Current Affairs - 2019-20

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The world’s highest railway bridge will come up over Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir (J& K), which is expected to be completed in 2019. The bridge will form a crucial link in the 111-km stretch between Katra and Banihal, which is part of the Udhampur- Srinagar-Baramu rail link project. It will be constructed at a cost of around Rs 1,100 crore in hostile terrain, will use over 24,000 tonnes of steel and will rise 359 m above the river bed. It will be designed to withstand wind speeds of upto 260 km per hour, the 1.315 km long engineering marvel” will connect Bakkal (Katra) and Kauri (Srinagar). Once completed, it will surpass the record of the Beipan river Shuibai railway bridge (275 m) in China.

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The International Tiger Day (ITD) is observed every year on July 29 to raise awareness for tiger conservation. The day is also known as Global Tiger Day (GTD). The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has stated that only 3,890 tigers are left in the world. Of them, India has the highest number. Till July 2016, there were 2,500 tigers in the country.

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In September 2018, Senior IPS officer Arun Kumar was appointed as Director General of Railway Protection Force (RPF). Kumar, a 1985 batch officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, is serving as Special Director General of Border Security Force.

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National Highway Authority of India was awarded with Best Design Pavilion Award in the recently concluded 105th Indian Science Congress held in Imphal.

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Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana is a comprehensive package which will result in creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management. The main objective of PMKSY is to supplement agriculture, modernize processing and decrease Agri-Waste. PMKSY will act as an umbrella scheme for incorporating ongoing schemes of the Ministry like Mega Food Parks, Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure, Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure, etc. and also new schemes like Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters, Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages, Creation/ Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities.

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The Mankidia tribe has been recognised as one of the 13 particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) in the State. They are known for collection of Siali fibre, from which they build small huts and offer worship to their deities. This tribal group was in news for filing a claim for habitat rights in the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR). However, their claim was recently denied since the Forest Department thought that the indigenous people might face life threat from wildlife or even come in way of their free movement due to grant of habitat rights in the Tiger Reserve.

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Second option is the correct answer
The Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement is a global initiative to eradicate malnutrition among children. The SUN Movement was born in 2010 in response to mounting evidence of both the injustice and the impact of malnutrition-costs measured in children’s lives and futures. Indian States of Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh have also joined the SUN Movement.

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PUSA-1509 and PUSA-1121 are varieties of Basmati rice grown in Punjab and Haryana.

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The Indian government announced to adopt ‘Swiss Challenge’ method for development of railway stations and national highways in India. “Swiss Challenge” is a model of auctioning infrastructure projects in India.

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The government has announced setting up two defence industrial corridors in the country to promote domestic production in both public and private sectors and boost investments in the production of defence armaments. The first of the two has been proposed to be set up between Chennai and Bengaluru- connecting Kattupalli port, Chennai, Tiruchi, Coimbatore and Hosur. The second has been proposed to be set up in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh.