Current Affairs - 2019-20

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The Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has inaugurated the first-ever Indian Railways Human Resources Round Table Conference in New Delhi on June 10, 2017. The aim of the Conference is to improve the productivity of the human resources through inter-change of ideas with various stakeholders and HR practitioners and academics. There are 3-themes of the conference viz. Stakeholders Expectations from HR, The Future of Work – HR Role and Creativity Within Constraints.

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AirAsia is a low-cost airline based in Malaysia. It is the largest airline in Malaysia by fleet size and destinations, and it has a significant presence in Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and Australia. AirAsia was founded in 1993 and began operations in 1996. The airline is known for its low-cost business model and its frequent flyer program, AirAsia BIG. AirAsia has been awarded numerous accolades, including being named the “World’s Best Low-Cost Airline” by Skytrax for 10 consecutive years from 2009 to 2018.

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Ayushman Bharat -National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM) is a centrally sponsored scheme under Ayushman Bharat Mission. The scheme will provide insurance cover of Rs. 5 Lakh per family per year. The scheme will benefit more than 10 crore families belonging to poor and vulnerable population. AB-NHPM will subsume the on-going centrally sponsored schemes –Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS).

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The Unified Commanders’ Conference (UCC) for the year 2018 has started at New Delhi on July 30 to review external security challenges as well as the country’s preparedness. The 2-day annual conference will provide a platform for discussions at the Apex Level on all ‘Joint Issues’ among the three Services & Ministry of Defence. The scope of this conference is to enable the forum to facilitate joint stock taking of the previous year’s performance of all Services & Departments of Ministry of Defence and jointly chart the course for the next year. The conference will be attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force among others.

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Hokersar is an important refuge for migratory waterfowls, shorebirds and trans-Himalayan species during winters. It also acts as one of the major flood absorption basins. Hokersar has been declared as Conservation Reserve under the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1978. It was also declared as Ramsar site on November 8, 2005 under the Ramsar Convention. The study shows that the open waters of the wetland have been colonized by the weeds and other aquatic vegetation. Some areas of the wetland that existed in 1969 have been converted into paddy fields. About 10 hectares of the wetland has been converted into built-up area.This wetland is on the brink of extiction as per various environmentalists.

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Supercritical and ultra-supercritical technologies are associated with coal-fired power plants. These technologies are designed to improve the efficiency and reduce the emissions of coal-fired power plants.
Supercritical boilers operate at temperatures around 538–565°C and pressures above 3,200 psi. Ultra-supercritical boilers operate at temperatures around 615–630°C and pressures around 300 bar.
The term “advanced ultra-supercritical” (AUSC) is sometimes used to describe generators where the water is above 700°C (1,292°F). The coal industry uses the term “High-Efficiency, Low-Emissions” (HELE) to describe supercritical and ultra-supercritical coal generation.

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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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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.

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The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2017 shows that water bodies inside forest cover have increased by 2,647 sq kms during the last decade. The states which have observed the maximum increase in the water bodies within the forest are Maharashtra (432 sq kms), Gujarat (428 sq kms), Madhya Pradesh (389 sq kms) are top three states showing increase in water bodies within forest areas. Overall, almost all the states have shown a positive change in water bodies. As per the report, all the states have shown an increase (in water bodies) except Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Bihar.

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The Galilee Basin is a large inland geological basin in the western Queensland region of Australia. It was in news when Australian Government approved three mining leases for the India based Adani Group for its Galilee Basin project.