Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
The Pardhi community in central India has been a nomadic community of hunters. Phase Pardhis, one of the subgroups within the community, were known for their skill in catching birds with phase (traps). Traditional hunters Phase Pardhis are part of an initiative to save critically endangered lesser f1oricans. (Down To Earth)

Notes:
Recently, the Karnataka government approved “Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy 2017”. With this, Karnataka became the first state to roll out an Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy in the country. Important Facts about the Policy

• It aims to bring down pollution levels and push the “Make in Karnataka” initiative.
• This policy would not only help at boosting sales of EVs, but also in setting up charging infra and special manufacturing zones.
• The policy aims to attract investments worth Rs31,000 crore
• Under this policy, the state government has proposed to set up new EV manufacturing zones, charging stations in public and private spaces including airports, railway stations, metro stations and encourage start-ups to develop business models
• The state government estimates that the new policy will help to create employment for 55,000 individuals over the next few years in the state.

Notes:
In Budget 2018, Bamboo has been termed as “Green Gold”. The Finance Minister announced a Re-structured National Bamboo Mission with corpus of Rs.1290 crore to promote bamboo sector. Taxonomically, bamboo is a grass. However, the Indian Forest Act, 1927 classifies Bamboo as tree as well as grass. While the bamboos produced in the forest area have been termed as tree, those produced in non-forest areas have been termed as grass. The recent change introduced in the Forest Act, 1927 has made Bamboo as one of the highest yielding renewable natural resource. The non-forest bamboo produce will now be used for artifacts and for infrastructure development.

Notes:
In Budget 2018, government announced for Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan (GOBAR-DHAN) scheme that aims to convert cattle dung and solid waste in farms to compost, biogas and bio-CNG.

Notes:
The Economic Survey 2017-18 has suggested six key areas that can be taken up as national missions. These are as follows: National Mission on Cyber-Physical Systems; national missions on dark matter; genomics; energy storage systems; mathematics and agriculture. National Mission on Food Processing was launched in 2012 for the 12^th five-year plan.

Notes:
First is the correct option.The Government of India has requested the States/UTs to start “Operation Smile-II” from 1st January, 2016 to 31st January, 2016 to be rolled out throughout the country as a follow up of the earlier campaign to rescue/rehabilitate the missing children. Earlier all States/UTs were advised to take up a one month campaign titled ‘Operation Smile’ in the month of January, 2015 to rescue/rehabilitate the missing children. Similarly, another dedicated campaign titled ‘Operation Muskaan’ was launched in the month of July, 2015 throughout the country.

Notes:
Gherats are water mills, run on water power and are used for grinding wheat and spices. These are most commonly found in Uttarakhand. Recently, many of these mills which were abandoned earlier have been renewed with the help of German technology. The Uttarakhand state government is also supporting the villagers in setting up these traditional water mills by providing subsidy on the purchase of equipment for the setting up the mills.

Notes:
“Waterless chrome tanning technology” is a first of its kind technology introduced by Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) to reduce chromium pollution load. The technology aims to make Indian leather sector achieve the set target of USD 27 billion by 2020 by making leather processing environmentally sustainable. Chromium is the most sought after tanning agent with about 2.0 billion sq. ft. of leather being made in India.

Notes:
A Benami transaction is an arrangement in which a property (movable or immovable) is transferred to or held in the name of one person (benamidar) but is actually owned and enjoyed by another person (beneficial owner). This is illegal in India.

Notes:
The World Wetland Day (WWD) is observed every year on 2nd of to raise awareness about the value of wetlands for humanity and the planet. The day marks adoption of the Convention on Wetlands (also called as Ramsar Convention) on 2nd February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on shores of the Caspian Sea. The 2019 theme “Wetlands and Climate Change” highlights the importance of healthy and intact wetlands to one of the most pressing challenges of climate change.