3 July 2015 daily current affairs / GK / GA : Nationwide Mobile Number Portability (MNP) goes live today laying down the first stone for government’s “One Nation, One number” Plan which will benefit millions of people across the country.
- Earlier, the deadline to rollout full MNP was May 2, 2015 which was further extended by two months after the Cellular Operators Association of India asked for an extension from the telecom department.
- With about 3 million intra-circle MNP requests every month, more than 157 million subscribers have ported to other operators as of April, according to Trai data.
National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed ban on use of plastic in Haridwar and Rishikesh on 2 july 2015.
- Penatly of Rs 5000/- will be charged for anyone who found violating the order.
- NGT bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar gave the direction on a complaint filed by environmentalist MC Mehta against pollution of the Ganga River.
Union Government launched a web portal for online submission of applications for environment clearance by State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAA) for Category B projects.
- It was launched by Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi on the occasion of Digital India Week.
- Soon after the launch of the web portal, nineteen states instantly have joined it.
- The environment clearance web portal raises the levels of transparency and accountability as the clearances will be monitored and carried out effectively on a real time basis.
- It will also help to reduce pendency for maintaining the rigours of Environment Clearance process.
- Note : Applications for Environment Clearances under Category ‘B’ projects under EIA notification, 2006 comes under State government for approval purpose.
Commodore C D Balaji (Retd) on 3 July 2015 took charge as the Director of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Programme Director of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
- He succeeded P S Subramanyam, Distinguished Scientist, who superannuated on 30 June 2015.
- Prior to this appointment, Balaji, an outsatnding scientists, was Project Director of the LCA’s naval version.
- He was commissioned into the Indian Navy’s engineering branch in September 1978 and since then, he has specialised in the Naval Aviation Arm.
ADA is the premier multi-agency body spearheading the development of combat aircraft for the Air Force and the Navy- among them is the LCA and the proposed Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft AMCA.
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Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal on 2 July 2015 launches the state Portal ePMS (Electronic Projects Management System) to fast track infrastructural development.
- The portal was launched during the Digital India week.
- The project was started to enhance efficiency, bring transparency, boost the investor confidence, revive the investment cycle, eliminate the human interaction and improve the communication between industries to Government (B2G), State to Centre (G2G), or vice versa (G2B).
SBI launched initiative ‘Project Tatkal’ to provide doorstep services and expedite home loans application process.
- The initiative will help to get the loan within 10 days after receipt of application form and relevant supporting documents.
- The scheme will be implemented at large centres with sizable home loan business.
- The bank has also recently introduced an online customer acquisition solution (OCAS) for instant e-approval of home loan applications.
R Paul Singh, Indian-American professor has been selected for 2015 World Agriculture Prize laureate.
- The award was announced at the annual Global Confederation for Higher Education Associations for Agriculture and Life Sciences (GCHERA) conference held at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Lebanon.
- Singh is known for niche research areas of agricultural sector such as freezing preservation, energy conservation, post-harvest technology and mass transfer in food processing.
- He had earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering form Punjab Agricultural University.
Union Govt released socio economic and caste census for better policy making.
- The socio-economic and caste census (SECC) 2011 on Friday painted a grim picture of rural India, indicating that one out of three families living in villages is landless and depends on manual labour for livelihood.
- The SECC 2011 is the first paperless census conducted on hand-held electronic devices by the government.
- According to Census 23.52% rural families have no literate adult above 25 years, suggesting a poor state of education among rural masses.
- The census, carried out in 640 districts under the aegis of the rural development ministry, was released jointly by finance minister Arun Jaitley and rural development minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh.
- According to the census, there are a total number of 24.39 crore households in the country, of which 17.91 crore live in villages. Of these, 10.69 crore households are considered as deprived.
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Europe’s Airbus Group and India’s Mahindra Group signed a deal to build helicopters jointly as they bid to win an expected wave of orders from the country’s armed forces.
- The two groups will form a joint venture in the coming months, aiming to become the first private manufacturer of helicopters in India, the statement said. It did not say how much the two will invest.
- India is in the midst of a huge upgrade of its armed forces — analysts forecast it will spend $250 billion over the next decade — and Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to encourage more indigenous manufacturing to end India’s position as the world’s largest arms importer.
