Current Affairs - December 26, 2017 Current Affairs

Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari has stated that India will link its major highway corridors to international trade points in order to facilitate trade with bordering countries. The linking of highway corridors to International trade points will be carried out for facilitating trade with Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. About 2000 kms of highways will be constructed under this project. This construction will be part of Central Government's Bharatmala Project. Cost for construction of 2000 kms highways under this project is estimated to be Rs. 25000 crore. In addition to this project , Central Government is also working on plans to facilitate India's international connectivity with countries in South Asia.

Union Rural Development Ministry, in partnership with State Governments, has completed the ranking of 50000 Gram Panchayats (selected under 'Mission Antyodaya') on three broad parameters of physical infrastructure, human development and economic activities. Union Rural Development Ministry's 'Mission Antyodaya' aims to create 50000 poverty-free gram panchayats. The goal is to converge, all existing government initiatives and schemes in these 50000 gram panchayats so that every household within these panchayats is benefited which shall consequentially lead to elimination of poverty. Gram Panchayats have been selected by the State Governments on the basis of social capital. 50000 selected gram panchayats have been grouped together in 5000 clusters.

Sushil Kumar became the most expensive wrestler of the PWL (Pro Wrestling League) in New Delhi. Delhi Sultans bought Sushil Kumar for Rs 55 lakh at the PWL auctions. He has become the most expensive player in the history of the PWL tournament. World Championship gold medallist Helen Maroulis of the United States got the highest bid among women players and was bought for Rs 44 lakh from Haryana Hammers.

The 2018 ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held in Singapore on 6-7 January, 2018 to celebrate the 25 years of strategic partnership between India and ASEAN. The theme of the 2018 PBD Convention is "Ancient Route, New Journey: Diaspora in the Dynamic India-ASEAN Partnership". The 2-day event will feature discussions on a broad range of issues with outcomes that deepen diaspora's relations with India and their role in promoting closer ties between India and ASEAN; events to engage the diaspora youth; business, finance, technology events; and, a gala dinner with cultural show. In it, apart from India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Assam, N Chandrababu Naidu and Sarbananda Sonowal, will also attend the function. The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated every year to mark the contribution of overseas Indian community in the development of India.

Central public sector enterprise, NHPC Ltd has proposed to set up 100-200 Mw capacity solar project in Odisha. With this proposal, NHPC has joined other public sector enterprises viz. NTPC, NLC (formerly Neyveli Lignite Ltd) and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (NEEPCO) to express interest in participating in Odisha Government's upcoming 1000 Mw solar park programme. Odisha has laid out a plan to develop a solar park with a production capacity of 1000 Mw, off which, Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has already approved to develop solar park of 400 Mw capacity.

Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QRSAM) was successfully test fired by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from Chandipur, in Odisha. Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QRSAM) is a canister-based high-speed weapon system. It can destroy aerial targets, tanks, bunkers and short range missiles. QRSAM was fired from a canister mounted on a rotatable truck-based launch platform at the Launching Complex-I (LC-I) of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha. This is the third test of QRSAM. All three tests ended up successful. It is capable of destroying multiple targets in the range of 25 km in less than a minute.

Russian State Corporation for Atomic Energy (Rosatom) announced that it has signed an agreement to build the first nuclear power plant for electricity production in Sudan. An agreement in this regard was signed by Rosatom Overseas and Sudan's Ministry of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity in Khartoum, Sudan. The nuclear power plant will be completed in one and a half years. This project is a part of Sudan's plan to generate more than 5000 megawatts by 2020. Last month a nuclear energy cooperation agreement was signed between Sudan and Russia.

The Union Environment Ministry has launched a pilot project 'Blue Flag' for beach clean-up and development. The purpose of the project is to enhance standards of cleanliness, upkeep and basic amenities at beaches. Under the pilot programme, each of the coast of the state/UT was requested to identify/nominate a beach, which is to be funded through the ongoing Integrated Coastal Management Programme (ICMP). Till date, all the coastal States have nominated the pilot beaches in their receptive territories including Goa. Formal nominations are, however, awaited from the coastal UTs viz., Daman & Diu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar". This information was given by Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, in reply to a written question in Lok Sabha on December 22, 2017. The 'Blue Flag' is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, Marina or sustainable boating tourism operator, meets its stringent standards.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Botanical Garden-Kalkaji section (of Magenta Line) of Delhi Metro. This 12.64-km route of Magenta Line will be Delhi Metro's first line to get driverless trains. On this line, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will be using Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling technology which would facilitate the movement of trains at a higher frequency as compared to other lines.

The book "The Way I See It: A Gauri Lankesh Reader" has been edited by writer and sociologist Chandan Gowda. The book containing selected writings by late journalist Gauri Lankesh was launched at the Mumbai Press Club on 22nd December 2017, three months after she was gunned down outside her home in Bengaluru by unidentified men. The six sections of the book comprise Lankesh's early reportage in various publications and selected articles she wrote for the Kannada language "Gauri Lankesh Patrike".

As per information provided by Minister of State for Finance, Pratap Shukla in Lok Sabha, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are the top contributors among all states and Union Territories (UTs) in the first five months (1st July - 30th November, 2017) of the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh together accounted for 24 per cent of the total cess collections of Rs 30224 crore under the Goods and Services Tax (GST). With Rs 18701 crore, Maharashtra also topped in State GST (SGST) collections. In terms of SGST collections, Maharashtra is followed by Tamil Nadu (Rs 8739 crore), Karnataka (Rs 7736 crore) and Gujarat (Rs 7375 crore). Total SGST collections stood at Rs. 87888 crore. Total Central GST (CGST) collections stood at Rs 59048 crore.

The Uttar Pradesh government has recently launched a free household power connection scheme 'Prakash hai to vikas hai' for the poor in the state to mark former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday. Initially, the two village Lohban and Gausana of Mathura district have been covered for 100% electrification. Under this scheme, the state government has a target of covering 16 million by the end of 2018. Apart from this, the UP government has also introduced Kisan Uday Yojana, scheme for farmers in which existing 5 HP/7.5 HP submersible and coupling sets of farmers will be replaced free of cost. The scheme, which would cover 10 lakh farmers by 2022, would lead to 35% saving on power consumption.

The Union Minister of State (I/C) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr Jitendra Singh launched the electronic-Human Resource Management System (e-HRMS) in New Delhi. He launched it during the observance of Good Governance Day by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. The Minister launched the 25 applications of 5 modules of the system. The e-service book launched for DoPT during March 2017 will also be integrated into the e-HRMS.

Honda Motor is planning to set up a lithium-ion battery manufacturing unit in India with the main aim to move only potential electric vehicles on roads by 2030. Under the global agreement on climate change, the company is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As per reports, it is involved in building up of electric vehicle strategy for the Indian market.According to an announcement made by Honda, by 2030, electric cars will comprise 65% of the company's overall sales. Of that, 15% will be pure electric while the rest will be hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell-powered vehicles.