Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
The top three states in India that generate the most hazardous waste are:

• Gujarat: 28.76%
• Maharashtra: 25.16%
• Andhra Pradesh: 8.93%

Other major generators of hazardous waste include:

• Chhattisgarh (4.74%)
• Rajasthan (4.38%)
• West Bengal (4.17%)
• Tamil Nadu (4.15%)

In 2022, Gujarat generated over 4.2 million metric tons of hazardous waste, which was more than one third of the total hazardous waste output in India. Gujarat also had the largest number of industries generating hazardous waste in 2021.

Notes:
India’s first automatic coastal warning for disasters will come up in Odisha from July 2017. Through alert system, Odisha will be able to warn its coastal population by pressing a single button from a control room in the Odisha capital in the event of natural disasters like tsunami or cyclone. The loud sirens will then go off simultaneously from towers at 122 spots locations including tourist destinations, fish landing centres and coastal habitations. The new system will also enable authorities to alert people in smaller pockets, depending on the severity of the disaster.

Notes:
The Raneh Falls is a natural water fall located in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh on Ken River. It is situated about 20 km away from world famous heritage site Khajuraho. The waterfall is also close to Panna Tiger Reserve and Ken crocodile sanctuary. It was awarded the Best Holiday Award for 2017.Tourists from all over the country and abroad come here every year to enjoy the natural beauty. The Ken River here runs through a narrow gorge of igneous rocks rich in Granite and Dolomite. The Pandav Falls in Panna National Park is also located nearby.

Notes:
Acclaimed Bengali writer Ramapada Chowdhury (95), whose story ‘Abhimanyu’ was made into a Hindi movie ‘Ek doctor ki maut’, has passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal on July 29, 2018. ‘Abhimanyu’ was based on the life and work of Dr Subhas Mukhopadhyay who created India’s first and the world’s second test-tube baby in 1978. Director Tapan Sinha turned the story into a award winning Hindi film ‘Ek doctor ki maut’ in 1990. Mrinal Sen’s Hindi film ‘Ek din achanak’ (1989) was also based on Chowdhury’s story ‘Beej’. Chowdhury had penned famous literary works such as ‘Pratham Prahar’ (1954), ‘Banpalashir padabali’ (1960), ‘Ekhoni’ (1969), ‘Kharij’, ‘Bari badle jay’ (1988), ‘Abhimanyu’ (1982). His last book ‘Harano Khata’ was published in 2015. He was conferred the Sahitya Academy award for ‘Bari badle jay’ in 1988 and was also the recipient of Rabindra Puraskar, Ananda Puraskar and Rabindranath Tagore Memorial International Prize.

Notes:
The Whitley Awards also called Green Oscars are given annually by the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) to recognise and celebrate effective national and regional conservation leaders across the globe. In 2017, there are two Indians among the awardees- Purnima Devi Barman from Assam and Sanjay Gubbi from Karnataka. Purnima Devi Barman is a renowned environmentalist from Assam and has won the Green Oscars, for her efforts in conserving greater adjutant storks, an endangered bird species found in Assam. Sanjay Gubbi is a scientist with the Nature Conservation Foundation in India, and has received the award for helping to expand the protected area network in Karnataka.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
Recently, the Union Ministry of Culture has chosen Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh, as the venue for the Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav, the biggest national cultural festival in the country. The major objective of the annual festival is to popularise and showcase the cultural diversity of India through arts, artisans, various dance forms, handicrafts, flavours etc. from across the country. The festival is a five-day festival, which would be celebrated at Tawang during March 2-6, 2017, and is expected to be attended by almost 600 artistes from all over the country.

Notes:
Shola forests are tropical montane forests predominantly found in the hilly regions of Western Ghats. Recently, researchers from Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in collaboration with IISER in Tirupati and Botanical Survey of India used satellite imagery to study the forest and grassland cover in the Western Ghats. They found that there has been a drastic decline in the area of the Shola grassland. In the place of these grasslands and forests, timber plantations have thrived. Also, increase in agricultural land coupled by urbanisation was reported as another major reason for decline of shola grasslands.

Notes:
In 2014, SAARC countries had agreed to set up a South Asia Economic Union (SAEU) on the lines of European Union by facilitating a common market and removing trade barriers.

Notes:
The Government’s target to develop 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 includes 100GW Solar, 60GW wind, 10GW biomass and 5GW small hydro. Of the total 100 GW solar installations, 40 GW would be rooftop and balance 60 GW would be ground-mounted utility scale.