IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR UPSC PRELIMINARY EXAM ( AUGUST-PART -4)

RARE EARTHS:

·         Rare earths are a group of 17 minerals necessary for making everything from nuclear reactors to flat-screen televisions, and, China currently controls 94 per cent of their global supply.

CENTRAL BOARD FOR WORKERS’ EDUCATION RENAMED:

·         The government has renamed Central Board for Workers’ Education as “Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education and Development”.

‘FAIL-SAFE’ SYSTEM:

·         The government has called for a ‘fail-safe’ system in which passengers and cargo are safe even in case of “failure of any system of the train tracks or controls.”

·         The government said the developer shall be responsible for a third-party inspection of the entire train system.

·         The developer will be given a free-hand in running the train services, fixing schedule, fares and add-on services on board, the EoI document added.

·         The developer will be required to submit the funding plan for the investment along with their audited financial statements for the last five years.

FIRST PHASE OF SAURASHTRA NARMADA AVATARAN FOR IRRIGATION PROJECT:

·         The first phase of SAUNI (Saurastra Narmada Avataran Irrigation) Yojana was recently launched by PM Modi at Sanodara of Jamnagar district of Gujarat.

About the Project:

·         The first phase of the SAUNI project will cover 105 villages, including 47,943 hectares of land.

·         Farmers can reap both Kharif and Rabi crop — as opposed to Kharif crop cultivation so far — once the project makes more water accessible for agriculture.

·         Though the project will not be added to the command area under irrigation, it will strengthen the existing network by providing 1 acre million cubic feet of surplus Narmada water from the Sardar Sarovar Dam through a new pipeline network connecting existing dams.

·         It is a Rs. 12,000 crore project, announced in 2012.

·         It aims to fill up nearly 115 dams of Saurashtra region which faces shortage of water for irrigation and drinking.

·         Through this scheme, the excess overflowing flood water of Narmada river will be distributed to various reservoirs in eleven districts of Saurashtra region through 1,126-km-long four-link pipelines.

MAA– A PROGRAMME TO PROMOTE BREASTFEEDING:

·         Government has launched National Breastfeeding Promotion Programme– MAA (mothers’ absolute affection) to ensure adequate awareness is generated among masses, especially mothers, on the benefits of breastfeeding.

·         The goal of the Programme is to enhance optimal breastfeeding practices, which includes initiation of breastfeeding within an hour of birth, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, and continued breastfeeding for at least two years.

·         The government will train nurses in government hospitals, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), Auxiliary Nurse Mid-wives (ANM) to provide relevant information and counselling support to mothers for breastfeeding.

SOUTH INDIA’S FIRST CHILDREN’S COURT IN HYDERABAD:

·         South India’s first Children’s Court was recently inaugurated in Hyderabad. After Goa and Delhi, Telangana has become the third state to have a child friendly court and sixth in the country with features like separate waiting rooms for children and a video camera trial for the accused, mandated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act-2012.

·         POCSO stipulates child-friendly court rooms be put in place across all states at the earliest in the interest of children in need of care. However, such courts are currently functional only in two states – Delhi and Goa.

NEW STEPS TO ENHANCE TRANSPARENCY IN POWER SECTOR:

·         In a bid to enhance transparency in power transmission sector of the country, the government has launched the ‘TARANG’ Mobile App, ‘e-Trans’ & ‘DEEP’ e-bidding web portals.

·         These are developed by Rural Electrification Corporation Transmission Projects Company Limited (RECTPCL), a subsidiary of REC Ltd.

·         These measures are aimed at enhancing ease, accountability & transparency and would boost confidence of investors in power transmission sector.

·         Better price discovery shall ultimately benefit the power consumers in India.

BRICS WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS’ FORUM ADOPTS JAIPUR DECLARATION:

·         The meeting of women Parliamentarians from BRICS nations concluded recently in Jaipur.

·         During the meeting the parliamentarians expressed commitment to work together in the field of economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection.

JAIPUR DECLARATION:

·         At the end of the meeting, ‘Jaipur Declaration’ was adopted.

·         The Declaration calls upon international financial institutions to extend support to developing and least developed countries and help them gain easier access to new and affordable technologies as envisaged under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.

·         The Declaration mentions the need to address climate change and protection of ecological system and forest as well as food security, expeditious parliamentary approval of SDG related legislation and adequate budgetary resources.

UJALA SCHEME:

·         The main objective of the scheme is to promote efficient lighting, enhance awareness on using efficient equipment which reduce electricity bills and help preserve environment.

·         The scheme is being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Union Ministry of Power.

·         The scheme will not only help reduce consumers their electricity bills but also contribute to the energy security of India.

·         The scheme is being monitored in a transparent manner through a national dashboard (delp.in).

·         The distribution of LED bulbs will happen through DISCOM offices, DISCOM bill collection centres, designated EESL kiosks, Weekly haat markets, etc.

·         Under UJALA, over 15 crore LED bulbs have already been distributed across India. This is leading to annual energy savings of 1948 crore kWh and resulting in avoidance of 3,900 MW of peak demand. Through the programme the estimated cumulative cost reduction of bills of consumers, annually is INR 7990 crores.

·         Under the Government of India’s Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for all (UJALA) scheme, Gujarat has become the first state to distribute 2 crore LED bulbs.

MISSION BHAGIRATHA:

·         PM Modi recently inaugurated a massive 40,000-crore Telangana state water grid ‘Mission Bhagiratha’.

·         It aims to provide safe drinking water through a pipeline.

·         The objective is to provide 100 liters of clean drinking water per person in rural households and 150 liters per person in urban households.

·         This project aims to provide water to about 25,000 rural habitations and 67 urban habitations.

AMITABH KANT COMMITTEE:

·         It is a committee set up by the government to look at easing the policy regime for e-commerce players, including the rules for foreign direct investment.

·         The terms of reference of the committee would be to examine various issues in e-commerce sector and making recommendations for further liberalisation of the policy.

YAAD KARO KURBANI :

·         It is a 15-day programme aimed to commemorate 75th anniversary of the Quit India Movement (QIM) and 70 years of Independence.

·         It was recently launched by PM Modi at birthplace of freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad at Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh.

·         The campaign is aimed at developing a feeling in every person that nation is first and individual is secondary.

DIAMOND QUADRILATERAL:

·         Six corridors on Diamond Quadrilateral connecting metropolitan cities and growth centers of the country (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai & Kolkata) have been identified for feasibility studies for high speed rail connectivity viz:

(i)           Delhi-Mumbai,

(ii)          Mumbai-Chennai,

(iii)        Chennai-Kolkata,

(iv)         Kolkata-Delhi and both diagonals i.e.

(v)          Delhi-Chennai and

(vi)         Mumbai-Kolkata routes.

·         Feasibility studies are being undertaken through Government to Government cooperation, with China and Spain respectively.

SUGAMAYA PUSTAKALAYA:

·         It is an online library that makes accessible content available to print-disabled people.

·         The library houses publications across diverse subjects and languages and multiple accessible formats.

·         It has been created by Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in collaboration with member organizations of Daisy Forum of India and powered by TCS Access.

·         Books are available in Accessible formats for people with visual impairment and other print disabilities.

·         Over 2 lakhs books in diverse languages.

·         Integrating libraries across India and the Globe, including the largest international library, Bookshare are available.

UDAIPUR DECLARATION:

·         It was adopted during the recently held two-day meeting of Ministers of Disaster Management of BRICS countries in Udaipur.

·         With this, it has been decided to set up a dedicated Joint Task Force for Disaster Risk Management for regular dialogue, exchange, mutual support and collaboration among BRICS Countries.

OPERATION MUSKAAN-II:

·         It is the second phase of ‘Operation Muskaan,’ a campaign to trace and rescue missing children.

·         It was launched by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Thousands of children have been rescued under the campaign so far.

ASLI TARAKKI:

·         It is a new campaign for Swachh Bharat Mission launched by the Ministry of Urban Development recently.

·         It is aimed at sanitising six cities of the National Capital Region (NCR).

·         Further, it will be replicated in other States if it succeeds. About 450 young men and women with “communication skills and leadership qualities” have been selected as “lead motivators” to spread awareness on Swachh Bharat Mission.

TOTALIZER MACHINE:

·         Totaliser machine mixes votes from various booths for counting.

·         In the current system votes from each Electronic voting machine are counted separately and hence reveal the voting trends in each polling station.

·         This leaves the voters in that vicinity open to harassment, intimidation and post-election victimisation.

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