Daily GK Potion – 8th and 9th August 2015

 

  1. DFCC to commission its first 56 km stretch in Bihar
    • The government on Friday announced the first 56-km stretch of the much-awaited Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project would be commissioned in Bihar in March next year.
    • The stretch between Durgawati and Sasaram will be completed and commissioned by the end of the current financial year
    • DFCC is currently building 3,000 km of double track freight-specific lines from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni in West Bengal as the Eastern DFC and from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai as the Western DFC.
    • The project, being built at a cost of Rs 81,459 crore, is aimed at relieving the congested rail network by separating freight traffic from passenger lines.
  2. India to boycott CPU meeting in Pakistan
    • India will boycott a Commonwealth Parliamentary Union meeting in Islamabad next month in protest against Pakistan not inviting the Speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, a decision that comes in the midst of tensions over two terror attacks in Punjab and J and K.
    • This follows Pakistan not sending an invitation to Jammu and Kashmir Speaker to the Inter Parliamentary Union meeting to be held from Sept 30 to Oct 8 in Islamabad while invitations have been sent to all the other Speakers in India.
  3. Tendong Lho Rum Faat, annual festival of ethnic Lepcha tribe of Sikkim celebrated
    • Tendong Lho Rum Faat (Prayer of the Tendong Mountain), an ancient and natural festival of the ethnic Lepcha tribe of Sikkim was celebrated with traditional devotion and fanfare today.
    • It is an annual festival celebrated in the month of July-August.
  4. Ram Nath Kovind, Acharya Dev Vrat appointed Bihar, HP Governors
    • Senior BJP leader Ram Nath Kovind and Acharya Dev Vrat were on Saturday appointed as Governors of poll-bound Bihar and Himachal Pradesh respectively.
    • The 69-year-old Mr. Kovind, who had been a two-time Rajya Sabha member between 1994 and 2006, hails from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
    • West Bengal Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi was holding additional charge of Bihar.
    • Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh was holding the additional charge of Himachal Pradesh.
    • The appointments will take effect from the dates the incumbents assume charge of their respective offices
  5. $5 billion in 5 years, Foxconn inks Maharashtra FDI deal
    • The Memorandum of Understanding signed between the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn and the Fadnavis government on Saturday would bring in a whopping $5-billion investment over next five years to the state.
    • The deal, the biggest single foreign direct investment (FDI) after the BJP-led governments took over the reins in Centre as well as state after the 2014 elections, would also bring in direct jobs for half a lakh people.
    • The agreement with Foxconn, the trade name of Taiwanese giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, covers manufacturing of ‘TFT screens and semiconductors’.
    • The facilities will be located either near Mumbai or Pune, and 1,500 acres will be allocated for this purpose.
  6. Government to allow Aadhaar enrolments of NRIs, PIOs, OICs
    • Government has decided that Aadhaar enrolment of Non-Resident Indians, Persons of Indian Origin and Overseas Citizen of India should be eventually allowed to help them authenticate their identity digitally.
    • “The government has decided that a longer term goal should be to expand Aadhaar enrolment activities in order to ensure that all persons on the Indian soil (Resident Indian, NRIs, OCI/PIO and visa holding visitors) shall be empowered with a unique identity/identifier that can authenticated on a digital platform any time anywhere,” Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh said.
    • At present, all residents including Indian national and foreigners with valid visas can be enrolled and provided Aadhaar number by the UIDAI.
    • Aadhaar is a valid know your customers (KYC) document for various services including banking, telecom, cooking gas subsidy, vehicle registration driving licence, government scholarships, pension and public distribution system.
  7. Maharashtra govt declares Thane creek area as ‘Flamingo Sanctuary’
    • The Maharashtra government has declared the area along Thane Creek as Flamingo Sanctuary, which will be spread over an area of 1,690 hectares, including 896 hectares of mangroves and 794 hectares of adjacent water body.
    • The Sanctuary, which is named as the “Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary” will be Maharashtra’s second Marine sanctuary, after Malvan.

Read next : Daily GK Potion – 10th to 12th August 2015 ››

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