Current Affairs
Select Date
Tags:
Hindi

Mega Exhibition-cum-Sale at Handloom Haat Inaugurated

The Union Minister of Textiles, Government of India, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in the august presence of Minister of State for Textiles, Government of India, Shri Ajay Tamta and Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, inaugurated the Mega Exhibition-cum-Sale at Handloom Haat, Janpath, in New Delhi today. 
●    The exhibition is sponsored by Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India and will showcase the products produced by the artisans / Primary / Apex Corporations of Handlooms, Handicrafts, Wool and Jute. Approximately 150-200 nos. of participants from handlooms, handicrafts, jute, wool, carpet and silk are likely to participate in the exhibition.The Association of Corporations & Apex Societies of Handlooms (ACASH), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, is organizing exhibitions on behalf of Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India. 
●    ACASH is a national level apex organization of the entire national and state handloom development corporations and handloom apex cooperative societies and represents the strength and the best of the Indian handloom. The marketing efforts of ACASH are backed by promotion and publicity strategies with special emphasis on Fairs & Expositions. Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India provides total policy and financial support for all such activities undertaken by ACASH. During this exposition the expected sales are likely to be around Rs.2.50 crores. 
●    Ministry of Textiles, Government of India is the sponsoring authority for this event and continues to be a prime mover for development and growth of the artisans in these sectors. It formulates implements, monitors and reviews policies, programmers and schemes. Its input related Schemes, Development Schemes, Welfare Schemes and Marketing Schemes are meant to enhance the socio-economic status of the artisans. The Office also provides creative inputs from design, evolves interactive programmes and introduces technological innovations. It also gives valuable marketing support to the sector by organizing participation of artisans in local regional, national and international fairs, exhibitions, fashion shows and buyer seller meets.
 

Read More
Read Less

IUCN Declares Kashmir's Red Stag as Critically Endangered

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is going to declare the Kashmiri Red Stag as a Critically Endangered species. 
●    The critically endangered status to the Kashmiri Red Stag will help it to get more protection and enhance the conservation efforts to increase its rapidly declining population. 
●    The Kashmir Stag or Hangul is a subspecies of elk native to India. 
●    Earlier it was believed that it is a subspecies of red deer. 
●    It is found in dense riverine forests in the high valleys and mountains of Kashmir Valley and northern Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh. 
●    As per Bombay Natural History Society nearly 3000 to 5000 Hanguls existed around the 1940s.
●    It has been listed under Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and J&K Wildlife Act, 1978. 
●    Reasons for decline in population: (i) habitat destruction, (ii) over-grazing by domestic livestock, and (iii) poaching.

Read More
Read Less

Okha-Kanalus, Porbandar-Wansjaliya become Green Corridors

The Union Ministry of Railways has declared the Okha-Kanalus and the Porbandar-Wansjaliya railway sections of Gujarat as Green Train Corridors. 
●    All trains passing on these 175-km long lines are now equipped with bio-toilets. 
●    On these routes, about 29 trains consisting of nearly 700 coaches have been equipped with bio-toilets to prevent open discharge free zone on tracks as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission. Green Train Corridors are sections of the railways which will be free of human waste discharge on the tracks. 
●    Trains running on these corridors will be equipped with bio-toilets. 
●    Thus, it will completely stop discharge of human waste from trains onto the ground which in turn would help in improving cleanliness and hygiene. 
●    It aims at completely stopping discharge of human waste from trains onto the ground in order improving cleanliness and hygiene.

Read More
Read Less

NABARD Sanctions Rs.19702 crore loan to NWDA for 50 irrigation projects

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) Friday said it has sanctioned Rs 19,702 crore loan to National Water Development Agency (NWDA) for 50 irrigation projects. 
●    The loan is sanctioned under Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF), announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during the Budget 2016-17. 
●    This would help create additional irrigation potential of 39.14 lakh hectares under these projects in 11 states, Nabard said in a statement.
●    Nabard today gave the first instalment of Rs 1,500 crore to NWDA, which is an agency of Ministry of Water Resources. 
●    Loan released by Nabard to NWDA would be disbursed to the respective state governments as central share in the projects sanctioned.
●    Through LTIF, the irrigation potential in the country is expected to go up by 11.50 per cent in the next four years.
 

Read More
Read Less

Government unveils UDAN for regional air-connectivity

Come January and the Modi government will roll out its ambitious plan to introduce budget regional flying by connecting small towns by flights whose fares will be capped at Rs 2,500 for a one-hour flight.
●    Termed "Ude Desh ka Aam nagrik" or UDAN, this regional connectivity scheme (RCS) will be funded by levying a fee on aircraft landing at bigger airports. 
●    Existing airlines are opposing the move to introduce one more levy on flyers in the form of RCS fee.
●    They feel the government should have found some other way of funding this scheme instead of taxing passengers more.
●    Successful bidders will now have exclusive rights to operate on a regional route for three years, up from the previous plan of one year. 
●    UDAN flight operating from a small city to a metro like Delhi or Kolkata will have to pay no airport charges at the bigger airport.
 

Read More
Read Less

Banks Reboot Security, Some May Refund Customers

Indian banks stung by the biggest financial data breach to hit the industry are scampering to contain the damage and compensate the affected account holders. 
●    SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis and Yes Bank are looking to refund money to customers or other banks. 
●    On the other hand, only one bank, State Bank of India, has come forward to replace the cards affected by the malware. 
●    Private sector lender Axis Bank said that while some cards have been replaced, several customers have been asked to change their security codes as well. 
●    ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and HDFC Bank have over the last few weeks asked customers to change PIN numbers. 
●    ATMs of certain banks disbursed money on the fraudulent cards and some of these banks which are abroad, mainly in China, have reached out to the Indian banks to reimburse them the money . 
●    Most Indian banks allow Indian customers to withdraw money from any ATM across the world. 

Read More
Read Less

Implementation of Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India Launched

Shri Vinod Zutshi, Secretary Ministry of Tourism, launched the Implementation  of the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India in association with Ecotourism Society of India. 
●    Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Steve Borgia, the President of ESOI hailed the commitment shown by  Ministry of Tourism. 
●    India is one of the few countries in the world to have a criteria of its own. 
●    Mr C.B.Ramkumar, Board member ,Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria presented the  global picture and also suggested the direction which India could go in this regard. 
●    The Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India had been developed for the accommodation, tour operators and beaches, backwaters and lakes sectors of the tourism industry after thorough discussions with the stakeholders. 
●    The STCI follow the guidelines set by the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria that has been evolved under the guidance of the United Nations’ agencies viz. UNEP and UNWTO. 
●    After much deliberations, the STCI were finally launched on 26th August 2014.

Read More
Read Less

Central Govt. to open Krishi Vigyan Kendra in all Districts of the Country

Union Government in October 2016 decided to establish at least one Krishi Vigyan Kendra in each of the districts in country. 
●    These Kendra’s will be developed to provide technical assistance to farmers.
●    The decision was announced by the Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh while interacting via video conference with all the Krishi Vigyan Kendra experts, district level officers associated with agriculture development and progressive farmers of 12 States.
●    Besides, he Singh also called upon the farmers to use the residual husk after paddy farming to make organic fertilizer, in paper making and card-board industry and as animal feed. 
●    The Minister said this will prevent the adverse effect of husk burning on the environment.
 

Read More
Read Less

3.2 million Debit Cards Compromised

A virus or malware infection at Hitachi Payments Services led to over 32 lakh debit cards in India being compromised. 
●    Hitachi is one of the companies that operate ATMs in India. 
●    The compromised debit cards were used in ATMs that are suspected to have exposed details of the cards to the malware.
●    A senior official at the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems, said the breach occurred a month ago. 
●    However, the loss is minute and banks will have to individually deal with it.
●    Of the debit cards affected, 2.6 million are on Visa and MasterCard platforms, while 600,000 are on the RuPay platform. 
●    The worst-hit of the card-issuing banks are State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and Axis Bank.


 

Read More
Read Less

Railway Stations and Surrounding Areas to be redeveloped under Smart Cities Plan

In a major initiative, railway stations and adjoining areas will be redeveloped on Smart City lines for enhancing passenger amenities, easy access to stations, enabling optimal utilization of land at railway stations, as a part of Smart City development. 
●    A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today in this regard by the Ministries of Urban Development and Railways in the presence of Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu and Shri Suresh Prabhu. 
●    Dr.Sameer Sharma, Mission Director, Smart City Mission and Shri Rajiv Chaudhary, Advisor, Ministry of Railways signed the MoU. 
●    Smart City Plans of some cities have already included area based development surrounding railway stations. 
●    These include; Bhubaneswar, Thane and Solapur (Maharashtra), Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), Ahmedabad, Ajmer, Hubli-Dharwad (Karnataka). 

Read More
Read Less

All Rights Reserved Top Rankers