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Current Affairs Current Affairs January 2020

“MANI” to help visually challenged to identify currency notes

  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a mobile app “Mobile Aided Note Identifier (MANI)”. The visually challenged people can identify the denomination of a currency note by using the mobile app “MANI”. The application also works offline once installed. The application scans the currency notes using the camera of the mobile phone and also gives audio output in Hindi and English. The app does not authenticate a note as either genuine or counterfeit.
Source: The Live Mint
Catgeory: Economy & Banking

V K Yadav to lead Railway Board for 1 more year

  The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the re-employment of V K Yadav as the Chairman of Railway Board. The appointment has been done for a period of one year. He took over as Railway Board Chairman from Ashwani Lohani on January 1, 2019. He has also held the post of General Manager of South Central Railway (SCR). He is an electrical engineer and belongs to the 1980 batch of the Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers.
Source: The Live Mint
Catgeory: Appointments

Nagaland Assembly Speaker Vikho-o Yhoshu passes away

  The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) leader and Nagaland Assembly Speaker Vikho-o Yhoshu passed away. Yhoshu was elected to the state Assembly thrice from Southern Angami-1 constituency in Kohima district. He had won the seat as a candidate of the Naga People’s Front (NPF) in 2008 and 2013 and served as Advisor and Parliamentary Secretary of various departments. He was elected as Speaker of the state Assembly in 2018 assembly election.
Source: The News On AIR
Catgeory: Persons

Indore tops national cleanliness rankings for first two quarters

  The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has announced the results of the 1st and 2nd quarters of the Swachh Survekshan 2020. Indore has topped the cleanliness charts for two consecutive quarters among cities with over 10 lakh population while Kolkata was the worst performer. Jamshedpur has topped the cleanliness charts for two consecutive quarters among cities with 1 lakh to 10 lakh population. The rankings were conducted in a league format for the first time and were split into three quarters (April to June, July to September and October to December 2019) and different categories based on the population of the city. The rankings were based on collection, transportation, processing and disposal of waste.
Some key results of the Swachh Survekshan 2020:
Top three cities with over 10 lakh population in 1st quarter (April to June):
  • Indore (Madhya Pradesh)
  • Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh)
  • Surat (Gujarat)
    		•
    Top three cities with over 10 lakh population in 2nd quarter (July to September):
  • Indore (Madhya Pradesh)
  • Rajkot (Gujarat)
  • Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra)
    		•
    Top three cities with 1 lakh to 10 lakh population in 1st quarter (April to June):
  • Jamshedpur (Jharkhand)
  • New Delhi
    		•
    Top three cities with 1 lakh to 10 lakh population in 2nd quarter (July to September):
  • Jamshedpur (Jharkhand)
  • Chandrapur (Maharashtra)
    		•
    Among the Cantonment Boards, the rankings in 1st quarter (April to June) were as follows:
  • St.Thomas Mount Cantonment (Tamil Nadu)
  • Jhansi Cantonment (Uttar Pradesh)
  • Delhi Cantonment (Delhi)
    		•
    Among the Cantonment Boards, the rankings in 2nd quarter (July to September) were as follows:
  • Delhi Cantonment Board (Delhi)
  • Jhansi Cantonment Board (Uttar Pradesh)
  • Jalandhar Cantonment Board (Punjab)
    		•
    Secunderabad Cantonment Board in Hyderabad is the worst performer among other cantonment boards.
    Source: The Hindu
    Catgeory: Ranks & Reports

    NITI Aayog: Link private medical colleges with district hospitals

     On January 1, 2020, the Government Think Tank released its Draft “Model Concession Agreement for Setting Up Medical Colleges under Public Private Partnership” guideline document. Under the guideline the think tank has suggested Public Private Partnership (PPP) model to link private medical colleges and district hospitals.
    • Highlights
    The suggestion will address the issues of limited resources and finances in medical education. The model is already operative in the states of Gujarat and Karnataka. This will also help in increasing medical seats. Also, this will help to bridge the gap of shortage of doctors in the country. According to WHO, there is only one government doctor for every 10,189 people in the country. Also, there is shortage of 2 million nurses in India. Therefore, the move is very much required.
    • Concessionaire
    The think tank has suggested appointment of concessionaire to design, operate, build and maintain the medical colleges. The concessionaire shall also be allowed to charge of Rs 10 as registration fees. The concessionaire shall absorb minimum of 150 students annually. The concessionaire is the holder of concession, grant to complete the assigned task completely.
    • Significance
    The PPP model ensures high quality and timely provision of services. They also help in hastening Government projects. Overall, PPP models provide better public services.
    Catgeory: Government Schemes

    GoI misses its disinvestment target

     Government of India misses its disinvestment target as the plan to sell Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Air India and Container Corporation of India has not been succeeded.
    • Highlights
    The Government had planned to sell 53.3% of BPCL, 31% of Concorp as per latest market prices. The Government had set the Disinvestment target of Rs 1.05 trillion for the year 2019-20. However, it was only able to extract Rs 17,364 crores. This has increased burden on the economy of the country as the fiscal deficit of the Government has already touched 115% of the budget estimated for the year 2019-20 as far as November 30. The deficit will increase further as there are another 4 months (Dec-Mar) to go before the financial year ends. The data was released by the Controller General of Accounts. The missing of disinvestment target has impaired its ability to meet its Fiscal Deficit target of 3.3% of GDP. The fiscal deficit is arising in spite of RBI transferring Rs 1.76 lakh crore rupees. It was widely criticized as windfall money of the government.
    • What is Windfall money?
    Windfall money is the term used for unexpected money good fortune. The RBI transferred the windfall to the GoI on recommendation of Jalan Committee.
    • Air India
    Among all the disinvestment targets, Air India is the least performing and at huge losses. In order to solve the problem, recently it was announced that Air India will stop issuing tickets to government agencies that owe more than Rs 10 lakh due. This included defence accounts, CBI, BSF, Enforcement Directors, customs commissioners, etc.
    Catgeory: Business

    Sale of Darjeeling Tea affected by illegal influx of Nepal Tea

      The prices of Darjeeling Tea that recently received GI tag has fell by 20% to 25% due to unchecked flow of Nepal Tea into the country.
    • Highlights
    Nepal Tea also known as Himalayan Tea is very similar to that of Darjeeling Tea in aroma, flavor and taste. But Nepal Tea is 50% cheaper than that of Darjeeling Tea. This is being misused by many traders. Nepal tea can be imported by anyone freely under Free Trade Agreement between India and Nepal. Around 16 million kg of Nepal Tea is entering India every year.
    • Issue
    Most of the Nepal Tea is uncertified. On the other hand, 70% of 87 estates growing Darjeeling Tea are certified organic. The annual export of Darjeeling Tea was Rs 600 crores. Experts believe that it would have touched Rs 700 crores if Nepal Tea hadn’t played its role.
    • GI Tag
    The Darjeeling Tea and White Tea received GI Tag recently in November 2019. The GI tag is provided to fetch an identity for the product international market and increase its exports. When such products develop fake, their exports get affected greatly. India enacted Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 under Article 22 of World Trade Organization.
    Catgeory: Business

    Andhra Pradesh Government plans to deliver sand at door steps

     The Andhra Pradesh Government announced that it will deliver sand at customers’ door steps. As a pilot project, the government is to begin the initiative on experimental basis.
    • Highlights
    Under the new initiative, the government will collect transportation charges from the customers and deliver sand at door steps. In order to make the initiative successful, the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation will stock 15 lakh tons of sand per month for the next four months. At present, the demand for sand in the state is 80,000 tonnes a day. The step will help address issues of sand scarcity and sand mafia.
    • Legislation of sand mining
    Section 23C of the MMDR act, 1957 provides rules to prevent illegal mining of sand. According to the rules, the state governments are empowered to frame rules in order to prevent illegal mining, storage and transportation of sand.
    • MMDR act, 1957
    The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) act, 1957 provides complete legislation to mines and minerals. It includes minor minerals such as gravel, clay, building stones and sand as well. The act was amended in 2105. The amendment was made in order to bring transparency in allocation of mines and license process. In 2014, Supreme Court cancelled license of 26 mines in the state Odisha, following which the amendment was made.
    Catgeory: State

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