1. _____________________ approved acquisition of electrical and automation (EA) business of Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) by Schneider Electric India Private Limited (Schneider) and MacRitchie Investments Pte. Ltd. (MacRitchie).
- Commission found that Schneider and L&T are Top 2 players in low voltage (LV) switchgear industry in India. Their consolidation would make it difficult for new players to enter market. Thus, Commission was agaionst the acquisition of EA business of L&T by Schneider Electric India.
- To eliminate competition concerns, Commission ordered Acquirers to reserve a part of L&T’s installed capacity to offer white labelling services to third party competitors. This would be available in respect of five high market share LV switchgears, which are generally used together in LV panels.
2. Directorate General of Training (Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) Partnered with ______________ and Accenture to set up a future-ready employability skilling program for ITI students.
- Program includes curriculum with modules for digital literacy, career readiness, employability skills and advanced technology skills such as data analytics, and a blended learning model enabled by a combination of online self-learning via Bharat Skills portal, accessible by 15,00,000 students across all ITIs in India.
- Initial phase of in-classroom training programme is being rolled out across 227 ITIs in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Bihar and Assam, targeting Over 100000 youth.
3. __________________ High Court accorded status of “legal person or entity” to animals in Haryana, granting them “corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person”. Nearly an year ago, Uttarakhand High Court passed a similar order to promote welfare of animals.
4. 2019 marks _________________ anniversary of victory in Operation Vijay, known as ‘Kargil War’. It will be observed Between July 25 - 27, 2019 with Theme Remember, Rejoice and Renew. A ‘Wreath Memorial Ceremony’ will be organised at ‘Kargil War Memorial’ in Dras on Kargil Vijay Diwas (26 July 2019) to honour brave-hearts who laid down their lives during ‘Operation VIJAY’.
5. 2nd Edition of US Green Building Council (USGBC) list of India’s top states with maximum number of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified green buildings -
- ________________ ranked the top slot with 334 LEED-certified green buildings, followed by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu with 232 and 157 buildings respectively.
6. 2nd edition of India International Mega Trade fair (IIMTF) held at Bidhannagar (Salt Lake) city in _____________, as _________’s largest and most popular retail event.
7. 3rd Advance Estimates of production of major crops for 2018-19 released by Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare - Estimated production of major crops during 2018-19 -
- Foodgrains –___________________ million tonnes.
- Rice – 115.63 million tonnes. (record)
- Wheat – 101.20 million tonnes (record)
- Nutri / Coarse Cereals – 43.33 million tonnes.
- Maize –27.82 million tonnes.
- Pulses –23.22 million tonnes.
- Gram – 10.09 million tonnes.
- Tur –3.50 million tonnes.
- Oilseeds –31.42 million tonnes.
- Soyabean – 13.74 million tonnes
- Rapeseed and Mustard – 8.78 million tonnes
- Groundnut – 6.50 million tonnes
- Cotton – 27.59 million bales (of 170 kg each)
- Sugarcane – 400.37 million tonnes (record)
8. ________________ campaign was launched by Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India) in association with Amazon Global.
- It aims to create awareness and promote tribal arts and crafts as well as help in welfare of over 700 Indian tribes, by making available tribal handcrafts via global online markets.
- Under this, Tribes India and Amazon Global Marketing will launch TRIBES India products globally through website (Amazon.com).
9. Tribal Affairs Minister ___________________ launched e-governance initiatives for ST Welfare schemes, on URL https://dbttribal.gov.in/ and NGO Grants Online Application & Tracking System (https://ngograntsmota.gov.in/) for bringing in greater e-Governance in implementation of welfare schemes for STs.
- In DBT Tribal portal, there are 3 main modules for Pre-Matric & Post-Matric Scholarship - Data Sharing, Communication and Monitoring modules.
- The NGO portal, developed for implementing scheme of Aid to Voluntary Organizations working for welfare of STs, has been fully revamped with simplified Application form, Inspection Report and Fund Processing module.
10. NITI Aayog released 2nd Edition of “Healthy States, Progressive India” -
- It ranks states and Union territories on their year-on-year incremental change in health outcomes, as well as, their overall performance.
- Round II of the report focuses on highlighting overall performance and incremental improvement over 2 year period (2016-17 and 2017-18) in the States and UTs
- Ranking is categorized as Larger States, Smaller States and Union Territories (UTs). Health Index is a weighted composite Index based on 23 related indicators.
- Among Larger States -
- Kerala, Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra ranked on top in terms of overall performance. While Haryana, Rajasthan and Jharkhand are the top three ranking States in terms of annual incremental performance.
- Among Smaller States -
- ______________________ ranked first followed by Manipur on overall performance. Tripura followed by Manipur were top ranked States in terms of annual incremental performance.
- Among UTs -
- Chandigarh and Dadra and Nagar Haveli ranked on top in terms of overall performance as well as annual incremental performance
11. A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed between Ministry of Shipping and IIT ______________________ for setting up Centre for Inland and Coastal Maritime Technology (CICMT), under Sagarmala Programme (government initiative aimed at enhancing performance of India’s logistics sector).
- CICMT will provide technological support, testing, research and experimentation facility to agencies involved in inland water transport, shipbuilding, ports etc.
12. According to Randstad Employer Brand Research (REBR), ______________ is rated India’s most ‘attractive employer brand, followed by Microsoft, Sony, Mercedes-Benz and IBM.
In another survey by TRA Research, Dell emerged as most trusted brand in India in 2019, followed by auto brand Jeep. LIC and Amazon are ranked on the third and fourth spots and Apple iPhone emerged as India’s fifth most trusted brand.
13. According to the survey, Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for 2017-18 by National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) -
- There are huge variations among states in terms of unemployment rates. Overall unemloyment rate is ___________________.
- Nagaland has highest unemployment rate among states with 21.4%, followed by Goa (13.9%)and Manipur(11.6%). Meghalaya has the lowest rate at 1.5%, followed by Chhattisgarh and Sikkim as next two best.
- Urban areas witnessed higher unemployment (7.8%) than the rural areas (5.3%).
- Females have lower unemployment rate (5.7%) in comparison to males (6.2%).
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli is best UT in terms of unemlooyment rate (0.6%).
14. _____________________ New Cabinet government Took several Key Decisions, headed by CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy -
- Women who send their children to school will receive INR 15000 from 26 January next year.
- Will form a commission for development and welfare of farmers.
- Will provide interest-free crop loans to farmers, Termed as ‘YSR interest-free loans’.
- Will allot housing sites to all eligible people and register sites in name of women. Construction of 2.5 million houses will begin under ‘YSR Housing’ scheme.
- State Education Fee Regulatory Commission will be set up to provide quality education with reasonable fees.
15. As per Data by Fisheries Department, India is 2nd largest fish producing country in world after _______________ , with 6.3 % of global fish production. Fisheries sector registers a 7 percent growth rate, sustaining 1.45 Crore fishermen.
16. As per draft regulation issued by Food Safety and Standards Authority(FSSAI), Packaged food companies will be required to label high fat, sugar and salt content levels on front side of the package with “__________________-color-coding”. This will replace Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations 2011.
17. _____________ Updates -
- State government waived admission fees for students taking admission up to Post Graduate level whose parental income is less than 2 lakh rupees per year. All provincialized government colleges and 5 universities are incorporated under the scheme.
- State government will set up a Skill University at Darrang district, with cost INR 850 crores and capacity of 10 thousand seats.
18. Bancha in Betul district of __________________ Became first village in India to have zero wooden stoves and almost no use for LPG cylinders with all its 75 houses relying on solar-powered stoves to meet their cooking needs. Also, Amasebailu in Kundapura Taluk of Udupi district named as Karnataka’s first solar-powered Gram Panchayat.
19. __________ Updates -
- State Government banned felling of trees in different cities of Bihar, under Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 1980.
- FCA 1980 Act was enacted for providing higher level of protection to forests and regulate diversion of forest lands for non forestry purposes. It makes Prior permission of Government essential for Diversion of forest land for for non-forestry purposes.
- State Government launched Mukhyamantri Vriddha Pension Yojna for poor people above 60 years of age, effective from April 2019. Under this, Poor people above 60 years age will get Rs 400 per month and those above 80 years age will get INR 500 per month.
- State Cabinet also approved proposal seeking provisions to punish children who abandon their elderly parents, including jail time.
20. Central India's First Sikh Museum Inauguarted in Raipur (____________________), named Shri Guru Teg Bahadur Sikh Museum.
21. Chaukhandi Stupa, an ancient Buddhist site located in Sarnath (_________________________) has been declared as ‘protected area of national importance’ by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Chaukhandi StupaName is known as ‘Chaukhandi’ becaause of its four armed plan, originally constructed in 5th Century AD.
22. Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) granted Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Kolhapuris, the ethnic leather chappal (footwear) to four districts in each state of Maharashtra and _________________. Districts are- Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur and Satara districts of Maharashtra and Belgaum, Dharwad, Bagalkot and Bijapur districts of ______________.
- These sturdy leather chappals are hand-crafted and tanned using vegetable dyes and the art of making them is passed down one generation to another.
- Getting GI tag will open large markets, both domestic and international to artisans who produce Kolhapuris.
23. _____________________ CM Arvind Kejriwal announced free of cost Metro and DTC bus rides for women. The decision came when under one year is left for delhi assembly elections 2020.
24. Delhi Metro became first India Project to receive power generated from a waste-to-energy plant, after DMRC started receiving 2 MW power from a 12 MW capacity waste-to-energy plant set up in Ghazipur (______________________). This is being utilised at Vinod Nagar Receiving Sub-station (RSS) for meeting operational requirements of Pink Line of Delhi Metro.
25. Election Commission of India declared _______________'s National People’s Party as a national party, making it first Political party from north-eastern to get National Status.
- NPP was given this status after fulfilling several conditions, Including getting over 6% of total votes in last general elections and being recognised as a State party in at least four States. NPP is recognised as a State party in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland.
26. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar stated that India’s forest cover has increased by 1% in last one year period and, with over _________________ of India’s area now having green cover.
27. Environment Ministry approved 2 years extension and allowed construction works related to Polavaram Multipurpose Project (______________________). The Project will irrigate nearly 3 lakh ha of land, generate hydel power with installed capacity of 960 MW and provide drinking water facilities to 540 enroute villages covering 25 lakh populations.
28. First phase of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (___________________) inaugurated. The Project is worth INR 80,190 crores (expected to rise to 1,00,000 crore on completion).
- This project is designed to sort out issues of drinking water in state and also irrigation to dried up areas. About 225 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water will be drawn through this project through Godavari river basin. It is expected to irrigate 18.24 lakh acres of land with 165 TMC of water, provide 56 TMC of drinking water and supply another 10 TMC for industrial purposes.
- It is constructed by Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL). The project is touted as world’s biggest multi-purpose lift irrigation project in terms of Capacity.
- It was originally called Pranahita-Chevella project, and Later Renamed to KLIP.
- The biggest lift schemes in world, till date, are Colorado lift scheme in America and Great Manmade River in Egypt.
29. General Events / Conferences (Jun 1 - 10, 2019)
- 4th Coast Guard Subordinate Officers Conclave 2019 held at ICG Headquarters in New Delhi.
- ______________________ government launched Pink Sarathi vehicles for womens safety.
- 6th India-China Bilateral Dialogue on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation held in New Delhi. Chinese delegation was led by Fu Cong, Director General, Department of Arms Control of Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Elephanta Festival of art and culture commenced at Gateway of India in Mumbai (Maharashtra), held annually since 2012 to promote tourism and culture of Mumbai
- Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) organized orientation workshop for Population Research Centres (PRCs). MoHFW established 18 PRCs in 17 States / UTs.
- Social network Facebook launched its first interactive game show, “Confetti” in India, during Facebook’s Social Entertainment Summit in Mumbai. The interactive game show is exclusive to Facebook's Video Streaming Service Watch.
30. General Events / Conferences (Jun 11 - 20, 2019) -
- 5th meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog held under chairmanship of PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
- Assam Govt. launched Assam State Transport Corporation’s (ASTC) Chalo app for Guwahati, to help travellers track their buses accurately. Assam became first state in India to have a state-wide smart transport solution and common mobility card for its commuters.
- 48th Director General (DG)-level talks of Border Security Force (BSF) of India and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) held in Dhaka (Bangladesh).
- 2nd Meeting of India-Italy Joint Working Group (JWG) on Counter Terrorism held in New Delhi.
- On Occasion of Student Visa Day (June 12), American Embassy launched an app named “Education USA” to help Indian students who wish to study in the US.
- 20th Meeting of Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) held in New Delhi, under Chairmanship of Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman.
- To mark 150th birth anniversary of M K Gandhi, Indian Embassy organized ‘Gandhi Cycle Rally for Peace’, in __________________.
- 12th session of Conference of States Parties to Convention to Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) 2019 held at UN headquarters in New York (USA).
- Maritime Information Sharing Workshop 2019 (MISW 2019) hosted by Indian Navy under the aegis of the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in Gurugram (Haryana).
- Indian Navy's first Naval Air Squadron 550 celebrated its Diamond Jubilee at naval base Kochi after Completing 60 glorious years of service to nation.
- 3rd edition of Thai film extravaganza event named Namaste Thailand Film Festival held in Delhi. It celebrates Thai Culture’s Diversity.
31. General Events / Conferences (June 21 - 30, 2019) -
- 23rd edition of Sindhu Darshan Utsav 2019 held at Sindhu Ghat Shey in Leh (________________________________). It aims at projecting Indus (or Sindhu) as a symbol of India’s unity, peaceful coexistence and communal harmony.
- Haryana Govt. minister launched ‘Krishi kiosk’ for farmers at Panchkula (Haryana), under state’s ’‘Digital Kisan Suvidha’ plan. It will give farmers information about government schemes and also help them file claims under ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’ Scheme.
- 35th GST Council meeting held in New Delhi. under Chairmanship of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
- Council decided location of State and the Area Benches for the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) for various States / UTs with legislature. It has been decided to have a common State Bench for States of Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
- Tenure of National Anti-Profiteering Authority has been extended by 2 years.
- Ministry of New and Renewable Energy observed Swachhta Pakhwada (cleanliness fortnight) from 1st - 15th June 2019.
- Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance hosted a Meeting of Expert Working Group on Paris Pact Initiative on Illicit Financial Flows deriving from the trafficking of Opiates originating in Afghanistan. Meeting was organised in New Delhi with support of United Nations Office on Drugs & Crimes (UNODC). Paris Pact is a group of 58 countries and 23 International Organisations affected with drug trafficking of Afghan Opiates.
- BSES Yamuna Power Ltd launchD behavioural energy saving app 'Susthome', in partnership with energy resources institute TERI and Panasonic India. The other two initiatives are "Green Division concept and solar micro grids with battery storage". v. BSES is a Delhi power distribution company.
- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting distributed Doordarshan (DD) over 30000 Free Dish Set Top Boxes to people living in border areas of Jammu and Kashmir.
- India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) (ECI) organized training programme on Use of Technology in Elections for Election Officials of Union Election Commission of Myanmar.
- Goa Govt. Approved An amendment in Factories Act 1948, to facilitate women to work in night shifts, provided that conditions for ensuring safety of women must be specified.
- India opened its first specialised hydrotherapy treatment for elephants suffering from arthritis, joint pain and foot ailments in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.
- 3rd Indo-French cyber dialogue was held in Paris (France).
32. Government approved changes to Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme for wards of deceased defense personnel under National Defence Fund. Quota of new scholarships for children of state police officials will be ____________________________ in a year.
- Scholarships have been increased from 2000 to 2500 per month for boys and 2250 to 3000 per month for girls.
- Under this, every year new scholarships are given for 5500 wards of armed forces controlled by Ministry of Defence, 2000 wards of paramilitary forces controlled by Ministry of Home Affairs and for 150 wards of forces controlled by Ministry of Railways.
33. Government reconstituted 8 key cabinet committees. 6 Previous Cabinet sub-committees were also reconstituted and two new ones were formed, to deal with job creation and economic growth.
- Home Minister ______________________ is part of all cabinet committees while P M Modi is part of six committees, excluding Cabinet Committee on Accommodation and Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.
- Committees includes -
- Appointments Committee of Cabinet.
- Cabinet Committee on Accommodation
- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
- Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs
- Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs
- Cabinet Committee on Security
- 2 New Cabinet Committees -
- Cabinet Committee on Investment Growth
- Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development
34. Government will set up _________________________ new incubators for startups in information and communications technology space across India as part of its Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (Tide) 2.0 scheme. Scheme has categorized selection of incubators into three categories: Group 1 Centre (G1C), G2C, and G3C.
35. Gurgaon-based logistics start-up Rivigo launched _________________________ (NFI), as a barometer of road freight market in India. It will provide live spot rates on more than 7 million lane and vehicle type combinations in India. The Index is needed as There are high rate of inefficiencies in existing freight market, which leads to a great loss of value.
36. Hardeep S Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing & Urban Affairs launched Swachh Survekshan 2020 league, as a quarterly cleanliness assessment of cities / towns in India. It will be integrated with Swachh Survekshan 2020, 5th edition of annual cleanliness survey of urban India to be conducted between January - February 2020 by MoHUA under aegis of Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban (SBM-U).
- 1st edition - ‘Swachh Survekshan-2016’ for rating 73 cities was conducted in January 2016, followed by ‘Swachh Survekshan-2017’ conducted in January-February 2017 that ranked 434 cities. 2018 edition anked 4203 cities. 4th edition covered 4237 cities.
- In 2016, Mysuru emerged as cleanest city. While Indore has been named cleanest in last three years.
- Swachh Survekshan League 2020 (SS League 2020) is introduced to sustain cleanliness performance of cities by continuous monitoring. SS League 2020 will be conducted in 3 quarters and will have weightage of 2000 marks for each quarter.
- Performance of cities in SS League 2020 will be crucial to their ranking in Swachh Survekshan 2020 due (__________________________ weightage).
37. _______________ Updates -
- CM Manohar Lal Khattar announced an annual financial health assistance of Rs.5 lakh to loktantra senanis or their spouse for treatment at private / government hospitals. Loktantra Senanis are people who were jailed during 1975-1977 Emergency under preventive detention laws.
- Loktantra Senanis are already provided monthly pension of Rs 10,000 by state government and also free travel in state Roadways buses.
- State government withdrew Economically Backward Persons in General Caste Category (EBPG) reservation stating that it is no more required as central government's Economically Weaker Sections reservation comes into effect.
- Parliament had Earlier passed Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill 2019, approving 10 % reservation for economically backward sections in general category in government jobs and academic institutions.
38. Higher Education Department of Ministry of Human Resource Development released a five-year vision plan named _____________________ (EQUIP).
- 10 Focus Areas - Strategies for expanding access, Towards global best teaching/learning process, Promoting Excellence, Governance reforms Assessment, Accreditation & Ranking systems, Promotion of research & innovation, Employability & entrepreneurship, Using Technology for better reach, Internationalisation AND Financing higher education.
- Expert Groups drawn from senior academicians, administrators and industrialists, have suggested more than 50 initiatives that would transform the higher education sector completely.
39. _______________________ government made it compulsory for trekkers to carry a GPS (Global Positioning System) device, to provide all possible help in case of any emergency.
40. IIT __________________ has launched a Data Platform of ‘Integrated Database on Infrastructure Projects’ (IDIP) to improve efficiency of Government Infrastructure Development, with Akara Research and Technologies as development partner. It was launched at 15th World Conference on Transport Research (WCTR) at IIT Bombay.
- Initially, IDIP’s focus will be on the road sector due to its highest allocation of funds among other projects and highest private investment through PPP.
41. IT Firm _______________________ will roll out “Tech Bee” programme, to train and hire students who have completed XII thstandard, across several states. This early career programme will provide students an opportunity to start early and become financially independent and trendsetters. Enrolled students will be paid stipend of INR 10000 per month.
42. India's First -art Central Command Centre for Air Traffic Flow Management (C-ATFM) launched in ___________________, which will optimise utilisation of resources such as airspace and aircraft at capacity-constrained Indian airports.
- C-ATFM It processes demand and capacity information along with static information about airports, airspaces and air routes and provides decision-making tools to ATFM flow manager for collaborative decision making and ensure regulated flow of traffic.
43. India's First Dinosaur Museum-cum-Park Inaugurated at Raiyoli village in Balasinor town of Mahisagar district (__________________). It is first such park in India and world’s third park which exhibits remains of various dinosaurs and fossil records.
44. Indian Government's Think-Tank proposed sale of only electric vehicles should in country after _________________________. Niti Aayog earlier suggested sale of only electric-powered three-wheelers and two-wheelers with engine capacity of up to 150 cc, from 2025. Niti Aayaog has also proposed local manufacturing of 50 GWh batteries by 2030.
- An Earlier Report jointly Prepared by NITI Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute, India can save 64% of anticipated passenger road-based mobility-related energy demand and 37% of carbon emissions in 2030 by pursuing a shared, electric, and connected mobility future.
- To boost the Electric Cause, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways initiated providing differential registration fees under Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989. Ministry proposed exempting Battery Operated Vehicles from payment of registration fees.
45. Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) signed agreement to form a Joint Venture (JV), for laying world’s longest Liquefied petroleum gas(LPG) pipeline from Kandla (______________________) to Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh).
- IOCL, BPCL and HPCL will hold 50%, 25% and 25% equity holding in JV.
- 2,757-km pipeline will connect 3 major States with west coast and 2 refineries at Koyali, Gujarat and Bina, Madhya Pradesh.
- After completion, single pipeline can transport up to 8.25 million metric tonnes of LPG per year which amounts to about 25% of India’s LPG demand.
46. International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) released India’s first Type Approval Certificate (TAC) for Bharat Stage - VI (BS – VI) norms for two wheeler segment, to __________________.
- Bharat Stage norms are automotive emission norms which automotive manufacturers have to comply to sell their vehicles in India.
- To curb growing menace of air pollution, Government decided to leapfrog from exiting BS – IV norms to BS- VI, skipping BS – V norms.
- Mandate is to implement BS – VI norms from 1st April 2020.
- In 2018, ICAT issued approval for BS –VI norms to Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles for Heavy Commercial Vehicle segment.
- ICAT is the premier testing and certification agency authorized by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for providing testing and certification services to vehicle and component manufacturers in India and abroad.
47. L&T Financial Services launched ‘Digital Sakhi’ educational programme aimed at digital financial inclusion of rural women, in two villages of Villupuram district in ____________________________.
48. Larsen and Toubro (L&T) received a mega engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) order from SJVN Thermal Private Limited to set up a 2x660 MW ultra-supercritical power plant in Buxar district (_________________________), worth over 7,000 crores INR.
49. Lucknow Development Authority (____________________) constructed a road using plastic waste, as First Such Move in India, aimed at sustainable re-use of Plastic Waste.
50. __________________ Cabinet approved increasing reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) from 14 to 27 %. It will now be taken up in monsoon session of state Assembly.
- If implemented, _____________ will become only state to have 27 % quota for OBCs. State government passed an Ordinance on March 9 to implement the quota. However, High Court stayed the Ordinance.
51. Mata Vaishno Devi shrine Board (___________________) announced to have its own dedicated in-house disaster response force by September 2020, in association with NDRF.
52. Ministry Of Home Affairs (MHA) amended Foreigners (Tribunals) Order __________________, empowering district magistrates in all States / UTs to set up tribunals to decide whether a person staying illegally in India is a foreigner or not. Earlier, powers to constitute tribunals were vested only with Centre.
53. Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship waived off fee for SC/ST candidates joining vocational training under Jan Shikshan Sansthans.
- Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS) were transferred to Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship in 2018, from Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD).
- JSS was initially launched in 1967 as Shramik Vidyapeeth, a multi-faceted adult education institution that was aimed at improving vocational skills and quality of life of industrial workers and their family members and of migrants workers, coming to urban areas.
- In April ___________________, It was renamed as Jan Shikshan Sansthan and its focus was also extended to the rural areas.
54. _____________________ Updates -
- Removed requirement of minimum educational qualification (class 8th pass) for transport vehicle drivers in country, which is stiulated under Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989. This will benefit skilled persons in economically backward areas and will open up employment opportunities for large number of unemployed youth.
- Will modify format of driving licenses to smart card type driving licences, to follow a standardised format nationwide. This move will also help curb issue of fake licenses, to some extent. Desired changes to Pan India Licence format will be implemented through MoRTH’s flagship application called SARATHI.
55. Ministry of ___________________________ launched DBT Tribal web portal to expedite releasing scholarship grants directly into bank accounts of beneficiary students. DBT Tribal will provide common platform to states to upload data related to beneficiaries and give feedback.
- It is binding on all states / UTs to upload data on this portal in prescribed format, enabling government to monitor beneficiaries and address grievances.
56. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) signed agreement with __________________________ Government to offer payment options like UPI Collect Request, RuPay Debit and Credit Cards to users of ‘MeeSeva’ portal of State Government. Meeseva offers 150 government services.
57. National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) and Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) signed agreement to set up a Joint Venture named ____________________________________________(NEDCL). NEDCL will undertake distribution of electricity in circles in various states / UTs and other related activities.
- Separation of content and carriage businesses will make power distribution sector more competitive by bringing more competition with more than one power supplier.
58. New __________________ government under CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy revoked previous governments’ order of barring Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from conducting raids in state without state government permission.
- Earlier, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government headed by N. Chandrababu Naidu had withdrawn general consent to CBI for exercising jurisdiction in state.
- CBI will now have all powers to take up corruption and other cases in Andhra Pradesh without requiring any state permission.
59. Newly Formed Jal Shakti Ministry has set a target of providing clean drinking water to all by ____________________, increasing coverage of piped water to households from current 18 to 100% by ________.
- Per capita availability of water has fallen drastically From 5,000 litre per capita in 1950 to 1400 litre per capita. In states like Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal (WB); coverage is less than 5%. It is only in Sikkim that 99% of households get tapped water.
60. ________________________ Govt Prepared a unique flood hazard atlas aided by satellite imagery, to help manage floods more efficiently. Atlas is compiled on basis of historic flood inundation captured via satellite imagery over 18 years period from 2001 to 2018.
61. PM Narendra Modi approved reconstitution of government’s think tank NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India).
- Chairman - Narendra Modi (PM)
- Vice Chairman - _________________________________
- Full-Time Members – V.K. Saraswat, Ramesh Chand and V.K. Paul
- Ex-officio Members - Rajnath Singh (Defence Minister), Amit Shah (Home Affairs Minister), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance Minister and Corporate Affairs Minister), Narendra Singh Tomar (Rural Development Minister, Panchayati Raj Minister and Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister).
62. ____________________ Government will launch its flagship universal health insurance scheme named “Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana (SSBY)” from July 2019. It will provide health cover of 5 lakh per family to over 44 Lakh Families.
- Out of the beneficiary families in _____________, 14.86 lakh families will be covered under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM JAY), in which costs for families covered will be borne by Centre and state government in 60:40 ratio. For rest of beneficiaries, it would be borne by state government under SSBY.
63. ___________________ government increased assistance given to school girls under ‘Aapki Beti’ scheme and assistance to families of polling personnel who die during election duty.
- Assistance has been increased to INR 2100 from 1100 for girls studying in class 1 to 8 and for girls in class 9 to 12, it has been increased to 2500 from 1500. Also, ex-gratia payment given to next of kin of an officer killed on election duty is increased to 20 lakh from 15 lakh.
64. _______________ Group announced entry into automobile sector with launching of electric vehicles under brand name ‘Evols’. It will also introduce a network of battery-charging-cum-swapping stations.
65. Social Network _____________________________ picked up a minority stake in social-commerce company Meesho, as its first startup investment in India. Bengaluru-based Meesho connects re-sellers to manufacturers to sell goods via social media platforms.
66. _______________________ Government extended Rythu Bandhu scheme for 2019-20 while enhancing amount from INR 4000 to 5000.
- This scheme is aimed at providing income support to agriculturists directly to back their crops.
- It provides Initial Investment support to crops through a grant of INR 4000 per acre per farmer (now increased to 5000) each season towards purchase of inputs like seeds, fertilisers etc.
67. Unemployed youth having graduation degree will be given unemployment allowance by __________________ government. Male applicants will get Rs 3,000/month, while women and differently-abled will get Rs 3,500 / month under Chief Minister Yuva Sambal Yojana, applicable from February 2019. Applicants must be natives of Rajasthan and amount will be given for 2 years or until they get employed.
68. ______________________ cabinet approved formation of Gorakhpur Zoological Park with cost of INR 182 crores, to be called Ashfaqullah Zoological Park.
- Also, Umbrella Act was also approved to bring 27 Private universities across state under one Act.
- State cabinet approved the formation of education tribunal, to help resolve disputes in education sector.
69. Very Severe Cyclonic Storm __________________ struck Saurashtra Peninsula, as third tropical depression, third cyclonic storm and second very severe cyclonic storm of 2019 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, and first to form in Arabian Sea.
70. ____________________ Government launched a crop insurance scheme named Bangla Sashya Bima (BSB) for 2019 ‘Kharif’ season to protect farmers from losses due to natural disasters. State government would pay entire premium for the same.