1. EWS QUOTA
The Union Government informed the Supreme Court that it had taken a “considered decision” to revisit the “criteria” for determining Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) to provide them reservation in terms of the provisions of the Explanation to Article 15 of the Constitution inserted by the Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act 2019.
About:
- The Government, represented by Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, said it would take four weeks for the exercise.
- The submission follows rounds of grilling from the court during past hearings to reveal the logic and study before zeroing in on the “exact figure” of ₹8 lakh as the annual income limit to identify the EWS.
- The court was hearing a case filed by NEET aspirants challenging a July 29 notification announcing 27% quota to OBCs and 10% reservation to the EWS in the All India Quota (AIQ) category.
- The Government assured the court that the NEET counselling would be deferred for four weeks till a decision was taken on the EWS quota.
- The EWS quota was meant for persons who earned less than ₹8 lakh annually and did not benefit from any other existing reservation.
Source: The Hindu
2. MGNREGS
The Finance Ministry has allocated additional funds of ₹10,000 crore as an interim measure for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) after it ran out of funds allocated in the budget, according to the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).
About:
- More funds may be forthcoming based on the “assessment of demand,” added the Ministry.
- The extra money was allocated on November 5. However, the scheme’s financial statement on November 25 still reflects a negative net balance of ₹9,888 crore.
- Despite the additional allocations, the funds available for the scheme stand at ₹76,340 crore, well below the ₹86,229 crore which have been incurred as expenditure, including payments due for wages and materials.
- Meanwhile, more than ₹1,170 crore worth of wage payments for MGNREGS workers are still pending.
- Lack of funds results in suppression of demand for work and delayed payment of wages to workers. These are violations of the Act; they also constrain economic recovery, said an open letter from more than 70 economists to the Prime Minister.
Source: The Hindu
3. NATIONAL MILK DAY 2021: NATION MARKS BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF "MILK MAN" VERGHESE KURIAN
Kurien, the ‘Father of White Revolution,’ was born on November 26, 1921.
About:
- Friday, November 26, 2021, marks the 100th birth anniversary of Dr Verghese Kurien, who is also known as the ‘Father of White Revolution’ in the country. Every year since 2014, Kurien's birth anniversary has been observed as the National Milk Day.
- The late social entrepreneur, who was born on November 26, 1921, in the present day- Kozhikode, Kerala, played an instrumental role in making India the largest milk producer in the world. He was also the brains behind 'Operation Flood,' which led to dairy farming becoming the country's largest self-sustaining industry, as well as the largest rural employment sector.
Source: Hindustan Times
4. BHARAT GAURAV TRAINS
To promote and attract tourism business, the Indian Railways Tuesday launched Bharat Gaurav trains that will be operated by private players and run on theme-based circuits.
About:
- Through this policy, which offers operators the “Right of Use” of its rakes and infrastructure, the Railways has liberalised and simplified a part of operations that was otherwise carried out mostly by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
- While any entity can run these trains, including state governments, it is implied that the policy is targeted at tour operators.
Important Info :
What is the Bharat Gaurav policy?
- According to the Bharat Gaurav policy, any operator or service provider, or virtually anyone, can lease trains from Indian Railways to run on a theme-based circuit as a special tourism package.
- The tenure of the arrangement is a minimum of two years and maximum of the codal life of the coach. The operator has the freedom to decide the route, the halts, the services provided, and, most importantly, the tariff.
Source: Indian Express
5. HARCOURT BUTLER
President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind addressed the centenary celebrations of the Harcourt Butler Technical University in Kanpur today (November 25, 2021).
About:
- Harcourt Butler Technical University (HBTU) is a premier State Technical University in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
- The HBTU was named after Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler, Governor of the United Provinces in British India.
- Its programs have been conferred in autonomous status under the university.
Important Info :
Harcourt Butler
- Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler (1 August 1869 – 2 March 1938) was an officer of the Indian Civil Service who was the leading British official in Burma for much of his career, serving as Lieutenant-Governor (1915-17 and 1922-23) and later Governor of Burma (1923-27).
- He also served as Lieutenant Governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh from 1918 to 1921 and later was the first governor of United Provinces of Agra and Oudh from 1921 to 1922.
Source: PIB
6. COMMUNITY KITCHENS SCHEME
Centre has constituted a "Group of Food Secretaries" from States along with Senior officers of Central Govt to deliberate on the framework of the Community Kitchens Scheme.
About:
- The Group of Food Secretaries include Food Secretaries from 8 states of Kerala, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. The Food Secretary of Madhya Pradesh will be heading the Group.
- While announcing the Constitution of ‘Group of Secretaries’ Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution affirmed that Community Kitchens scheme needs to be prepared- which is simple, transparent and in the benefit of people.
- Community Kitchen will be of the community, run by the community & for the welfare of the community. it needs to be built on 4 pillars of Quality, Hygiene, Reliability & Spirit of Service. It will help us realize the goal that no one Sleeps Hungry.
Source: PIB
7. ASHWAGANDHA
The Ministry of Ayush has decided to re-examine the matter relating to the use of Ashwagandha (Withania somniferal) leaves in ASU (Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani) drugs by constituting an expert group to this end.
About:
- Earlier, the ministry had issued an Advisory against using the leaves of Ashwagandha in ASU Drugs.
- In the wake of Ayush Ministry barring the use of Ashwagandha leaves (vide letter dated 06.10.2021 to the ASU Drugs Manufacturing Association), representations had been received from the ASU Drugs Manufacturing Industry partners.
- The Expert Group will make appropriate recommendations to the Government of India on the use of Ashwagandha leaves/Panchanga of Ashwagandha in ASU products based on scientific evidence.
Source: PIB
8. NOIDA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation Stone of Noida International Airport at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh.
About:
- He said that Noida International Airport will become the logistics gateway for northern India and will turn the region into an export-centre where even MSMEs will have easier access to overseas markets. The first phase of the airport will be ready by October 2024.
- It will have a single runway and a passenger terminal building with a capacity to handle 1.2 crore passengers per annum by then. It will be developed over four phases until 2040, by when it will have the capacity to handle seven crore passengers per annum.
- It was proposed with the aim to decongest Delhi airport which will reach its structural capacity of 11 crore passengers by 2024.
- The airport in Jewar is being developed by Switzerland’s Zurich Airport International AG.
Source: The Hindu
9. RIVER CITIES ALLIANCE
Union Minister for Jal Shakti Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launched the River Cities Alliance, a dedicated platform for river cities in India to ideate, discuss and exchange information for sustainable management of urban rivers.
About:
- This first of its kind Alliance in the world symbolizes the successful partnership of the two Ministries i.e., Ministry of Jal Shakti and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
- The Alliance will focus on three broad themes- Networking, Capacity Building and Technical Support.
- The Secretariat of the Alliance will be set up at National Institute for Urban Affairs (NIUA), with NMCG’s support.
- The participating cities in the River Cities Alliance are Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Srinagar, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Munger, Patna, Berhampore, Hooghly-Chinsurah, Howrah, Jangipur, Maheshtala, Rajmahal, Sahibganj, Ayodhya, Bijnor, Farrukhabad, Kanpur, Mathura-Vrindavan, Mirzapur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Aurangabad, Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Pune, Udaipur and Vijayawada.
10. DRIVERLESS TRAIN OPERATIONS (DTO)
Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs alongwith Transport Minister for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi virtually inaugurated the Unattended Train Operations (UTO) on the Pink Line of the Delhi Metro.
About:
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first driverless train operations of the Delhi Metro in December 2020, when he flagged off the Magenta Line’s driverless operations.
- Driverless Train Operations (DTO) has been launched on the 59 kilometre long Pink Line (Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar) of Delhi Metro. With this, the Delhi Metro’s fully automated network will grow to about 97 kilometres, which is 4th largest in the world and the only DTO network in India.
- The DTO facility was launched on the Magenta Line in 2020 with which the Delhi Metro had entered the elite league of world’s 7% Metros in the world which operate fully automated metro networks.
- The Driverless Train Operation will bring more flexibility in train operations, reduce human interventions and human errors. It will also help in improving the availability of coaches for service.
- The Driverless Trains will eliminate the manual process of checking done before induction, subsequently reducing the burden on train operators. The parking on stabling line in depots will also be done automatically.
Source: PIB