Daily Current Affairs May 2015

Daily Current Affairs GK Update – 3 July 2015

 

‘Mhara Gaon, Jagmag Gaon’ scheme launched by Haryana Government [Regional]:

  • ‘Mhara Gaon, Jagmag Gaon’ scheme launched by Haryana Government to provide 24 hour uninterrupted power supply for rural domestic consumers in a phased manner with their active participation.
  • With this, Haryana has become the first state in the country to provide such an innovative voluntary scheme.
  • About Mhara Gaon, Jagmag Gaon scheme:
  • It primarily aims o provide 24-hour uninterrupted power supply to rural domestic consumers only if they actively participate.
  • Implementation: The scheme will be implemented in phases.
  • In the first phase of the scheme, 83 feeders have been identified covering 310 villages. These villages are having minimum line losses (between 25 to 70 per cent) and have made payment of their electricity bills. Firstly the power supply will be increased to 15 hours in these villages instead of 12 hour power in present time.
  • Later the power supply will be further increased to 21 hours on those feeders where the payment of bills would cross the mark of 90 per cent.
  • Bijli Panchayats will be also organized in all villages falling under phase 1. In these panchayats, electricity department officers will resolve the complaints of consumers on the spot.
  • Special emphasis on solar power will be given to generate renewable energy by installing solar panels on roof tops.

  A web portal for issuing green clearance for Category B projects launched:

  • Union Government has launched a web portal for granting environment clearances  for Category B projects.
  • It is to be noted that the Category B Projects are granted environment clearances by State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAA). Till now, nineteen states  have already joined it.
  • The portal was launched  on the occasion of Digital India Week.
  • It will help bring in transparency and accountability as the clearances will be monitored and carried out effectively on a real-time basis.
  • It will also help to minimise pendency in Environment Clearance process.
  • Extra Facts:
  • In 2014, Environment Ministry had launched the online application system for Environmental Clearance for Category-A projects under Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 which needs approval by central government.

Indian-American teacher Darshan Jain receives US Presidential Award[non-Upsc]:

  • Darshan Jain, an Indian-American teacher has been selected for prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
  • He was named for the award by President Barack Obama along with 107 Mathematics and Science teachers across US.
  • About  Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching:
  • It is awarded every year to outstanding science and mathematics teachers from across US from K-12 (kindergarten through 12th grades). It carries monetary prize of US 10000 dollars.

Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh wins World Food Prize 2015[All]:

  • Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh has been named as the winner of the 2015 World Food Prize.
  • He is founder and chairman of Bangladesh-based NGO,  BRAC (originally known as Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee).
  • BRAC is world’s largest NGO.
  • About BRAC:
  • Since its formation, BRAC is being credited for helping more than 150 million people out of poverty.
  • It was formed as a temporary relief organization to help people of Bangladesh to recover from the devastating tropical cyclone Bhola in 1972 which had killed about 500,000 people.
  • It also had actively participated and fought in 1971 Indo-Pakistan war for independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan.
  • Later BRAC had grown into one of the world’s largest NGO with prime focus on alleviating poverty.
  • It has expanded its operations in more than 10 countries especially in Asia and Africa.
  • For contributions to social improvement, Fazle Hasan Abed he been bestowed with prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award (2010) and UNDP’s Mahbub Ul Haq Award (also known as Human Development Award) in 2004.
  • What is  World Food Prize?:
    • It is an annual award that recognizes scientists and others who have improved the quality and availability of food. It carries monetary award of 250,000 dollars.
    • Established in 1986 by Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug (father of the Green Revolution).
  •  7 Indians have won World Food Prize till date. They are Dr Sanjaya Rajaram (2014), Dr Modadugu Vijay Gupta (2005), Dr Surinder K. Vasal (2000), Dr B. R. Barwale (1998), Dr Gurdev Khush (1996), Dr Verghese Kurien (1989) and Prof. M. S. Swaminathan (1987).

Indian-American professor R Paul Singh named for 2015 World Agriculture Prize laureate:

  • R Paul Singh is known for niche research areas of agricultural sector such as freezing preservation, energy conservation, post-harvest technology and mass transfer in food processing.
  • His main research are on:
    • Airflow in complex systems: helped to design innovative systems for the rapid cooling of strawberries.
    • Food freezing: helped to development of computer software generally used to improve the energy efficiency of industrial freezers.
  • His research group also had created food processing equipment or a manned mission to Mars under a NASA contract.

Union Government launches App to know assets of Gram Panchayats:

  • Union Government has launched a mobile App to know Gram Panchayat’s assets.
  • It was launched on the occasion of Digital India Week.
  • The main purpose of the app is to provide people with the information related to assets of the gram panchayats.
  • Citizens can use this mobile app to capture photographs and geographical coordinates of various public assets located in gram panchayats, like schools and hospitals etc.
  • Besides providing information to the general public, the App will also be useful for planning purpose at the Panchayat and State level.

Anisa Rasouli nominated as first female judge of Afghanistan Supreme Court [non-Upsc]:

  • Anisa Rasouli,  a former juvenile court judge, was nominated as the first ever female Supreme Court judge of Afghanistan.
  • Afghan President Ashraf Ghani nominated her name as the female judge of the nine-member bench Supreme Court.
  • Now,Rasouli’s nomination will require an approval from the Parliament.
  • Under the Afghanistan Constitution, the Supreme Court judges have a fixed tenure of ten-years.
  • The move of Ghani,  who has appointed female in different capacities in recent past may shed Afghanistan’s image as a country that denies rights to women.
  • It is to be noted that Afghan women were banned from leaving their houses without a male chaperone and were denied basic right like education, under the fundamentalist Taliban regime between 1996 and 2001.

Digital Guddi-Gudda Board of Jalgaon district adopted as Best Practice under BBBP scheme:

  • The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development on 1 July 2015 adopted the ‘Digital Guddi-Gudda Board’ as a Best Practice under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme. It was named as the best practice on the occasion of Digital India Week that is being observed from 1 July to 7 July 2015.
  • The Digital Guddi-Gudda Board is an innovation of District Jalgaon in Maharashtra.
  • Features of the digital board:
    • It works as a platform for dissemination of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Material on BBBP.
    • It is also used to update monthly birth statistics.
    • It displays audio video material as well as still frames for disseminating information.
  • Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save girl child, educate girl child) is a Government of India scheme that aims to generate awareness and improving the efficiency of welfare services meant for women. The scheme was initiated with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore.

 

 

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