Current Affairs Assam – January 2018
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the month of January 2018 )
Current Affairs Assam – January 2018 e-Magazine
January 1
Prof. Jagdish Mukhi(Assam’s Governor ) launched – ‘No Horn Please’ campaign
It aims to generate mass awareness among people about Noise pollution As there is no effective law for controlling noise pollution. It has been launched for 90 days and it will be replicated throughout the city.
Arunachal Pradesh Declared Open Defecation Free (ODF)
Arunachal Pradesh has been declared open defecation free after the state announced an incentive of Rs 8,000 in addition to the Rs 12,000-grant provided by the Centre for building toilets.
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Haryana declared ODF states in October 2017.
FACTFILE – “Open Defecation Free” (ODF)
“Open defecation free” (ODF) is a phrase first used in community-led total sanitation (CLTS) programs. The original meaning of ODF stated that all community members are using sanitation facilities (such as toilets) instead of going to the open for defecation.
The Indian Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has in mid-2015 defined ODF as the termination of fecal-oral transmission, defined by:
- No visible feces found in the environment or village and
- Every household as well as public/community institutions using safe technology option for disposal of feces.
Here, ‘safe technology option’ means toilets that contain feces so that there is no contamination of surface soil, groundwater or surface water; flies or animals do not come in contact with the open feces; no one handles excreta; there is no smell and there or no visible feces around in the environment. This definition is part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign).
Important Data
- In recent years, the number of people practicing open defecation fell from 20 percent in 2000 to 12 percent in 2015.
- Those 892 million people with no sanitation facility whatsoever continue to defecate in gutters, behind bushes, or in open water bodies, with no dignity or privacy. Most people (9 of 10) who practice open defecation live in rural areas, but the vast majority lives in two regions (Central Asia and South Asia).
- Seventy-six percent (678 million) of the 892 million people practicing open defecation in the world live in just seven countries.
- India is the country with the highest number of people practicing open defecation, around 525 million people. This makes 40 percent of the total Indian population including 7 percent of urban dwellers and 56 percent of villagers. About 59 percent of people in the world practicing open defecation live in India.
- Further countries with a high number of people openly defecating are Nigeria (47 million), followed by Indonesia (31 million), Ethiopia (27 million), Pakistan (23 million), Niger (14 million) and Sudan (11 million).
National Register of Citizens in Assam -1st Draft Released
The release of the first draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) containing the first batch of 19 million names of genuine Indian citizens in compliance with the Supreme Court’s orders.
January 2
Assam’s CM launches “Chah Bagichar Dhan Puraskar Mela” 2017-18
For the Tea Garden Workers. This scheme will help in financial inclusion of the tea labourers. Assam Tea Garden Workers Scheme will bring tea labourers closer to the banking sector and thus promote cashless transaction.
This scheme will give the benefits of the demonetization to the common people. Under this scheme, the workers of the tea community will receive Rs. 2500 in their bank accounts. In addition to this, tea labourers will get another Rs. 2500 in the next phase.
PM Modi’s Official Website Launched in Assamese and Manipuri Versions
The Assamese and Manipuri language versions of PM Official website www.pmindia.gov.in is launched recently.
Now the website is available in 11 regional languages namely Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu in addition to English and Hindi.
Online Portal- NARI by Women & Child Development Ministry
An online portal NARI(National Repository of Information for Women) by Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi inaugurated in New Delhi for the empowerment of women.
The portal will provide women with easy access to information on government schemes and initiatives for women
Vijay Keshav Gokhale appointed as Foreign Secretary
Vijay Keshav Gokhale served as Indian Ambassador to China, Germany and as Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia in the past. He is at present secretary (economic relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale has been appointed the foreign secretary of India on retirement of S Jaishankar, the current incumbent of the post.
Saudi Arabia, UAE Introduce VAT for first time
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) introduced value-added tax (VAT). These are the first two countries in the Gulf which have introduced the VAT system.
The 5% levy is being applied to the majority of goods and services. Petrol and diesel, food, clothes, utility bills and hotel rooms all now have VAT applied.
January 3
Meghalaya to host 2022 National Games
Meghalaya will host the 2022 National Games. In this regard, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) accepted Meghalaya’s bid to host the National Games.
Meghalaya signed the Host City Contract with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for hosting the 39th National Games in 2022.The tripartite contract was signed between the IOA, the Meghalaya State Olympic Association and the state government. Meghalaya had successfully co-hosted the South Asian Games in 2017.
Meghalaya will be the third northeastern state after Manipur and Assam to host the National Games. The 2022 National Games will coincide Meghalaya’s 50 years of statehood.
FACTIFILE – The National Games of India
- It comprises various disciplines in which sportsmen from the different states of India participate against each other.
- In the early 1920s, the Indian chapter of the Olympic movement was born, and India participated in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. As part of this movement, a provisional Indian Olympic Association (IOA) came about by 1924, and the Indian Olympic Games were held in Feb 1924 in Delhi to select Indian competitors for the 1924 Paris Olympics.
- The games were then held every two years, and were renamed as National Games during the 9th Games in Bombay in 1940.
- However, the first Modern National Games on the lines of the Olympics were held in 1985 in New Delhi. Thereafter Kerala (1987), Pune-Maharashtra (1994), Bangalore-Karnataka (1997), Manipur (1999), Ludhiana-Punjab (2001), Hyderabad-Andhra Pradesh (2002), Guwahati-Assam (2007), Ranchi-Jharkhand (2011), and Kerala (2015) hosted the Games.
- 36th edition is to be held in Goa
- The 2018 National Games of India is to be held in Dehradun, Haldwani & Tehri
- The 2019 National Games of India is to be held in Hyderabad
Majuli tourism project -foundation laid by Assam CM
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation stone of the Rs 72-crore Heritage Swadesh Darshan, Majuli Project to boost tourism in the river island.It aims at developing top-class infrastructure in Majuli district to make it a major tourist destination.
Turkey’s Endangered ‘Bird Language’ is in Intangible Cultural Heritage List
The “whistle language” commonly called “bird language” which is used as a means of communication by villagers in remote northern Turkey entered the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
UNESCO has accepted the “bird language” of Black Sea villagers as an endangered part of world heritage in need of urgent protection.
GAIL commissions India’s Second-Largest Rooftop Solar Plant in UP
State-owned gas utility Gas (India) Limited (GAIL) has commissioned the country’s second-largest rooftop solar power plant in Uttar Pradesh.
The firm has installed a 5.76 MWp (Mega Watt peak) solar plant at its petrochemical complex at Pata in Uttar Pradesh. The plant over the roofs of warehouses covers a total area of 65,000 square meters.
Tata Power Solar commissioned a 12 MW solar rooftop project in Amritsar, Punjab which is India’s largest rooftop solar plant.
Centre unveiled contours of ‘Electoral Bonds’ Scheme
The Centre unveiled the contours of the ‘Electoral Bonds’ scheme, which seeks to ensure the flow of clean money to political parties, without revealing the donors’ names.
The bonds can be purchased for any value in multiples of Rs1,000; Rs10,000; Rs1 lakh; Rs10 lakh; and Rs1 crore.
