Current Affairs - 2019-20

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In a bid to expand the green cover, the Maharashtra government recently signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Railways, under which trees will be planted on the land adjacent to the railway tracks in the state.

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22nd March is celebrated as the World Water Day. It is celebrated to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. A theme related to the focus is selected every year by the UN organizations. The theme for 2020 was “Water and Climate Change”.

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The 1504 kilometers of Western DFC cover Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra and UP. The Eastern DFC cover UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Punjab and Haryana.

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The “green energy corridor” is aimed at synchronising electricity produced from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, with conventional power stations in the grid. Recently, German Government has committed developmental and technical assistance of €1 billion for the project.

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NTPC Ltd. is on course to implementing the country's largest 1 GW solar park at Kadiri in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. Phase-I of the project has been completed by Tata Solar (100 MW), Sterling and Wilson (50 MW), BHEL (50MW) and Lanco (50 MW) and is generating power upto 250 MW. The balance 750 MW is expected to be completed over the course next fiscal by year 2018.

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These terms are related to Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) that were defined under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. INDCs were considered to be a compromise between “quantified emissions limitation and reduction objective” (QUELROs) and “nationally appropriate mitigation actions” (NAMAs) that the Kyoto Protocol used to describe the different legal obligations of developed and developing countries.

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PMMSK scheme is envisioned as one-stop convergence support service for empowering rural women with opportunities for skill development, digital literacy, health and nutrition and employment. It aims to improve declining child sex ratio (CSR), ensure survival and protection of the girl child, ensuring the education and empowering her to fulfil her potential. It will provide an interface for rural women to approach government for getting their entitlement and for empowering them through training and capacity building.

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INS Chakra is an 8,140-tonne nuclear-powered submarine manufactured by Russia. It was taken by India on lease from Russia in 2012 for a period of 10 years. The Russian experts after examination of the damaged submarine have asked 125 crore for its repair. The Arihant is based on Russian double hull design with a sealed nuclear reactor section. Recently, it also suffered a major damage due to “human error” and is back in services after repairs. INS Arihant was built with Russia’s help under Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project.

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The 2016 United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Marrakesh, Morocco from 7 to 18 November 2016. It is the 22nd conference of the parties (COP22) to be held under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The next conference or COP-23 is scheduled to be held on 6–17 November 2017 in Bonn, Germany.

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The government today recently approved Rs 5,369 crore for the Jal Vikas Marg Project (JVMP) to enhance the navigation on the Haldia-Varanasi stretch of National Waterway-1 (NW-1). The project falls in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and major districts under its ambit are Varanasi, Ghazipur, Ballia, Buxar, Chhapra, Vaishali, Patna, Begusarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur, Sahibganj, Murshidabad, Pakur, Hooghly and Kolkata. The project involves the construction of three multi-modal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia besides construction of inter-modal terminals at Kalughat and Ghazipur and construction of a new navigation lock at Farakka.