Current Affairs National

India’s 1st Genetic Bank For Wildlife Conservation Inaugurated In Hyderabad

National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank (NWGRB) was inaugurated at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology’s (CCMB) Laboratory of Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) facility in Hyderabad, Telangana. It is India’s first genetic resource bank where the genetic material will be stored for posterity which will further the cause of conservation of endangered and protected animals.

Source- The Indian Express

Catgeory: National

Government Provides Fund Of Rs 66000 Crore To Increase Country's Forest Cover

The Union Government has unlocked green funds worth over Rs 66,000 crore to increase the country’s forest cover. The fund is an accumulated amount of money, which user agencies have been depositing as compensation for diverting forest land for non-forest purposes, including industries and infrastructure, since the past 10 years. The government has finally notified the rules for utilisation of the money by states and Union Territories and for setting up of authorities to monitor its use for afforestation and conservation.

Source- The Tirbune

Catgeory: National

Santhali Becomes India’s 1st Tribal Language To Get Own Wikipedia Edition

Santhali (Santali), a tribal language primarily spoken in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, received global recognition when it got a Wikipedia edition in its own script. The language is been spoken by over 6.4 million people in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam. The initiative to get a Santhali edition for Wikipedia, began six years ago, in 2012. Santhali, written in the Ol Chiki script currently has content of about 70,000 words.

Source- The Better India

Catgeory: National

Digital North East Vision 2022 released in Guwahati

The Digital North East Vision 2022 was released in Guwahati, Assam by Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad. It was released in presence of Chief Ministers and IT Ministers of North East States and senior officials of Central Government Ministries including DoT and DoNER etc. First electronics manufacturing cluster in northeastern region was also inaugurated in Guwahati, Assam.

Digital North East Vision 2022

He vision document emphasizes on leveraging digital technologies to transform lives of people of north east and enhance ease of living. It identifies eight digital thrust areas namely, Digital Infrastructure, Digital services, Promotion of Electronics Manufacturing, Digital empowerment, Promotion of IT and ITes including BPOs, Digital Payments, Innovation & Startups and Cyber security. It has developed state-wise roadmaps for implementing digital initiatives in North East States. Through these, it aims to empower the people of the North Eastern region. Under Digital North East, Union government will invest nearly Rs. 10,000 crore in egion over next 4 years to implement more than 400 projects. Digital North East is envisioned as an integral part of Digital India programme. It will help in leveraging power of Information Technology to leapfrog the overall development of North East region and realize its full potential.

Catgeory: National

Delhi Police inducts India’s first all-woman SWAT team for anti-terrorist operations

Delhi Police has inducted India’s first all-woman Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team for anti-terrorist operations. The all-woman SWAT team is the brainchild of Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik. It was formally inducted by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Key Facts

The all-woman SWAT team was inducted after rigorous training of around 15 months from specialists all across India and abroad. It comprises 36 women commandos from northeastern states (13 members from Assam, 5 from Arunachal Pradesh, 5 from Sikkim, 5 from Manipur, 4 from Meghalaya, 2 from Nagaland and 1 from Mizoram and Tripura each). They have undergone training to handle urban situations as well as jungle operations. They are also well-versed in Israeli Krav Maga, an unarmed combat style. Their expertise includes unarmed combat, ambush and counter-ambush and urban operations like building interventions, vehicle intervention and VVIP security. They are skilled at using weaponry like MP5 submachine guns and Glock-21 pistols. They will be deployed at strategic locations in Central and South Delhi as well as Red Fort and India Gate during Independence Day and Republic day celebrations.

Catgeory: National

Government approves proposal for setting up of water aerodromes in the country

Union Civil Aviation Ministry has given in-principle approval to set up water aerodromes in the country. To start with it has identified five states: Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Assam for development of water aerodromes. In the first phase of the project, Chilka Lake (Odisha), Sabarmati River Front and Sardar Sarovar Dam (Gujarat) have been identified for the development of such facilities.

Key Facts

Airdrome is location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers. The development of aerodromes projects in India will pave way for operation of amphibian planes (both in land and water) to enhance air connectivity. These water aerodromes will be set up near tourist locations and places of religious importance. Since there is no historical data, the project will be done on a pilot basis, initially. The entity looking to set up water aerodrome has to take approvals from authorities, including ministries of defence, home, environment and forests, and shipping. DGCA already has issued regulations prescribing procedure and requirement for licensing of water aerodromes. The water aerodrome cannot be used for scheduled air transport services without licence. The issued licence will be valid for two years. Initially, provisional licence will be issued for period of six months, during which implementation of water aerodrome operation will be monitored and regular licence will be accorded afterwards.

Sea-planes

Sea-planes are small fixed-wing aircrafts designed for taking off and landing on water and do not require capital-intensive infrastructure for operations. They are considered ideal for high-end travel to destinations that are far by road and are not equipped with airports. They require either 1-km long airstrip or water body, which is one km long and at least 10 feet deep.

Catgeory: National

Indian Housing Project in Plantation Areas: India hands over 1st lot of houses built in Sri Lanka

India has handed over 404 houses built for Indian-origin people in Sri Lanka’s tea plantation areas at Dunsinane Estate in Nuwara Eliya city. This is first lot of houses built under Indian Housing Project in Plantation Areas in Sri Lanka.

Indian Housing Project in Plantation Areas

Under this project close to 47,000 houses so far have been completed out of total 60,000. With grant of over US $350 million, it is India’s largest assistance project in any country. Houses built under it are provided to Indian-origin people, mostly Tamils in Sri Lanka’s tea plantation areas. India is also considering to sign agreement for construction of additional 10,000 houses at cost of 12 billion Sri Lankan Rupees under this project.

Background

Indian-origin Tamils, mostly employed in tea and rubber plantations in Sri Lanka, lack proper housing. They are mostly residing in central hill areas of the island country. They were brought from India by British rulers during 19th century to work in coffee plantations in Sri Lanka. More than million are still associated with tea and rubber plantations. Though they have been given the Sri Lankan citizenship, housing is one of the major issue for these workers employed as daily wagers. Earlier, Sri Lankan Government led by President Maithripala Sirisena had formulated ational plan of action for the plantation workers and planned for construction of 55,000 houses till 2020.

Catgeory: National

Government announces 50% reservation for women in RPF jawans recruitment

Union Government has announced 50% reservation for women in upcoming recruitment of 9500-10000 jawans for the Railway Protection Force (RPF). This decision aims to create more employment opportunities for women. It was announced by Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal in Patna, Bihar. He also announced 13,00,00 jobs are also coming up in Indian Railways in which there will be computer-based test and no interviews.

Railway Protection Force (RPF)

RPF is security force entrusted with protecting railway passengers, passenger area and railway property of the Indian Railways. It was introduced for the first time in the central act of 1957. It is headquartered in New Delhi. It functions under the authority of Union Ministry of Railways. It has powers to arrest, investigate and prosecute criminals under its jurisdiction.

Catgeory: National

Israel Opens Visa Application Centre In Kolkata

Israel has opened a Visa Application Centre in Kolkata for tourists from West Bengal and the northeastern states to encourage more Indian travelers to visit that country. Israel recently announced a reduction in visa fees to INR 1,100 rupees from its previous 1,700 charged from Indians.

Source- AIR WORLD SERVICE

Catgeory: National

Global Innovation Index, GII- 2018 Launched In India

The Global Innovation Index 2018 was launched in New Delhi by Ratan P Watal, Principal Adviser, NITI Aayog & Member Secretary of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. The event was organized by theConfederation of Indian Industry (CII) – one of the founding partners of GII along with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in collaboration with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). India’s rank on the Global Innovation Index (GII) has improved from 60 in 2017 to 57 in 2018. India has been consistently climbing the GII ranking for the past two years.

Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

Catgeory: National

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