05.01.21 Daily [Andhra Pradesh] APPSC Current Affairs

TheVisakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authorityis planning to go ahead with the enabling works of the Bheemili-Bhogapuram greenfield beach road corridor.

According to the VMRDA officials, the project will involve land acquisition to the tune of 346 acres in 9 villages lying adjacent to the proposed project. The land acquisition alone is expected to cost about 942 crore. The state government has accorded its approval for the land acquisition.

The proposed six-lane road spans about 20.2 kilometres in length, and passes through Kongavanipalem, Kancheru, Kancherupalem, Annavaram, Chippada, Mulakuddu, Kummaripalem, Bheemunipatnam villages on the beachfront.

The corridor will provide avenues for development of a wide variety of tourist attractions, logistic hubs, urban and social development projects, service industries, etc. along with the road project.

The Plan Bee was launched by Northern Frontier Railway. It aims to keep the elephants away from the train tracks. The plan recently won Best Innovation Award from the Indian Railways.

The plan installs unique devices along the railway tracks. These devices create the buzzing sounds of swarming bees. Elephants get irritated to the buzzing sounds of bees. And try to stay away from the sound. Thus, by creating the buzzing sound, the device keeps the elephants away from the track. The sound produced by the device is audible from a distance of 400 metres.

According to Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, between 2009 and 2021, more than 186 elephants were killed in train accidents. Of these, Assam accounted for the largest number of elephant deaths due to train accidents. It was followed by West Bengal and Odisha.

As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI), State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank continue to be identified as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), similar to 2020 list of D-SIBs.

These three banks continue to be in the list, under the same bucketing structure as it was there in the 2020 list of D-SIBs.

Current update on D-SIBs by RBI is based on data collected from banks as of March 31, 2021.

On the basis of bucket in which a D-SIB is placed, an additional common equity requirement is applied to it.

Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Education Minister, and Skill Development Minister launched “National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) 3.0” on 3 January.

NEAT 3.0 was created as a unified platform for providing students in India with better ed-tech solutions and courses.

The minister also launched AICTE-recommended technical publications in regional languages at the event.

Learning regional languages will assist adolescents in developing these skills and preparing them to become global citizens.

NEAT is an initiative to provide the best-developed technical solutions in the education industry for boosting youth employability on a single platform for learners’ convenience.

Indias monthly products export report was just released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Highlights:

In December 2021, export demand for petroleum products, engineering products, and diamonds, and jewelry was at an all-time high.

Exports increased by 48.9% between April and December. In the first nine months, total services exports were 179 billion dollars (Apr to Dec).

By the conclusion of the fiscal year, it is expected to reach 230 billion dollars. The growth of export baskets is the primary reason for the increase in exports.

In December 2021, the trade imbalance was 21.99 billion dollars. It was 15.75 billion dollars last year.

European Union has banned tattoo ink and permanent make-up comprising of chemicals which could cause cancers or other health risks.

The ban covers hazardous substances like certain azo dyes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), carcinogenic aromatic amines, metals and methanol.

It also covers carcinogenic, chemicals prohibited in cosmetics, mutagenic & reprotoxic substances, skin sensitisers, metal impurities, skin & eye irritants, aromatic amines and some pigments.

EU has however given a grace period for two common colours- green and blue and have allowed time for alternatives to be found.

China has been seen building a bridge linking the north and south shores of the Pangong Lake in the last two months.

Highlights:

The bridge is now being built on the Chinese side. It is, however, 25-30 kilometers from India’s claimed Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The bridge still links Pangong Lake’s north and south shores, providing rapid access to both sides for the Chinese troops.

India had conquered essential heights in the Kailash range on the southern bank by August 2020.

It gave forces a strategic advantage because they could see the Chinese garrison in Moldo. India had backed down from the apex following a “mutual pullback plan” to de-escalate tensions.