Current Affairs October 2018 - Regional

1 - Nefertiti: The KSINC’s Luxury Vessel Launched

The Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) recently launched a luxury vessel. Nefertiti is an Egyptian-themed cruise ship. Interestingly, the name of the main deck is after an ancient Egyptian deity, who was known for her strength and beauty all over the world.

The ship, which has all the facilities needed for a pleasure trip, has been built at a cost of Rs 16.42 crore. It is 47.5 m long and 14.5 m wide and has a draft of 3m. It can go at a speed of 9 knots and travel to a distance of 20 nautical miles.

The ship boasts of a 3D theatre, and can accommodate over 150 passengers. “The banquet hall has been named after an Egyptian musical instrument sistrum and is known as Sistra. The media room has been named the Nile and the first deck has been named after the ancient Egyptians’ national tutelary deity Horus.

2 - Assam Govt Launches Wage Compensation Scheme for Pregnant Women

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal recently launched the Wage Compensation Scheme for Pregnant Women.

As per the scheme, an amount of Rs. 12,000 is to be given to pregnant women working in tea gardens of the state. The scheme will help women take care of herself and her unborn baby without compromising with the livelihood of her family. This compensation of wages would be given to pregnant women in 4 installments. The objective of the scheme is likely to reduce the maternal and neonatal mortality in the tea growing areas.

3 - Odisha Launched State Food Security Scheme

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the state’s own food security scheme. Its objective is to cover the poor people ‘left out’ from the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

This program initially will benefit 25 lakh vulnerable people who were not covered under NFSA. Mr. Patnaik tweeted – “sufficient and nutritious food is a basic need and prerequisite for a healthy Odisha.”

Under the scheme, the beneficiaries will get five kg of rice per person, per month at a rate of Rs 1 per kg. To materialize this scheme, the state government will spend Rs 443.5 crore per annum and Rs 221.75 crore in the current financial year.

4 - ‘Mukhyamantri Yuva Nestham’ Scheme Launched By Chandrababu Naidu

On the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, N Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Yuva Nestham’ scheme in Amaravati.

Under this scheme, an amount of Rs. 1000/ will be given to all eligible jobless youth of the state as monthly unemployment allowance. This scheme will also provide skill training to 10 lakh youth in the state; 260 training partners have been appointed for this purpose.

5 - Manipur Becomes 23^rd Open Defecation Free State

N Biren Singh, the Chief Minister of Manipur declared Manipur as the 23^rd state in the country to become Open Defecation Free (ODF) in India. In the North-Eastern region, it is the 5^th state to get the tag.

Mr. Singh also launched the Google Toilet Locator to enable locating nearest public toilet for use.

6 - Telangana Prevention of Dangerous Activities Bill Passed

The President of India Ram Nath Kovind, gave his nod to a bill seeking punishment for sexual offenders, cyber criminals and doers of traditional unlawful acts including bootlegging and dacoity in Telangana state.

The Bill named “the Telangana Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Dacoits, Drug-Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Land-Grabbers (Amendment) Bill, 2017” replaces the 1986 Act, which had jurisdiction for the undivided Andhra Pradesh but not for Telangana.

The Act covers the following crimes under it:

Bootlegging, immoral trafficking, dacoity, drug trafficking, sexual offenders, explosive substances offenders, arms smugglers, land-grabbing, cyber fraudsters and white-collar or financial offenders.

7 - The Chief Minister’s Sashakt Kisan Yojana and Krishi Samuh Yojana Launched

The Government of Arunachal Pradesh launched two schemes - the Chief Minister’s Sashakt Kisan Yojana and Chief Minister’s Krishi Samuh Yojana in Itanagar. The objective of the schemes is to double the income of the farmers by 2022.

The major programs of the Chief Minister’s Sashakt Kisan Yojana are:

Agri-Mechanization Programme
Employment Generation Scheme
Flagship Programme on Tea and Rubber

The major objective of the Chief Minister’s Krishi Samuh Yojana is to provide timely support and marketing interventions of the government for better price realization and doubling the farmers’ income.

8 - Country’s First Biofuel Plant Set Up at Bargarh District of Odisha

Prof Ganeshi Lal, the Governor of Odisha, laid the foundation stone for country’s first 58-acre Second Generation (2G) Ethanol Bio-Refinery plant located at Baulsingha village in Bargarh district of Odisha.

With an estimated cost of Rs. 1000 crore for the project, the refinery will be set up by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL). The commercial production will start from 2020 and it will produce about 3 crore litre of fuel grade ethanol annually. The technology will be based on zero-liquid discharge plant technology where water will be recycled back into the plant.

9 - Destination Uttarakhand Investors Summit 2018

Uttarakhand conducted its first ever 2-day investor summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the ‘Destination Uttarakhand Investors Summit 2018’. Dozens of domestic and international industrialists and businesspersons participated in the summit, such as ITC Limited, Reliance Industries Limited, Azure Power, Hero MotoCorp, Amul, Vardhman, and Pawan Hans; besides, investors from Japan, Czech Republic, Mauritius, Argentina, and Nepal also participated.

Following are the highlights of the session concluded by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh:

It has the potential to become a destination for Yoga, AYUSH, and wellness, for tourists from across the world.
Policies to be framed to realize Uttarakhand’s powerful Spiritual Eco Zone.

As a result of this summit, 601 MOUs worth Rs 1,20,150 crore were signed in the following sectors:

Rs 27,000 crore in the solar power sector
Rs 14,000 crore investment in the health sector
Rs 13,000 crore investment in the tourism sector
Rs 11,000 crore investment in the manufacturing sector
Rs 5,500 crore investment in the IT sector, and
Rs 5,000 crore investment in the food processing sector

10 - Shahi Litchi of Bihar Gets GI Tag

Along with Jardalu mango, Katarni rice, and Magahi betel (paan), Shahi Litchi also has grabbed the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. The GI registration has been done in the name of Litchi Growers Association of Bihar, who had applied for the GI tag.

Shahi litchi is largely cultivated in Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Vaishali, East Champaran and Begusarai districts of Bihar. By using 38 per cent of the cultivation area, Bihar produces about 40% of the litchi grown in the country.

11 - UP Govt. Makes Man-Animal Conflict 'State Declared Disaster’

In a first-of-its-kind move, the Uttar Pradesh government has made the man-animal conflict a 'State Declared Disaster' with the objective to bring such incidents under the ambit of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). This would ensure better coordination and relief during mishaps in the state. With such move, the state government will enable faster monetary relief to the victims of attacks by wild animals.

Highlights

In case of human death due to man-animal conflict, relief of Rs. 5 Lakh will be given to the family of deceased.
The state forest department from its own budget to the Revenue Department would arrange rs 1 lakh per death.
The government order further made it mandatory for the concerned authorities to disburse the relief amount within 24 hours of the incident and the production of the post-mortem examination report of the victim.