ANDHRA PRADESH

GMR highest bidder to build airport in AP

GMR Airports has emerged as the highest bidder for building a Greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram, near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. GMR offered a revenue share of Rs 303 per passenger with the government, while Doit Smart Infrastructure India and GVK, offered Rs 261and Rs 207, respectively.

State-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) had won the bid for this airport, which is to be developed in three phases for Rs 4,200 crore.

AP Airports Development Corporation (APADCL), had initiated the RFP process for new airport at Bhogapuram in November 2018. The project involves design, build, finance, construction, development, up-gradation, modernization, operation and maintenance of the Bhogapuram airport for a period of 40 years.

INTERNATIONAL

· Saudi Arabia appoints first female ambassador to United States

Saudi Arabia has appointed Princess Reema bint Bandar, a former business executive and philanthropist, as its first femaleambassador to the United States.
She replaced Prince Khalid bin Salman, amid fallout over journalist Khashoggi’s murder.
She has been a leading advocate of female empowerment in the kingdom.

· Zimbabwe Starts Trading New Currency RTGS dollar

Zimbabwe started to trade its new currency, the RTGS dollar,two days after the central bank announced measures to try and resolve a chronic monetary crisis.
The bank unveiled a foreign exchange trading system that effectively devalued its quasi-currency, the bond note, which was officially pegged at parity with the US dollar.

NATIONAL

· M.P. launched Mukhyamantri Yuva Swabhiman Yojana

TheMadhya Pradesh government launched its flagship scheme ‘Mukhyamantri Yuva Swabhiman Yojana’. It was launched by the Chief Minister Kamal Nath.
This scheme guarantees 100 days of employment every yearto urban youth from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). The youth under the scheme would be imparted skill development training. Each youth enrolled under the scheme will get total Rs.13,500 for the 100 days period.

· GST on under construction flats cut from 12 percent to 5 percent

Under construction properties priced over ₹45 lakhwill attract 5% GST (Goods and Services Tax), instead of 12%.
A residential propertypriced at ₹45 lakh or below will now be defined as “affordable” and taxed at 1%, from 8% earlier.
The new rates will be effective from April 1, 2019.

· Tamil Nadu Becomes First State in mainland to get 2 Coast Guard Districts

Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit inaugurated the second Coast Guard district headquarters at Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu is the first state in India to get a second Coast Guard district headquarters.
The first district headquarters is Chennai.
The second headquarters have been set up to deal with frequent issues faced by fishermen and provide anti-poaching operations, search and rescue missions and coastal security measures.
It will function under Commander Coast Guard Region (East).
The area of operations will include about 680 km of the coastline along districts of Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari.

· Odisha approved Rs 466 Crore Sanitary Napkin Scheme for adolescent girls

Odisha government, in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, approved Khusi schemeaimed at improving menstrual hygiene among adolescent girl students in the state, with an outlay of Rs 466.08 crore over a period of 5 years.
Free sanitary napkins will be provided to 17.25 lakh adolescent girl students of Class 6 to 9 study in government and non-government aided schools of the state. It will also cover Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawaharlal Navodaya Vidyalayas.
Each girl student will be provided with 18 beltless sanitary napkins per month.
Other objectives of the scheme include reducing in the expenditure of the parents towards health care of the girls, reduction in the dropout rate among girls, improved attendance in schools and increase in the academic parameter.

· Manpreet Singh won 2018 Asian Player Of The Year Award

Indian skipper Manpreet Singh has been honoured with the 2018 Player of the Year award by the Asian Hockey Federation.
Women’s team striker Lalremsiamibagged the ‘Rising Player of The Year’ prize.
The Indian men’s Hockey team was awarded the ‘Best Performanceof The Year’ for being the only Asian side to have reached the top eight at the World Cup in Bhubaneswar.

· Punjab ranks first in highest alcohol consumption among kids

According to a survey conducted by AIIMS New Delhi, Punjab ranks first in the list of highest alcohol consumption among children in India.
As many as 2 lakhchildren in the age group of 10-17 years from the state consume alcohol.
West Bengal ranked second in the list and Maharashtra third.

APPSC GROUP 1 Notes brings Prelims and Mains programs for APPSC GROUP 1 Prelims and APPSC GROUP 1 Mains Exam preparation. Various Programs initiated by APPSC GROUP 1 Notes are as follows:-

For any doubt, Just leave us a Chat or Fill us a querry––