DAILY Current Affairs 21 MAY 2020
1. 12,000 HP
ELECTRIC MADE IN INDIA LOCOMOTIVE
·
Indian
Railways(IR) operationalised
its 1st 12,000 horsepower(hp) electric made in India
Locomotive(loco), WAG12(with
Number 60027) from Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Station(Mughalsarai Junction),
Uttar Pradesh to Shivpur.
·
It is
manufactured by Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd.
·
(MELPL) Factory, Bihar which is a joint venture between
French giant Alstom(74% share)
& IR(26% share).
·
India
became the 6th country to
produce high hp loco indigenously & is the 1st time it operationalised high hp on
a broad gauge track in
the world.
·
The
project started in 2018 and
the Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the project on 10th April’ 2018.
·
The
prototype locomotive was delivered in March 2018.
2. COIR GEO
TEXTILES TO BE USED IN RURAL ROAD CONSTRUCTION
·
According
to the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency under Union Ministry of
Rural Development, Coir Geo
textiles has been finally gets nod as a good material for
rural road construction under the third phase of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, (PMGSY-III).
·
1674 km
road will be constructed using Coir Geo textiles in 07 states namely- 164 Kms
of road in Andhra Pradesh (AP) , 151 kms in Gujarat, 71 kms in Kerala , 328 kms
in Maharashtra,470 kms in Odisha, 369 kms Tamil Nadu (TN) and 121 kms in
Telengana.
·
The
construction will need One Crore Sq. mtrs of coir Geo-textiles, that will cost
around Rs.70 Crore.
About Coir Geo
textiles:
·
It is a
permeable fabric, natural, strong, highly durable, resistant to rots, moulds
and moisture, free from any microbial attack.
·
It plays
an important role in soil erosion.
·
They
protect the land and provide vegetative growth during the formative period
after which degrade into the soil.
·
About
PMGSY: It was launched by the
central Government in December 2000 to provide all-weather friendly single road
connectivity to the prescribed size.
·
PMGSY-III
launched on December 18,2019,
this phase aims to construct 1,25,000 km of roads with an estimated cost of
about 80,250 crores rupees (Central Share of Rs. 53,800 crores) for the period
2019-20 – 2024-25.
3. SEVERAL
INITIATIVES TO BOOST EDUCATION SECTOR
·
Nirmala
Sitharaman has announced several initiatives to
boost the education sector in New Delhi to boost the access
and equity in education and improve the gross enrolment ratio in the coming
years.
·
A
comprehensive initiative called PM e-VIDYA will be launched
which will combine all efforts related to digital / online /on-air education,
which will enable multi-mode access to education, and includes:
·
DIKSHA(one nation-one digital platform) will
become the nation’s digital infrastructure to provide quality e-content in
school education for all the states/UTs
·
TV(one class-one channel) where one
dedicated channel per grade for each of the classes 1 to 12 will provide access
to quality educational material- Study Webs of Active–Learning for Young
Aspiring Minds(SWAYAM) online courses in Massive Open Online
Course(MOOCS) format for school and higher education
·
Indian
Institute of Technology Professor Assisted Learning(IITPAL) for IIT
Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)/ National Eligibility cum Entrance Test
exam(NEET) preparation
·
Air through Community radio and CBSE
Shiksha Vani podcast; study material for the differently-abled developed on
Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign
language on NIOS website/ YouTube.
·
Manodarpan
initiative is launched to provide such support
through a website, a toll-free helpline, national directory of counselors
and interactive chat platform among others so as to provide
psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for mental health and
emotional wellbeing.
4. VIDEO-KYC
FACILITY FOR CUSTOMERS
·
In view
of the ongoing lockdown in the country due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), Kotak Mahindra Bank has become the 1st bank
in India to allow video Know
your customer (KYC) facility for its customers opening
savings account (SA) on Kotak 811 platform.
5. GOVINDA
RAJULU CHINTALA APPOINTED AS NABARD CHAIRMAN
·
The
appointments committee of the union cabinet appointed Govinda Rajulu Chintala as Chairman of
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
·
He was
the successor of Harsh Kumar Bhanwala.
·
He will
serve as the Chairman of NABARD for the period of 2 years till his
superannuation in July 31, 2022.
6. WORLD BEE
DAY 2020- MAY 20
·
The May
20th of every year is celebrated as the World Bee Day to commemorate the birth
anniversary of Anton Jansa, the pioneer of beekeeping born in 1734 in Slovenia
and to acknowledge the role of bees in the ecosystem.
·
The
theme of world Bee Day 2020 is “Save the Bees”.
7. WORLD
METROLOGY DAY 2020: MAY 2020
·
Theme for
the year 2020: Measurements
for global trade.
·
The
theme raises awareness about the important role of measurement in facilitating
fair global trade, ensuring products meet standards and regulations, and
satisfying customer quality expectations.
8. J&K NEW RULES FOR ISSUING DOMICILE
CERTIFICATES
·
The
administration in the Union Territory (UT) of
Jammu and Kashmir issued a new set of rules named “Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate Rules 2020” which
defines the rules for issuing domicile certificates in the UT.
·
J&K STARTS
AN INITIATIVE ‘SUKOON’ – COVID-19 BEAT THE STRESS
