[CA] Sunday Bytes

(01)

"Saint" Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa became the fourth Indian to be made saint (on Sep 04, 2016)

(1) Sister Alphonsa [canonized on Oct 12, 2008]

(2)  Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara [canonized on Nov 23, 2014]

(3) Sister Euphrasia [canonized on Nov 23, 2014] and

(4) Mother Teresa [canonized on Sep 04, 2016]

[Saint Gonsalo Garcia, though of Portuguese parentage, was born in India, and is considered an India born saint.]

(02)

Talgo in India

Spanish Talgo train completed its final train between Delhi and Mumbai in less than 12 hours (11 hours and 42 minutes) at a maximum speed of 150 kmph

- Railways had conducted the first trial of Talgo trains on the Bareilly - Moradabad stretch in Uttar Pradesh and the second trial was held on the Palwal - Mathura section of North - Central Railway

(03)

Ms. Nadia Murad

Ms. Nadia Murad, a survivor of the ISIS atrocities, was selected to be the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for human trafficking

- Ms. Nadia was just 19 years old when ISIS terrorists took over her village in Iraq in 2014.

- She had witnessed her brother and father being killed in front of her eyes.

- During her three months of captivity, she was beaten up and raped several times.

- The time that she tried to escape, she was gangraped by six men till she lost consciousness.

- She opened up about her own dark experience while addressing the United Nations Security Council in 2015 which paints a gory picture of the ISIS-held northern Iraq

(04)

PSLV – C 35

Launch Date: Sep 26, 2016

Launched from: Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota

Weight: 671.25 kg

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its thirty-seventh flight (PSLV-C35), launched the 371 kg SCATSAT-1 for weather related studies and seven co-passenger satellites into polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). Co-passenger satellites are ALSAT-1B, ALSAT-2B, ALSAT-1N from Algeria, NLS-19 from Canada and Pathfinder-1 from USA as well as two satellites PRATHAM from IIT Bombay and PISAT from PES University, Bengaluru.

(05)

Pellet Guns

An expert committee (headed by T. V. S. N. Prasad) had recommended the use of Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide (PAVA) shells also called Nonivamide as an alternative to the Pellet guns; BSF had been already asked to manufacture the shells at their Tekanpur facility in Madhya Pradesh

(06)

ODF Cities

Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh becoming the first States to declare all cities and towns in respective States as Open Defecation Free (ODF) and a few districts including Porbandar also declared ODF, on the 147th Birth Anniversary of Mahatama Gandhi (Oct 02, 2016)which is also the second anniversary of Swachh Bharat Mission

- 180 cities in Gujarat and 110 cities in Andhra Pradesh

- 405 cities and towns have so far claimed to have become Open Defecation Free along with 20,000 of the 82,000 urban wards in the country

- Maharashtra, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and other North-Eastern States are on course to declare all urban areas as ODF soon.

(07)

Solar Power Generation

Now, Tamil Nadu leads in solar power generation in India(as of Sep 2016)

- With the commissioning of Adani's plant in Ramanathapuram Dt, the State's total installed capacity of Solar Power in the State has crossed 1400 MW

- Tamil Nadu (1491 MW); Rajasthan (1294 MW); Gujarat (1123 MW)

(08)

Siruvani River

A special resolution moved by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, opposing Kerala’s Attappady Valley irrigation project on the Siruvani River, was passed by the Kerala State Assembly recently. The resolution has urged the Centre not to accept the recommendations of the committee formed by the Environment Ministry, allowing Kerala to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project. Siruvani is an inter-State river and a sub-tributary of the Cauvery.

(09)

IAMWARAM Project 

Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation and Water Bodies Restoration and Management  to be funded by the World Bank

·        The Rs. 3,000-crore project, which is to be funded by the World Bank, is set to be started in March next year.

·        It is a multi-sector project to rehabilitate water resources, including tanks and canals, and increase agricultural productivity to improve the livelihood of farmers.

·        A detailed project report is being prepared to rehabilitate nearly 4,800 irrigation tanks, 471 anicuts in 66 sub-basins across 29 districts of the State.

·        Some sub-basins to be covered include Cauvery delta, Lower Bhavani, Lower Vaigai, Uppanar, Nagariyar, Manjalar, Lower Tamirabarani, and Upper Palar.

·        Nearly 5.43 lakh hectares of irrigation land is expected to benefit from the scheme.

(10)

Yatri Mitra Seva

It is an initiative of railways to improve the railway travel experience of elderly, differently-abled and ailing passengers. It aims to simplify access to wheelchairs, battery operated cars and porter services. The scheme will be operational at all major railway stations. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. has been entrusted with implementing services that can be availed at the time of booking tickets online, accessing an app to be developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems, calling or messaging ‘139’ IVRS, or by dialling a dedicated mobile phone number.