Home Daily Current Affairs Jul 18, 2021

Jul 18, 2021: Current affairs for UPSC/State PSC

This section contains daily current affairs taken from all major news papers and magazines like - The Hindu, Indian Express, PIB, Live Mint, RSTV etc.

These current affairs are written in a easy to remember format and are useful for competitive exams like - UPSC Civil Services, UPPSC, BPSC, MPPPSC, State PSCs and other competitive examinations.

China launched "Emissions trading system"

In a bid to go carbon neutral by 2060 - China launched - Emissions trading system, to to drive down climate change causing greenhouse gases.

China is world's biggest carbon emitter an accounts for 13.92 billion tonnes of Earth warming gases.

The scheme will set pollution caps for big-power businesses for the first time, and allows firms to buy the right to pollute from others with a lower carbon footprint.

Environment

What is "Saubhagya Scheme" ?

The Saubhagya Scheme or Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana is an government project to provide electricity to the households.

The project was announced in September 2017 by PM Modi with the aim to complete the electrification process by December 2018.

Certain households identified via the Socio-economic and Caste Census (SECC) of 2011 will be eligible for free electricity connections , while others will be charged Rs. 500.

The beneficiary household will get One LED lights, one DC power plug.

It also includes the Repair and Maintenance of Meter Only (R&M) for 5 years.

In October 2018, Bihar completed its target of 100 per cent electrification of willing households under Saubhagya scheme.

This target was moved forward to March 31, 2019, and eventually the Centre declared that all "willing" homes have been provided with electricity connections.

Gov. Schemes

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana is a government scheme designed to provide continuous electricity supply to rural India.

The scheme was launched in December 2014 and replaced the existing Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana.

It focuses on feeder separation (rural households & agricultural) and strengthening of sub-transmission & distribution infrastructure including metering at all levels in rural areas.

The Ministry of Power has launched a new app, GARV-II app to provide real-time data of all six lakh villages of the country.

The deadline for the Centre's rural electrification programme was May 2018.

However, it was achieved before the deadline on April 28, with the electrification of Leisang village in Manipur.

Gov. Schemes

UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme

The regional connectivity scheme UDAN has witnessed slow progress of implementation, as not even 50 per cent of the routes have been operationalised.

Ratings agency ICRA said that there is likely to be a further delay of two years in achieving the target of operationalising as many as 100 unserved and underserved airports and starting at least 1,000 air routes under regional connectivity scheme (RCS) routes by 2024.

UDAN is a regional airport development and "Regional Connectivity Scheme" with the objective of "letting the common citizen of the country fly", aimed at making air travel affordable and widespread.

UDAN scheme will expedite the development and operationalisation of nearly 425 unserved, underserved, and mostly underdeveloped regional airports with regular scheduled flights.

It has a target of operationalising as many as 100 unserved and underserved airports and starting at least 1,000 air routes under regional connectivity scheme (RCS).

Under the scheme, nearly half of the seats in Udan flights are offered at subsidised fares, and the participating carriers are provided a certain amount of viability gap funding (VGF) - an amount shared between the Centre and the concerned states.

The scheme will be jointly funded by the central government and state governments.

The scheme will run for 10 years and can be extended thereafter.

UDAN 4.0 was launched in December 2019 with a special focus on North-Eastern Regions, Hilly States, and Islands.

Under UDAN 4, the operation of helicopters and seaplanes is also been incorporated.

Gov. Schemes

Namami Gange Project

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was established in 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 as a registered society.

Namami Gange Programme was approved as a "Flagship Programme" by the Union Government in June 2014 to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution and conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.

Read More: NMCG

Gov. Schemes