Focus Merit

Category: State Wise Current Affairs

3rd Global Potato Conclave 2020 begins in Gujarat

January 28, 2020

The 3rd edition of Global Potato Conclave-2020 begins today at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the conclave through video conferencing. The Conclave will provide an opportunity to bring all stakeholders at one common platform. Last two Global Potato Conferences were organized during 1999, and 2008. Gujarat is one of the leading producers of Potato in the country.

Gujarat is holding the No. 1 position in India for last one decade, emerging as a major potato hub in the country. Hence, the Conclave is being held in Gujarat. The Conclave is being organized by Indian Potato Association (IPA) in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, and ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla and International Potato Center (CIP), Lima, Peru. This mega event has three major components; (i) The Potato Conference, (ii) The Agri Expo and (iii) Potato Field Day.

Resolution to abolish Legislative Council adopted by Andhra Pradesh assembly

January 28, 2020

Andhra Pradesh cabinet chaired by the Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy, has adopted a resolution to abolish the legislative council, which the government feels is a major hurdle for passing crucial bills.

The statutory resolution was adopted with 133 members voting in favour of it. The Assembly passed the resolution on dissolution of the Council after a wide range of discussions. Later the Speaker, Tammineni Seetharam adjourned the House indefinitely.

The resolution will now be sent to the Centre for necessary follow-up action.The move came after the YSRC government failed to get two crucial bills on its plans to have three capitals cleared by the opposition TDP-dominated Upper House.

Chief Minister of Kerala inaugurates country’s first Super Fab Lab

January 28, 2020

Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurates India’s 1st Super Fab Lab in Kochi, Kerala. Fab Labs are fabrication laboratories that offer digital fabrication and computation. The Super Fab Lab is being installed in collaboration with KSUM (Kerala Startup Mission). The laboratory will break down barriers between the physical world and the digital world.

The lab is built in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is spread across an area of 10,000 sq ft. The Super Fab Lab will have state-of-the-art machines worth more than ₹7 crore, enabling researchers, innovators and developers to go beyond the scope of existing fab labs in the state. At present, Kerala has two electronic Fab Labs – one at Thiruvananthapuram and the other at Kochi.

The 2-day ‘Innovation Festival’ begins at Science Centre in Itanagar

January 26, 2020

In Arunachal Pradesh, the two-day  ‘Innovation Festival’ began at the Science Centre in Itanagar on Saturday. The festival is being organized by the Arunachal Pradesh State Council for Science & Technology in collaboration with the National Innovation Foundation. More than 50 innovations are put on display by students from various educational institutions, grassroots innovators, artisans and entrepreneurs from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and other states.

The Innovation Festival, a first of its kind in the state, aimed to foster the culture of innovation among all people of the state, especially in all the educational institutions. The two-day programme will witness interaction sessions, technical session and discussion among the innovators and motivation by several eminent personalities, scholars and persons from educational institutions.

Kerala’s Barrier-Free Tourism Project receives global recognition

January 25, 2020

Kerala Tourism’s Barrier-Free Tourism Project has won global recognition with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) making a special mention of the south Indian state as an “Emerging Global Destination” in the Accessible Destination Awards 2019. Kerala Tourism Director P Bala Kiran received the conferment from UNWTO Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili at the awards ceremony in Madrid.

In an effort at making 120 destinations across the state disabled-friendly, Kerala Tourism had launched the barrier-free project in March 2019. The disabled friendly project work has already been completed in the beaches of Azhikode & Snehatheeram, the hill destination of Vilangankunnu and the dams in Poomala and Vazhani in Thrissur district of Kerala. Under the ongoing major development projects the work is also being implemented in Chavakkad Beach, Peechi and Thumboormoozhi in Kerala.

Srinagar joins the list of ‘Open Defecation Free’ cities

January 25, 2020

Junaid Azim Mattu, Mayor of Srinagar announced Srinagar as ‘Open Defecation Free’. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Central Government presented the Swachhata Certificate to Srinagar making its place in the list of cities that are now ‘Open Defecation free’. It’s another achievement after Srinagar gets 45th Rank in Cleanest Cities in the country.

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or the Clean India Mission was introduced as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on October 2 in 2014. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan meant to make India the Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2019. It ensures to provide sanitation facilities to all. The campaign was completed by 2 October 2019 to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Meerut to have India’s first war memorial for animals

January 25, 2020

Meerut city in Uttar Pradesh will be host to India’s first war memorial for service animals including dogs, horses and mules. This place will dedicate itself to the contributions and heroics of animals who have helped the army in counter insurgency operations in Kashmir and in the battlefield during the Kargil War.

The memorial, claimed by officials to be similar to the National Warn Memorial in Delhi, will come up at the army’s specialized breeding, rearing and training centre for animals: the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC) Centre and College in Meerut.

The preliminary design of the memorial and the land has already been identified. Granite tablets with names and service numbers of more than 300 dogs, 350 handlers and a few horses’ mules will be inscribed at the memorial. The army has more than 100 dogs, 5000 mules and 1500 horses.

Mansi, a Labrador, who was awarded army’s highest honour for dogs due to her role in the counter insurgency operations in Kashmir in 2016, tops the list of animals to be remembered. Her handler, Bashir Ahmed War, will also adorn the tablet.

Waste to energy plant commissioned in Bhubaneswar by East Coast Railway

January 25, 2020

Indian Railways has commissioned country’s first governmental waste to energy plant at Bhubaneswar. The national transporter has put in place the governmental Waste to Energy plant in Mancheswar Carriage Repair Workshop which falls under East Coast Railway. The waste to energy plant has been constructed in three months.

The new plant has been installed at a cost of ₹1.79 crore while the maintenance cost will be ₹10.4 lakhs per year and the estimated income from the byproducts will be ₹17.5 lakhs per year. The waste to energy plant uses a patented technology called POLYCRACK, is first-of-its-kind in Indian Railways and fourth in India.

It is world’s first patented heterogeneous catalytic process which converts multiple feed stocks into hydrocarbon liquid fuels, gas, carbon and water. The process is a closed-loop system and does not emit any hazardous pollutants into the atmosphere.

Maharashtra tops in Khelo India Youth Games 2020

January 24, 2020

Maharashtra has topped the medal tally of the 3rd season of the Khelo India Youth Games concluded in Guwahati. The state clinched 256 medals including 78 gold comprising 78 gold, 77 silver and 101 bronze.

Haryana stood at 2nd position with a total of 200 medals while Delhi secured 3rd position with 122 medals. Assam’s swimmer Shivangi Sharma won five gold and two silver medals and became the most successful female player of the tournament.

The winning trophy was given by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in the presence of Union Minister of State for Food Processing, Rameshwar Teli and Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju in a glittering closing ceremony.

Telangana: Closure of Hindustan Fluorocarbons plant approved

January 23, 2020

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved closure of Hindustan Fluorocarbons Ltd (HFL), a central public sector enterprise with just 88 employees. The decision was taken in a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

HFL has only one plant located at Rudraram, District Sangareddy in Telangana. HFL has been making losses since 2013-14 and has negative net worth. Government granted a interest free loan of over 77 crore rupees to HFL for expenditure exclusively on closure.