GOA

• 15 new village libraries set to come up in Goa

 

• The state government, in 2018, approved 15 applications to start new village libraries, after having shut down 21 of them between 2015 and 2017. According to the new guidelines, any village with a population of over 1,000 is eligible to get a library. Besides, librarians and staff of village libraries are set to receive a raise in remuneration, along with an upgrade in technological services.

 

• According to the recently released Goa State Village Panchayat/ NGOs Libraries Financial Assistance Scheme, 2018, any new library will be sanctioned in villages with a minimum population of 1,000 in the village/ward or within 4km radius from the existing library.

 

• At present, there are 121 village libraries in the state.

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

• India, Africa Field Training Exercise (IAFTX)- 2019

 

• Indian Africa Field Training Exercise (IAFTX)-2019 is scheduled to be conducted at Aundh Military Station and College of Military Engineering, Pune from 18 March to 27 March 2019.

 

• The joint training exercise is being conducted with more than a dozen African countries & India.

 

• The IAFTX-2019 is a positive step towards growing political and military ties with the member nations of African continent and will boost the already strong strategic cooperation between the countries.

 

 

 

NATIONAL

 

• JNPT becomes the only Indian port to be listed amongst the world’s top 30 container ports

 

• The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), India’s premiere container port got listed amongst the top 30 container ports globally.

 

• JNPT notched up five spots, to be 28th on the list, compared to its previous ranking.

 

• JNPT is located in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

 

• It is the largest container port in India.

Gk bit – Ports in India

• Port of Kandlais one of the highest earning ports of India, another port in Gujarat is Mundra Port,India’s largest private port.

 

• India has 12 major ports, 200 notified minor and intermediate ports. The total 200 non-major ports are in the following States:- Maharashtra (48); Gujarat (42); Tamil Nadu (15); Karnataka (10); Kerala (17); Andhra Pradesh (12); Odisha (13); Goa (5); West Bengal (1); Daman and Diu (2); Lakshadweep (10); Pondicherry (2); and Andaman & Nicobar (23).

 

• Government of India (GoI) plans to modernise these ports and has approved a project called Sagarmala.

 

• Indian government has a federal structure, and according to its constitution, maritime transport is to be administered by both the Central and the State governments. While the central government’s shipping ministry administers the major ports, the minor and intermediate ports are administered by the relevant departments or ministries in the nine coastal states Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

 

• There are total 13 major sea ports of India,out of 12 are government and one, Ennore port of Chennai is the corporate one. Ennore Port is one of the major port of India located at Coromandel Coast of Tamil Nadu state along with Kakinada Port and private Krishnapatnam Port and Mundra Port.

 

The 12 Major ports are-

 

Kandla Port- Gujarat

Nhava Sheva- Maharashtra

 

Mumbai Port – Selcted for Cruise Tourism in India

Marmagao Port- Goa

Panambur Port- Karnataka

Cochin Port- Kerala

Port Blair- Andaman

Tuticorin Port- Tamil Nadu

Chennai Port

Vizag Port- Andhra Pradesh

Paradip Port- Orissa

Haldia Port- West Bengal

·         Arunachal govt declares Pakke Hornbill Fest as ‘state festival’

• Government of Arunachal Pradesh declared the Pakke Paga Hornbill Festival (PPHF), as a “state festival”.

 

• The first-ever PPHF was held on January 16–18, 2015.

 

• It is the only conservation festival of Arunachal Pradesh.

 

• The festival is organized to recognise the role played by the resident Nyishi tribe in conserving hornbills in the Pakke Tiger Reserve (PTR),

·         Second World Integrated Medicine Forum 2019 Inaugurated in Goa

ð  Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, inaugurated 2nd World Integrated Medicine Forum 2019 in Goa.

ð  International drug regulators who are dealing with homeopathic or traditional medicines from various countries participated in the forum.

ð  It is organized by the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy under the Ministry of AYUSH along with World Integrated Medicine Forum.

ð  The theme for the forum is ‘ Regulation of Homeopathic Medical Products; Advancing global collaboration’.