Daily Current Affairs and GK | 28 December 2019

1. Houses sanctioned under PM Awas Yojana (Urban)

• More than 1 crore houses have been sanctioned under PM Awas Yojana (Urban) out of demand 1.12 crore.
• Under the scheme, more than 57 lakh houses are under construction and 30 lakh houses have been completed.
• A total amount of INR 5.7 lakh crore has been invested with central assistance of 1.6 lakh crore.
• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban)

• The scheme is under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.
• It aims to achieve Housing For All by 2022.
• The four verticals under the mission are Slum rehabilitation of slum dwellers with private participation, Affordable housing through credit linked subsidy, affordable housing in partnership with the private and public sector, subsidy for beneficiary led individual housing.

2. App for DefExpo 2020 launched

• DefExpo 2020 will be held in Lucknow for which the app has been launched.
• The app will provide information about the day to day events.
• DEFEXPO

• The exhibition is organized annually by the Defence Exhibition Organization which is an autonomous body under the Defence Ministry.
• It was established in 1981.
• The exhibition is organized for the promotion of export potential of the Indian Defence Industry.

3. National Symposium of Poets-2020

• National Symposium of Poets- 2020 was organized by All India Radio.
• The symposium had participation from all the 8^th schedule language (22 languages) poets.
• The symposium is organized annually and is being held since 1956. It is broadcasted on Republic Day.
• Republic Day is celebrated on January 26 every year to commemorate the enforcement of the constitution on January 26, 1950.

4. Air Alliance started direct flight under UDAN scheme

• A daily direct flight has been started from Kalaburagi to Bengaluru and Mysuru in  Karanataka by Air Alliance.
• Air Alliance has deployed 70 seater passenger aircraft for the flight.
• With the launch of the flight 238 routes have been operationalized under the UDAN scheme. 
• UDAN Scheme

• Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik is a scheme under the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• It aims to develop the regional aviation market.
• The booking is provided at subsidized rates by the airlines which are compensated to them through Viable gap funding.

5. ‘Politics of Opportunism’ book released by S Gurumurthy

• “Politics of Opportunism” book was released by Economist and Political Analyst S Gurumurthy.
• The book has been authored by RPN Singh and put light on the rise of regional parties and center- state relations.
• Swaminathan Gurumurthy is a part-time director in RBI. He is also an economist and political analyst.

6. HRD Minister has launched documents made by UGC

• Five documents based on five vertical under Higher Education Quality Improvement Programme Mandate developed by UGC has been launched in New Delhi by HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
• The five documents are based on evaluation reforms, eco-friendly and sustainable university campuses, human values and professional ethics, faculty induction and academic research integrity.
• To infuse values and ethics, UGC has developed a policy framework “MulyaPravah - Guidelines for Inculcation of Human values and Professionals Ethics in Higher Educational Institutions”.
• For ensuring a sustainable environment in universities, UGC has launched SATAT- Framework for Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Campus development in Higher Educational Institutions.
• Guru-Dakshta - A guide to Faculty Induction Programme will ensure faculty training to adopt a learner-centered approach.
• UGC-CARE has been launched to ensure the quality journal across various disciplines.
• UGC was established in 1965 under the parliamentary act, and its headquarters is located in New Delhi.

7. Bhubaneswar- New Delhi- Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express flagged off by Union Minister Dharmendra  Pradhan

• Union  Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has flagged off Bhubaneswar- New Delhi- Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express.
• The train has been painted to depict the culture of Odisha, showcasing dance forms, archaeological monuments, traditional Pattachitra, and flora and fauna of Odisha.
• The draping of the train has been done by the joint agreement of  East Coat Railway and National Aluminum Limited Company (NALCO).
• The unreserved tickets of 317 stations in Odia language were also launched on this occasion.

8. Comments of the public invited to BS-VI emission norms for Quadricycles

• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has asked for public comments on the proposed amendment to rule 115 of Central Motor Vehicle rules 1989 to mandate BS-VI emission norms which are in alignment with European norms.
• Under Rule 115, separate sub-rule 17-B is to be inserted after 17-A to make the BS-VI standards mandate for the quadricycles. Under 17-A, the BS-IV standards are applicable.
• BS-VI norms

• Bharat stage Emission Standards are vehicle's pollutant emission standards established by the Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and first enforced in 2000.
• BS-VI norms are to be implemented since 1^st April 2020. BS-VI fuel emits sulphur particles up to 10ppm and reduces nitrogen oxide emission by 70% in diesel cars and 25% in petrol cars as compared to BS-IV norms.
• Also, in diesel cars, the particulate matter emission is down by 80% in comparison with BS-IV norms.

• BS-IV norms

• Applicable since 2017, the norms call for 50 parts per million (ppt) emission of sulphur along with the reduced emission standards for nitrogen oxide, hydrocarbons and particulate matters as compared to BS-III norms

9. Farewell bade to MiG 27

• Indian Air Force has bidden farewell to a squadron of 7 MiG 27 used in 1999 Kargil War and Operation Parakram.
• The farewell function was organized at Jodhpur Air Base in Rajasthan.
• All other variants like MiG-23 BN and MiG-23 MF and the pure MiG-27 have already retired.
• Kargil war is the Indo- Pakistan war in 1999 that occurred in Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Operation Parakram was the Indo- Pakistan military standoff that occurred in 2001-02 in response to the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001.

10.  Avangard hypersonic missile glide vehicle launched by Russia

• Avangard hypersonic intercontinental nuclear missile glide vehicle, which can travel at 27 times the speed of sound, has been operationalized by Russia.
• Avangard can tolerate a temperature of 2000°C.
• It was launched on the top of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
• The Avangard vehicle can carry a nuclear weapon of 2 megatonnes.
• It has the capacity of fire and forgets, which means that it does not have a fixed projectile, thus making it difficult to detect.
• Intercontinental Ballistic Missile is a guided ballistic missile which has a minimum range of 5500 km.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), the government has set the goal for providing houses for all by______.

a. 2022

b. 2025

c. 2024

d. 2030

2. The____ edition of the DefenceExpo is going to be organized in Lucknow in 2020.

a. 10^th

b. 11^th

c. 12^th

d. 14^th

3. The National Symposium of Poets-2020 was held in-

a. Hyderabad

b. Bengaluru

c. New Delhi

d. Guwahati

4. UDAN scheme or Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik scheme was launched in –

a. 2015

b. 2013

c. 2019

d. 2017

5. Who among the following is the author of the book titled “Politics of Opportunism”?

a. Vimal Jalan

b. Shashi Tharoor

c. Keshav Singh Kushwaha

d. R P N Singh

6. Where is the headquarters of the University Grants Commission (UGC) located?

a. Pune

b. New Delhi

c. Kolkata

d. Mumbai

7. A new Rajdhani Express has been flagged off recently for which one of the following places?

a. Guwahati

b. Kashmir

c. Bhubaneshwar

d. Imphal

8. Bharat Stage vehicle emission standards are regulated under which of the following ministries?

a. Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change

b. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

c. Ministry of Home Affairs

d. Ministry of Labour & Employment

9. Recently which of the following fighter plane was retired from the Indian Air Force?

a. MiG-26

b. MiG- 24

c. MiG- 27

d. MiG-29

10. New Hypersonic Missile Avangard has been developed by which country?

a. India

b. USA

c. Russia

d. China

Solution

1. a

2. b

3. c

4. b

5. d

6. b

7. c

8. a

9. c

10. c