Current Affairs Assam – September 29 - 30, 2019
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of September 29 – 30, 2019 )
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September 29, 2019
ASSAM CM Sonowal launches ‘Amar Alohi’ scheme
- Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal formally declared open the dwelling units constructed under the first phase of the ambitious ‘Amar Alohi’ scheme at a function held at the SrimantaSankaradevaKalakshetra to mark observance of World Tourism Day.
- Altogether 28 such dwelling units in different parts of the State were declared open to make tourists enjoy comfortable homestay and Assamese hospitality.
- At the same programme, Chief Minister Sonowal unveiled a logo to globally promote the Raas festival held at Nalbari and Majuli along with other places of the State.
FACTFILE – ‘Aamaar Aalohi’
- Rural Homestay Scheme is framed by the Tourism Department, Govt. of Assam, with the objectives of giving a new dimension and thrust to the Rural Homestay Facilities in the State of Assam and creation of self-employment opportunities for educated youths in rural and semi-urban areas of tourism potential and importance.
- Under this Scheme, Assam Tourism Development Corporation invites two types of application:
- New Homestays (subsidised projects)
- Existing Homestays
- Selection process of units / beneficiaries & criteria: Suitability criteria for selection of the houses and their premises, their locations would be one of the most important criteria. The houses should not only be from a rural/non-urban area, these should be close to important tourists spots and may also be in such locations where some important tourism events like fairs and festivals etc. are held which draw large number of visitors from different places.
President Kovind presents President’s Colours Award to Corps of Army Air Defence
- President Ram NathKovind handed over the prestigious President’s Colours Award to the Corps of Army Air Defence at Gopalpur in Odisha’s Ganjam district.
- The President’s Colours Award is the highest military honour for an armed forces organisation.
- This award is given in recognition of exceptional service rendered by to the nation, both during peace and hostile.
- The President was presented the Rashtriya salute at the commencement of an impressive parade led by the contingent.
- The occasion was attended by senior officers and civil dignitaries. Prominent amongst those present on the occasion included Odisha Governor Professor Ganeshi Lal.
- The Air Defence has been in existence since 1940 as a part of Corps of Artillery however, as an independent arm, it got recognition in 1994.
- The Corps of Army Air Defence has been awarded with two Ashok Chakras, two Kirti Chakras, 20 Vir Chakras, nine Shauryas Chakras, 113 Sena Medals and 55 Mention-in-Despatches in addition to four Honour Titles awarded during 1971 Indo-Pak war.
MSME, AYUSH signs to jointly promote nutraceuticals industry
- The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and the Ministry of AYUSH have signed an agreement to jointly promote the nutraceuticals industry in India.
- MSME Minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi who was at an Assocham event in New Delhi announced the joint venture.
- Nutraceutical is the hybrid of ”nutrition” and ”pharmaceutical”, are food or part of food playing a significant role in modifying and maintaining normal physiological function that maintains healthy human beings.
September 30, 2019
North East festival to be held in Varanasi in November month
- A four-day ‘Destination North East’ festival will be held in Varanasi in November to familiarise the people with the rich, unexplored potential and opportunities available in the region, Union Minister Jitendra Singh.
- The festival in Varanasi will be a sequel to the ‘Destination North East’ series begun about three years ago, as part of which, such festivals have already been held in places like Chandigarh and Delhi.
- The four-day festival on the North East will be held at Varanasi from November 23, Singh, Union Minister for Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER).
- The concept behind holding such events is to familiarise the people in other parts of India with the rich, unexplored potential, avenues and opportunities that the North East has to offer for the rest of the world, he said.
- Ancient temple town Varanasi is the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India among 20 most improved countries in Ease of doing business, now at 77th position
- India continues to be on 77th position in terms of ease of doing business. The Doing Business Report 2019, commissioned by the World Bank, also highlights that India is among the top 10 improvers on the list once again.
- India, along with eastern Africa’s Djibouti, made it the top 10 improvers list last year as well. Other countries on the list with the “most notable improvement” in performance on the Doing Business indicators are China, Azerbaijan, and along with the African nation of Togo, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire and Rwanda. Afghanistan had the biggest improvement in the latest rankings.
- These economies have implemented total 62 business regulatory reforms across all sectors. China and India alone have implemented 13 reforms to improve the EODB standing, which goes a long way towards influencing investors to pour in funds into the country.
- The Doing Business report points out that India has implemented norms to simplify the process of starting a business, getting construction permits, electricity supply, credit flow, paying taxes are trading across borders.
- World Bank report also highlighted the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), making the regulation process “faster” in the country. Replacing multiple taxes with one uniform tax has made tax-paying simpler.
- Moreover, the country has also made tax payment “less costly” by reducing the corporate income tax rate to 22% for existing domestic companies and 15% for new domestic manufacturing companies.
- New Zealand has topped the Ease of Doing Business rankings in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
FACTFILE – Ease of Doing Business Index
- The ease of doing business index is an index created jointly by Simeon Djankov and Gerhard Pohl, two leading economists at the Central and Eastern Europe sector of the World Bank Group.
- The academic research for the report was done jointly with professors Oliver Hart and Andrei Shleifer.
- Higher rankings (a low numerical value) indicate better, usually simpler, regulations for businesses and stronger protections of property rights.
- Empirical research funded by the World Bank to justify their work show that the economic growth impact of improving these regulations is strong.
India hands over Rs. 2.41 Crore worth school building to Nepal
- India has handed over a new school building costing Rs. 2.41 crores to the Nepal government that would boost the learning environment of students from the marginalised sections in the Himalayan nation.
- The new building of KuleshworAwas Secondary School in Kathmandu city was jointly inaugurated by Ajay Kumar, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India in Kathmandu, in the presence of several senior officials from the Nepal government.
- The new school infrastructure is a three-storey structure comprising 20 class rooms, separate sanitation facilities for boys and girls on each floor, underground water tank and furniture.
- India recently provided Rs. 233 crores to the Nepal Government for various infrastructure projects, including roads and reconstruction of houses destroyed in the massive earthquake in 2015 which saw the death of over 9,000 people.
- The decision was taken during the 5th meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Commission attended by the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
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