7.
MISCELLANEOUS accelerated convenient mode of Transportation
EASTERN PERIPHERAL EXPRESSWAY
Objectives:
 Decongesting the national capital by diverting traffic
not destined for Delhi
 Reducing the pollution levels in national capital by
50%
 It is 135-km Expressway which provides signal-
free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Greater
Noida, Faridabad and Palwal.
It is the first highway of India which is lit by
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solar power and also has the fetaure of rain
water harvesting.
 The entry points at an expressway will have for the
first time 'weigh-in-motion' sensors to keep a
check on overloading in trucks.
 Around 2.5 lakh trees have been planted along the
highway on both sides.
Note: The Prime Minister inaugurated the two
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expressways in the Delhi NCR Region- Phase-I
of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway and Eastern
Peripheral Expressway.
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PURVANCHAL EXPRESSWAY
It is 340-km-long and will connect Lucknow with the
following cities: Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur,
Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and
Ghazipur.
It will decrease the travel time between Delhi and
eastern Uttar Pradesh because it will be connected
with the Lucknow-Agra Expressway and Yamuna
Expressway which connects Agra to Delhi.
It will also be connected with Varanasi through a
separate link.
Benefits:
It will increase connectivity and provide an
between Delhi and Eastern cities of Uttar Pradesh.
It will also provide a boost to agriculture, commerce,
tourism and industries.
It will also lead to social and economic development
in the areas through which it will pass because
Industrial Training Institutes, Educational Institutes,
Medical Institutes, New Townships and other
various Commercial set ups shall be developed leading
to more employment opportunities in the region.
It would also provide benefits such as fuel saving, time
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saving and pollution level control and reduction in
accidents because it is an Access Controlled
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Expressway.
National Youth Day and 22nd National Youth
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Festival
This Day is observed every year on 12 January to mark
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the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda who was
the social reformer, philosopher and youth icon of India
The 22nd National Youth Festival was held for the first
time in New Delhi on the occasion of National Youth
Day.
The first National Youth Festival was held in 1995 in
Bhopal.
Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports in collaboration
with State Govt. of Uttar Pradesh at Gautam Buddha
University has organized this festival.
Theme: Sankalp Se Siddhi.
Objectives:
To provide a platform to bring the youth of the country
together in an attempt to provide them opportunity to
display their talents in different activities
To capitalize on demographic dividend of the youth of
India
To capture vibrancy and fresh perspective of youth and
to pledge to accomplish goal of New India
Significance:
It will help in creating a Mini-India, where interaction of
youth takes place in formal and informal settings and
exchange their social and cultural uniqueness. This will
create 'Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat' through the blend of
diverse socio-cultural environment.
It will increase the awareness about government
initiatives.
It will also encourage the youth to express their
perceptions and concepts of how to make their initiatives
more constructive.
RUSTOM-2
It is a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial
vehicle (drone), developed by the premier defence
research institute of India named as Defence Research
and Development Organisation (DRDO).
It is part of the Rustom line of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
(UAVs) that includes Rustom-I, Rustom-H and Rustom-
C.
It is made similar on the parameters of predator drones
of the United States and can fly at over 22,000 ft.
It will carry out intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance (ISR) operations for all three services of
armed forces with an endurance of around 24 hours.
It can carry a variety of payloads such as Medium Range
Electro Optic, Long Range Electro Optic, Synthetic
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Aperture Radar, Electronic Intelligence etc.
Another significant feature is that it can fly missions on
both manual and autonomous modes by the help of
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onboard way-point navigation system.
DHANUSH
It is the single-stage, liquid-propelled, nuclear
capable surface-to-surface missile.
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It is the naval variant of the indigenously-developed
'Prithvi' missile and has already been inducted into the
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defence forces.
It has a strike range of 350 km and is capable of carrying
a payload of 500 kg.
It can be used for both ship-to-ship and ship-to-
surface strikes.
Note: Recently, the missile was test fired by
Strategic Forces Command.
Strategic Forces Command is the tri-services military
command that controls all of India's nuclear weapons
and their associated delivery systems.
GLOBAL CORRUPTION PERCEPTION INDEX
2017
It scores and ranks countries/territories based on how
corrupt a country's public sector is perceived to be by
experts and business executives.
It is a composite index, a combination of 13 surveys
and assessments of corruption, collected by a
variety of reputable institutions such as World
Bank, World Economic Forum (WEF).
The CPI is the most widely used indicator of corruption
worldwide and is released by NGO Transparency
International.
Key Facts:
New Zealand and Denmark were ranked as one and
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two in the 2017 list respectively.
Syria, South Sudan and Somalia were ranked as the
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most corrupt countries, occupying the last three spots
in the 2017 list respectively.
Pakistan and China are perceived to be more corrupt
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than India.
Countries with the poorest protection for press and
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non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also tended to
have the lowest ranks on the index.
India has been ranked 81st. Its ranking was 79 in 2016.
The index also characterised India as "among the worst
regional offenders" in the Asia Pacific region on grounds
of journalists, activists, opposition leaders and even staff
of law enforcement or watchdog agencies being
threatened or even murdered. In this category, it was
clubbed with the Philippines and Maldives.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2018
It is celebrated annually on March 8 across the world
with the objective to bring it to the notice about the
women's achievements and barriers.
It is also known as the United Nations Day for Women's
Rights and International Peace.
The 2018 theme of IWD is 'Time is Now: Rural and
urban activists transforming women's lives'.
The main aim of this year theme is motivating women
to raise voice for their rights and promote growing
global movement to support gender parity.
The first Women's Day was celebrated on February
28, 1909, in New York and was dedicated to the 15,000
women who marched through New York in 1908 as
part of the garment strike.
United Nations declared March 8 as the official date
to celebrate Women's Day in the year 1975.
In 2017, the theme was "Women in the Changing World
of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030".
PRITZKER PRIZE
Balkrishna Doshi became the first Indian to receive
the Pritzker Prize.
This prize is also called as 'architecture Nobel' and is
awarded annually to a living architect/s for important
achievement.
It was established by the Pritzker family of Chicago
through their Hyatt Foundation in 1979.
The laureates are awarded with $100,000 and a bronze
medallion.
Note: Balkrishna Doshi has been awarded
because of his great achievement in low-cost
housing design, committed to sustainable
architecture that brought modernist design
to a country rooted in traditionalism.
CIVIL SERVICES DAY
It was celebrated on April 21 with the focus on 'Evolving
Strategies for Transforming Aspirational Districts'.
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It is celebrated annually by the Government of India as
an occasion for the civil servants to rededicate themselves
to the cause of citizen and renew their commitments to
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public service and excellence in work.
It commemorates the day when Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel (first Home Minister of Independent India)
addressed the probationers of Administrative Services
Officers in 1947 at Metcalf House, Delhi.
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Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Public
Administration are presented to Districts/Implementing
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Units for implementation of Priority programme and
innovation categories as part of Civil Servant Day.
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES (TCS)
It has become the first Indian IT Company to Touch 100
Billion Dollar Market Value.
WORLD HEALTH DAY
It is observed every year on April 7 under the
sponsorship of World Health Organization.
Importance:
It is one of eight official global health campaigns marked
by WHO which includes: World Tuberculosis Day,
World Immunization Week, World Malaria Day,
World No Tobacco Day, World AIDS Day, World
Blood Donor Day, and World Hepatitis Day.
International, regional and local events are organized by
WHO on this day related to a particular theme.
Its main focus is on universal health coverage by fixing
medical infrastructure.
2018 theme is: "Universal Health Coverage (UHC):
Everyone, Everywhere".
Note: World Health Organization came in to
existence on April 7 1948. Main areas of work
are:
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 Health systems
 Promoting health through the life-course
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 Non-communicable diseases
 Communicable diseases
Corporate services
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
 Preparedness, surveillance and response
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Objectives of World Health Organization:
Inspire - Policy makers by highlighting their power to
transform health of the nation by driving policy change.
Motivate - By providing examples of countries that have
accomplished this goal and encourage them to find their
own path.
Guide - By providing tools for structured policy dialogue
on how to advance UHC.
Measures suggested by World Health Organization
towards Universal Health Coverage:
 To provide quality health services to all people,
where and when they need them, without any
financial hardship and not having to make a choice
between good health and other life necessities
GLOBAL PEACE INDEX 2018
It is a comprehensive analysis related to the state of
world peace across the world and is also a measure of
global peacefulness of 163 countries.
As per details of the report, the world spends huge
amount of resources on creating and containing violence.
But very little effort has been made to provide peace
across the world.
Key facts about the 12th Global Peace Index:
1. India's Ranking:
India has improved its rank by four places to the
 137 from 141 due to a reduced level of violent
crime driven by increased law enforcement.
India also witnessed biggest decrease in the number
of deaths along with other countries like Sri Lanka,
Chad, Colombia, and Uganda.
2. World Ranking:
Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the
world since 2008 followed by New Zealand, Austria,
Portugal and Denmark.
Syria was ranked as the least peaceful country in
the world (since 2014) followed by Afghanistan,
South Sudan, Iraq and Somalia.
Note: The countries that displayed the most
significant growth in heavy weapons capabilities
in last 30 years include Egypt, India, Iran,
Pakistan, South Korea, and Syria.
Overall, the global level of peace has deteriorated
by 0.27% in the last year, marking the fourth
successive year of deteriorations. Ninety-two
countries deteriorated, while 71 countries
improved.
The four most peaceful regions (Europe, North
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America, Asia-Pacific, and South America) have
deteriorated in terms of world peace due to the
safety and security domain, mainly due to
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increases in the incarceration rate and impact of
terrorism.
Note: Australia-based Institute for Economics
and Peace (IEP) is world's leading think tank
that develops metrics to analyse peace and
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quantify its economic value.
2018 RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARD
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Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk are the names
of two Indians among six awardees who are the winners
of 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Award.
Note: Ramon Magsaysay Award was
established in 1957 by trustees of the New
York City based Rockefeller Brothers Fund
and Philippine government in the memory of
Philippines' third President Ramon
Magsaysay.
It is considered as the highest honour in Asia
and is given annually to individuals or
organisations in Asia who do selfless service
and have a transformative effect on the
society.
2018 awardees are: Howard Dee
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(Philippines), Sonam Wangchuk & Bharat
Vatwani (India), Youk Chhang (Cambodia),
Vo Thi Hoang (Vietnam) and Maria de
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Lourdes Martins (Timor-Leste)
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NATIONAL SPORTS UNIVERSITY BILL
It will set up the India's first National Sports
University in Imphal, Manipur with the aim to provide
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sports education, research and coaching.
It replaces National Sports University Ordinance, 2018
promulgated by President in May 2018 to protect
interests of students who already have been enrolled in
National Sports University.
Key facts:
It will promote sports education in the areas such
as: (a) sports sciences, (b) sports technology, (c)
sports management, and (d) sports coaching.
It will act as a national training centre for select sports
disciplines and may also establish campuses and study
centers across the country.
The Sport University will grant degrees, diplomas and
certificates.
The central government will review and inspect the
functioning of the University and may annul any
proceeding of the University which is against the Act.
The University will maintain a fund which will consist of
the funding that it receives from central/state
government, and fees/money received from any
other sources (grants and gifts).
Objectives:
a. Research, development and dissemination of
knowledge in physical education and sports sciences
b. Strengthening physical education and sports training
programmes
c. Generating knowledge capabilities, skills and
competence at various levels
d. Training talented athletes to help them to evolve
into international level athletes
Benefits:
It will provide an opportunity for Indian youth, especially
from North Eastern States for pursuing courses (B.PEd,
MPEd, Diploma / certificate courses in coaching,
physiotherapy, fitness, sports management, sports
journalism, etc).
It will also reduce the gap that exists in sports
environment of country in areas such as sports science,
sports technology, high performance training.
PINGALI VENKAYYA
Pingali Venkayya was a Gandhian contemporary,
linguist, a geologist and a writer.
He was the designer of the Indian National Flag, which
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was approved by Gandhiji and later officially adopted by
Indian National Congress in 1931.
The flag came into being in its present form at the
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meeting of Constitutional Assembly on 22 July 1947.
ASIAN GAMES 2018
It was the 18th edition of Asian Games, which was
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held in Jakarta, Indonesia (August 18- Sept 2 2018).
E-sports, which is a form of competition using video
games, and canoe polo will be contested as
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demonstration sports for the first time at 2018 Asian
Games.
Indonesia hosted the Asian Games for the second time
and will be the first time Asian Games will be held in
two cities - Jakarta and Palembang.
2014 Asian Games was hosted by Incheon, South
Korea in October 2014.
Trio of Bhin Bhin (bird of paradise), Kaka (one
horned rhino) and Atung (deer) are mascots of
2018 Asian Games. These three represent east, west
and centre of country and they have dress traditional to
each locality.
Medal tally and India's Performance:
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OneerTM
It is an affordable (2 paise/ltr) water disinfection system
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made by Council of Scientific & Industrial Research-Indian
Institute of Toxicology & Research and will meet the
need of potable water in rural/urban areas.
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It will eliminate all disease causing pathogens (virus,
bacteria, fungi, protozoa and cyst) to provide safe drinking
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water as per National and International standards
prescribed for potable water (BIS, WHO etc.).
Significance:
1. Access to safe drinking-water is essential to health
(basic human right).
2. Decrease in morbidity and mortality particularly
amongst children.
3. Helpful especially for rural people as it can be solar
powered.
GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX
This index is released annually by Welthungerhilfe and
Concern Worldwide for 119 countries and is based on
a formula covering three dimensions of hunger namely:
(a) insufficient caloric intake, (b) child under-nutrition,
and (c) child mortality that use four component indicators
given below:
a. UNDERNOURISHMENT: the share of the
population that is under-nourished, reflecting
insufficient caloric intake.
b. CHILD WASTING: the share of children under
the age of five who are wasted (low weight-for-
height), reflecting acute under-nutrition.
c. CHILD STUNTING: the share of children under
the age of five who are stunted (low height-for-
age), reflecting chronic under-nutrition.
d. CHILD MORTALITY: the mortality rate of children
under the age of five.
2018 RANKING:
Performance of India:
India has been ranked at 103 in the Global Hunger Index
2018, with hunger levels in the country categorized as
"serious". At least one in five Indian children under the
age of five is wasted and only South Sudan has a higher
prevalence of child wasting.
India's ranking has dropped three places from last year,
although the Index says its results are not accurately
comparable from year to year and instead provides a
few reference years for comparable data.
EASE OF LIVING INDEX
The index has been developed to allow city managers to
get a grip on the city's baseline and compare its
performance across key indicators. The first edition of
index released in January 2018 had ranked 111
Indian cities and was topped by Pune.
 The index covers 116 cities that are smart city
contenders, capital cities, and cities with population
of 1 million plus.
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 The index captures the quality of life based on
the data collected from the urban local bodies on
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four parameter ras, which were further broken
down into 15 categories.
 The four parameters include institutional
(governance), social (identity, education, health,
security), economic (economy, employment) and
physical factors (waste water and solid waste
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management, pollution, housing/ inclusiveness,
mixed land use, power and water supply, transport,
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public open spaces).
 Andhra Pradesh has topped Ease of Living Index
rankings under AMRUT (Atal Mission for
Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation)
followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
Note: AMRUT is the new avatar of the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal
Mission (JNNURM).
 It adopts a project approach to ensure basic
infrastructure services relating to water supply,
sewerage, storm-water drains, transportation and
development of green spaces and parks with special
provision for meeting the needs of children.
 Under this mission, 10% of the budget allocation
will be given to states and union territories as
incentive based on the achievement of reforms
during the previous year.
 AMRUT will be implemented in 500 locations
with a population of one lakh and above. It
would cover some cities situated on stems of main
rivers, a few state capitals and important cities
located in hilly areas, islands and tourist areas.
Under this mission, states get the flexibility of

designing schemes based on the needs of
identified cities and in their execution and
monitoring. States will only submit state annual
action Plans to the centre for broad concurrence
based on which funds will be released. But, in a
significant departure from JNNURM, the central
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government will not appraise individual projects.
 Central assistance will be to the extent of 50%
of project cost for cities and towns with a
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population of up to 10 lakhs and one-third of
the project cost for those with a population of
above 10 lakhs.
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 Under the mission, states will transfer funds to urban
local bodies within 7 days of transfer by central
government and no diversion of funds to be made
S failing which penal interest would be charged besides
taking other adverse action by the centre
SEOUL PEACE PRIZE 2018
2018 Seoul Peace Prize has been confer on Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in recognition of his dedication
for improving international cooperation, raising global
economic growth, accelerating Human Development of
people in India by fostering economic growth and
furthering development of democracy through anti-
corruption and social integration efforts.
Note: It was established in 1990 to
commemorate success of the 24th Olympic
Games held in Seoul, South Korea.
It is awarded biennially to those individuals who have
made their mark through contributions to harmony of
mankind, reconciliation between nations and world
peace.
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 2018
A committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament has
jointly awarded the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize to Dr. Denis
Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their efforts to end use
of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.
India's longest river bridge
It will be built on Brahmaputra River in Assam and its
total length is 19.3 kilometers.
It will connect Dhubri (Assam) to Fulbarani (Meghalaya)
and will reduce the distance between these two places
by 203 kms.
The financial assistance in the form loan will be provided
by Japanese Finance Agency (JICA)
Note: At present, India's largest river bridge is
Dhola-Sadia bridge, its length is 9.15 kilometers.
INDIA'S FIRST RAILWAY STATION INSIDE
TUNNEL
It is the first railway station in India to be built inside a
27-km-long tunnel.
It will be constructed on the strategic Bilaspur-Manali-
Leh line near China-India border (Height of 3,000 m).
Keylong is the place where it will be built and is 26 km
north of Manali & 120 km from India-Tibet border.
HONG KONG-ZHUHAI BRIDGE
It is the world's longest sea crossing bridge officially
opened by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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Its length is 55km (34 miles) including its access roads
and has cost about $20bn.
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It connects Hong Kong to Macau and the mainland
Chinese city of Zhuhai.
It is designed to withstand earthquakes and typhoons
and 400,000 tonnes of steel has been used.
A 6.7km section has been made in the middle dips into
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an undersea tunnel that runs between two artificial islands
to allow ships through the bridge.
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WORLD'S HIGHEST RAILWAY LINE
New Delhi and Ladakh will be linked through a railway
line that will run along the India-China Border.
It is called as Bilaspur-Manali-Leh Line and will be
the world's highest at 5,360 metres above mean sea
level which is comparable to China's Quinghai-Tibet
Railway Line at 2,000 metres.
INDIA'S FIRST MULTI-MODAL TERMINAL ON
INLAND WATERWAYS
It the first of the four multi-modal terminals being
constructed on the National Waterway-1 (river Ganga)
as part of the World Bank-aided Jal Marg Vikas project
of the Inland Waterways Authority of India.
The country's first container cargo was transported on
inland waterways from Kolkata to Varanasi in Oct 2018.
Benefits:
 It reduces the handling cost
 It allows easier modal shift
 It reduces pilferages and damage
 It enables cargo owners to reduce their carbon
footprints.
It was recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and received.
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Note: The Jal Marg Vikas Project seeks to
facilitate plying of vessels with capacity of 1,500-
2,000 tonnes in the Haldia- Varanasi stretch of
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the River Ganga.
Its objective is to promote inland waterways as a cheap
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and environment-friendly means of transportation,
especially for cargo movement. The Inland Waterways
Authority of India (IWAI) is the project implementing
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agency.
The major works under JMVP are development of
fairway, Multi-Modal Terminals, strengthening of river
navigation system, conservancy works, modern River
Information System (RIS), Digital Global Positioning
System (DGPS), night navigation facilities, modern
methods of channel marking etc.
The JMVP, which is expected to be completed by March,
2023, will enable commercial navigation of vessels with
the capacity of 1500-2,000 tons on NW-I.
NW 1: It is the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system
from Allahabad to Haldia.
It passes through the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
Jharkhand and West Bengal and serves major cities and
their industrial areas.
NUCLEAR TRIAD OPERATIONAL IN INDIA
The nuclear triad of India is now operational when the
indigenous built ballistic missile nuclear submarine INS
Arihant (Commissioned in August 2016) successfully
conducted its first deterrence patrol.
It is defined as a three layered military force structure
which includes the following:
a. Land-launched nuclear missiles,
b. Nuclear-missile-armed submarines
c. Strategic aircraft with nuclear bombs and missiles.
The purpose of having this three-branched nuclear
capability is to significantly reduce the possibility that an
enemy could destroy all of a nation's nuclear forces in a
first-strike attack.
Its main benefit is that it provides a credible threat of a
second strike thereby increasing the nuclear deterrence
of the country.
Note: India's nuclear weapons policy states that
the country will not use nuclear weapons unless
they are attacked first. Also India has the
capability to induce the second strike.
This is called as no first use and minimum credible
deterrence policy.
NIPUN
It is an e-learning portal launched by Delhi Police with
the main aim to provide in-service online training and
information to police officers through specialised online
courses.
These courses have been designed by experts in various
fields in collaboration with University Grant Commission
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(UGC), FICCI, NHRC, NCPCR and Janaki Devi Memorial
College, Delhi University under project CLAP (The
Collaborative Learning and Partnership).
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Online courses and resources will be available on law,
standing orders, investigation checklists, forms for case
files, latest High Court and Supreme Court rulings.
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Benefits:
 Easy access to information for Delhi Police officers.
 Courses can be taken from anywhere at any time.
 Upgrading skills & re-enforcing the learning of police
officers along with their routine work.
INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION
OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (IDEVAW)
It is observed annually across the world on 25 November
and was instituted by United Nations General Assembly
in December 1999.
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It is celebrated in memory of Mirabal sisters (Three
political activists from Dominican Republic), who were
brutally assassinated in 1960 during the dictatorship reign
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of Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961).
Its main objective is to make more people aware about
violence against women and girls, and stop violence
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against women.
It also stresses upon the preventive measures against
violence of women.
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2018 Theme: "Orange the World: #HearMeToo".
2018 day objectives:
a. It reinforces the commitment of UNiTE Campaign
to create a world which is free from violence against
all women and girls.
b. It also reaches out to aid most marginalized people
of the society like migrants, refugees, indigenous
peoples, minorities and populations affected by
natural disasters and conflicts.