Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Quick Gyan (QG) Section of D2G. QG is just a glimpse of what happened today all over the world.

Only For Serious Candidates : We strongly recommend you to read the Current Affairs in detail. For your convenience, we have provided quick links under the updates. Make use of it.

Always Keep Yourself Updated!!!

APPOINTMENTS

HL Dattu appointed to International Human Rights body

Justice HL Dattu, chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, India emerged as the unanimous choice to be appointed as a member of the International Coordinating Committee of NHRIs (ICC) Bureau in Geneva.

• Justice Dattu with his vast experience and legal expertise is expected to contribute richly to the approach of the ICC on the human rights issues being faced by the international community.
• His presence on the ICC Bureau will help in not only strengthening the ICC but also enhance the role of NHRIs in the United Nations mechanisms. He will also be working towards the creation of new NHRIs in the countries, which have not set up such bodies.

The ICC Bureau

• The ICC Bureau is an important human rights body, which serves as the Management Committee of the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC).
• The ICC Bureau implements all the decisions of the ICC General Meetings and directs the operations of the ICC between these meetings. All sub-committees and working groups report to the ICC Bureau.

NHRC, India, an active member of the ICC, regularly participates in its AGMs.

Quick Link – HL Dattu as chairperson

Mukund Padmanabhan appointed as new editor of The Hindu

Mukund Padmanabhan will be the new Editor for the The Hindu, one of the largest English dailies in the country. He will be the second non family member who hold this position in the 125-year old Newspaper.

• Since August 2012, Padmanabhan was the editor of The Hindu Business Line. He has been working with The Hindu for the last 15 years.
• In January Malini Parthasarathy had resigned as the editor.
• Suresh Nambath, who was the national editor, was taking charge of the day-to-day affairs of the Paper.
• Padmanabhan, an M-Phil in Philosophy studied in Chennai, Delhi and the London School of Economics. He worked briefly as a lecturer in Delhi University before switching to journalism.
• As a journalist, he has reported from various countries including Sri Lanka, Britain, Australia, Malaysia, Britain and other countries in Europe.
• He worked for Sunday, the weekly magazine in Calcutta and the Indian Express before joining The Hindu, where he wrote editorials and oversaw many of the newspaper’s supplements including the Sunday Magazine, Literary Review and Metro Plus.
• He also curates two festivals of theatre and music on behalf of the Hindu group of publications — the MetroPlus Theatre Fest and the Friday Review November Fest.

Quick Link – Mukund Padmanabhan as Editor for the The Hindu

BANKING AND FINANCE

Core banking facility available at 25K post offices by April

The Department of Posts will offer core banking solutions (CBS) to its customers at 25,000 post offices by April, against 20,494 CBS-enabled branches.

• CBS-enabled post offices allow customers to access their postal savings from any of the branches where the facility is available.
• Postal department’s digitisation is integral to Digital India.
• The core banking linkage of post offices is bigger than that of State Bank of India, which has 16,333 CBS-enabled branches.
• Implementation of CBS is part of the government’s plan for IT Modernisation Project of the Department of Posts, which aims to bring in various IT solutions with the required IT infrastructure to the post offices.
• In September 2015, the postal department received an in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India to set up a payments bank within 18 months.
• Core banking is a banking service provided by a group of networked bank branches where customers may access their bank account and perform basic transactions from any of the member branch offices.
• Core banking is often associated with retail banking and many banks treat the retail customers as their core banking customers.
• Businesses are usually managed via the Corporate banking division of the institution.
• Core banking covers basic depositing and lending of money.
• Normal Core Banking functions will include transaction accounts, loans, mortgages and payments.

Quick Link – CBS

Cabinet approves National Capital Goods Policy

The Union Cabinet has approved the national capital goods policy. The government believes implementation of the capital goods policy is critical and needed to give a boost to the sector and the ‘Make in India‘ initiative.

• The government had unveiled the National Capital Goods Policy in February. This is the first time such a policy has been framed for the sector.
• The Cabinet has also green flagged the doubling of two rail lines in Bihar and Jharkhand and approved incentives for rural housing.
• In particular, the policy will make sure the country utilizes the capital goods that already exist and cut down on imports, he says.
• To give a rough idea, the capacity utilization for the industry as a whole, he says, would be between 45 percent and 70 percent, adding, Thermax operated at a capacity level of 50 percent-60 percent.
• Indian companies will find themselves exporting capital goods into countries where there is a trade deficit.
• Long-term loans will be made available to these companies through the likes of EXIM bank.
• One can see India offering sops to Indian companies wanting to export more in the manner of countries like China and Japan, says Unnikrishnan.

Quick Link – National Capital Goods Policy

Government hikes dearness allowance by 6%

Edelweiss Asset Management announced on that it had agreed to acquire the onshore fund schemes managed by JPMorgan Asset Management India (JPMAM), including its India-based onshore mutual fund business and the international fund of funds. The buyout is subject to regulatory approvals.

• JPMorgan is the seventh global financial services firm to exit the Indian mutual fund (MF) sector in the past three years.
• Last year, Goldman Sachs sold its MF business to Reliance Capital for Rs 243 crore in a deal valued at 3.4 per cent of the former’s Indian assets under management (AUM).
• Deutsche MF sold its business to DHFL Pramerica reportedly for Rs 400 crore (or two per cent of the German entity’s Indian fund management arm’s assets).
• The AUM of JPMAM is Rs 7,081 crore, while that of combined entities amounts to Rs 8,757 crore as on December 31.
• Edelweiss Asset Management, which has long been among the bottom 10 fund houses in terms of assets managed, now stands to enter the top 20 club.
• According to experts, Edelweiss will get about Rs 1,500-2,000 crore of equity assets of JPMorgan.
• Earlier this month, Tata Mutual Fund was reportedly in the race for buying the fund’s assets at one per cent of JPMAM’s AUM.
• Edelweiss is one of India’s leading diversified investment destinations, which helps to trade in stock market and make investments across multiple asset classes like Equity, F&O, Currency Derivatives, Mutual Funds and Fixed Income products.

Quick Link – JPMAM India

INDIAN AFFAIRS

Centre notifies new stringent rules to manage e-waste

Waking up to the challenge of managing hazardous e-waste, the Centre  notified new rules to dismantle and recycle all electrical and electronic waste in the country by expanding its ambit and introducing a clause of penalty for violators.

• The new rule — E-waste Management Rules, 2016 — has, for the first time, brought in its ambit the management of the waste of compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) and other mercury-containing lamps.
• Under the new rules, it would be the responsibility of the producers/manufacturers to ensure collection of e-waste, as well as its disposal in an environmentally sound manner.
• At present, India generates 1.7 million tonnes of e-waste every year but the country can scientifically recycle only one-fourth of it, leaving the rest of it in hazardous manners that severely pollutes land and water.
• Role of state governments has also been introduced under new rules to ensure safety, health and skill development of the workers involved in dismantling and recycling operations.
• Under the new rules, consumers of electronic/electric items (smart phones, laptops, TV, washing machines, microwave ovens, airconditioners etc) will get incentive for handing over the e-waste to retailers or dealers under a newly introduced “deposit refund scheme”.
• It would be the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) that will give the single authorization throughout the country.

Quick Link – E-waste Management Rules

Government amends Atal Pension Yojana

The government has amended Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to give an option to the spouse to continue to contribute for balance period on premature death of the subscriber.

• It has decided to give an option to the spouse of the subscriber to continue contributing to APY account of the subscriber, for the remaining period, till the original subscriber would have attained the age of 60 years instead of present provision of handing-over lump-sum amount to spouse on the premature death before 60 years of the subscriber.
• The changes were made based on the feedback received from various quarters which indicated that the present provision under APY of handing-over lump sum amount to spouse on premature death of the subscriber is not preferred by many subscribers.
• It has also highlighted the fact that there is growing demand to give an option to the spouse to continue contribution after the death of subscriber to enable him/her to draw pension when the deceased subscriber would have turned 60 years of age.
• The government had launched APY to address the longevity risks among the workers in unorganised sector and to encourage the workers in unorganised sector to voluntarily save for their retirement last year.

Quick Link – APY

India’s ‘Agasthyamala’ finds place in UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves

India’s “unique” Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve is among 20 new sites added by the UN’s top cultural body UNESCO to its World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

• The International Co-ordinating Council added the new sites during a two-day meeting on Saturday in Lima, capital of Peru, bringing the total number of biosphere reserves to 669 sites in 120 countries, including 16 transboundary sites.
• Located in the Western Ghats, in the south of India, the Agasthyamala biosphere reserve includes peaks reaching 1,868 metres above sea level. Consisting mostly of tropical forests, the site is home to 2,254 species of higher plants including about 400 that are endemic.
• It is also a unique genetic reservoir of cultivated plants especially cardamom, jamune, nutmeg, pepper and plantain.
• Three wildlife sanctuaries, Shendurney, Peppara, Neyyar and Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger reserve are included in the site.
• The Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve (ABR) was established in 2001 and is spread across the two states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• Biosphere reserves are places for learning about sustainable development aiming to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with the sustainable use of natural resources.
• New reserves are designated each year by the International Co-ordinating Council of the UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, which brings together elected representatives of 34 UNESCO Member States.

Quick Link – Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve

VAT relief for yarn in Punjab, Haryana

The Punjab Government in its pre-poll budget (Assembly elections in Punjab expected in early 2017) has provided a partial rollback of VAT (value added tax) on cotton spinning. The new rate of VAT on cotton spinning will be 3.63% compared to the earlier 6.05%. Punjab has 165 spinning mills with 4.25 million active spindles and consume 6.5 lakh to 7 lakh cotton bales annually.

• Imports of cheaper cotton yarn by fabric and garmenting units (concentrated in Ludhiana and Gurgaon) in Punjab and Haryana from other parts of India had rendered the local spinning units uncompetitive in their own territory due to higher manufacturing cost.
• Due to high VAT, buying yarn from spinners in these states was costlier for these units compared to importing it from neighboring states.
• Punjab, Haryana being among major cotton producing states, the relief in VAT announced in past few days by both the states will now help ailing local spinning units.
• Going one step ahead of Punjab, the younger sibling Haryana has decided a zero rated VAT on cotton spinning in the state that is currently 5%.
• Haryana has an estimated 2.5 lakh spindles, which consume only lakh bales per annum against the production of 25 lakh cotton bales annually. So the state government is eyeing fresh investments by offering incentives to cotton spinning to enhance the consumption of cotton.
• DCM Textiles, SEL Manufacturing and HP Cotton Textiles Limited are the three large units in cotton spinning in Haryana.
• The decision of the state government will provide protection to the Punjab based spinning units against the cheap imports from other states which have lower cost of production.

Quick Link – VAT

Bajaj Finance enters life care financing segment

Bajaj Finance is entering the Rs 20,000-crore life care segment under which it will finance expenses for stem cells storage units, cosmetics-based hair treatment, dental and eye care, IVF & maternity care, laproscopic cure for a dozen ailments, and elective medical/paramedical care for many other issues.

• The Pune-based company, which claims to be the first to enter this segment in the country, expects to net around Rs 1,000 crore in sales over the next five years from this business hoping to an encore of the massive demand for such segmental funding in the Western markets where life care segment is a booming business.
• Bajaj has already financed 400 customers for their expenses towards stem cell storage, cosmetics-based hair restoration therapy and dental care such as braces, whitening etc.
• A formal launch in the six top metros is expected within a month four weeks.
• The domestic life care category business is around Rs 20,000 crore and is clipping at 20-22 per cent and is likely to cost at a higher pace going forward with financing options now being available.
• While the hair restoration segment is a Rs 1,500-crore market, the stem cells storage market is around Rs 700 crore annually and that he expects to fund a large portion of this market with a national launch over the next six months when it hopes to be present in the 40 largest cities.
• On the costing side, the customer can avail of their financing at 5-6 per cent premium over the sale prices of the device or care.
• Its service is already available in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru and over the next three months it hopes to enter Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad too.

Quick Link – Life care financing segment

Punjab passes Bills to settle farm dues and protect cows

In a landmark move, the Punjab government passed a Bill with a framework to regulate and settle agriculture debts.

• The House also passed the Punjab Gau Sewa Commission Bill to protect cows. Neighbouring Haryana had passed a cow protection Bill earlier, after the BJP government had come to power.
• According to a Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) study of 2013, rural indebtedness in Punjab was around Rs 35,000 crore. This was the main reason for the death of more than 5,000 farmers in the past 10 years.
• According to the Bill, the interest payable on the debt shall be calculated at such rate as may be notified by the government.
• The interest payable on the debt shall be simple interest calculated on a yearly basis.
• The government would establish a District Agriculture Debt Settlement Forum at every district of the state to implement the Act.
• The chairman of the forum would be a retired district and sessions judge or a retired additional district and sessions judge.

Quick Link – Punjab Gau Sewa

Ministry of Road approved National Highway project worth Rs. 6284 crore

The Ministry of road, transport and highways has approved 11 National highways projects worth Rs. 6,284 crore.

• The total length of the road is 453 km and will be executed on EPC(Engineering, Procurement Construction), BOT (Toll) and Hybrid annuity model.
• The project was approved by the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) meeting which was held under the chairmanship of Secretary Road, Transport and Highways, Sanjay Mitra.
• Out of the total 11 projects, one will be implemented on BOT(Toll) and Hybrid annuity each and the remaining nine projects will be on EPC mode.
• The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is an autonomous agency of the Government of India, responsible for management of a network of over 70,000 km of National Highways in India. 
• It is a nodal agency of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. NHAI has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Space Research Organisation for satellite mapping of highways.
• Dr. Yogendra Narain was the first Chairman of NHAI.
• The NHAI is also responsible of the toll collection on several highways.

Quick Link – NH Project

Cabinet approves Udaan scheme till 2019-20

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for extension of time period of the “Special Industry Initiative for J&K” (SII J&K) Udaan scheme till 2019-20. Initially, the time period of Udaan was up to 2015-16.

• Udaan provides exposure to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir to the best of corporate India and corporate India to the rich talent pool available in the State.
• So far, 67 leading corporates have partnered with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under Udaan with a commitment to train youth from the state covering Organized Retail, Banking, Financial Services, IT, ITES, Infrastructure, Hospitality etc.
• More than 19,000 candidates have been selected, more than 15,000 have joined training, out of them, 8700 candidates have completed training and 6,838 have been offered jobs.
• It is expected that the target of the scheme, to train and enhance employability of 40,000 graduates, post graduates and three year engineering diploma holders, will be achieved by 2019-20.

To accelerate the pace of implementation, mega selection drives have been introduced, in which around 8-10 corporates participate in a drive. It has significantly improved the number of selections. 67 mega selection drives have been held so far covering all districts of the state.

Quick Link – Udaan scheme

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Nepal seals agreement on transit rights through China

Nepal and China have issued a 15-point joint communique from Beijing which said both sides have agreed to seal the petrol trade deal.

• Nepal and China expressed commitments to address each other’s interests and concerns while paying due respect to independence and geographic integrity of both nations.
• China welcomed the new Constitution of Nepal and hoped that it would provide an opportunity for economic development and political stability.
• Both nations concluded that Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s week-long official visit to China elevated the bilateral relation to a new height.
• Meanwhile, Oli left Beijing for Boao in Hinnan province of China. He is scheduled to return home on March 27 from Chengdu.
• India-Nepal ties could not be compared or curtailed by Nepal’s agreements with China.
• After all, 98 per cent of Nepal’s third country trade goes through India and to the port of Kolkata.
• India at present has two rail lines under construction and three more are being planned to increase Nepal’s trade ties.
• During the February visit of Prime Minister Oli to New Delhi, India agreed on giving dedicated access to Nepal to the port of Vizag.
• In comparison to the Nepal-China agreement, India and Nepal had 25 crossing points, two integrated checkpoints and 2 more checkpoints were under construction.

Quick Link – Nepal seals on transit rights

Nepal became Dialogue Partner of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

Nepal has become a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a Beijing-based regional security grouping.

• Nepal was officially made a dialogue partner after a memorandum was signed by SCO secretary-general Rashid Olimov and visiting Nepalese Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi.
• Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli attended the signing ceremony.
• The SCO was established in 2001 to promote cooperation on security-related issues and strengthen mutual trust, friendliness and neighborliness among the member states.
• As a dialogue partner, Nepal is able to participate in the multi-field cooperation of the SCO, which has an increasing presence in international affairs.
• As Nepal joins the SCO, it will create new opportunities for the SCO’s mutually beneficial cooperation and benefit people living in the extensive region that the SCO covers.
• Recently, Azerbaijan officially became a SCO dialogue partner upon the signing of a similar memorandum.

Quick Link – SCO

Nepal and Azerbaijan became Dialogue Partner of SCO

Nepal on 22 March 2016 became a dialogue partner of the Beijing-based regional security grouping, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

• Nepal was officially made a dialogue partner after a memorandum was signed during the Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli visit to China.
• As a dialogue partner, Nepal will be able to participate in the multi-field cooperation of the Organisation.
• Beside Nepal, Azerbaijan also officially became a SCO dialogue partner on 21 March 2016 upon the signing of a similar memorandum.

About Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

• SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organization which was established on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan.
• India, Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan are observer states.
• Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka are the dialogue partners of the organization before the recently joined Nepal and Azerbaijan.
• Its prototype is the Shanghai Five mechanism.

Main goals of the SCO are

• Strengthening mutual confidence and good-neighbourly relations among the member countries;
• Promoting effective cooperation in politics, trade and economy, science and technology, culture as well as education, energy, transportation, tourism, environmental protection and other fields;
• Making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region, moving towards the establishment of a new, democratic, just and rational political and economic international order.

Quick Link – Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

Celebrating World Meteorological Day 2016

The World Meteorological Day (WMD) 2016 was observed across the world on 23 March 2016. The theme for the WMD 2016 was Hotter, Drier, Wetter. Face the Future.

• The theme of WMD 2016 tries to bring focus on the climate change that is disrupting the natural pattern of the seasons.
• The climate change is also increasing the frequency and intensity of certain extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, droughts and heavy rainfall. These ongoing changes provide a foretaste of a hotter, drier, wetter future.
• Every year on the occasion of WMD, awards for meteorological research are also given.
• These awards include The International Meteorological Organization Prize, Professor Dr. Vilho Vaisaila Award and The Norbert Gerbier-Mumm International Award.
• 23 March is celebrated as World Meteorological Day to commemorate the entry into force of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Convention in 1950 aimed at creating the organisation.
• WMO became the UN’s specialized agency for meteorology, operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences in 1951.
• It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873.  At present, WMO is represented by 189 member states and territories.
• The theme for World Meteorological Day 2015 was Climate Knowledge for Climate Action.

Quick Link – WMD

FOREIGN RELATIONS

India and Banladesh PMs launch two bilateral projects

Primer Ministers of India and Bangladesh commissioned international gateway of internet service in Agartala and supply of 100 MW power to Bangladesh from Tripura. Chief Minister Manik Sarkar also graced the cross border occasion connected through video conference.

• Both Prime Ministers were accompanied by their external affairs ministers, power and telecommunication ministers in their PMOs when two bilateral projects launched at around 10.30 AM.
• Agartala has become third station connected to submarine cable for internet bandwidth after Chennai and Mumbai while the state also landed in international power map by starting supply of electricity from Suryamaninagar grid to the grid in Commilla of southeast Bangladesh.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chief Minister Manik Sarkar in their speeches termed the commissioning of 10 GBPS bandwidth import and 100 MW electricity from south Tripura’s 726 MW Palatana gas based project a historic one and a day to celebrate friendly relations between two neighbours.
• Mr Modi recalled how Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman developed special relation with India.
• Ms. Hasina mentioned that they have requested India for 500 MW power and both countries are working to commission a 1320 MW plant in Bangladesh. She maintained relation with India is now in its height and Bangladesh desires peaceful and mutual beneficial coexistence.

Mr. Saxena added India’s Department of Telecommunications spent around Rs 20 crores for project implementation. BSNL is hiring 10 GBPS internet bandwidth at a cost of Rs 7.2 crores per year, but there is an arrangement to provide more bandwidth.

Quick Link – Bilateral projects

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

India among five nations creating Zika vaccine : WHO

India is among five countries where projects are underway to develop vaccines to fight the deadly Zika virus affecting newborns in 38 countries.

• At present, WHO says more than 30 companies are working on, or have developed, potential new diagnostic tests.
• For vaccines, 23 projects are being worked on by 14 vaccine developers in the US, France, Brazil, India and Austria, WHO said.
• Zika virus is posing severe public health implications and is linked to neonatal malformations and neurological disorders affecting newborns.
• The WHO had in February declared the Zika virus outbreak as an “international public health emergency”.
• The virus is currently circulating in 38 countries and territories, Chan said in a statement as she warned that no one can predict whether the virus will spread to other parts of the world and cause a similar pattern of foetal malformations and neurological disorders.

According to WHO, the world was alerted to the first appearance of Zika in the Western Hemisphere in May 2015, when Brazil confirmed that a “mysterious outbreak” of thousands of cases of mild disease with rash was caused by the Zika virus.

Quick Link – Zika virus

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Wings Travel acquired taxi service Bookmycab

BPO transport service provider Wings Travels has closed the acquisition of taxi aggregator Bookmycab for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition is part of Wings Travels’ plan to strengthen its technology and expand business to 47 more cities in India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

• The combined entity will be rebranded as Wings Bookmycab.
• Wings Travel, which provides transport services to over 10 lakh employees of top multinational and Indian companies across nine cities, has been considering buying a technology company for developing its own mobile app, which would aid its expansion plans into retail and staff travel market.
• With this deal, two of the biggest investors in Bookmycab — YourNest Angel Fund and Contrarian Drishti Partners — have become the first external investors in Wings. “With this acquisition, we see an opportunity to play a positive role to build a significant billiondollar tech-leveraged transportation company.
• Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations or their operating units are transferred or combined.
• As an aspect of strategic management, M&A can allow enterprises to grow, shrink, change the nature of their business or improve their competitive position.
• From a legal point of view, a merger is a legal consolidation of two entities into one entity, whereas an acquisition occurs when one entity takes ownership of another entity’s stock, equity interests or assets.

Quick Link – Wings Bookmycab

ENVIRONMENT

Govt to plant 4 crore trees along Ganga river

Government unveiled its plan to plant over four crore trees in next five years as Union Water Resource Minister Uma Bharati stressed on planting of Himalayan species vegetation that will produce Brahmadrav, which she said, ensures clean river water.

• Releasing the detailed project report (DPR), Bharati said Brahmadrav is “not a myth or faith but fact” as she insisted on planting of “suitable” vegetation to ensure ecological flow (e-flow) of the river is adequate.
• Suggesting that no river like Ganga can be cleaned over a short span of time, the Minister cited examples of Rhine and Thames rivers, which she said took 40 years and 27 years respectively to be cleaned.
• The DPR release ceremony was also attended by Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.
• Water Resource Secretary Shashi Shekhar said the government will plant native species all along the river’s stretch and the work is expected to get underway from monsoon this year.
• The government has earmarked Rs 2293.73 crore for carrying out forestry intervention.
• Of this, Rs 951 crore will be spent during 2016-17. Nearly 90 per cent of the fund will be spent on the intervention.
• A day-long workshop was also organised to mark the release of DPR.

Quick Link – DPR

Thank you 🙂 🙂 🙂