. The 125-year-old Old High Court Building in Nagpur, Maharashtra

2. Two Mughal-era monuments in Agra — Haveli of Agha Khan and Hathi Khana.

3. The ancient Neemrana Baori in Rajasthan’s Alwar district

4. The Group of Temples at RanipurJharail in Odisha’s Bolangir district

5. The Vishnu Temple in Kotali, Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand.

Sanitary pad-making initiative

Ø  Ministry of Petroleum launched

Ø  Ujjwala Sanitary Napkins initiative

ISRO launches ‘Samwad with Students’

Ø  engage youngsters across India to capture their scientific temperament.

“Ultima Thule”An un known object in the Universe

Ø  Shape: like ‘8’

Ø  NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft (launched in 2006) - to map the surfaces of Pluto and Charon, to study Pluto’s atmosphere and to take temperature readings.

Ø  in the Kuiper belt -  outermost regions of the Solar System

Ø   

Panda Bond- These bonds are Chinese renminbi-denominated

Ø Pakisthan issued Panda Bond in Chinese Currency

Ø Philippines is also issued earlier (First ASIAN Country to issue like this)

SAUBHAGYA or ‘Power for all’ scheme

Cinereous vulture

Ø Recently, Cinereous Vulture is spotted in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand.

RBI launches SRPHi

Ø  Survey on Retail Payment Habits of Individuals (SRPHi).

Ø  will capture payment habits of individuals in cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Guwahati.

“Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribes Groups (PVTG)” PRogram

Ø  Ministry of Tribal Affairs is

Ø  For socio-cultural environment while retaining the culture and heritage

Ø  Housing, land distribution, land development, agricultural development and etc.

Ø  75 tribal groups have been categorized by Ministry of Home Affairs

70-point grading index

Ø  HRD Department

Ø  School Education Standards

National programme for organic production (since, 2001)

Ø  Ministry of Industries and Commerce

Ø  facilitate the certification of organic products

Wayanad Sanctuary- Nilgiri, Kerala

Ø  bounded by protected area network of Nagarhole and Bandipur of Karnataka

Ø  southeast by Mudumalai of Tamil Nadu.

Jal Charcha

Ø Monthly magazine

Ø  Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation

Web - Wonder Women” Campaign

Ministry of Women and Child Development,

 ‘#www : Web- WonderWomen’.