Assam Current Affairs 2020 by AffairsCloud

State-Wise PDF
This is Paid PDF provided by AffairsCloud.com, Our team is working hard

in back end to provide quality PDF. If you not buy this paid PDF
subscription plan, we kindly request you to buy pdf to avail this service.
Help Us To Grow & Provide Quality Service
CURRENT AFFAIRS PDF PLANS

Current Affairs PDF 2020: Weekly, Study, Pocket and Q&A PDF’s
Current Affairs PDF 2019: Study, Pocket and Q&A PDF’s
Current Affairs PDF 2018: Study, Pocket and Q&A PDF’s
CRACK HIGH LEVEL PDF PLANS

Crack High Level: Puzzle & Seating Arrangement Questions PDF 2019
Crack High Level: English Language Questions PDF 2019
Crack High Level: Data Interpretation Questions PDF 2019
Suggestions & Feedback are welcomed
Support@affairscloud.com
Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 1

State-Wise PDF
Assam Current Affairs 2020
Table of Contents
Assam Current Affairs - January 2020 ...................................................................................................................... 3
Assam Current Affairs - February 2020 .................................................................................................................... 8
Assam Current Affairs - March 2020 ....................................................................................................................... 11
Assam Current Affairs - April 2020.......................................................................................................................... 15
Assam Current Affairs - May 2020 ........................................................................................................................... 15
Assam Current Affairs - June 2020........................................................................................................................... 21
Assam Current Affairs - July 2020 ............................................................................................................................ 24
Assam Current Affairs - August 2020 ...................................................................................................................... 27
Assam Current Affairs - September 2020 ............................................................................................................... 37
Assam Current Affairs - October 2020 .................................................................................................................... 46
Assam Current Affairs - November2020................................................................................................................. 52
Assam Current Affairs - December2020 ................................................................................................................. 61

State-Wise PDF
Assam Current Affairs - January 2020

Magh Bihu festival celebrated in Assam
On January 15,2020 Magh Bihu, an auspicious harvest festival is being celebrated in Assam. Magh Bihu falls in the
local month of ‘Magh’ during mid-january. It is also called ‘Bhogali Bihu’ or ‘Maghor Bihu’ as it is celebrated with
community feasts after the annual harvest takes place.
Key Points:
i.People began the day by gathering at the temple and offered prayers, beat up the drums and walk around the
bonfire.
ii.The highlight of this festival is the food, which is made from the abundance of grains after the harvest.
iii.The night before ‘Magh Bihu’ is called ‘Uruka’ meaning the night of feasts.
iv.The villagers make bamboo huts called ‘Bhelghor’ or community kitchen where they begin with the preparations
for the festival.
About Assam:
Capital- Dispur
Chief Minister (CM)- Sarbananda Sanowal
Governor- Jagdish Mukhi
National Parks (NP)- Kaziranga NP, Manas NP, Dibru Saikhowa NP, Nameri NP, Orang NP
Eight States finalized Agriculture Export Policy by the Government of India

On January 5, 2020, As per Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA),
eight states namely Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Punjab, and Karnataka
finalized an action plan for Agriculture Export Policy (AEP) to enhance exports.
Key Points:
i.Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) ensures the involvement
for states in AEP.
ii.A MoU was signed with the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) to include co-operatives for
active role in AEP. Over 800 farmers producer organizations were signed the agreement.
iii.The product clusters selected are Jalandhar, Punjab (Potato), Sangli, Maharashtra (Grapes), Salem, Tamil Nadu
(Poultry products), Theni, Tamil Nadu (Banana), Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh (Mango), Indore, Madhya Pradesh
(Onion), Jodhpur, Rajasthan (Isabgol) and Chikkaballapur, Karnataka (Rose Onion).
iv.Under the guidance of APEDA, states are operating a market intelligence cell.
v.APEDA launched the Farmer connect portal on its website to interact with exporters.
About Agriculture Export Policy:
i.Agriculture Export Policy was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2018.
ii.It aims to increase the potential of Indian agriculture to make India a global power in agriculture.
iii.This policy also helps the government in achieving the target of doubling the farmer’s income from 30 billion USD
to 60 billion USD by 2022.
Centre & Assam govt signed tripartite agreement with the banned NDFB
On January 27, 2020 Govt. of India has signed a tripartite agreement with the representatives of the
banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) organisation and Government of Assam at the Ministry
of Home Affairs (MHA). The pact was signed to boost peace in the Northeastern state of Assam. The agreement would
fulfill political and economic demands besides safeguarding the language and culture of the Bodo community people.
Agreement signing: The agreement was signed by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, four factions of the
NDFB, All Bodo Students’ Union(ABSU), Joint Secretary of Home Ministry Satyendra Garg and Assam Chief Secretary
Kumar Sanjay Krishna in presence of Union Minister of Home Affairs(MoHA) Shri Amit Shah.

State-Wise PDF
Tripartite agreement with NDFB:
i.Assistance: Over 1500 armed cadres will abjure violence and join the mainstream. A Special Development
Package Rs. 1500 crores for over 3 years will be given by the Govt. to undertake specific projects for the
development of Bodo areas.
ii.A commission under Section 14 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India will be set up. The commission
will work in recommending inclusion or exclusion of tribal population residing in villages adjoining the Bodoland
Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) areas.
Commision representatives: In this commission, apart from State government, representatives will also be from
ABSU and BTC. The recommendation will be submitted within 6 months from the date of notification.
iii.The All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU), which has been spearheading a movement for a separate Bodoland state also
signed the accord.
iv.Welfare council: The Assam govt will establish a Bodo-Kachari Welfare Council and will also notify Bodo
language as an official language in the state. A separate directorate for Bodo medium schools will also be established.
v.Similar agreement: Similar to the tripartite agreement, a pact named Bru-Reang agreement was signed on
January 16, 2020 to end the humanitarian crisis in the states of Meghalaya and Tripura by bringing the armed cadres
in Assam and 88 armed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) cadres in Tripura to bring them to the
mainstream.
vi.NDFB is an armed separatist outfit which seeks to obtain a sovereign Bodoland for the Bodo people. This is the 3rd
bodo accord signed in the last 27 years.
1st accord: The 1st was signed in 1993 leading to creation of Bodoland Autonomous Council with limited political
powers.
2nd accord: The second accord was signed in 2003 with the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) militant group leading to
formation of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). this pact lead to formation of 4 districts( Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baska
& Udalguri) in Assam to the BTC.
About Assam:
Capital- Dispur.
Largest city- Guwahati.
Chief minister- Sarbananda Sonowal.
Governor- Jagdish Mukhi.
Rivers- Dhansiri river, Kopili river, Subansiri river.
About National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)
Fact 1 – NDFB is an armed separatist outfit which seeks to obtain a sovereign Boroland for the Bodo people. NDFB is
headquartered in Myanmar (Burma).
Fact 2 – It was designated as a terrorist organisation by the Government of India.
Assam Rifles builds war memorial “Veer Samriti” in Nagaland for 357 martyrs
On January 30,2020 Assam Rifles (military unit) has constructed a war memorial “Veer Samriti” in Nagaland,
Kohima for 357 Army & Assam Rifles personnel, who died while fighting insurgency in north-eastern state. It is first
of its kind in Nagaland.
About “Veer Samriti” war memorial:
i.The memorial has been built at Mokokchung, Nagaland (one of the cultural & intellectual center), which was
planned & executed by Inspector General Assam Rifles (North), will be inaugurated soon.
ii.The names of the 357 martyrs have been carved on a single granite stone. The memorial is spread over 13,500 sq
feet & was built by 44 Assam Rifles.
iii.The 19 feet high war memorial is having 3 converging posts signifying the Army, Air Force and Assam Rifles.
About Assam Rifles:
Founded- 1835.
Headquarters- Shillong, Meghalaya.
Motto- Sentinels of the North East.
Director General- Lt Gen Sukhdeep Sangwan.

State-Wise PDF
Natyasurya Awardee dramatist Ratna Ojha passed away at 88 in Assam
On December 31, 2019, renowned Assamese dramatist, writer and social activist Ratna Ojha passed away in
Guwahati, Assam. He was 88. He took part in an ongoing protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
Key Points:
i.He was born on December 5, 1931, in Barpeta district of Assam.
ii.In 1971 he introduced street plays in Assam.
iii.He also introduced Cartoon Theater in Northeast and produced and directed the documentary film ‘Naam-ghar’.
iv.For his contribution in the field of theater, he received the prestigious Natyasurya Award in 2005.
Assam tops in best budgetary practices followed by Odisha,AP & Manipur at bottom: TII survey
On January 29, 2020 , According to the survey 3rd edition “Transparency In Budgetary Process Report” conducted
by Transparency International’s India (TII), Assam tops in the ranking of best practices followed by states
in budget formulation with a score of 70.
Key Points:
i.Assam was followed by Odisha (2nd with the score of 66) & Andhra Pradesh (AP) (3rd with the score of 64).While
Manipur ranked bottom with the score of 25.
ii.This survey is based on four parameters which includes public disclosure, budgetary process, post budget fiscal
management and efforts to make budget more transparent and citizen friendly.
iii.The survey classified the states in various categories including opaque (0-45 score), low level of transparency (46-
60), medium level of transparency (61-75), transparent (76-90) and highly transparent (91-100).
iv.The survey also recommends to enhance the budget transparency and accountability in state-wise. They include
better use of information, communication & technology for transparent financial management, strengthening
institutions involved in the budgetary process, formulate plans for citizen’s engagement in budgetary process among
others.
Top 3& Bottom 3 states in Budget Transparency:
Rank State Name Score
1 Assam 70
2 Odisha 66
3 Andhra Pradesh (AP) 64
19 Punjab 29
20 Meghalaya 28
21 Manipur 25
About Transparency International:
Headquarter– Berlin, Germany
Founded– 1993
Managing Director– Patricia Moreira
Chairman of Transparency International India (TII)– S.R. Wadhwa
Assam, Jal Shakti Mission & NDRF wins the best tableaux awards for 71st Republic Day Parade 2020
On January 28, 2020, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh distributed the awards for best tableaux which was
conducted on January 26, 2020, during the 71st Republic Day event. There were a total of 22 tableaux including 16
from various states and union territories and the remaining 6 from various ministries and departments.
Best Tableaux Awards (States and Union territories):
i.Assam’s tableaux displayed the theme ‘Land of Unique Craftsmanship and Culture’, had showcased the Xattriya
tradition in the form of Bhortal Nritya was chosen as the best tableaux.
ii.The second position was tied between Odisha which depicted Lord Lingaraja’s Rukuna Rath Yatra, and Uttar
Pradesh which showcased the culture of Sarva Dharma Samabhav.

State-Wise PDF
Best Tableaux Awards Ministry/Departments
Among the six tableaux from different ministries/departments, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) won
joint best Tableaux award for showcasing the cutting-edge technology and instruments used by the force to carry out
daring rescue operations in flood-hit and disaster-hit areas line with its motto ‘Aapda Sewa Sadaiv’ along with
Jal Shakti Mission who won best tableaux for government’s new initiative, ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’, which aims at
providing functional tap connection to every rural household by 2024.
Special Prize: Central Public Works Department (CPWD) won a special prize for the theme “Kashmir se
Kanyakumari”.
For the first time Lawn bowls & Cycling to be included in 3rd Khelo India Games 2020 to be held in Guwahati,
Assam
On 2nd January 2019, Chief Executive Officer of “Khelo India Games” has announced the inclusion of “Lawn bowls” and
“Cycling” in the 3rd edition of Khelo India Games. These two games will be included in the event for the first time.
Key Points:
i.Around 6500 athletes from 37 teams will take part in the 3rd edition of Khelo India youth games in Guwahati, Assam
which is scheduled to be held from 10th of January to 22nd of February at Indira Gandhi Stadium.
ii.The cultural events from Assam, North East and other states will be added in the event which starts from 13th to
15th of January at Sarusajai. The exhibition of indigenous games will also be held and there will be no entry fee for the
inaugural ceremony people can enjoy it free of cost.
About Khelo India Games:
Khelo India Youth Games, formerly Khelo India School Games are the national level multidisciplinary games in India
held for two categories, namely under-17 years’ school students and under-21 college students annually in January or
February.
Headquarters- New Delhi
Chief Executive Officer- Avinash Joshi
Overview of 3rd Khelo India youth games 2020 held in Guwahati,Assam

The 3rd edition of Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) 2020 was held at Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor
Stadium in Guwahati, Assam with the participation of over 10,000 students. Vijay the Tiger and Jaya the Black buck
were the mascots of the tournament. Maharashtra clinched Khelo India Youth Games 2020 champions trophy with a
collection of 256 medals (78 gold, 77 silver and 101 bronze).
Organized by Ministry for Youth Affairs and Sports & conducted in partnership with the School Games Federation of
India (SGFI), Indian Olympic Association (IOA), and Assam State government, it was held from January 9-22, 2020.
Top 3:
Rank State Gold Medal Silver Medal Bronze Medal Medal Tally
1 Maharashtra 78 77 101 256
2 Haryana 68 60 72 200
3 Delhi 39 36 47 122
Sprinter Hima Das was the torchbearer of opening ceremony of KIYG 2020
Indian sprinter Hima Das (nicknamed the Dhing Express) of Assam was the torchbearer in the opening ceremony
of the Khelo India Youth Games 2020.
Pugilist Harsh Bhagwan wins Daman and Diu’s first medal at KIYG 2020
Pugilist Harsh Bhagwan (17) has clinched a silver medal in the boys Under-17, 50-52kg category, becoming the
Union Territory- Daman and Diu’s first medal-winner in this 3rd edition of the Games.
Tamil Nadu girls won the under-17 basketball title
Tamil Nadu girls won the U-17 (under-17) basketball title by defeating Rajsthan with 59 -57 points at KIYG 2020
held in Assam.
Maharashtra wins U-17 & U-21 gold in Kho Kho
Maharashtra displayed their best performance at the Kho Kho events by winning all the 4 Gold medals in under-17
& under-21 boys and girls categories.

State-Wise PDF
Boys team from Maharashtra defeated Gujarat with 19-11 points,while the girls defeated Delhi with 14-8 scores in
their respective encounters in the finals.
UP secures gold in mix team event U-21 category in 10-m air pistol
Uttar Pradesh (UP) has clinched the gold medal in mix team event under 21 category in 10-meter air
pistol.Shooters Devanshi Dhama & Shravan Kumar represented UP team.
Assam wins 7 gold in new lawn bowls at Khelo India Youth Games
KIYG 2020 host Assam has won the 7 gold medals in newly introduced lawn bowls.
MP govt announces incentives for medal winners in Khelo India Youth Games
The Madhya Pradesh govt has announced an incentive of Rs 1 lakh to the gold medal winner, 75 thousand to the
silver medalist and Rs 50 thousand to the bronze medalist of the Khelo India Youth Games. A total of 46 medals
including 15 gold and 11 silver medals were clinched by Madhya Pradesh.
About Khelo India:
It is the biggest sporting event in India. It is a national level multidisciplinary grassroot games in India held for 2
categories, namely under-17 years school students and under-21 college students.
It was first launched in 2018 in New Delhi under the name Khelo India School Games (KISG).
Haryana emerged as top performers in the 1st edition & the 2nd edition was launched in Pune, Maharashtra, where
Maharashtra emerged as the top performers.
Chief Executive Officer- Avinash Joshi.
India won the T20 series during ‘2020 Sri Lanka tour of India’ held in Indore, Guwahati and Pune
The Indian Men’s cricket team played T20I (twenty twenty International) bilateral series against Srilanka during the
2020 Sri Lanka tour of India. India defeated Sri Lanka in final T20I to win three match T20I series for 2-0. The
three T20I matches were held in Guwahati(Assam), Indore (Madhya Pradesh) and Pune(Maharashtra). The first
match was in Guwahati but was abandoned due to rain. The highlights of the match are as follows:
Virat Kohli overtook Rohit Sharma to become highest scorer in T20I:
Indian cricketer Virat Kohi surpassed India’s Rohit Sharma to become the highest run-scorer in the T20I. Virat now
has 2,663 runs in the shortest format of the game.
Bumrah becomes India’s highest wicket-taker in T20:
India’s Jasprit Bumrah became the highest wicket-taker in the T20 match against Srilanka. He has now 53 T20
wickets under his name from 45 T20I matches overall. He achieved this feat after he dismissed Srilanka’s
opener Danushka Gunathilaka.
Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin were joint second highest wicket-takers by making 52
wickets from 37 matches and 52 wickets from 46 matches respectively.
Kohli becomes quickest to reach 11,000 international runs as captain:
Virat Kohli made another achievement by becoming the quickest to reach 11,000 international runs as a captain in
his 169th international match . He achieved the feat during the final T20I match against Srilanka. With this, Kohli
became the second Indian after Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Overall, he is the sixth captain to achieve the feat after Ricky Ponting (Australia), Graeme Smith (South Africa),
Stephen Fleming (New Zealand), MS Dhoni, and Allan Border (Australia).
ICC T20I rankings: Rahul ranked top among Indian batsmen, Kohli moves up
India opener Kannur Lokesh Rahul retained 6th position in the first ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings of the season
while Indian captain Virat Kohli moved up a place to 9th place. Apart from Kolhi and KL Rahul, no other Indians
were placed in the top 10 places in all the batting, bowling and all-rounder rankings.
Rank Batting rankings Bowling rankings All-rounder rankings
Mohammad Babar Azam Mohammad Nabi
1 (Pakistan) Rashid Khan Arman (Afghanistan) (Afghanistan)
Mujeeb Ur Rahman Zadran Glenn James Maxwell
2 Aaron James Finch (Australia) (Afghanistan) (Australia)
Sean Colin Williams
3 Dawid Johannes Malan (England) Mitchell Josef Santner (New Zealand) (Zimbabwe)

State-Wise PDF
About Match venues:
Barsapara Cricket Stadium- Guwahati, Assam.
Holkar Cricket Stadium- Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium- Pune, Maharashtra.
Assamese linguist Golok Chandra Goswami passed away at 96

On January 24,2020 Eminent linguist Golok Chandra Goswami passed away at the age of 96, in Guwahati, Assam due
to old age ailments. Golok Chandra Goswami was born in Morigaon, Assam in 1923.
Goswami pursued his master’s degree in Assamese language in Gauhati University, Assam. In 1985 he retired from
Gauhati University as head of the Assamese department. In 2018, he was awarded with Hemchandra Barua Bhasha
Sahitya Sadhana award by Sadin-Pratidin group.
Key Points:
i.Golok Chandra Goswami well-known books are:
‘An Introduction to Assamese Phonology’.
‘Structure of Assamese’.
‘Assamese-Its Formation & Development’.
‘Dhvani Bigyanor Bhumika’.
‘Asomiya Bornoprakash’.
‘Asomiya Akhor Jotoni’.
ii.Honours: Goswami was honoured with
Sahityacharya title by Assam Sahitya Sabha.
Bhashacharya title by Asom Bhasha Bikash Samiti.
Anundoram Borooah Award by Anundoram Borooah Institute of Language, Art and Culture.
Assamese litterateur Sashi Sarma passed away at 89

On January 29, 2020 Famous Assamese litterateur Sashi Sarma, 89 years old passed away at his home Nalbari, Assam
due to age-related ailments.
Awards: Sarma had received Soviet Nehru Award in 1968 & the Sitanath Brahma Chowdhury Award from Assam
Sahitya Sabha.
Key Points:
i.Sarma was an academic, intellectual and an example of Hindu-Muslim unity in Assam and authored nearly 100
books. He was a retired professor of Nalbari college, Assam and his last book ‘Antim Jatra’ was released in 2019
Assam Current Affairs - February 2020

President gives nod for delimitation exercise in NE States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur
andNagaland
On February 28, 2020, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his nod for resuming delimitation exercise in the
northeastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland by rescinding/cancelling the February 8,
2008 order. The decision has been taken following the improvement in the security situation in these states and a
reduction in insurgency incidents.
Background:
A Delimitation Commission was set up under the Delimitation Act, 2002 to readjust the division of each state and
union territory into territorial constituencies for the purpose of Lok Sabha and state assembly elections on the
basis of census figures of 2001. The Delimitation Commission completed the delimitation exercise on November 26,
2008 in respect of all the states, except in these four northeastern states due to threat to the peace and public order.
What is Delimitation?
According to the Election Commission website, it means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial
constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body.

State-Wise PDF
-Delimitation Commissions in India have been constituted four times in the past in 1952 under the Delimitation
Commission Act, 1952, in 1963 under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962, in 1973 under Delimitation Act, 1972 and
in 2002 under Delimitation Act, 2002.
-This process is assigned to a high power body namely Delimitation Commission or a Boundary Commission, whose
orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court.
-The Copies of the orders passed by Delimitation Commission has to be laid before Lok Sabha and the State
Legislative Assembly.But no modifications are permissible there in by them.
APEDA-CFTRI Sign MoU for Liason Office in Guwahati to Promote Food Processing & Organic Agri
Exports in North-East States
On February 4,2020 A Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) was signed between CSIR-CFTRI(Council of Scientific
& Industrial Research- Central Food Technological Research Institute) and APEDA (Agricultural & Processed Food
Products Export Development Authority ) to set up a Liaison Office, Guwahati, Assam to provide technical support to
the food industries in the NorthEast region.It will benefit the farmers, products and entrepreneurs.
Key Points:
i.CSIR-CFTRI had brought many innovative efforts to the market.
ii.Apeda has undertaken many promotional activities in the North-east states of India.
iii.Apeda has organized 5 international buyer-seller meets in Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh & Sikkim.
iv.To create awareness on agriculture and exports in the North-East states, converting the large areas of land into
organic certification training is provided based on requirements based on National Programme on Organic
Production (NPOP).
About CSIR-CFTRI:
Founded- 21 October 1950.
Headquarters- Mysore, Karnataka.
Director- Dr Karumanchi Srisaila Mallikarjuna S Raghavarao.
About APEDA:
Founded- 1986.
Headquarters- New Delhi.
Chairman- Pawan Kumar Borthakur.
High-level committee headed by retired Justice Biplab sharma submits report on clause 6 of Assam
accord
On February 25, 2020, A high-powered committee headed by retired former Gauhati High Court (HC) Justice Biplab
Kumar Sarma has formally submitted its report on implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord of 1985 to
Assam Chief Minister (CM) Sarbananda Sonowal in the presence of state’s finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and
other officials. The report will then submitted to the Union Home Minister (HM) Amit Shah.
Key Points:
i.The Clause 6 of the Assam Accord of 1985 was signed between the All Assam Students Union (AASU), Union
government and Assam government on August 15, 1985, in the presence of then prime minister (PM) Rajiv
Gandhi.Under this, the centre agreed to accept all the migrants that entered before 1966 & also affirms to provide
constitutional, legislative and administrative measures to protect and preserve the cultural, social, linguistic identity
of the Assamese people.
ii.The Central Government on July 16, 2019 setup a high-level committee for recommending measures to implement
the Clause 6 of the Assam Accord.
About Assam:
Capital– Dispur.
Largest city– Guwahati.
Governor– Jagdish Mukhi.
Rivers– Dhansiri river, Kopili river, Subansiri river.

State-Wise PDF
1 in 3 payments for maternity benefit scheme ‘PMMVY’ credited to wrong account: NITI Aayog
report
On February 23, 2020, According to “Transforming Nutrition in India: Poshan Abhiyan”, a 2nd progress report on
Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment (POSHAN) Abhiyaan (Nutrition Mission) until
September 2019, released by the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog, worryingly 1 in 3 of
Aadhaar-based payments for Centre’s maternity benefit scheme/ Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana
(PMMVY) was credited to a wrong bank account. As per the report, 28% of 31.29 lakh of all Aadhaar-based
payments are going to different bank accounts than what had been provided by the beneficiaries.
Key Points:
i.As per the data gathered until March 31, 2019, the report notes that 66% of the direct benefit transfers for the
PMMVY were based on Aadhaar.
ii.According to a telephone survey of 5,525 beneficiaries, undertaken by the Ministry of Women and Child
Development (WCD), showed that just 60% of beneficiaries under the scheme were aware of the receipt of the
benefits and the bank accounts to which the money was remitted.
iii.Background: There have been records of long term delays with some beneficiaries having to wait for 2 years
period to get the benefit. They also facing problems in filling up the 32-page application form and providing nine
identity documents.
iv.Ranking of the states:
The report also ranked states & Union Territories to measure their readiness to execute the programme across 4
themes: governance and institutional mechanism; strategy and planning; service delivery and capacities; and
programme activities and intervention coverage. The States were classified into large and small categories for a
better comparison.Among the 19 large States, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh scored the top 3
ranks with the scheme implementation score of over 70%. While, Among the 8 small States, Mizoram and Sikkim
scored above 75%. Similarly, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Chandigarh, and Daman and Diu scored above 75% & got top 3
spot among 7 Union Territories list.
Top 3 states in the ranking
Rank Large States (19) Small States (8) Union Territories (7)
1 Andhra Pradesh Mizoram Dadra and Nagar Haveli
2 Chhattisgarh Sikkim Chandigarh
3 Madhya Pradesh Nagaland Daman and Diu
Bottom 3 states in the ranking
Karnataka- 17th Tripura-6th Andaman and Nicobar Islands-5th
Assam-18th Manipur-7th Delhi-6th
Kerala -19th Goa-8th Lakshadweep-7th
v.Way forward: The report stressed to simplify the documentation and operational rules to avoid delays in money
transfer & also proposed to rationalize the mandatory waiting period of 180 days before the second installment is
released as well as the compulsory birth certificate for the release of the 3rd installment.
About PMMVY:
It is a maternity benefit programme being implemented in all districts of the country with effect from 1st January,
2017.Under this, pregnant women and lactating mothers get ₹5,000 for their 1st child in 3 instalments (of Rs1,000,
Rs2,000 and Rs2,000) on fulfilling some conditions including early registration of pregnancy, Ante-natal check-up,
and Registration of the birth of the child and completion of first cycle of vaccination for the first living child of the
family.The amount is meant to compensate women for the loss of wages and is aimed at ensuring a healthy
nutritional development of the newborn baby.
India to host the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup 2020; ‘Kick Off the Dream’ is official slogan
On February 18, 2020 Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju announced the 5 host cities of India for the FIFA
(Federation Internationale de Football Association) Under-17 Women’s Football World Cup which begins on 2nd

State-Wise PDF
November 2020.The official slogan of the tournament is: Kick Off the Dream.
Key Points:
i.Host cities: Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Bhubaneshwar (Odisha), Guwahati (Assam), Kolkata (West Bengal) and Navi
Mumbai (Maharashtra) were confirmed as the 5 host cities for the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
ii.Finals: The final match will be held at Dr D Y Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra on 21st November 2020.
iii.Participants: 16 teams will compete across 32 matches to lift the title.
About FIFA:
Motto- For the Game, For the World.
Headquarters- Zurich, Switzerland.
FIFA Chief Women’s Football Officer- Sarai Bareman.
President- Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino.
Former Assam Speaker and sitting MLA Pranab Kumar Gogoi passed away at 84
On February 3,2020 Former Assam Legislative Assembly Speaker and sitting Congress MLA (Member of the
Legislative Assembly) Pranab kumar Gogoi, 84 years old passed away in Guwahati, Assam due to age-related illness.
He was born on 19th August 1936 in Dibrugarh, Assam.
Key Points:
i.Pranab Kumar belongs to Indian National Congress (INC) party and was first elected as Legislator from the Assam
Legislative Assembly from Sivasagar, Assam for 4 consecutive terms.
ii.He also served as minister in Tarun Gogoi-led cabinet from 2006-2011 and speaker of the Assam legislative
assembly in 2011.
iii.In 2015, Pranab Kumar took the definition of the term ‘Assamese’.
Assam Current Affairs - March 2020

Rs 33 cr for Kaziranga under Project Tiger scheme; Rs 1.51 crore under CAMPA for FY2018-19 & FY19-20
On March 2, 2020, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified that under the
Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), a financial assistance of Rs 1.51
crore has been sanctioned to Kaziranga National Park in Kanchanjuri, Assam during the financial years 2018-19
and 2019-2020.For the financial years 2018-19 Rs 94,46,585 was sanctioned while Rs 51,24,670 was allocated for
2019-2020.
Apart from this, under the Project Tiger scheme, Rs 33 crore was sanctioned. A financial assistance of Rs 10.30 crore
was sanctioned for 2018-19 and Rs 22.81 crore was allocated for 2019-20 to Kaziranga Tiger Reserve, which includes
Kaziranga National Park.
Utilization of allocation:
-Highlands and platforms have been constructed in national parks to give shelter to animals during high flood.
-Anti-poaching camps in strategic locations have also been constructed with sufficient armed guards, besides
deployment of boats during flood and use of modern technologies like ‘electronic eye’ for smart patrolling.
About Project Tiger scheme:
Initiated in April 1, 1973, Project Tiger was started to save tigers from getting extinct by taking preventive measures.
It was launched in Jim Corbett National Park, Uttrakhand under the leadership of Indira Gandhi to save Royal Bengal
Tigers. After the project, the number has increased from 1200 to around 5000.
About Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC):
Union Minister- Prakash Javadekar
Minister of State (MoS)- Babul Supriyo
Andhra Pradesh ranked 1st in the country for overall implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan
On March 9, 2020 Andhra Pradesh (AP) ranked 1st in the country for overall implementation of POSHAN( Prime
Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan as per September 2019 progress report of NITI

State-Wise PDF
Aayog, “Transforming Nutrition in India: POSHAN Abhiyaan”.The 2nd anniversary of POSHAN Abhiyaan is recognized
by celebrating Poshan Pakhwada from 8th-22nd March 2020.
Overall Implementation Status of POSHAN Abhiyaan
It is classified under 3 categories & the following is named according to the position.
Top Position
Rank Large State Small State UT
1 Andhra Pradesh Mizoram Dadra & Nagar Haveli
2 Chhattisgarh Sikkim Chandigarh
3 Madhya Pradesh Nagaland Daman & Diu
Bottom Position
Large State Small State UT
Karnataka(17) Tripura (6) Andaman & Nicobar (5)
Assam (18) Manipur (7) Delhi (6)
Kerala (19) Goa (8) Lakshadweep (7)
i.Large State (19)-AP, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu,
Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Rajasthan ,Bihar ,Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka,
Assam, Kerala.
ii.Small State (8)- Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Manipur, Goa.
iii.Union Territory(7)- Dadra & Nagar Haveli,Chandigarh, Daman & Diu,Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar, Delhi,
Lakshadweep.
Highlights of AP
As part of the programme it also trained all Angan Wadi Workers on modules created based on lifecycle approach
where 1st 1000 days of life, with the support of incremental learning Approach (ILA)& has given
55,607smartphones to them, to improve delivery service & to report day to day actions, as well as to council the
target.
Poshan Pakhwada 2020
The focus area of Poshan Pakhwada 2020 is ‘Men for Nutrition – Increasing Male Engagement in POSHAN Abhiyaan
to Improve Nutritional Indicators‘.It aims to reduce malnutrition from the country in a phased manner through the
life cycle concept, by adopting a synergized & result-oriented approach.
Tamil Nadu tops in Poshan Abhiyaan’s participants list
Tamil Nadu tops the list of the states in terms of the number of participants in the programme.
POSHAN Abhiyaan
It was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of the International Women’s Day on 8 March,
2018 Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan. It is India’s flagship programme to direct the attention of the country towards the
problem of malnutrition & address it in a mission-mode. It is earlier called as National Nutrition Mission (NNM),
since 18th December, 2017.
NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog has played a critical role in shaping the POSHAN Abhiyaan &
it is required to submit implementation status reports of POSHAN Abhiyaan every 6 months to the Prime Minister’s
Office (PMO).
The goals of POSHAN Abhiyaan
To achieve improvement in the nutritional status of Children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women &
Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner with fixed targets & aims to bring down stunting of children in the age
group of 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by the year 2022.
Strategy/Pillars for implementation of the mission are:
Inter-sectoral convergence for better service delivery
Use of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) for real time growth monitoring & to track women & children
Intensified health & nutrition services for first 1000 days
Jan Andolan

State-Wise PDF
About AP
Capital- Amaravati
Chief Minister– YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
Governor– Biswa Bhusan Harichandan
Centre constitutes Delimitation commission for J&K, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal, chaired by former SC judge
Ranjana Prakash Desai
On March 06, 2020, In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of the Delimitation Act, 2002, the Central
government has set up a Delimitation Commission , headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash
Desai, for the delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies of the Union Territory of Jammu and
Kashmir (J&K) and the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh(AP), Manipur and Nagaland.
Key Points:
i.The Commission will also comprise of members,viz an Election Commissioner (presently Mr. Sushil Chandra) and
the State Election Commissioners of the respective States and UT,who will be made ex-officio members of the
commission. Ranjana Prakash has been appointed for a period of one year.
ii.The Commission is mandated to delimit the Lok Sabha and Assembly Constituencies in J&K under the provisions of
the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act,2019 while the provisions of the Delimitation Act 2002 will delimit
Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. Delimitation was done based on the 2001 census.
The Section 60 of the J&K Reorganisation Act,2019 stipulates that the number of seats in its Legislative Assembly will
be increased to 114, from the present 107. Of these, 24 seats have been reserved for Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
iii.Such Delimitation Commissions have been formed 4 times in India – in 1952 under the Delimitation Commission
Act, 1952, in 1963 under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962, in 1973 under Delimitation Act, 1972 and in 2002
under Delimitation Act, 2002.
Delimitation Commission:
It is appointed by the President of India (presently Ram Nath Kovind) and works in collaboration with the Election
Commission of India.
What is Delimitation?
It refers to the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country to represent
changes in population.
Why it is needed?
The primary aim of delimitation is to provide equal representation to similar segments of the population. It also aims
at proper division of geographical areas so that one political party does not get an inappropriate advantage over
others in elections.
It also aimed to follow the principle of One vote One value.
Issues with Delimitation:
The States that take less interest in population control could end up with a greater number of seats in Parliament.
About Ministry of Law and Justice:
Headquarters– New Delhi
Union Minister– Ravi Shankar Prasad
Assam Government to construct 33 stadiums under Uttaran scheme

The Assam Government plans to construct 33 stadiums across the state under the Uttaran Scheme, 300 crores will
be provided to construct these stadiums announced by Principal Secretary of Sports Avinash Joshi and Joint Director
Kamaljit and 500 playgrounds are being built to encourage rural talents.
Key Points:
i.The Government has decided to provide an amount of Rs.50,000 to 1000 players and Rs.75,000 will be given to
2500 clubs.
ii.The Uttaran Scheme is adopted by the Assam Government to give a new dimension to the visions of the MLAs and
to implement innovative projects which will be suitable to local needs.
About Assam:
State Animal- One-horned rhinoceros

State-Wise PDF
State Festival- Bihu
Chief Minister- Sarbananda Sonowal
Governor- Jagdish Mukhi
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal honoured with Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee award for politics
: Swarajya Awards 2020
On February 28, 2020 Assam’s Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was honoured with Swarajya Awards 2020 under
the category, Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee Award for Politics at the 6th India Ideas Conclave at Tent City
Narmada in Gujarat. The award is instituted by India Foundation & Indic Academy, & presented by External Affairs
Minister S Jaishankar and Speaker of People’s Majlis of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed.
He received the award for his work in integrating the nation, & to take Mukherjee’s vision & philosophy forward.
He dedicated the award to the people of Assam, who have been the source of inspiration and guidance during his
public life.
About Swarajya Awards
The award aims to Honor the stellar work by individuals in the field of culture, social work, politics & economics.Each
award will carry a citation, a specially designed trophy & a cheque worth Rs. 1 lakh.
Winners List
Awardee Category Field
Sarbananda Sonowal Dr S P Mukherjee Award Politics
K Parasaran Sree Narayana Guru Award Social Work
Bharatbala Ustad Bismillah Khan Award Culture
N K Singh Dr B R Shenoy Award Economics
About Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee
i.He was born on 6th July 1901& served as the youngest Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University (1934-1938).He
became the First Minister of Commerce and Industry of India (1947 – 1950) & is the founder of BJP
ii.In 2015, the Government of India launched the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban Mission (SPMRM) to drive
economic, social and infrastructure development in rural areas and create 300 rurban areas to stem increasing
migration to urban areas.
iii.In his memory Shyama Prasad Mukherji College of University of Delhi was established in 1969.
Jadav Payeng environmental activist of Assam named as 128th Commonwealth Points of Light Award winner
On March 3 2020, Jadav Payeng, an environmental activist of Assam also known as the “Forest man of India”
named as 128th winner of Commonwealth Points of Light Award. He had spent 30 years of his life for planting trees.
He was honored by the Head of Common Wealth the Queen Elizabeth II for his exceptional volunteer service in
environmental conservation.
Jadav Payeng ,57 years old had created a sandbar as forest reserve and home to animals ,birds and various species on
the bank of river Brahmaputra.The sandbar is a part of Majuli, the world’s largest river island.Molai forest also
created by Jadav Payeng.
Padma Shri Jadav Payeng also received the Karmayogi Award for 2020 at New Delhi.
Commonwealth Points of Light Award:
The Award was First established by former the U.S. President George H. W. Bush in 1990 and it is given to thank
inspirational volunteers across the 53 Commonwealth nations.
Former Indian Footballer Abdul Latif passed away at 73

On March 23, 2020, Abdul Latif, former India football player and 1970 Asian games bronze medallist passed away at
the age of 73 in Guwahati, Assam. He also represented India in Asia Cup Qualifier in 1968 in Myanmar and Merdeka
Cup in 1969 in Kuala Lumpur.
Key Points:
i.About Latif: He was born on June 20 of 1947 in Mysore, Karnataka.He played as a midfielder and also played for the

State-Wise PDF
two famous Kolkata clubs Mohammedan Sporting Club and Mohun Bagan.
ii.He was the coach of the Assam team which won the junior & sub-junior national titles under his guidance.
Assam Current Affairs - April 2020

PM-KISAN: Aadhaar seeding process for beneficiaries of Assam, Meghalaya, J-K, Ladakh extended till March,
2021
The relaxation given to Assam, Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh regarding the mandatory requirement of
Aadhaar seeding for beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme has been
extended for one more year till 31st March 2021 from 31st March, 2020. Aadhaar seeding is a process of linking
Aadhaar number with primary bank account number or with Government Official documents like Pan Card etc.
As we all know that under the PM-KISAN scheme the release of benefits is done only through Aadhaar seeded data of
beneficiaries uploaded by the State / UT Governments on the PM-KISAN portal. But Assam, Meghalaya and the UTs of
J&K and Ladakh have been exempted from this till 31st March, 2020, due to less penetration of Aadhar in these
places.
Reason behind extension:
It has been assessed that the above mentioned places are taking more time to complete the work of Aadhaar seeding
for beneficiaries and if the extension is not approved then the beneficiaries of these States / UTs may not be able to
avail the benefits of the Scheme w.e.f. 1st April, 2020.
Assam govt launches new medicine delivery scheme called ‘Dhanwantari’

On April 24, 2020, The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is now rampant across the country & many people are now in dire
straits without getting the required medicine in their area during the lockdown.
In view of this, the Assam state government’s health department has launched a special scheme
called ‘Dhanwantari’, under which locally unavailable medicines will be delivered to patients at home. This medicine
is free up to 200 rupees.
Key Points:
i.Dhanwantari: How it works?
If the required medicine is not available at a distance of 10 km from the house, the government will provide the
medicine at home. This facility can be availed by calling 104.
If this medicine is available within the district, the health department will supply the medicine within 24 hours.
Similarly, 48 hours will be required for delivery from other places i.e. from the Regional Center and one week will be
required for delivery from outside the State.
ii.A total of 4,000 MPWs (Multipurpose Health Workers), ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers and
aspirants from across the state will be directly involved in this service.
About Assam:
Capital– Dispur
Chief minister– Sarbananda Sonowal
Governor– Jagdish Mukhi
National Parks– Dibru-Saikhowa National Park ,Kaziranga National Park, Manas National Park, Nameri National
Park
Assam Current Affairs - May 2020

NBWL permits coal mining in part of Assam’s Dehing Patkai elephant reserve
On April 24, 2020, National Board for Wild Life (NBWL),the apex body to review all wildlife-related matters, has
permitted the use of 98.59 hectares of land at Saleki, a part of the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve in Assam for
opencast coal mining project done by North-Easter Coal Field (NECF), a unit of Coal India Limited. While, the rest of
the area may be used for underground coal mining.

State-Wise PDF
Key Points:
i.Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve that includes the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary (also known as Jeypore
Rainforest) consists of an 111.19 sq km area of rain forests and several reserve forests in Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and
Tinsukia districts.
ii.The above decision was revealed by the minutes of the 57th Meeting of the Standing Committee of National Board
for Wildlife (NBWL) chaired by Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Prakash Javadekar on
April 17, 2020 through video-conferencing.
iii.Panel setup:
The NBWL formed a committee in July 2019 to assess the mining sector. It consist of member R. Sukumar, a
representative of the wildlife division and the state chief wildlife warden of Assam.
As per the committee, 57.02 hectares of forest land has already been used for mining by Coal India Limited and that in
the remaining 41.39 hectares of unbroken area should be adopted cautiously due to the rich biodiversity.
About Assam:
Capital– Dispur
Chief minister– Sarbananda Sonowal
State Bird– White-winged wood duck
State River– Brahmaputra
About National Board for Wildlife (NBWL):
Formed in 2003 under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, it is under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and
Climate Change (MoEFCC). It is responsible for promotion of conservation and development of wildlife and forests.
68.2% of under-5 deaths in India due to child, maternal malnutrition; UP topped: Global Burden of Disease
Study 2000–17
In accordance with the two papers on child survival published by India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative titled
“Subnational mapping of under-5 and neonatal mortality trends in India: the Global Burden of Disease Study
2000–17”, child and maternal malnutrition was the predominant risk factorin India as it attributed to 68·2% of
under-5 deathswhile low birth weight and short gestation led to 83·0% of neonatal deaths in 2017. On the other
hand, 10·8% of under-5 deaths could be attributed to unsafe water and sanitation and 8·8% to air pollution.
The papers are published in Lancet and EClinicial
Medicine.
The Initiative is a collaborative effort among the Indian
Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Public Health
Foundation of India (PHFI), the Institute for Health Metrics
and Evaluation (IHME), and a number of other key
stakeholders in the country.
The work of this initiative has been approved by the Health
Ministry Screening Committee of the Indian Council of
Medical Research and the ethics committee of the Public
Health Foundation of India.
These recently published papers are India’s first
comprehensive consolidated and detailed analysis of sub-
national trends of child mortality and growth failure for all
the districts and States in India.
Key Points:
-The studies find that the under-5 mortality rate
(U5MR) and neonatal mortality rate (NMR) in the first month of life have dropped substantially since 2000, but
there is a 5-6 fold variation in the rates between the States and 8-11 fold variation between the districts.
U5MR in India decreased from 83·1 in 2000 to 42·4 per 1000 livebirths in 2017.
NMR decreased from 38·0 to 23·5 per 1000 livebirths.

State-Wise PDF
-Child growth failure, measured as stunting, wasting and underweight has improved in India since 2000, but their
rates vary 4-5 fold among the districts and the inequality between the districts within many States has increased.
Highest number of under-five and neonatal deaths in 2017 were reported in Uttar Pradesh (UP) followed by
Bihar
In Uttar Pradesh, 48% of the districts fell in the highest priority category of high NMR and low rate of reduction for
the nationwide distribution of the district-level rates. The highest number of under-five deaths in 2017 was reported
in Uttar Pradesh at 312,800, which included 165,800 neonatal deaths.
The second highest deaths were reported in Bihar at 141,500 which included 75,300 neonatal deaths.
In Assam, which the study said, had the second highest child mortality rate in 2017.
Projections:
U5MR: If the U5MR trends estimated up to 2017 were to continue, the projected U5MR for India would be 29·8 per
1000 livebirths in 2025, which would be higher than the NHP 2025 target of 23, and 23·2 in 2030, which would be
lower than the SDG 2030 target of 25.
NMR: If the NMR trends up to 2017 were to continue, the projected NMR for India would be 17·6 (14·7–21·4) and
14·7 (11·8–18·4) per 1000 livebirths in 2025 and 2030, respectively.
India’s target of U5MR & NMR
India had the largest proportion, about a fifth, of the 5·4 million under-5 deaths globally in 2017.
India’s National Health Policy (NHP) 2017 set a target of 23 deaths per 1000 livebirths for under-5 mortality and
16 deaths per 1000 livebirths for neonatal mortality by 2025.
Government has also set a target of fewer than ten neonatal deaths per 1000 livebirths by 2030 under the India
Newborn Action Plan.
To reach the SDG 2030 targets individually, 246 (34%) districts for U5MR and 430 (59%) districts for NMR would
need a higher rate of improvement than they had up to 2017.
Click Here for Official Report
About Global Burden of Disease Study 2000–17:
RakhiDandona, Professor at the Public Health Foundation of India and was the lead author of the child mortality
paper.
Hemalatha, director, National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR, was the lead author of the child growth failure paper.
Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Indian Council of Medical Research, Department of Health Research,
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India provided funds for this study.
About PHFI:
President– Prof. K. Srinath Reddy
Headquarter– New Delhi
About IHME:
Director– Dr. Christopher J.L. Murray
Headquarter– Seattle, Washington, United States (US)
About ICMR
Director General– Prof. Balram Bhargava
Centre sets up “Rice Export Promotion Forum” to promote rice export

On 12th May 2020, Centre set up a new body Rice Export Promotion Forum (REPF) to give impetus to rice exports
under the aegis of Agricultural and Processed Foods Export Promotion Development Authority(Apeda).
Key points:
i.The Constitution of Rice Export Promotion Forum has been done considering the importance of exporting rice and
inherent the potentials and multifarious issues faced in the exportation.
ii.Basmati and non-basmati varieties are India’s largest commodity of agri-export basket.In 2018-2019 the shipments
stood at 7.77 billion USD with 4.72 billion USD by basmati export and 3.05 billion USD by non-basmati.
iii.The Rice Export Promotion Forum will be comprised of representatives from the rice industry, exporters, officials
of Apeda, Commerce Ministry, Agriculture Ministry and the Directors of Agriculture from West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh,

State-Wise PDF
Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Odisha who are the major rice producing
states.
iv.The identity and anticipated developments in the production and exports and the necessary policy measures will
be monitored by the EPF.
v.EPF will facilitate, support and provide solutions to the rice producers, exporters and other relevant stakeholders.
vi.EPF will identify, document the particulars and reach out the stakeholders in the production and supply chain of
the rice export and increase the export to the global market.
vii.India was allowed to export non-basmati from 2011 which led India to become the largest exporter of cereals.
viii.The Production rate has been growing steadily in the past several year, From 96 million tonnes in 2010-2011
went upto 117.47 million tonnes in 2019-2020
About Apeda:
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority is an apex body under the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry, Government of India, responsible for the export promotion of agricultural products.
Chairman- Paban K.Borthakur
Director- Tarun Bajaj
Established- December 1985
Head Office- New Delhi
Centre gives environmental clearance for drilling & testing of hydrocarbons in Assam’s Dibru Saikhowa Park
On May 20, 2020 Public Sector Undertaking(PSU) major Oil India Ltd(OIL) informed that the Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change(MoEF&CC) gave environmental clearance for extension drilling and testing
of hydrocarbons at 7 locations inside the Assam’s Dibru-Saikhowa National Park(NP) from about 1.5 km distance
outside the boundary of the forest with the help of the Extended Reach Drilling(ERD) technology by which can reach
the target depth of around 3.5 km beneath the surface of the NP without carrying out any drilling activity inside the
NP.
The clearance was given as part of the Centre’s target to reduce 10% imports and the Northeast Vision 2030, & the
commercial production from this area shall also enable OIL to meet the same centre’s target
Key Point
OIL affirmed that use of ERD technology will not disturb the environment and the NP situated
in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts
Background
i.To establish the fact that OIL will not enter the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park area, OIL went through an elaborate
process to obtain the necessary approvals from statutory bodies like MoEF&CC after fulfilling the stringent guidelines
and adhering to various compliances
ii.In order to tap the hydrocarbon resources underneath the Park, the company had approached statutory bodies for
obtaining necessary permissions in 2016 on the basis of the ERD technology.
About ERD
The ERD techniques are widely used to cut hydrocarbon targets far from the surface or areas of the reservoir which
otherwise are difficult to access. By using this technology, wells can be drilled up to a depth of about four kilometers
from the existing well foundation without entering the protected area.
Other approvals
Union Environment and Forest Minister & Chairman of National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) Prakash Javadekar has
approved a coal-mining project in the Saleki reserve forest which is a part of the Dihing Patkai Elephant
Reserve(a part of Dihing Patkai wildlife sanctuary) spread over Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts through video
conference in April. Dihing Patkai is known as the ‘Amazon of the East’.
About MoEF&CC:
Union Minister– Prakash Javadekar(Constituency- Maharashtra)
Minister of State– Babul Supriyo(Constituency- Asansol, West Bengal)

State-Wise PDF
Himanta Biswa Sarma presented Rs 1,03,762 cr Assam Budget for FY 2020-2021
On March 6, 2020, Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma presented Budget for Assam for the financial year
2020-21. He presented his fifth and final budget as the finance minister of Sarbananda Sonowal-led government.
Gross State Domestic Product of Assam: At current prices) is projected to be Rs 4,08,627 crore.
Total expenditure: For 2020-21 it is estimated to be Rs 1,03,762 crore.
Total receipts (excluding borrowings): These are estimated to be Rs 92,231 crore.
Revenue surplus: It is targeted at Rs 9,154 crore, or 2.24% of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
Fiscal deficit It: is targeted at Rs 9,383 crore (2.3% of GSDP). In 2019-20, the fiscal deficit is estimated to be Rs
21,531 crore (5.92% of GSDP).
Revenue expenditure: For 2020-21 is proposed to be Rs 82,777 crore
Growth rate: From 2016-17 to 2019-20 is 12.38%.
Highlights from Budget:
-Assam to acquire 1.65% additional stake worth Rs 1,500 Crore in Numilagarh Refinery Ltd (NRL).
–Taxes: State sales tax on petrol and diesel cut by 50 paise. Agriculture tax has been withdrawn. No new tax
proposals in the budget speech. No hike in excise, forest tax and GST.
–Subsidy: Income support of Rs 830 per month will be provided to 27 lakh families through direct benefit transfer
mode. Rs 2,800 crore has been allocated for this purpose.
–Free rice: It will be provided to all beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act, as part of the Anna Yojana
initiative. Rs 472 crore has been allocated for this initiative for the year 2020-21.
–Entrepreneurship: Two lakh youth of the state will be covered under the revised Swami Vivekananda Youth
Empowerment Yojana to encourage youth to form entrepreneurial groups. Seed capital of Rs 50,000 will be provided
to each member of such groups to initiate entrepreneurial activities. Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated for this
purpose.
–Study assistance: Admission fee waiver, free textbooks & uniforms in Government Schools. Rs 1000 will be
provided to 1 lakh students for textbooks. Textbook assistance of Rs 1500 and Rs 2000 for students at graduate and
postgraduate levels.
–Electric vehicle registration fee to be cut by half for women owners.
Click here to find complete report: https://finassam.in/budget_documents/
About Assam:
Chief Minister – Sarbananda Sonowal
Capital– Dispur
State animal– One-horned rhinoceros
State bird– White-winged duck
India, Bangladesh sign pact to operationalise 5 more ports of call & 2 new routes
On May 20, 2020 India & Bangladesh signed the 2nd Addendum to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade
in Dhaka. Under this pact- Increased 5 more ports of call from earlier 6(Total- 11) & extended 2 ports of call in each
country; 2 new Indo Bangladesh Protocol(IBP) routes(from 8 to 10) & new locations are also added to the existing
routes to facilitate the trade between two countries
It was signed by the High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh, Riva Ganguly Das, and Bangladesh Shipping Secretary
Mohammad Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury.
Ports
New Ports– The new ports of call in India are Dhulian, Moya, Kolaghat, Sonamura and Jogigopha & in Bangladesh will
be Rajshahi, Sultanganj, Chilmari, Daudkandi and Bahadurabad
Inclusion of Jogigopha and Bahadurabad will provide connectivity to Meghalaya, Assam and Bhutan. Jogigopha also
becomes important, since a Multimodal Logistics Park is proposed to be established there.
Significance of new ports
The new Ports of Call will enable the loading and unloading of cargo transported on the Indo Bangladesh Protocol
Route and provide a stimulus to the economic development of the new locations and their hinterland.

State-Wise PDF
Extended Ports are: In India- Tribeni (Bandel) will be under Kolkata Port of Call and Badarpur will be under
Karimganj Port of Call. In Bangladesh- Ghorashal under Narsingdi district will be under Narayanganj Port of Call and
Moktarpur under Munshigaj district will be under Pangaon Port of Call
Existing ports of call: In India- Kolkata, Haldia, Karimganj, Pandu, Shilghat and Dhubri. In Bangladesh- Narayanganj,
Khulna, Mongla, Sirajganj, Ashuganj and Pangaon
Routes
The inclusion of Sonamura (India)- Daudkandi (Bangladesh) stretch of Gumti river (93 Km) as IBP route No. 9 & 10
in the protocol will improve the connectivity of Tripura and adjoining States with Indian and Bangladesh`s economic
centres and will help the hinterland of both the countries. This route shall be connecting all existing IBP routes from 1
to 8.
Key Points
i.Under this Protocol, Inland vessels of both the countries can ply on the designated protocol route and dock at Ports
of Call in each country, notified for loading/unloading of cargo.
ii.There is significant improvement in the movement of cargo vessels in an organized manner on the protocol route
carrying both the transit cargo to the North East(NE) region of India and vice-versa and export-cargo to Bangladesh.
iii.The Indian transit cargo is- mainly coal, fly-ash, POL and ODC for power projects in NE region. Fertilizers, cement,
food grains & agricultural products are among other potential cargo for movement
iv.The export cargo from India to Bangladesh is mainly fly-ash which is to the tune of 30 lakhs MT per annum. Around
638 inland vessels (including 600 Bangladeshi flag vessels) completed annually with about 4000 loaded voyages.
v.The modifications will facilitate trade between two countries with improved reliability and cost effectiveness.
Use of shallow draft mechanized vessels
Both countries have agreed to introduce trade between Chilmari (Bangladesh) and Dhubri (India) through the use of
shallow draft mechanized vessels, provided these are registered under Inland Shipping Ordinance 1976 of
Bangladesh or Inland Vessels Act, 1917 of India as per provisions of Article 1.3 of the Protocol and conform to safety
requirements.
Significance– Will allow export of stone chips and other Bhutanese and North East cargo to Bangladesh and easy
access for the traders to the hinterland of Bangladesh, enhancing the local economy in Bangladesh and the lower
Assam region of India.
Background
i.This Protocol, which was first signed in 1972 (immediately after independence of Bangladesh) and since then the
two countries have renewed the agreement through PIWTT (Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade).
ii.It was last renewed in 2015 for 5 years with a provision for its automatic renewal for a further period of five years
giving long term assurance to various stakeholders.
iii.During the discussions between India and Bangladesh at these meetings held in October, 2018 in New Delhi and in
December 2019 in Dhaka, key decisions were taken on the extension of protocol routes, inclusion of new routes and
declaration of new Ports of Call. These decisions have been made effective with the signing of the 2nd Addendum to
the Protocol.
What is “Port of call”?
As per the shipping Monitoring, Reporting and Verification(MRV) regulation, a “port of call” can be defined as the port
of a country where cargo or a passenger (cruise) ship halts to discharge or load the cargo or to embark or disembark
passengers.
About Bangladesh:
Capital– Dhaka
Currency– Bangladeshi Taka
Prime Minister– Sheikh Hasina
President– Abdul Hamid
Freedom fighter Padma Shri Gandhian Hema Bharali passed away at 101
On 29th April 2020, Freedom fighter and Padma Shri Gandhian Hema Bharali well known as Freedom Activist, social
worker, Sarvodaya leader passed away due to prolonged illness at her home in Guwahati at the age of 101 and a
spinster. She was born in Assam on 19th February 1919.

State-Wise PDF
Key Points:
i.Hema Bharali participated in the relief operations during the earthquake in North Lakhimpur in 1950 and helped
the people in the Assam- Arunachal Pradesh border in the Chinese aggression in 1962.
ii.Hema Bharali was a front ranking Leader of Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan Movement and she engaged herself in rural
development, strengthening of national integration, spread of basic education and removal of social discrimination.
iii.She contributed to women empowerment and made efforts to uplift the socially and financially challenged section
of the society.
iv.Awards: In 2005 She received the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in the Republic of India from of
Dr.A.P.J Abdul Kalam.
v.In 2006, The National Foundation for Communal Harmony under the Ministry of Home Affairs awarded her the
National Communal Harmony Award and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Memorial Award for National Integration from the
Assam government.
About Assam:
Capital– Dispur
Official Animal– Indian rhinoceros
Official Bird– White-winged duck
Assam Current Affairs - June 2020

Centre approved funds for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Odisha, Meghalaya, Assam & Bihar
On the lines of the announcement made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 regarding Jal Jeevan Mission
(JJM) which aims to provide “Functional Household Tap Connection” (FHTC) to 18 Crore rural households of the
country by the year 2024, the Centre has approved funds for the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the following
states during FY2020-2021:
Centre approves Rs 812 crore for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Odisha
Centre has approved a higher allocation of Rs 812 crore for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Odisha during
2020-21 in comparison to the Rs 297 crore in FY19-20. The government of Odisha is planning to provide over 16 lakh
household connections in 2020-21 with a target of 100% household tap connections by the year 2024.
Priority is being given for 100% coverage of villages under water-scarce areas, quality-affected areas, Sansad Adarsh
Gram Yojna villages, villages in Aspirational Districts and SC/ST dominated habitations.
Odisha was allocated Rs 2,258 crore under the 15th Finance Commission Grants to Panchayati Raj Institutions
(PRIs) during 2020-21. 50% of the amount has to be mandatorily spent on water and sanitation.
Centre approves Rs 175 crore for implementation of JJM in Meghalaya
Centre has approved 175 crore rupees for implementation of JJM in Meghalaya during 2020-21. The allocation has
been made on the basis of the Annual Action Plan presented by Meghalaya to National JJM, Ministry of Jal Shakti
under which the state has proposed 100% tap connections to all the households by December, 2022.
In FY20-21, out of 5.89 lakh total rural households, the State will provide 1.80 lakh tap connections.
The State has been allocated Rs. 182 Crore under 15th Finance Commission Grants to PRIs during 2020-21; 50% of
this amount has to be mandatorily to be spent on water and sanitation.
Notably, Meghalaya is blessed with more than average rainfall and has abundant natural water resources. However,
due to detrimental human interference, the water levels are depleted.
Centre approves Rs 1,407 crore for implementation of Jal jeevan mission in Assam during 2020-21
Centre has approved Rs 1,407 crore for implementation of JJM in Assam during the year 2020-21. Assam has planned
to provide functional tap connections to 13 lakh rural households in 2020-21, out of total 63 lakh households.
The state also planned to immediately provide household tap connections to all remaining households belonging to
weaker and marginalised sections on a priority basis.
Centre allocates over Rs 1,832.66 cr for implementation of JJM in Bihar
Centre has allocated Rs. 1832.66 crore for implementation of JJM in Bihar during 2020-21. Bihar is planning to
provide tap connections to the remaining 1 crore 50 lakh households in 2020-21 therefore the state will have 100%
coverage of all households with functional tap water connections by 2020-21.

State-Wise PDF
Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has been launched in partnership with States, to enable every household in villages to have a
FHTC within the premises by 2024.
Arunachal Pradesh plans to provide tap connection to all rural households by March 2023
Govt of India approved Rs 255 Crore for the State under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in 2020-21. The State proposed to
provide 100% tap connections to all the households by March, 2023. Out of 2.18 lakh total rural households, the State
is planning to provide 77,000 tap connections in 2020-21.
The State has been allocated Rs. 231 Crore under 15th Finance Commission Grants to PRIs during 2020-21.
Being implemented in partnership with States, the Mission aims to enable every rural household has assured
availability of potable water at a service level of 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd) on regular and long-term basis so
as to bring improvements in lives of rural folks.
Puducherry plans to provide tap connections to all rural households in 2020-21
National Jal Jeevan Mission has approved the Annual Action Plan of Puducherry for FY2020-2021 under which
household tap connections will be provided to remaining households.
The UT has been advised to focus on 24*7 service delivery in rural areas, so that the villages can act as ‘utilities’ with
focus on ‘service delivery’.It’s also planned to conduct Internet of Things (IoT) based sensor monitoring for water
supply in villages.
It should be noted that all the above states are giving emphasis on the “low-hanging fruits” i.e. in the villages/
habitations where piped water supply schemes already exist, so that remaining households could be provided with
tap connections easily in very less time.
About JJM:
It aims to enable every rural household has assured availability of potable water at a service level of 55 litres per
capita per day (lpcd) on regular and long-term basis. As a mission target, all states are presenting their
implementation plans to the National level Committee headed by Secretary, Department of Drinking Water &
Sanitation, Govt. of India for approval.
The estimated outlay of the mission is Rs 3.60 Lakh Crore with Central and State share of Rs. 2.08 Lakh Crore and
Rs.1.52 Lakh Crore respectively.
FPI Minister Harsimrat Kaur Launches Food Processing Edition of Exclusive Investment Forum Hosted by
Invest India
On June 22, 2020, The Union Minister of Food Processing Industries (FPI) Harsimrat Kaur Badal has launched
the Food Processing Edition of the Exclusive Investment Forum (Webinar) hosted by Invest India.
The Forum, aims to conduct detailed interaction between leading global companies in the food processing sector and
policy makers of the central and 6 State Governments (Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Telangana,
Uttar Pradesh).
Discussion at the Forum:
A total of 180 companies from 18 countries participated in the forum, which saw the discussion over the critical
aspects for investment decisions ranging from policy incentives, industrial zones, infrastructure capabilities and
special investor facilitation services were discussed at the forum so as to make India the next Global Investments hub.
Badal at the Forum:
– As per Badal, there is a need to make the western world aware of the superfoods of India. In addition, there is a lot
of opportunity in the ready to eat segment, in which global retailers may consider having Indian food in their stores.
– Government also decided to form Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS)’ and ‘Project Development Cell’ (PDC) in
Ministries / Departments to boost the domestic as well as foreign investments in food processing sector.
-As companies are moving away from countries they were importing food products from different countries, we
should promote ‘go vocal for local’ thought of PM Modi and use our domestic food products.
About Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI):
Minister of State (MoS)- Rameswar Teli

State-Wise PDF
SCL Das to head the committee constituted by Petroleum Ministry to inquire the Assam oil well disaster
On June 12 2020, A 3-member high-level committee was formed by the Petroleum Ministry to inquire the disaster
at Oil India Ltd well in Assam. The panel will be headed by Director General of Directorate General of Hydrocarbons
(DGH), SCL Das, other members of the panel include BC Bora former ONGC(Oil and Natural Gas
Corporation) chairman and T K Sengupta former ONGC director.
The objective of the Panel: To identify the lapses in following laid down protocols and procedures which led to the
incident and submit a report in a months time.
Note: The committee will also recommend short and long term measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
How did the disaster happen?
on May 27, 2020, a blowout occurred when natural gas mixed with condensate started flowing uncontrollably from
one of the wells of Oil India Ltd (OIL) in Baghjan fields in Tinsukia district of Assam subsequently the well caught
fire on June 8, 2020, spreading to about 200 m around the well and claiming two lives of OIL India firefighters.
What is being done to control the fire?
Engineers and an expert team from Singapore based M/s Alert with Crisis Management Team and V.P. Mahawar,
Ex-Director (Onshore) of ONGC with the efforts of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been trying to
tame the 4-day fire to the mouth of well, which needs capping to completely extinguish the fire.
Evacuation of the people around the region is being done to ensure the safety of the people.
OIL India has provided financial aid of Rs.30,000 to each of the affected families.
About the Petroleum Ministry:
The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas is concerned with the exploration and production of Oil & Natural Gas,
refining, distribution and marketing, import, export and conservation of petroleum products
Minister of Petroleum and Natural gas- Dharmendra Pradhan
Padma Shri Pritam Singh, a pioneer in management education passed away at 78

On 3rd June 2020, The Management guru, Padma Shri Pritam Singh, who contributed more than 50 research papers
and 7 books on management education in India and abroad passed away at the age of 78 at a hospital in Gurugram
due to cardiac arrest.
About Pritam Singh:
Career:
i.He served as the Director of Management Development Institute(MDI), Gurgaon (1994-1998 & 2003-2006) and
Indian Institute of Management(IIM), Lucknow (1998-2003) and Director General of RP-Sanjiv Group which
promoted the International Management Institute(IMI), New Delhi (2011-2014).
ii.He chaired the sub committee on Institutional Management and Leadership Development in Higher Education by
the Planning Commission for the 12th 5 year plan(2012-2017).
iii.He was a member of the Ministry of Home Affairs Committee for capacity building of IPS officers.
iv.He was a board member of 10 private and public sector organisations supporting them in chartering a corporate
strategy.
Awards:
i.He received the Padma Shri in 2003 in the field of Management Education.
ii.He was the first asian to receive the “Global Thought Leader 2006-2007” from the Moscow International
Business School MIRBIS.
iii.He was the recipient of Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan Memorial Award: Teacher of Teachers in 2009 and the
Vivekananda Foundation honoured him with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
iv.The first Award for Academic Leadership in Management Education’ at the Inaugural session of All India
Management Association’s (AIMA’s) Knowledge 2009 was conferred to him.
Authored Books:
The Leadership Odyssey, published in 2015, Millennials and the Workplace published in 2012, In Search of Change
Maestros published in 2011 and Organizing and Managing in the Era of Globalization published in 2010are some of
the books authored and edited by Pritam Singh.

State-Wise PDF
About AIMA:
President– Sanjay Kirloskar
Director General– Rekha Sethi
Assam Current Affairs - July 2020

Assam Government to Upgrade Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary to National Park amid Coal Mining
Row
On July 6, 2020, the government of Assam has decided to upgrade the 111.942 sq km Dehing Patkai Wildlife
Sanctuary into a national park which is located within the larger Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve, spreading across
the coal- and oil-rich districts of Upper Assam (Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Sivasagar).
• This decision followed the National Board of Wildlife’s (NBWL), under the Union Ministry of Environment,
Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), conditional clearance to a coal mining project by Coal India Limited
(CIL) in the 98.59 hectares of Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve which resulted in virtual protests in the state.
Key Points:
-Background: Notably, Dehing Patkai, also known as Amazon of East, forms the largest stretch of tropical low-land
rainforests in India and is believed to be the last remaining contiguous patch of low land rainforest area in Assam.
Besides Asiatic elephants, leopards, hoolock gibbons, pangolins and bears, Dehing Patkai is also home to over 200
species of birds, various reptiles and many species of butterflies and orchids. It is also the place with the highest
concentration of the rare endangered White Winged Wood Duck. Therefore, concerns were raised that the habitats
of these species would be affected due to wanton coal mining.
–In order to expedite the process of upgrading Dehing Patkai into a national park, the state’s forest department will
prepare a draft notification for public hearing and will also take necessary actions for up-grading Dehing Patkai into a
national park in consultation with the MoEFCC.
Static Points:
-The wildlife sanctuaries are protected areas which permit some activities such as grazing but national parks require
complete protection status under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
-The Dehing Patkai was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 2004.
-Post upgradation, Dehing Patkai will be the 6th national park in Assam. The other five are Kaziranga, Nameri,
Manas, Orang and Dibru-Saikhowa.
About Assam:
Chief Minister (CM)- Sarbananda Sonowal
Capital– Dispur
Governor– Prof. Jagdish Mukhi
Poba Reserve Forest in Assam’s Dhemaji to be upgraded to wildlife sanctuary

The Chief Minister (CM) of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal has announced the upgradation of Poba Reserve Forest, a
vital biodiversity hotspot in Dhemaji district of Assam, as a wildlife sanctuary. The announcement was made during a
meeting with senior officials of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Majuli districts at Jonai.
• Declared in 1924 as Poba Reserve Forest, it has an area of 10,522 hectares and is home to a large number of
flora and fauna.
• CM also visited the Outer Jonai and Bera Sapori areas in the district and took stock of the devastation caused
by the flood.
About Assam
Capital– Dispur
Governor- Professor Jagdish Mukhi

State-Wise PDF
Capitals of NE states to be connected through rail network by 2023
On July 17, 2020, during a virtual interaction with the media, Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav has
announced the connectivity of all capitals of North-Eastern (NE) states through rail network by 2023. Railways is
already implementing a project in this regard.
• The capitals of Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh are already connected. The work to connect capitals of
Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Meghalaya is in progress.
• In Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya, the capital connectivity work is in progress. Manipur will be
connected in March 2022, Mizoram in March 2023, Nagaland in March 2023, Meghalaya in March 2022 and
Sikkim in December 2022.
Apart from above, attempts to connect every part of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to the railway are also underway, and
the 111 km Katra-Banihal rail link project is likely to be completed by December 2022.
About Railway Board:
Parent organization– Ministry of Railways
CoM of Assam passes MSME Ordinance

On June 29, 2020, In a big boost to Aatma Nirbhar Assam, Council of Ministers (CoM) of Assam has passed
the MSME(micro, small and medium enterprises) Ordinance during the meeting held in presence of Chief
Minister (CM) Sarbananda Sonowal in Guwahati.
• The Ordinance gives provision to put an end to the process of taking multiple permissions for setting up MSME
in the state for next 3 years.
Assam govt changes academic year of schools from January-December to April-March
The state government also decided to change the academic year to April-March from existing January-December in
order to make-up for academic loss due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak.
Following the changes,the current academic session will end on March 31, 2021 and the new academic session will
start by April, 2021.
Other key decisions of the meeting:
i.The CoM allocated 200 bigha of Ashok Paper Mill at Jogighopa for India’s first International Multi-Modal Logistic
Hubthat will help new investments, employment and trade.
ii.A loan of Rs 338.28 crore from NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development)for development
works in various sectors, 15th Finance Commission Grant in the ratio of (70 % for gaon panchayat, 15 % for anchalik
panchayat and 15 % for zila parishads), amendment of the Bengal-Agra-Assam Civil Court Act, 1887, for increasing
the financial limit of cases in lower courts from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh & Assam College Employees Provincialisation
Act, 2005 are also approved.
iii.An ordinance for extension of dates of GST return has been passed & reduction in Earnest Money Deposits (EMDs)
for mines auction to 0.5 % for general category and 0.25 % for SCs/STs have taken during the meeting.
About Assam:
Capital– Dispur
National Parks– Dibru-Saikhowa National Park ,Kaziranga National Park, Manas National Park, Nameri National
Park.
Assam: Guwahati gets “BANDICOOT” the first manhole cleaning robot in Northeast
On 28th July 2020, Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Minister of Guwahati Development Department inaugurated Guwahati’s
first manhole cleaning robot named “BANDICOOT”, an automatic sewer cleaning device. Guwahati became the first
city in the Northeast region to get a manhole cleaning robot.
BANDICOOT:
i.BANDICOOT was developed by Genrobotics, an Indian startup company under the Make in India initiative.
ii.The funding for the development of BANDICOOT was provided by the Indian Oil Corporation Limited(IOCL) under
the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.

State-Wise PDF
iii.The robot supports easy removal of sludge from the underground drain and will help the elimination of manual
scavenging.
Key Points:
i.The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) procured the BANDICOOT along with 6 Skid Steer Loaders (Mini
loaders) from JCB.
ii.After Gurugram and Coimbatore, Guwahati is the third city to acquire the technology to clean manhole.
About Assam:
Chief Minister– Sarbananda Sonowal
Capital– Dispur
Recent Related News:
i.Railway Protection Force of Central Railway (CR), Pune division, Maharashtra launched a Robotic ‘Captain Arjun’
(Always be Responsible and Just Use to be Nice) to intensify the screening and surveillance of passengers.
ii.CSIR- Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI), Durgapur developed the robotic
device HCARD (Hospital Care Assistive Robotic Device) to help the frontline healthcare workers in maintaining
physical distance from those infected by COVID-19.
India’s maternal mortality ratio declined to 113 in 2016-18: Registrar General’s Sample Registration
System (SRS)
In accordance with the “Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2016-18”, released by the Office of the
Registrar General’s Sample Registration System (SRS), the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India has declined to
113 in 2016-18 from 122 in 2015-17 and 130 in 2014-2016 and almost 100 deaths lesser than in the period of 2007-
2009.
• States have been categorized into three groups namely, Empowered Action Group (EAG) States, Southern
States and Other States during the survey.
• The southern States registered a lower MMR — Andhra Pradesh (65), Telangana (63), Karnataka (92), Kerala
(43) and Tamil Nadu (60) as compared to states of Assam & EAG viz. Assam (215), Bihar (149), Madhya
Pradesh (173), Chhattisgarh (159), Odisha (150), Rajasthan (164), Uttar Pradesh (197), Uttarakhand (99) and
Jharkhand (71).
• In the category of other states Punjab has a maximum MMR of 129.
Points to be Noted:
-The target of United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of 3.1 is to reduce the global maternal
mortality ratio to less than 70 per 1,00,000 live births.
-The maximum proportion of maternal deaths during 2016-18 is 33% in the age group of 20-24.
Important Terms:
Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR): It is defined as the proportion of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births,
reported under the SRS.
Maternal Mortality Rate: This is calculated as maternal deaths to women in the ages 15-49 per lakh of women in
that age group, reported under SRS.
Maternal Death: As per World Health Organization (WHO), maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant
or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its
management.
Sample Registration System (SRS): It is India’s largest demographic sample surveys that among other indicators
provide direct estimates of maternal mortality through a nationally representative sample.
About Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India (ORGI):
The Office of the Registrar General, India works under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Registrar General & Census Commissioner– Dr. Vivek Joshi
Click Here for Official Link

State-Wise PDF
On May 10, 2020, ORGI released its SRS bulletin based which has presented the estimates of Birth Rate, Death Rate,
and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) for the year 2018 for India and its States/UTs.
• As per that, India’s infant mortality rate (IMR) has improved very marginally from 33 per 1,000 live births in
2017 to 32 in 2018.
• The death rate of India has witnessed a significant decline over the last four decades from 14.9 in 1971 to 6.2
in 2018.
• There has been about an 11% decline in birth rate in the last decade, from 22.5 in 2009 to 20.0 in 2018.
Assam Current Affairs - August 2020

Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ Launches India Report – Digital Education June 2020 prepared by Digital
Education Division of MHRD
On 28th July 2020, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ Union Minister for Human Resource Development(HRD) launched the
compilation India Report – Digital Education June 2020 prepared by the Digital Education Division of Ministry of
Human Resource Development (MHRD) in consultation with Education Departments of States and UTs.
The report highlights the methods adopted by the MHRD and the Education Department of States and Union
Territories(UT) to ensure the accessibility to education for the children at home.
Note:
The Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD) was renamed as the Ministry of Education(MoE) on 29th
July 2020.
India Report – Digital Education:
i.The report discusses on the projects to assist the students, teachers and scholars on digital education like DIKSHA,
Swayam Prabha TV Channel, Online MOOC courses, On Air Shiksha Vani, DAISY by NIOS(differently-abled), e-
PathShala, National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER) to develop e-content and energized books
and other digital initiatives of State and UT Governments.
ii.The social media tools like WhatsApp Group, YouTube channel, Google meet, Skype were used as a medium to
connect the students.
iii.The E-learning portals, Television, Radio and DIKSHA were majorly used by the stakeholders.
iv.States and UTs have also distributed textbooks for children to ensure inclusive learning.
Remote learning Initiatives of State Governments:
• Chhattisgarh – Padhai Tunhar duvaar (Education at your doorstep)
• Goa partnered with Embibe, an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered online platform to support the entrance exam
preparation of the students.
• Jammu – Project Home Classes
• Kerala – educational TV channel (Hi-Tech school programme)
• Lakshadweep – distributed tablets with e-content for students.
• Meghalaya – E-scholar portal as well as free online courses for teachers
• NCT of Delhi – Mission Buniyaad
• Rajasthan – SMILE (Social Media Interface for Learning Engagement)
Telangana – online certificate programs for teachers on ‘Management of mental well-being during COVID’.
• Uttarakhand – uses Sampark Baithak App to provide videos, puzzles, worksheet for primary level students.
Mobile Apps Launched for Remote Learning:
State Mobile Application
Assam Biswa Vidya Assam Mobile App
Bihar Vidyavahin app, Mera Mobile Mera Vidyalaya for students and Unnayan Bihar Teacher App
Chandigarh Phoenix Mobile app
Madhya Pradesh Top Parent App

State-Wise PDF
Maharashtra Learning Outcomes Smart Q Mobile App

Punjab iScuela Learn Mobile App
Sikkim Edutech App
Tripura EmpowerU Shiksha Darpan
Uttar Pradesh Top Parent app
Low tech forms of teaching:
i.Radio talks in mother tongue and Regional Doordarshan are used for teaching in Arunachal Pradesh and districts of
Jharkhand.
ii.Classes are telecasted from a virtual control room over the local TV channels in Puducherry.
iii.Comic books for students of classes 3 to 5 are published in Manipur.
iv.To provide online education for students in low network area’s Ladakh collaborated with Non-governmental
organisations like EMBIBE Bangalore and 17000 feet.
v.Haryana conducts quiz competition to engage students amid lockdown due to global pandemic.
vi.Toll Free Call Centre and Toll Free Video call centre were started in Andhra Pradesh to support the students with
limited access to TV and Radio and no access to internet.
vii.Motor iskool and a toll free number as VFS (Virtual Field Support) were started by Chhattisgarh.
viii.Gujarat initiated Vanchan Abhiyan,a reading campaign and Parivar no maalo-salamat ane humfaalo (family’s
nest-safe and warm) to provide socio psychological support for children.
ix.West Bengal also started a toll-free helpline number to clarify the students’ doubts.
x.Karnataka launched Pariksha Vani, an exam preparation program through Doordarshan
xi.Tamil Nadu provides an online practice test for students of government and government aided for NEET exam.
About Ministry of Education(MoE):
The Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD) was renamed as the Ministry of Education(MoE) on 29th
July 2020.
Union Minister– Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’
Minister of State– Sanjay Dhotre.
i.Union HRD Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank launched an Artificial Intelligence(AI) -powered mobile app called
the ‘National Test Abhyas’ developed by National Testing Agency(NTA) to enable candidates to take mock tests for
JEE Main and NEET.
ii.Union HRD Minister releases three handbooks prepared by CBSE on Cyber security for students, 21st Century Skills
and Principals’ handbook.
India’s Longest River Ropeway Inaugurated in Guwahati, Assam

On August 24, 2020 The Guwahati Passenger Ropeway Project connecting the Northern and Southern banks of the
Brahmaputra River was inaugurated by the Assam State Minister of Finance, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Guwahati
Development Department(GDD) Minister, Siddhartha Bhattacharya. The ropeway service is 1.8 Kilometres long,
making it the longest ropeway distance over a river in the entire country.
The project is set to become operational by August 24, 2021 and has been built at an estimated cost of Rs 56 Crore.
Key Points:
i.The ropeway service will cover the distance in seven-eight minutes reducing the travel time between Guwahati
&North Guwahati by almost one hour.
ii.The lower terminal of the ropeway is at Kachari Ghat in Guwahati’s Panbazar, while the upper terminal is at
Rajadwar village behind Dol Govinda Temple in North Guwahati.
iii.Even Though the capacity of the cabin is 32 passengers, in order to maintain social distancing protocols due to the
Pandemic only 15 passengers will be allowed in the initial phases.
iv.The ropeway gives the passengers a glimpse of the Umananda Temple on Peacock Island and the Kamakhya shrine
in the Neelachal hills.

State-Wise PDF
v.The rope car service will give a major boost to tourism in Guwahati and will also greatly reduce the traffic
congestion.
i.On July 7, 2020 The Chief Minister (CM) of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal announced the upgradation of Poba
Reserve Forest, a vital biodiversity hotspot in Dhemaji district of Assam, as a wildlife sanctuary.
ii.On 25th June 2020, The National Green Tribunal (NGT) formed a high level committee headed by Justice BP
Katakey, former High Court judge of Gauhati, to investigate the blowout at Assam’s Baghjan oil well of Oil India
Limited(OIL).
About Assam:
Capital – Dispur
National Parks – Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, Kaziranga National Park, Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife
Sanctuary, Nameri National Park, The Orang National Park.
National Commission on Population: Projects India’s Population to be More Feminine by 2036

The National Commission on Population under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) submitted the
Report of the Technical group on population projections July 2020, titled “Population projections for India and
States 2011- 2036”. The report projected that the India’s sex ratio of the total population (females per 1000 males)
is expected to be more feminine in 2036 compared to the population as of 2011.
Population projections for India and States 2011- 2036:
Sex ratio:
i.The report estimates the sex ratio to increase from 943 in 2011 to 957 in 2036.
ii.Compared to 2011, the sex ratio in 18 states except Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat are expected to
increase by 2036.
iii.In 2036, the lowest sex ratio of 899 is expected to be in NCT of Delhi, followed by 900 in Gujarat and 908 in
Haryana.
Infant Mortality Rate:
i.India’s Infant Mortality Rate(IMR) is reported to be 46 in 2010 which is expected to reduce to 30 by the end of
2031-2035.
ii.The report projects the IMR to reduce in all the state of India in 2011 to 2035.
Madhya Pradesh has the highest IMR at 58 followed by Uttar Pradesh with 57 in 2011-2015 which is expected to
come down to 37 and 38 in MP and UP respectively in 2031-35.
iii.During 2031-35, the IMR is expected to be in between 30-40 in Rajasthan, Assam, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, MP and UP.
iv.Kerala is expected to have the lowest IMR at 9 in 2031-35 followed by Tamil Nadu from 22 in 2011-15 to 16 during
2031-35.
Fertility Rate:
i.Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is expected to decline from 2.34 during 2011-2015 to 1.73 during 2031- 35.
ii.The declining fertility rate will change the age demographics of India’s population and increase the medium age
from 24.9 in 2011 to 34.5 in 2036.
iii.Bihar and UP have the higher TFR with 3.5 and 3.7 respectively which is higher than the TFR of India (2.5).
Population of India:
i.The report projects India’s population to increase by 25.7% in 25 years at a rate of 1% annually i.e., from 121.1
crore to 151.8 crore during 2011-36.
ii.The population density will increase from 368 to 463 persons per square kilometer.
iii.As per the 2011 Census India’s population was 1.21 billion which is estimated to grow by 311 million by 2036.
Youth Population:
i.Youth population (15-24 years) is expected to increase from 23.3 crores in 2011 to 25.2 crores in 2021 and then
continue to decrease to 22.7 crores in 2036.
ii.The youth population proportion to the total population is expected to become 14.9%in 2036.
Decline in rate of population growth:
The population growth rate will decline by 8.4% during 2021-2031.

State-Wise PDF
Note:
The report projects that India will overtake China and become the most populated county around 2031.
Urban Population:
i.The urban population of India was 31.8% in 2011 which is projected to increase to 38.2% by 2036 which
contributes 73% of the total population growth by 2036.
ii.Delhi with 98% urban population in 2011 is expected to become 100% urban by 2036.
iii.Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Telangana and Gujarat are expected to have more than 50% urban population by
2036.
Life Expectancy:
i.For men the life expectancy is expected to increase from 66 to 69 and for women it is expected to increase from 71
to 74.
ii.Kerala could become the only Indian state to have life expectancy above 80 for women and 74 for men by 2036.
iii.The Northeastern states are estimated to have a life expectancy of 77 for women and 73 for men by 2036.
Click here for the complete report
i.UN’s Global Multidimensional Poverty Index: India Record Largest Reduction in Number of People Living in Poverty
ii.Climate-friendly Cooling can cut 460 Giga Tonnes of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Cooling Emissions and Policy
Synthesis Report
About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW):
Union Minister– Harsh Vardhan
Minister of State– Ashwini Kumar Choubey
Assam CoM approves “Assam Non-Government Education Institutions (Regulation of Fees) Rules 2020”
On August 10, 2020 Assam Council of Ministers approved “Assam Non-Government Education Institutions
(Regulation of Fees) Rules 2020”. It seeks to regulate the fees structure of the private educational institutes in
the State of Assam.
Highlights:
i.The state Government will constitute a Fee Regulatory Committee for determination of fees for any standard or
course of study in Private educational institutions.
Persons in the Committee:
i.The committee shall consist of five persons – a retired district judge/senior civil servant/senior police officer,
chartered accountant, civil engineer, a representative from a non-government educational institution and an
academician for a period of three years.
Key Points:
i.The fee to be payable by the students of private schools will be determined by the committee after a proper
examination of the fees structure and scrutiny of relevant documents and books of accounts.
ii.The committee shall hear complaints or initiate suo moto hearing with regard to collection of excess fee by private
educational institutions.
iii.Before setting the maximum fee the committee shall take into account the location of the school, investment
incurred to set up the school, infrastructure, expenditure on administration and maintenance, strength of students,
qualification of teaching staff and expenditure incurred on students.
Penalty:
i.The Bill has a provision to impose penalty on erring institutions upto five lakh rupees and
also cancellation/withdrawal of the registration of the institution.
Other Launches:
i.The meeting further approved the Assam Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending)
Scheme 2020.
ii.The meeting also approved State Cattle and Buffalo Breeding Policy 2020.
iii.The meeting also took decision for implementation of ‘Uberization’ scheme of Assam State Transport Corporation.
Under this scheme, 668 new buses would operate for 5 years.
iv.A decision was also taken to create 2 new companies of State Disaster Response Force.

State-Wise PDF
‘Bajali’ becomes 34th District of Assam
The Assam Cabinet also approved the proposal to make Bajali the 34th district of Assam.
• The Assam Government had sought ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) from the Registrar General of India,
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for the creation of the new district.
• Currently, Bajali is a Civil Subdivision under Barpeta district.
i.On June 29, 2020 Assam’s Council of Ministers approved an MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises)
Ordinance to end the process of taking multiple permissions to set up MSME in Assam for the next three years.
ii.On March 24, 2020 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister(CM) Edappadi Palaniswamy announced at the Legislative
Assembly that Nagapattinam district will be bifurcated and a new district (38th) will be formed with its
headquarters at Mayiladuthurai.
About Assam:
Capital – Dispur
Governor – Jagdish Mukhi
Assam Government to Launch ‘Orunodoi’ Scheme to provide Financial Assistance

On August 12, 2020, Finance Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sharma announced that the Government of Assam
will roll out the ‘Orunodoi’ Scheme, which will provide Financial Assistance of Rs. 830 per month through Direct
Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme to around 17 Lakh Families in the state. It is expected to be the largest direct
benefit Transfer scheme in Assam.
• The ‘Orunodoi’ scheme will be implemented from October 2, 2020 and will act as an umbrella scheme for all
other government schemes for the next 5 years.
Objective:
The amount provided under the ‘Orunodoi’ Scheme will help the impoverished families in the state to meet their
nutritional and medical needs.
Key Points:
i.The scheme is applicable to eligible families to buy essential food items. Rs.400 has been allotted for the purchase of
medicine, Rs.150 for vegetables, 50% off on 4 kgs of ration and 4kgs of sugar.
ii.Around 15 to 17 thousand families in each assembly constituency are expected to be benefited by this scheme.
iii.The Assam government will bear 210 crore rupees per month for the ‘Orunodoi’ scheme.
iv.The amount will be transferred to the bank account of the nominated women member of the family.
v.Additional amounts will be added during occasions like admissions to educational institutions, puja, bihu etc.
Eligibility:
The selection of the eligible families will start from August 17, 2020.
i.The applicant should be a Permanent resident of the state or should be residing in the state at present.
ii.The household income of the applicant must be less than Rs 2 Lakh per annum.
iii.Women being the primary caretaker of the family are kept as beneficiaries of the scheme.
iv.Priority will be given to the household with specially abled nominated female, widowed/divorced/unmarried
female/separated female, specially-abled household member.
i.On July 6, 2020, the government of Assam decided to upgrade the 111.942 sq km Dehing Patkai Wildlife
Sanctuary into a national park located within the larger Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve, spreading across the coal-
and oil-rich districts of Upper Assam (Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Sivasagar).
ii.Rajya Sabha Launches Employees Welfare Scheme in Arun Jaitley’s Name: “Arun Jaitley Financial Assistance for
Group C Employees”.
About Assam:
Capital – Dispur

State-Wise PDF
TERI launches Early Warning System for Guwahati, Assam
Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) , fully automated web-based tool was launched by The Energy and
Resources Institute’s (TERI) in association with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Guwahati,
Assam.
Objective – FEWS tool will alert the local authorities to predict flash floods and heavy rainfall in Guwahati,
Assam.It will help the authorities to take timely and appropriate measures during natural disaster.
The Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) project was developed under The Energy and Resources
Institute’s (TERI) project supported by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with
India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
Associated Agencies:
Assam Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), Guwahati Municipal Corporation and North-Eastern Space
Application Centre (NESAC), TERI School of Advanced Studies (TERI SAS) were also involved in developing the
system for Guwahati.
Key Points:
i.FEWS will use IMD’s weather research forecast (WRF) model to predict the flash floods and heavy rainfalls.
ii.The FEWS system has been built with 10 metre spatial resolution.(spatial resolution describes how much detail in a
photographic image is visible to the human eye, Spatial resolution of images acquired by satellite sensor systems is
usually expressed in meters)
iii.It is also inbuilt with a drainage system to predict flood at street level accuracy and is capable of predicting flood at
three days in advance.
iv.FEWS is also capable of visualizing flood levels and flood hotspots over google maps, which will be critical in
• Identifying the flooded areas
• Preparedness and management of issues such as Traffic disruption
• Providing relief and recovery
• In Stormwater management.
v.The tool uses weather forecasting data from IMD, it simulates the expected rainfall over the city and sends alert
to officials, if rainfall or flood level crosses its threshold.
Note:
Guwahati will be the third city after Chennai and Mumbai to have a Flood Warning system. The Early Warning
Systems at Chennai and Mumbai with three to six hours’ immediate weather updates were developed jointly by
institutions of the Union Ministry of Earth Science (MoES), which has plans to set up similar systems in Kolkata and
Bengaluru by 2021.
i.On March6, 2020 the government reconstructs the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) a multi-
stakeholder & multisectoral decision making body on disaster management & appoints Union Home Minister Amit
Shah as chairman.
ii.On March 30, 2020 the government set up 11 different empowered groups under Disaster Management Act,
2005 to suggest measures to improve health, restore the economy, after a 21-day lockdown which was imposed for
the control of the COVID-19.
About National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)
Parent Department – Ministry of Home Affairs
Chairman – Narendra Damodardas Modi, Prime Minister
About India Meteorological Department (IMD)
Parent Department – Ministry of Earth Sciences
Director General – Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra
Headquarters – New Delhi
Assam Cabinet Approves ‘Assam Skill Development University Bill’

On 27th August, 2020 the Government of Assam approved the ‘Assam Skill Development University Bill’, which
provides for setting up of World Class Skill University at Mangaldoi, Darrang District at a cost of 900 crore

State-Wise PDF
rupees.The University will be the first of its kind in the North-East Region and will be financed by Asian
Development Bank (ADB).
Assam Industry and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary made the announcement about the setting up of
the university, after a cabinet meeting.
Key Points:
i.The State Government of Assam has tied up with Singapore based ITE Education Service, for setting up of the Skill
Development University.
ii.Around 100 bigha land (16 hectares) is to be allotted at Mangaldoi in North Assam for the University.
iii.The university would also be set up as a Centre of Excellence (CoE).
Other Approvals:
i.The State Government also decided to increase the upper age limit for State Government jobs for the category of
Group III & Group IV for two years. Now unemployed youths can apply for Government jobs until the age of 40.
ii.The Government also approved insurance to the tune of 50 Lakh Rupees to journalists, home guards and casual
employees who succumbed to COVID-19 infection.
iii.Approval was given to the long-pending Dhansiri Irrigation project in Udalguri district, which was launched in
1975. The government proposed to take a credit of Rs 116 crore from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD) for completion of the project.
iv.Approval was also given to Orunodoi Scheme for providing financial assistance of Rs. 830 rupees to families with
less than Rs two lakh annual income.
i.A 3-member high-level committee headed by SCL Das was formed by the Petroleum Ministry to inquire about the
disaster at Oil India Ltd well in Assam.
ii.The 65th edition of Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020 was held at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, Assam
from15 Feb 2020 – 16 Feb 2020. Gully Boy’ bagged the best film award.
About Assam:
Capital – Dispur
UNESCO World Heritage Site – Kaziranga National Park, Manas Wildlife Sanctuary.
5th Swachh Survekshan 2020 Announced by Hardeep Singh Puri; Indore is India’s Cleanest City 4th Time in a
Row
On August 20, 2020, during a virtual event of Swachh Mahotsav organized by, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
(MoHUA), Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (MoS)-Independent Charge (I/C) MoHUA announced the 5th edition
of the annual cleanliness urban survey of India i.e.”Swachh Survekshan 2020 (SS2020)” conducted by MoHUA. A total
of 129 awards were given by the minister in which Madhya Pradesh’s Indore Creates record as India’s cleanest city
for the 4th consecutive time while Gujarat’s Surat and Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai grabbed 2nd and 3rd positions
respectively.
• SS2020, the 28 days long completely digitized and paperless nationwide survey is the world’s largest
cleanliness survey covering 1.87 crore citizens of 4,242 cities, 62 cantonment boards and 92 towns along the
Ganga river.
• The SS2020 was focused on 9 key areas including 3R Principles of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
• The event also saw the felicitation of MoHUA’s partner organisations in the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban
(SBM-U) viz. United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
(BMGF) and Google.
Following table shows the top rankers in states:
Rank/Category State
States with Less than 100 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)
1 Jharkhand
2 Haryana
3 Uttarakhand

State-Wise PDF
1 (Fastest Mover State) Assam

States with More than 100 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)
1 Chhattisgarh
2 Maharashtra
3 Madhya Pradesh (MP)
1 (Fastest Mover State) Odisha
Following table shows cleanest cities under different categories:
Rank City State
National Ranking (Cities > 10 Lakh)
1 Indore Madhya Pradesh (MP)
2 Surat Gujarat
3 Navi Mumbai Maharashtra
National Ranking (Cities 1 – 10 Lakh)
1 Ambikapur Chhattisgarh
2 Mysore Karnataka
3 New Delhi (NDMC) Delhi
Zonal Ranking (Cities 50 K – 1 Lakh)
1 (East Zone) Dhamtari Chhattisgarh
1 (North Zone) Gangaghat Uttar Pradesh (UP)
1 (North-East Zone) Jorhat Assam
1 (South Zone) Palamaneru Andhra Pradesh (AP)
1 (West Zone) Karhad Maharashtra
Zonal Ranking (Cities 25 K – 50 K)
1 (East Zone) Jashpur Nagar Chhattisgarh
1 (North Zone) Nawanshahr Punjab
1 (North-East Zone) Mokokchung Nagaland
1 (South Zone) Medchal Telangana
1 (West Zone) Sasvad Maharashtra
Zonal Ranking (Cities upto 25 K)
1 (East Zone) Patan Chhattisgarh
1 (North Zone) Awagarh Uttar Pradesh (UP)
1 (North-East Zone) Jiribam Manipur
1 (South Zone) Piriyapatna Karnataka
1 (West Zone) Panhala Maharashtra
Cantonment (Cantt) Boards Ranking
1 Jalandhar Cantt Punjab
2 Delhi Cantt Delhi
3 Meerut Cantt Uttar Pradesh (UP)
ULBs Ranking – More than 1 Lakh Population

State-Wise PDF
1 Indore Madhya Pradesh (MP)

2 Surat Gujarat
3 Navi Mumbai Maharashtra
ULBs Ranking – Less than 1 Lakh Population
1 Karad Maharashtra
2 Sasvad Maharashtra
3 Lonavala Maharashtra
Ganga Towns Ranking
1 (Less than 50 K Population) Chunar Uttar Pradesh (UP)
1 (50 K – 1 Lakh Population) Kannauj Uttar Pradesh (UP)
1 (More than 1 Lakh Population) Varanasi Uttar Pradesh (UP)
Category-wise Awards at National Level (SS2020 Awards):
Above 40 Lakh Population:
• India’s Cleanest Mega City– Amdavad, Gujarat
• Best Mega City in Citizen Feedback- Hyderabad, Telangana
• Best Mega City in Innovation and Best Practices- Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Best Self Sustainable Mega City- Bengaluru, Karnataka
10-40 Lakh Population:
• India’s Cleanest Big City– Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh (AP)
• Best Big City in Citizen Feedback- Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh (MP)
• Best Big City in Innovation and Best Practices- Ludhiana, Punjab
• Best Self Sustainable Big City- Rajkot, Gujarat
• Fastest Mover Big City- Jodhpur, Rajasthan
3- 10 Lakh Population:
• India’s Cleanest Medium City– Mysuru, Karnataka
• Best Medium City in Citizen Feedback- East Singhbhum, Jharkhand
• Best Medium City in Innovation and Best Practices- Berhampur, Odisha
• Best Self Sustainable Medium City- Bhilainagar, Chhattisgarh
• Fastest Mover Medium City- Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh (UP)
1-3 Lakh Population:
• India’s Cleanest Small City– Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh
• Best Small City in Citizen Feedback- Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh
• Best Small City in Innovation and Best Practices- Alappuzha, Kerala
• Best Self Sustainable Small City- Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh (AP)
• Fastest Mover Small City- Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh (MP)
State Capital/Union Territories (UTs):
• India’s Cleanest Capital– New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), Delhi
• Best UT in Citizen Feedback- Chandigarh
• Best State Capital in Innovation and Best Practices- Gandhinagar, Gujarat
• Best Self Sustainable State Capital- Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (MP)
• Fastest Mover State Capital- Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (UP)
Other Awards:
• India’s cleanest city (< 1 Lakh Population)– Karad, Maharashtra
• Best City in Maximum Citizen Participation (< 1 Lakh Population)- Nandprayag, Uttarakhand
• Best City in Maximum City Participation (> 1 Lakh population)- Nagar Nigam Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh
(UP)
• Best City overall in National Citizen Led Innovation- Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh (MP)

State-Wise PDF
Click Here for Official Link
Key Points:
-The cleanliness survey report, along with reports on Swachh Survekshan Innovations and best practices, Swachh
Survekshan Social Media Report and Report on Assessment of Ganga Towns were also released at the ‘Swachh
Mahotsav’ event.
-Dignitaries from all over the country, Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MOHUA, Chief Secretaries, Principal
Secretaries, Municipal Commissioners and swachhta warriors also attended the online event.
In July 2020, MoHUA launched the 6th edition of the survey, Swachh Survekshan 2021 which saw the introduction of
a new performance category, the Prerak DAUUR Samman which has a total of five additional sub- categories -Divya
(Platinum), Anupam (Gold), Ujjwal (Silver), Udit (Bronze), Aarohi (Aspiring).
About Swachh Survekshan:
Launched in 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi its objective was to monitor the performance of Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan, which was launched on October 2, 2014, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
• Mysuru was chosen as the cleanest city in India in that edition of the survey.
• The extensive sanitation survey is commissioned by the MoHUA and carried out annually by Quality Council of
India (QCI).
IIT Guwahati, in collaboration with Imperial College London, develops nanoparticle ‘meta-grid’
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, India, and Imperial College London, United Kingdom, have
developed nanoparticles called the ‘meta-grid’ or ‘metamaterial grid’ that makes the light-emitting diodes (LED)
brighter, energy-efficient and durable.
It was jointly developed by Dr. Debabrata Sikdar, assistant professor at IIT Guwahati along with Prof. Sir John B.
Pendry and Prof. Alexei A. Kornyshev from Imperial College London.
NOTE: The findings have been recently published in Light: Science and Application journal of the Nature
Publishing Group. The theoretical models, developed by Dr. Sikdar, find out the optimal conditions for the design of
the nanoparticle ‘meta-grid’ layer.
What is Meta – grid?
Meta-grid is a specifically patterned array of nanoparticles acting as metamaterials and it is capable of exhibiting
extraordinary optical properties.
Features of the Meta grid:
• The nanoparticle ‘meta-grid’ enhances the light extraction and provides a wider range of optical gadgets.
• The ‘meta-grid’ can be used as drying-mediated self-assembly of nanoparticles made of silver or alternative
less-lossy plasmonic materials capped with appropriate ligands, to form free-standing the Sikdar–
Premaratne–Cheng ‘plasmene’ sheets.
• These monolayer sheets can be stretched for precise tuning of the plasmene’s substrate.
About LED:
i.LEDs are deployed in traffic lights to backlighting for electronic displays, smartphones, large billboards, decorative
lightings, water purification, and decontamination of infected surfaces.
ii.An increase in LED light output would reduce energy needs on a large scale, this might help us to put up with the
increasing global warming and climate change.
Components LED-chip encapsulation
• The LED-chip encapsulation may include: higher refractive index glasses or epoxy materials incorporated
with filler powders or nanoparticle-loaded-epoxy or engineered epoxy resins.
• These materials make LED chips bulkier or their fabrication becomes more challenging and less economically
viable for mass production.
• Material and composition of nanoparticles and parameters are: sizes, average interparticle spacing, distance
from the surface of the LED chip
• These are optimised to achieve the maximum enhancement in light extraction from the LED chip into its
encapsulating casing, over any emission spectral range of a typical LED.

State-Wise PDF
Technology involved:
i.The boosting transmission of light generated inside an LED chip or the encapsulate interface has been recently
achieved.
ii.This is achieved by reducing the Fresnel reflection loss at the chip or the interface, within a fixed photon escape
cone, based on tuning the destructive interference phenomena with help of the ‘meta-grid’.
iii.The technique has revealed optimal design parameters for meta-grids to produce greater light output over any
narrow or broadband emission spectrum.
Prototype of the embedded meta-grid LED:
i.The prototype device can be modeled within one year which can corroborate theoretical predictions with
experiments.
ii.The metallic nanoparticles can be fabricated which are mostly monodisperse and have narrow spread.
iii.The prototype may vary in size, position, flatness of grid, and variation in refractive index due to fabrication error
or material defects and these cannot be avoided.
iv.The effects of the ‘meta-grid’ on the standard commercial LEDs, based on group III–V materials are demonstrated
in the developed prototype.
i.On June 07,2020, A team of Scientists from the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and
New Materials (ARCI), an autonomous R&D Centre of Department of Science and Technology (DST) has developed a
magnetocaloric material (a rare-earth-based material that can be heated or cooled by applying or removing a
magnetic field) that can be used in the treatment of cancer.
About Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati
Headquarters – Guwahati, Assam, India
Director – T.G Sitharam
About Imperial College London
President – Alice P. Gast
Headquarters – London, United Kingdom
Veteran Assamese Folk Singer Archana Mahanta Passed Away

Veteran Assamese folk singer Archana Mahanta passed away at the age of 72 in Health City hospital, Guwahati,
Assam following a brain stroke. She was also a reputed artist of All India Radio(Guwahati). She is the wife of
late Khagen Mahanta( known as ‘Bihu King’) and mother of Angaraag ‘Papon’ Mahanta, popular Indian singer and
founder of the folk-fusion band Papon and The East India Company
Key Info
i.She and her late husband had performed together on many occasions, popularising Assamese folk music.
ii.The pair is known for their performance of Bihu and traditional folk songs of Assam.
iii.Their family represents one of the most influential families in Assamese music.
iv.Apart from Angaraag ‘Papon’ Mahanta she has a daughter, Kingkini Mahanta.
Assam Current Affairs - September 2020

Union Home Minister Amit Shah Inaugurates “Destination North East-2020” Festival
On Occasion of World Tourism Day (i.e 27th September, 2020) Union Home Minister Amit Shah (Home Minister is
also the Chairman of North-East Council) inaugurated the “Destination North East-2020” through video conference.
i.The theme for Destination North East 2020 is “The Emerging Delightful Destinations”.
ii.The four-day festival (27th September – 30th September, 2020) will promote and showcase the North East’s (NE)
tourism, culture, heritage and business.
iii.Minister of State (MoS) for Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) (Independent Charge), Jitendra Singh
and Chief Ministers of Eight North East states (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,
Sikkim and Tripura) were present during the inauguration.

State-Wise PDF
Destination North East:
i.The Programme will feature Audio Visual presentation of tourist spots of the NE easterns and a virtual exhibition of
handicraft, traditional fashion, and local products.
ii.Destination North East is a calendar event of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, it is
conceptualized with the objective of taking North East Region to other parts of India and bringing them closer to
strengthen the national integration.
iii.On September 22, 2020 MDoNER, Jitendra Singh unveiled the Logo and song for “Destination North East-
2020”.
Key points from the Speech:
i.Highlighted the 14th Finance Commission,about the allocation for Northeast was Rs 3, 13, 375 Crore, which is 251
percent increase compared to the Rs 89, 168 Crores allocated in the 13th Finance Commission.
ii.To improve the connectivity of North Eastern States with themselves and rest of India, 6 railway projects worth Rs.
15, 088 crores have been completed by the Government of India.
iii.Government of India will spend Rs 553 Crore on the development of the airport and Rs 10, 000 crores on 19 road
projects of 869 km length.
i.On June 22, 2020 MoS of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Dr Jitendra Singh sanctioned Rs.190 crores
for augmentation of healthcare facilities in the eight North Eastern (NE) States for developing infrastructure for
management of infectious diseases.
ii.On February 28, 2020, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his nod for resuming delimitation exercise in the
northeastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland by rescinding/cancelling the February 8,
2008 order.
About Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER):
Minister of State (MoS) for Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) (Independent Charge) – Jitendra
Singh
Assam Relaunched SVAYEM Scheme Worth Rs.1000 Crore to Provide Self Employment to Youths of the State
On 4th September 2020, The Government of Assam relaunched its old scheme Swami Vivekananda Assam Youth
Empowerment (SVAYEM) worth Rs.1000 crore. The scheme is aimed to provide self-employment opportunities to
more than 2 lakh youths of the state.
SVAYEM:
The Scheme was launched as a part of the budget in 2017-2018 to benefit around 1 lakh youths.Due to lack of support
from the banks, the scheme benefited only around 7000 beneficiaries.
• Features of Relaunch of SVAYEM:
i.The redesigned SVAYEM with Rs. 10000 crore budget, which is generated by the revenue of the state without
banking linkage is planned to be spent in the following three months.
ii.A new portal will be launched on 16th September 2020 to enable self-registration of the groups who seek to utilise
the benefits of the scheme.
• Benefits:
Redesigned SVAYEM will provide around Rs.50000 as a seed money to start a business venture to the qualified
beneficiaries
• Eligibility:
Age: below 40years.
Qualification: should have passed matriculation and be a part of existing self-help groups, joint liability group etc.
before 1st September 2020.
Other Relaunched Schemes:
i.The government relaunched a Abhinandan Education Loan Subsidy Scheme, that provides Rs.50000 subsidies to
the people who have taken education loan will also be relaunched.
ii.Around 1545 people benefited through this scheme in 2019.

State-Wise PDF
iii.The government has approved around 5547 applications and the amount will be released in october 2020 this will
cost around Rs.25 crore for the exchequer.
iv.The government also relaunched Chah Bagichar Dhan Purashkar Mela Scheme (Cash Award Scheme Tea
Garden Worker) of worth Rs. 250 crore which will transfer Rs.3000 to more than 8 lakh bank accounts of the tea
garden labourers of assam.
v.This was launched in 2017-2018 to provide Rs.2500 to each beneficiary.
vi.This scheme benefited around 6.33 Lakh bank accounts in 2018 and will benefit 7.15 accounts in 2021.
i.the Assam state government’s health department has launched a special scheme called ‘Dhanwantari’, under which
locally unavailable medicines will be delivered to patients at home.
ii.The government of Assam has decided to upgrade the 111.942 sq km Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary into a
national park which is located within the larger Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve, spreading across the coal- and oil-
rich districts of Upper Assam (Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Sivasagar).
About Assam:
Chief Minister– Sarbananda Sonowal(14th chief Minister of Assam)
Governor– Jagadish Mukhi(30th Governor of Assam)
National Parks– Kaziranga National Park(UNESCO Natural sites), Manas National Park(UNESCO Natural sites), Dibru
Saikhowa National Park, Nameri National Park, Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park.
Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal Launched “Mukhyamantri Grammya Paribahan Achoni” & Distributed
Vehicles to its Beneficiaries
On 23rd September 2020, Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister (CM) of Assam launched the “Mukhyamantri
Grammya Paribahan Achoni” – Chief Minister’s Rural Transport Scheme and distributed light motor vehicles to the
beneficiaries under this scheme.
Sonowal announced this scheme during his 2019 Independence Day speech and following the announcement
the Transport department of Assam launched the scheme.
Key People:
K.K Dwivedi, Commissioner and Secretary of Transport Department along with Adil Khan, Transport Commissioner
were present during the launch event.
Aim:
• To improve the rural connectivity and to bridge the connectivity gap in the villages of Assam.
• To generate employment in the villages
Features:
i.Under this scheme a light motor vehicle will be provided to one beneficiary per village.
ii.The government will provide the 25% cost of the vehicle or Rs.1 lakh (whichever is less) to the entrepreneurs who
are eligible for this scheme.
iii.The vehicles provided under this scheme will improve the connectivity and support the situations of medical
emergencies.
iv.The first phase of the scheme with a financial outlay of Rs.100 crore would cover around 10000 villages across the
state
v.With the subsequent phases, it is expected to cover all the 26000 villages under the scheme.
i.On August 10, 2020 Assam Council of Ministers approved “Assam Non-Government Education Institutions
(Regulation of Fees) Rules 2020”. It seeks to regulate the fees structure of the private educational institutes in the
State of Assam.
ii.The Chief Minister (CM) of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal has announced the upgradation of Poba Reserve Forest, a
vital biodiversity hotspot in Dhemaji district of Assam, as a wildlife sanctuary. The announcement was made during a
meeting with senior officials of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Majuli districts at Jonai.

State-Wise PDF
About Assam:
UNESCO sites– Kaziranga national park, Manas wildlife sanctuary
Wildlife Sanctuaries– Garampani Wildlife Sanctuary, Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary,Bornadi Wildlife Sanctuary,
Chakrasila Wildlife Sanctuary, Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary, Panidehing Wildlife Sanctuary.
Assam Govt Developed “Visitassam” New Mobile App for Air Passengers from Other State
On 25th September 2020, Minister for Health and Family Welfare of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that
the Government of Assam developed a mobile app named “Visitassam” for air passengers from other
states. Visitassam enables the air passengers to download forms and fill it which can be used at the airports to
reduce the time spent on the formalities for COVID-19 tests and ensures the proper social distancing among the
passengers.
Tatkal RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction):
i.The government also introduced a change of protocol for the air passengers to take the Tatkal RT-PCR test with a
payment of Rs.2200 whose result will be given within 24 hours.
ii.The home quarantine period will be only 24 hours for the passengers whose Tatkal RT-PCR result is negative.
iii.The Tatkal RT-PCR facility is available only in Guwahati.
Note:
The free RT-PCR facility is still available whose result will be available in 3 to 5 days and the passengers tested
negative will be under home quarantine for 10 days.
Key Points:
i.The Government has also relaxed their quarantine rules for both rail and air travelers from other states after their
recovery from infection.
ii.The passengers should be asymptomatic, they should have the required Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR) certificate and discharge certificate.
iii.More than 3000 Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers are working on awareness programmes on the
needs of wearing masks and social distancing.
i.On August 12, 2020, Finance Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sharma announced that the Government of Assam
will roll out the ‘Orunodoi’ Scheme, which will provide Financial Assistance of Rs. 830 per month through Direct
Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme to around 17 Lakh Families in the state. It is expected to be the largest direct benefit
Transfer scheme in Assam.
ii.Flood Early Warning System (FEWS), fully automated web-based tool was launched by The Energy and Resources
Institute’s (TERI) in association with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Guwahati, Assam.
About Assam:
Stadiums– Barsapara Cricket Stadium,Nehru Stadium,Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium,Jorhat Stadium, Satindra
Mohan Dev Stadium
Dance– Bihu, Satriya Nritya(classical), Barpeta’s Bhortal Nritya, Deodhani, Bagurumba, Tea Folk’s Jhumur Dance.
Assam govt to Provide Loan to Entrepreneurs under ‘Paryatan Sanjeevani Scheme

On the occasion of World Tourism Day (WTD) 2020 i.e. on September 27, 2020, the Chief Minister (CM) of Assam
Sarbananda Sonowal during a Tourism Conclave organised by government of Assam in association with Assam
Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) Limited, launched “Paryatan Sanjeevani Scheme” under which loan
between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 20 lakh with interest subsidy would be provided to entrepreneurs to revive the tourism
industry amid the coronavirus crisis.
• As a part of the scheme loan would be given for a period of five years and a moratorium period of one year
would be given to the loanee.
• Apart from above he also launched another scheme ‘Paryatan Sarathi’, which will provide information about
Assam tourism, facilities for bookings, tour packages, hotels along with online payment gateway options.
About Assam
Capital– Dispur

State-Wise PDF
SBI Started Women Self-Reliance Programme in Assam
On September 19, 2020, State Bank of India (SBI) initiated “Mahila Atmanirbharshil Aachani (Women Self-Reliance
programme)” in Assam on the lines of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyanto accelerate Self Help Group (SHG) finance in
a mission mode,. In this regard, SBI branches of Assam sanctioned 856 SHGs sponsored by NRLM with financial outlay
of Rs. 38 crore.
• Notably, women SHGs of Assam are very active and rely on social collateral rather than on financial collateral.
• The basic objective of the programme is to create a strong bonding with the SHG members besides extending
credit linkages to the women SHGs nurtured and sponsored by National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM),
Assam for self-reliance and economic upliftment.
i.SBI has launched “KCC (Kisan Credit Card) Review option” on its digital agricultural solution platform, YONO (“You
Only Need One”) Krishi. With this application the farmers can access their KCC limit in the virtual platform.
ii.SBI has partnered with India’s First Real-Time Group Negotiation E-Platform, AddaCorner to launch ‘Online Home
Carnival’, which will help in boosting the Real Estate market in Bangalore. Along with the launch of ‘Online Home
Carnival’, AddaCorner was also launched.
About State Bank of India (SBI):
Chairperson– Rajnish Kumar
Headquarter– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission (ASRLM) signs MoU with Northeast Small Finance Bank (NESFB)
On September 05, 2020, Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission (ASRLM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with Northeast Small Finance Bank (NEFSB) to bring the Self-Help Groups (SHGs), producer groups and
enterprises under banking network. This is the first among all State Livelihood Missions to initiate signing of MoU
with new generation small finance banks.
The MoU was signed by Utpala Saikia, State Mission Director, ASRLM and Rupali Kalita, Managing Director cum Chief
Executive Officer (CEO), NESFB.
Key Points:
i.The MoU will empower women at the grassroot level to link them with banks for loans to become entrepreneurs
and engage in livelihood generation activities.
ii.It is also expected to cater to the financial needs of SHG group members, and other high level federations like
Producer Groups, Producer Collective Groups.
iii.NESFB will enable SHG members to open Individual and Group Accounts with minimum documents in a short time
span.
iv.NESFB will provide loans to SHGs with a range of Rs. 1 Lakh to Rs. 5 Lakhs depending on proposals.
North East Small Finance Bank (NESFB):
i.NESFB is the first Private Bank from Assam and Northeast India.
ii.It has presence in 164 locations across Assam.
i.National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development(NABARD) provided Rs 270 crore Special Liquidity
Facility(SLF) to Assam Gramin Vikash Bank in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic to support the agricultural activities
of the farmers.
ii.Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Minister of Guwahati Development Department inaugurated Guwahati’s first manhole
cleaning robot named “BANDICOOT”, an automatic sewer cleaning device. Guwahati became the first city in the
Northeast region to get a manhole cleaning robot.
About NESFB:
Managing Director, CEO – Rupali Kalita
Headquarters – Guwahati, Assam
About Assam:
National Parks – Kaziranga National Park, Saikhowa National Park, Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park, Manas
National Park, Nameri National Park

State-Wise PDF
Andhra Pradesh Retains Top Spot in EODB 2019 During BRAP 2018-19 Ranking
On September 5, 2020, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman has virtually
announced the 4th edition of State Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) Ranking for 2018-19 which was released by
Department of Industrial Promotion and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of commerce and industry. In accordance
with that, Andhra Pradesh (AP) topped the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) ranking 2019, followed by Uttar Pradesh
(UP) and Telangana at 2nd & 3rd place respectively. Among Union Territories (UTs), Delhi bagged the top spot.
• The state of UP improved to reach the 2nd spot from 12th spot in the 2018 ranking while Telangana slipped
from 2nd to 3rd position.
• It should be noted that EODB is a joint initiative by the DPIIT and the World Bank (WB) to improve the overall
business environment in the States.
• Parameters: The BRAP 2018-19 included 180 reform points covering 12 business regulatory areas such as
Access to Information, Single Window System, Labour regulation, Environment, land availability, construction
permit.
• Reason: The reason behind this ranking is to create an element of healthy competition in states in order to
achieve a larger objective of attracting investments and increasing EODB in each State.
Following table shows the top 5 states and lower ranked states under State Reform Action Plan 2019:
Rank State
1 Andhra Pradesh (AP)
2 Uttar Pradesh (UP)
3 Telangana
4 Madhya Pradesh (MP)
5 Jharkhand
States/UT with least ranking (29th) are: Arunachal Pradesh (AR), Chandigarh, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim and Tripura.
Following table shows the top (1st) performer region-wise:
Region State
North Uttar Pradesh (UP)
West Madhya Pradesh (MP)
East Jharkhand
South Andhra Pradesh (AP)
UT Delhi
North Eastern Assam
About BRAP Ranking:
Initiated in 2015, BRAP ranking represent the EODB in the State with increased transparency, efficiency and
effectiveness of the government regulatory functions vis-a-vis the business enterprises.During the assessment full
weightage was given to the feedback from over 30,000 respondents at the ground level, who gave their opinion about
the effectiveness of the reforms.
In accordance with the data of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the United States (US) remained India’s top
trading partner for the second consecutive fiscal year in 2019-20 as bilateral trade between the US and India stood at
USD 88.75 billion as against USD 87.96 billion in 2018-19.
About Minister of Commerce and Industry:
Union Minister– Piyush Vedprakash Goyal
Minister of State– Hardeep Singh Puri, Som Prakash

State-Wise PDF
Kerala tops literacy rate chart with 96.2%; Andhra Pradesh worst performer at 66.4%: NSO
In accordance with the report on “Household Social Consumption: Education in India as part of 75th round of
National Sample Survey(NSS) – from July 2017 to June 2018″ conducted by National Statistical Office (NSO),
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Kerala again emerged as the most literate state in the
country with 96.2% literacy followed by Delhi (88.7%), Uttarakhand ( 87.6%), Himachal Pradesh (86.6%) and Assam
(85.9%).
• On the other hand, Andhra Pradesh (AP) is the worst performer at 66.4% followed by Rajasthan at 69.7%,
Bihar (70.9%), Telangana (72.8%), Uttar Pradesh (73%) and Madhya Pradesh (73.7%).
• The survey provided state-wise detail of literacy rate among the persons aged seven years and above.
• The overall literacy rate in India is pegged at 77.7% where rural areas have 73.5% literacy rate and urban
areas has 87.7%.
• Literacy rate: Literacy rate is defined as the percentage of literate persons among persons of age 7 years and
above.
Objective :- to create the participation of persons aged 3 to 35 years in the education system, creating indicators of
the expenditure incurred on the education of household members and various indicators of those who are not
currently attending education.
This survey enclosed with both qualitative and quantitative aspects related to educational fulfilment of the household
members.
• Qualitative aspects included literacy, educational level attained, type of institution, nature of
institution,current attendance/enrolment, free education, reason for never enrolled/ever enrolled but
currently not attending, etc.
• Quantitative aspects, information was collected on expenditure incurred on education of the household
members by the household itself, by other households or by any institutions/organizations other than
Government.
Key Points:
-At national level, the male literacy rate is higher at 84.7% compared to 70.3% among women.
-Also, the male literacy rate is higher than the female literacy rate among all states.
• In Kerala, the male literacy rate is 97.4% compared to 95.2% among females and in Delhi stood 93.7% higher
than 82.4% among females.
• In the worst performing states, there was a considerable gap in male and female literacy rate like in AP the
male literacy rate is 73.4%, and female literacy rate is 59.5%.
• In Rajasthan, the gap is even wider as male literacy rate stood at 80.8% compared to 57.6% of females and in
Bihar the male literacy rate was 79.7% compared to 60.5% of females.
-The report also revealed that nearly 4% of rural households and 23% of urban households possessed computers.
-Among persons aged 15-29 years, nearly 24% in rural areas and 56% in urban areas were able to operate a
computer.
Click Here for Official Report
About NSO 75th round (July 2017-June 2018) Survey:
NSO 75th round was conducted during 1st July 2017- 30th June 2018 under which 9 items were covered for broad
coverage of information. The survey covers whole of the Indian Union except the villages in Andaman and Nicobar
Islands which are difficult to access.
• This survey covered 1,13,757 households (64,519 in rural areas and 49,238 in urban areas) and enumerated
5,13,366 persons (3,05,904 in rural areas and 2,07,462 in urban areas). A total number of persons of age 3 to
35 years surveyed was 2,86,456 (1,73,397 in rural areas and 1,13,059 in urban areas).
• The Survey Design and Research Division (SDRD) of NSO undertook the development of the survey
methodology and the field work is carried out by Field Operations Divisions (FOD) and the data processing and
tabulation work was done by Data Quality and Assurance Division (DQAD).
In accordance with the annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for [July 2018 – June 2019] of NSO, India’s
unemployment rate fell between July 2018 and June 2019 to 5.8% from 6.1% during the same period of 2017-18
while the Indian economy grew 6.1% in 2018-19, slower than the 7% expansion recorded the year before.

State-Wise PDF
About Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI)
Minister of State (Independent Charge)– Rao Inderjit Singh
Secretary– Pravin Srivastava
Director General (NSS)– Vijay Kumar
Gujarat, Andaman & Nicobar Emerge as Best State/UT in providing Strong Ecosystem for Startups: DPIIT
ranking
On September 11, 2020 Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) released the 2nd Edition
of ‘States on Support to Startup Ecosystems 2019’ . The Rankings are based on providing a Strong Ecosystem for
promoting Startups.
i.Gujarat emerged as the best performer among Category X.Gujarat topped the rankings in the 2018 edition of
Ranking also.
(In Category x – All States and New Delhi, barring North Eastern (N. E) States & other Union Territories (U. T))
ii.Andaman and Nicobar Islands emerged as best performer among Category Y
(Category y – All N.E states except Assam and all UTs except Delhi).
iii. The Rankings were released by Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal and a total of 22
states and 3 UTs participated in the exercise.
Rankings:
For the purposes of ranking, states/UTs are classified into five categories: Best Performers (100 Percentile), Top
Performers (More than 75 to Less than 100), Leaders (More than or equal to 30 to less than or equal to 75), Aspiring
Leaders (More than 10 and less than 30) and Emerging Startup Ecosystems (Less than or equal to 10).
Category – X
All States and New Delhi, barring North Eastern (N.E) States & other Union Territories.
State Category
Gujarat Best Performer
Karnataka Top Performer
Kerala Top Performer
Category – Y
All N.E states except Assam and all UTs except Delhi
State/Union Territory (U.T.) Category
Andaman & Nicobar Islands Best Performer
—– Top Performer
Chandigarh Leader
Other Performers:
Category X:
i.Bihar, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Chandigarh were placed in Leaders Category.
ii.Haryana, Jharkhand, Punjab, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Nagaland were placed in Aspiring Leaders Category.
iii.Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh,
Mizoram and Sikkim were placed in Emerging Startup Ecosystems.
Category Y:
i.Nagaland was placed in Aspiring Leader Category.
ii.Mizoram & Sikkim were placed in Emerging Startup Ecosystems.
Basis for Dividing into Categories:
The States and UTs have been divided into two groups to establish uniformity and standardisation in the ranking
process.

State-Wise PDF
Ranking Framework:
i.The ranking framework 2019 has seven broad reform areas consisting of 30 action points ranging from institutional
support, easing compliances, relaxation in public procurement norms, incubation centres, seed funding, venture
funding, and awareness and outreach.
ii.The parameters also involved getting feedback from beneficiaries gathered through 60, 000 calls to connect with
beneficiaries to ascertain real situations at the implementation level.
Other Info:-
The National Report and Specific Reports for all participating States and Union Territories had also been launched
and it is available in Startup India Portal.
National Report – highlights the vision, trajectory, methodology and the future roadmap of the States Ranking
Exercise.
State Specific Report – containing a comprehensive analysis of respective ecosystem, which highlights strengths and
priority areas for future
A ‘Compendium of Good Practices’ adopted by various States in supporting start-ups has also been released. It
identifies 166 good practices.
Initiatives for Startups:
i.Government launched Startup India Action Plan in January 2016 to promote startups in the country.
ii.The aim of Startup India Action Plan is to give incentives like tax holiday and remodel Inspection regimes and
capital gains tax exemption.
Note – The DPIIT has created an India Investment Grid (IIG), an interactive investment portal providing details of
sectors, states and projects to ease the domestic and foreign investors.
Recent Related News: online portal called the
i.On May 8, 2020 Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Giriraj Singh (chief guest) presented
the award to the winners of “Startup India-Animal Husbandry Grand Challenge”.
ii.On June 25, 2020, According to the report, ‘Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) 2020; the New Normal for the
Global Startup Economy and the Impact of COVID-19’ released by Startup Genome, Bangalore,Bengaluru Becomes
India’s Only City in Top 30 with 26th position.
About DPIIT:-
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is a central government department under the
Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Secretary – Guruprasad Mohapatra.
IIT Guwahati Collaborates with University of Pardubice, Czech Republic for Data Protection Project
A Team of Researchers from Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati have collaborated with University of Pardubice,
Czech Republic to work towards developing indigenous algorithms to protect the Country’s digital data from cyber-
attacks by advanced computers.
Team of Researchers:
The Indian team is led by Dr. Gaurav Trivedi, Associate Professor, Department of Electronics and Electrical
Engineering, IIT Guwahati, Professor Srinivasan Krishnaswamy, Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics and
Electrical Engineering, IIT Guwahati. Professor Zdenek Nemec and Professor Jan Pidanic from the University of
Pardubice.
The team also consists of Research Scholars Bikram Paul, Uddipana Dowerah, Tarun Kumar Yadav, Balbir Singh,
Abhishek Agarwal, Meenali Janveja and Souradip Pal from IIT Guwahati.
Recognitions:
The work has been published in the IEEE International Conference Radioelektronika (RADIOELEKTRONIKA). It
received 3rd best paper award by IEEE Czechoslovakia Section based on its research contributions.
Work of the Research Team:
i.It has developed Post-Quantum Cryptography(PQC)-based encryption algorithms, and designed indigenous soft
Internet Protocols (IPs), which will be integrated into System-On-Chip (SoC) to protect the computers from cyber-
attacks.

State-Wise PDF
ii.These algorithms and IPs will protect critical data such as national security data and citizen information through an
unbreakable lock-and-key.
iii.The Team has developed Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) architecture for Internet-of-Things (IoT)
applications in the healthcare sector, which will encrypt and decrypt data for transmission across the Internet. It will
be suitable for low power IoT applications too.
Background:
i.The recent advances in Computer Science, such as development of Quantum Computer has opened up many
possibilities as well as enormous threats.
ii.Once Quantum Computers become the workhorses in the future, they can be used to easily break the sensitive data
protected by encryption, which will make all the data obsolete and vulnerable.
iii.These threats have given rise to a new field of research called “Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC)” and research
teams all over the globe, which are working on developing algorithms to secure data from attacks by advanced
computers.
i.IIT Roorkee Develops “Unisaviour” – Disinfection Box to Sterilise Personal Belongings to minimise the COVID-19
transmission.
ii.The IIT, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to develop a biotechnology based water treatment system for the
purification of sewage water flowing into the rivers Ganga and Godavari through the SPRING Project.
About IIT Guwahati:
Director – T.G. Sitharam
Location – Assam
Syeda Anwara Taimur, Assam’s 1st and only Woman CM Passed Away
On September 28, 2020 Syeda Anwara Taimur, Assam’s first and only woman Chief Minister(CM) passed away in
Australia due to cardiac arrest. She was around the age of 83. She is the 1st Muslim woman CM of any state in India.
She was born on November 24, 1936 in Assam, British India.
• She is a 4 time(1972, 1978, 1983 and 1991) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and a 2 times Rajya
Sabha MP- Member of Parliament (nominated in 1988 and elected in 2004).
• She had an illustrious political career spanning over 4 decades.
Key Info About Syeda Anwara Taimur
i.Syeda Anwara Taimur prior to entering into politics served as the Economics lecturer in Devicharan Barua Girls
College at Jorhat in 1956.
ii.She was the CM of the state from December 1980 to June 1981 as a member of the Congress during the height of the
anti-foreigners’ agitation in the State. Her tenure ended as the state was put under president’s rule.
iii.She was a leader of the Indian National Congress party in Assam and a member of the All India Congress
Committee (AICC).
iv.She served as the Public Works Department(PWD) and agriculture minister of the state from 1983 to 1985. She
joined the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in 2011.
Assam Current Affairs - October 2020

“Kati Bihu” Festival Celebrated in Assam
On17th October 2020, Kati Bihu is one of the set of three Bihu festivals (agricultural festivals) was celebrated in the
state of Assam.The Kati Bihu is also known as Kangali Bihu, the festival of the poor (the word “Kongal” means
“poor”) is celebrated in mid-October when the crops are at growing stage and the granaries of the farmers are
depleting.
Celebration of Kati Bihu:
i.The Kati Bihu is celebrated with the lamp called ‘Saki’ which is lit on the tips of bamboo poles in the fields which
represents a guide to spirits and earthen lamps are lit in the garden, under the tulsi plants and in the granaries.
ii.The farmers chant spells to ward off the negativity and pests in the field and pray for a prosperous harvest.

State-Wise PDF
iii.The locals of Assam celebrate the festival by lighting diya in their fields and homes and perform cultural dance and
organise feasts.
Other Bihu Festivals:
i.Bohag or Rongali Bihu is celebrated during the mid-April as the Assamese new year. During the Bohag Bihu the
fields are prepared for the paddy cultivation.
ii.Magh or Bhogali Bihu is celebrated during the mid-January as a spring festival to mark a successful harvest and
full granaries.
Nitin Gadkari Laid Foundation Stone for India’s first Multi-modal Logistic Park in Assam Virtually
On October 20, 2020 Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs(Micro, Small &
Medium Enterprises) virtually laid the foundation stone for India’s first Multi-modal Logistic Park(MMLP)
at Jogighopa in Assam. Rs 693.97 crore park will provide direct air, road, rail and waterways connectivity to the
people.
i.The park will be developed under the Bharatmala Pariyojana of the Government of India.
ii.It is being created by National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL), owned by the
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways(MoRTH).
MoU between NHIDCL and Ashoka Paper Mills
On the occasion for sharing land and logistics in Jogighopa, a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) was signed
between NHIDCL and Ashoka paper mills, Government of Assam.
About the 1st MMLP:
i.It is being developed in 317-acre land along the Brahmaputra.
ii.The 1st phase of construction is scheduled to be completed by 2023.
iii.Already, Rs 280 crore worth work have been awarded including Rs 171 crore for road construction, Rs 87 crore
for erecting the structure, and Rs 23 crore for rail lines. iv.Construction work will start in November 2020.
v.The project is expected to create direct or indirect employment to about 20 lakh youth in the State.
Forthcoming Roads and Rail Line constructions:
A 4-lane road will be constructed to cover the distance of 154 km between Jogighopa and Guwahati.
A 3-km rail line will be constructed to connect Jogighopa station to the MMLP.
Another 3-Km rail will be constructed to connect MMLP to IWT(Inland Water Terminal).
For easier connectivity, the road to newly developed Rupsi airport will be upgraded to 4-lanes.
Key Info
i.Nitin Gadkari stated that MoRTH envisages to develop 35 MMLPs in India, of which the Detailed Project
Report(DPR) and feasibility report preparation is ongoing.
ii.MMLP will have all the facilities like, warehouse, railway siding, cold storage, custom clearance house, etc.,
Statements made by Nitin Gadkari in Regard to National Highway
• MoRTH has plans for National Highway(NH) works worth Rs 80,000 crore in Assam.
• Within this financial year, NH works for 575 km worth Rs. 3,545 crore will be completed.
• By next year, NH works of about Rs 15,000 crore will be awarded, while DPRs for works of Rs 21,000 crore
will be completed for the State.
• A 203 km NH length of Rs 610 crore has been approved for 2020-21, under the Central Road Infrastructure
Fund (CRIF) scheme.
• On the NH in Assam, a total of 12 accident black spots have been identified. Of them, 3 have been temporarily
improved. By 2023, all the black spots will be eradicated.
Key People
Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister of Assam, Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State(MoS) (Independent Charge),
Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy
and Space among others participated in the event.
i.On 30th August, 2020 Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Jairam Gadkari inaugurated three
important bridges, two road improvement projects. He laid the foundation stone for four other major bridge projects

State-Wise PDF
across the rivers Wainganga, Bandiya, Perikota and Perimili in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra with an outlay
of Rs. 777 Crores.
ii.On 17th August, 2020 Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways, Nitin Jairam Gadkari laid the foundation stone
for 13 highway projects and inaugurated a Road Safety Project in Manipur through video conference.
Constituency:
Nitin Gadkari– Nagpur, Maharashtra
5 States to get Conservation Centres to protect vultures: Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2020-2025
In accordance with the Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2020-2025 which was approved on October 5, 2020 by
the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), the five states viz. Uttar Pradesh (UP), Tripura, Maharashtra, Karnataka
and Tamil Nadu will get vulture conservation and breeding centre each.
• Also, as a part of this plan there will be establishment of four rescue centres, in Pinjore (Haryana), Bhopal
(Madhya Pradesh), Guwahati (Assam) and Hyderabad (Telangana). Currently there is no dedicated rescue
centre for treating vultures.
• The focus of this plan is to prevent the declining vulture population especially of the three Gyps species (a
genus of Old World vultures native to India) viz. Oriental white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis), Slender-
billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris), and Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus).
• It should be noted that the previous action plan was formulated in 2006 for three years.
Key Points from Action Plan:
–A new veterinary non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) will be tested on vultures before their
commercial release.
• NSAIDS often poisons cattle whose carcasses the birds prey on.
• Notably, vultures are also known as nature’s cleanup crew as they do the work of cleaning up after death by
acting as natural carcass recyclers, helping to keep ecosystems healthy.
–This plan mooted a system of automatically removal of drug from veterinary use if it is found to be toxic to vultures,
with the help of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
–There will be Conservation breeding of red-Headed vultures and Egyptian vultures and the establishment of at least
one vulture-safe zone in each state.
–In order to get a more accurate estimate of vulture population, there will be Coordinated nation-wide vulture
counting, involving forest departments, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), research institutes, non-profits
and members of the public.
Vulture Multi-Species Action Plan:
Vulture Multi-species Action Plan (Vulture MsAP) was adopted at the Twelfth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties
to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP12) held in Manila, the
Philippines in 2017.
• In 2020, the first strategy of Vulture MsAP plan was launched at CMS COP13 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat held on
February 15-22, 2020.
i.On August 15, 2020, PM Narendra Modi announced the “Project Dolphin” for the conservation and protection of the
Dolphins in the country. The Project Dolphin will involve conservation of Dolphins and the aquatic habitat through
use of modern technology specially in enumeration and anti-poaching activities.
ii.On August 15, 2020, PM Narendra Modi announced “Project Lion” for the conservation of endangered Asiatic Lion
involving habitat development by engaging modern technologies in management and addressing the issue of diseases
in lion and its associated species through advanced world-class research and veterinary care. The project would also
address the Human-Wildlife conflict.
About National Board for Wildlife (NBWL):
The NBWL is constituted by the Central Government under Section 5 A of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (WLPA).
It serves as an apex body to review all wildlife-related matters and approve projects in and around national parks and
sanctuaries.
• It is chaired by India’s Prime Minister.

State-Wise PDF
Sarbananda Sonowal Launched ‘Kritagyata’, 1st of its kind webportal to Expedite Pension Claims in Assam
along with “CyberSafety” campaign
On October 1, 2020, the Chief Minister (CM) of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal launched an on-line pension submission
and tracking system “Kritagyata” during a function held at Assam Administrative Staff College in Guwahati. Created
on the lines of “Bhabhisya” portal of Government of India, Kritagyata is first portal of its kind among all the states in
the country for the convenience of pensioners by expediting their pension-related claims.
• Through this portal, the retired state government employees can submit pension-related papers online and
have the facility to check the status of pension.
• The portal has been launched as a pilot project for the teachers and employees under Inspector of Schools of
Kamrup Metropolitan district, and will further be extended for state govt employees.
Cyber safety awareness campaign launched in Assam:
Assam Police celebrated its 70th foundation day, i.e. Assam Police Day on October 1, 2020. On this occasion
Sarbananda Sonowal launched a month-long “CyberSafety” campaign to raise awareness on cyber crimes and safety.
It will be jointly conducted by the Assam Police and cyber-security think tank Cyber Peace Foundation (CPF).
• The campaign will focus on major aspects of cyber safety through programmes on digital platforms, webinars,
radio campaigns and activities targeted at people of various age groups, particularly school-going children.
• The programmes will be hosted on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
i.On August 24, 2020 The Guwahati Passenger Ropeway Project connecting the Northern and Southern banks of the
Development Department(GDD) Minister, Siddhartha Bhattacharya. The ropeway service is 1.8 Kilometres long,
making it the longest ropeway distance over a river in the entire country.
ii.On June 29, 2020 Assam’s Council of Ministers approved an MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises)
Ordinance to end the process of taking multiple permissions to set up MSME in Assam for the next three years.
About Assam:
Capital – Dispur
Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal Launches “Swa-nirbhar Naari:Atmanirbhar Asom”

On October 8, 2020, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched “Swa-nirbhar Naari:Atmanirbhar Asom”
for empowering the economically disadvantaged women in the State.
Key Points:
i.The scheme is expected to create more than 3.72 Lakh Sustainable Individual Assets and 822 Community Assets.
It will benefit around 4 Lakh Families.
ii.It will be implemented in convergence with several schemes of Assam state government departments and missions
such as Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission, Agriculture & Horticulture, Fishery, Environment & Forest,
Handloom & Textiles, Sericulture, Veterinary & Animal Husbandry.
Individual & Community Asset Creation:
i.Five activities will be implemented in all Development Blocks in the case of Individual Asset Creation.
ii.Twenty activities to be implemented in selected Development Blocks for Community Asset Creation.
Monitoring Committees:
To ensure effective implementation of the scheme, monitoring committees will be constituted from Panchayat to
State Level.
Importance of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI):
i.The Chief Minister highlighted the role of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) in the implementation of the scheme.
ii.Prize awards of INR 3 Lakh, 2 Lakh and 1 Lakh will be given to the First Three Best Performing Panchayats.
i.On 4th September 2020, The Government of Assam relaunched its old scheme Swami Vivekananda Assam Youth

State-Wise PDF
About Assam:
Lakes – Dipor Bil, Son Beel, Haflong Lake.
Major Festivals – Bihu, Baishagu, Ambubachi Mela, Me-Dum-Me-Phi
Sarbananda Sonowal Laid foundation stone for India’s 1st Assam Agar International Trade Centre at
Dabidubi
On October 21, 2020, the Chief Minister (CM) of Assam laid the foundation stone of Assam Agar International Trade
Centre, a first-of-its-kind in India at Dabidubi in Golaghat district of Assam.
• This initiative is on the lines of doubling the farmer’s income in the state by 2022.
• This project will promote the business of the farmers as well as the entrepreneurs associated with agarwood
plantation and trade in Assam which results in boosting Assam’s economy.
Point to be noted:
This trade centre will be named after Indian-Assamese freedom fighter from Assam, Swahid Kushal Konwar, in a bid
to pay its tribute to the martyr. He was the only martyr in India who was hanged during the last phase of the Quit
India Movement of 1942-43.
i.On 4th September 2020, The Government of Assam re-launched its old scheme Swami Vivekananda Assam Youth
ii.On 23rd September 2020, Sarbananda Sonowal launched the “Mukhyamantri Grammya Paribahan Achoni” – Chief
Minister’s Rural Transport Scheme and distributed light motor vehicles to the beneficiaries under this scheme.
About Assam:
Governor– Jagadish Mukhi
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Sites – Kaziranga National Park,
Manas National Park.
C-DAC & NSM Host Institutes signed a MoU to Establish Supercomputing Infrastructure in Premier
Institutions Across India
On 12th October 2020, The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) With the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) Host Institutes to
establish supercomputing infrastructure with assembly and manufacturing in India.
Dr. Mini Shaji Thomas, Director, NIT, Trichy and Dr. Hemant Darbari, Director General, C – DAC signed the MoU.
Purpose of the MoU:
To manufacture Critical Components at Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Bangalore, Indian Institutes of Technology
(IIT) (Kanpur, Roorkee, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Mandi, Gandhinagar), National Institute of Technology(NIT) Trichy,
National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) Mohali and NSM Nodal Centres for training in High-Performance
Computing & Artificial Intelligence (HPC & AI) at IIT (Madras, Kharagpur, Goa and Palakkad).
Key People:
The MoU was signed in the presence of Sanjay Dhotre, Union Minister of State for electronics and information
technology(E&IT), Education and Communications, Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary of Ministry of Electronics &
Information Technology (MeitY), Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary of Department of Science & Technology(DST),
Jyoti Arora, Special Secretary & Financial Adviser(FA), MeitY, Dr Rajendra Kumar, Additional Secretary, MeitY and
Host Institutes.
Mission:
To establish a Dependable and Secure Exa Scale Ecosystem with innovative designs, technologies and expert human
resources.
Aim:
To achieve complete self-reliance through developing India’s own Hardware enclosed with Exascale chip design,
design and Manufacture of Exascale Server Board, Exascale Interconnects and Storage including Silicon-Photonics at
C-DAC.

State-Wise PDF
Features of MoU:
i.With the state of the art supercomputing facilities this partnership will enhance the capabilities of India, empower
the scientists and researchers to reach global competition and to ensure self-reliance.
ii.As a part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat, the pace of the research and innovation is being enhanced using the
computational science techniques by manufacturing critical supercomputer components in India.
iii.The components manufactured in India include Server Board, Interconnect, Rack power controllers and Hydraulic
controllers, Direct Liquid Cooled Datacenter, HPC Software Stack.
Key Points:
The C-DAC has established a Supercomputing Eco-system at IIT-(BHU) Varanasi, IIT Kharagpur, Indian Institutes of
Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific
Research (JNCASR) Bangalore.
About National Supercomputing Mission(NSM):
National Supercomputing Mission(NSM) was established to provide the required computational power to the
Institutes, Industry, Scientific and Research Community, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises(MSME) and Startups to
provide solutions to the specific challenges of India and real life problems in Science and Technology.
i.On July 9, 2020, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) inked an agreement with the New Okhla Industrial
Development Authority (NOIDA) to install public Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations & related infrastructure in
order to promote the usage of electric vehicles.
ii.In order to strengthen the solar energy sector across the nation, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)-
Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) and National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), an
autonomous institute under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) virtually for ‘Strategic Association’.
About Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC):
Director General– Dr Hemant Darbari
Headquarters– Pune, Maharashtra
Jitendra Singh Released a Coffee Table Book on “Discovering the Heritage of Assam”; Authored by Kumar
Padampani Bora
On October 4, 2020 Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State(MoS) (Independent Charge-I/C) Development of North
Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO(Prime Minister’s Office), Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy
and Space released a Coffee Table Book on “Discovering the Heritage of Assam”. It was authored by Kumar
Padmapani Bora with foreword by Amitabh Bachchan. It is published by Penguin Enterprise.
Essence of the Book
i.The book is a collection of heritage, faith, beliefs and traditions of various ethnic tribes and subtribes living in the
largest State- Assam of the North Eastern Region.
ii.It is divided into 5 chapters. It will serve as the cultural and heritage ambassador of the North East for the rest of
the world.
iii.The magnificence and glory of the undiscovered attributes of Assam can be understood through this book.
About Kumar Padmapani Bora
i.He is a 2009 batch Indian Revenue Service(IRS) officer.
ii.He is serving as the Deputy Secretary in the Union Ministry of Textiles.
iii.His 1st book was ‘North-East India in India-Asean Relations : A Strategic and Developmental Perspective’.

State-Wise PDF
Assam Current Affairs - November2020

Assam’s Tezpur Litchi Gets GI Tag
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), under the Union ministry of
commerce and industry, confirmed that Tezpur Litchi of Assam has received the Geographical Indication (GI)
Tag. Tezpur Litchi was granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag certification on 27th March 2015. The GI Tag to
Tezpur Litchi made it an incontrovertible proof of their origin in Assam. The GI tag prevents the production of Tezpur
Litchi from other places.
The Tezpur Litchi has got the GI tag under Horticulture Products(Fruits) – Litchi in the class 31. This registration is
valid up to 28th August 2023.
• The North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERMAC) applied for the GI tag of
Tezpur Litchi on 29th August 2013.
Tezpur Litchi:
Origin– Tezpur Litchi is a subtropical evergreen fruit produced in Tezpur, Assam.
Scientific Name- Litchi Chinensis
Significance– the Tezpur litchi is a source of Vitamin C, which is known for its pleasant flavour, juicy pulp and its
attractive appearance.
Nutritional value– it contains a 0.8 to 0.9% protein, 0.3% of Fat, 0.49% of pectin and 0.9% of minerals like Calcium,
Phosphorus and iron.
Features- around 60% of the fruit is juice with 8% rag, 19% seed and 13% skin (these varies with variety and
climate).
About Assam:
Zoological parks– Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden
Tiger Reserve– Manas Tiger Reserve, Nameri Tiger Reserve, Kaziranga Tiger Reserve
Products of Assam that received GI tag earlier-Muga Silk of Assam,Assam Karbi Anglong Ginger, Joha Rice of
Assam.
Govt plans to Set Up 14 More Water Aerodromes for Seaplane Services Under RCS UDAN Scheme
The Government of India plans to set up 14 more water aerodromes across India under the Regional Connectivity
Scheme(RCS) UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation(MoCA). This follows the launch of
the first seaplane service between the Statue of Unity in Kevadiya of Narmada Gujarat and Sabarmati Riverfront in
Ahmedabad.
These 14 aerodromes will enable seaplane services on multiple routes which includes, lakshadweep, Andaman and
Nicobar, Assam, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand.
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) requested the Inland Waterways
Authority of India (IWAI) for the following assistance.
• To conduct a hydrographic survey
• To provide assistance in setting up floating jetties to enable the movement of passengers
• To set up navigation buoys.
The Potential locations:
i.Tehri Dam in Uttarakhand.
ii.Khindsi Dam and Erai Dam in Maharashtra.
iii.Guwahati riverfront and Umrangso reservoir in Assam.
iv.Prakasam barrage in Andhra Pradesh.
v.Havelock, Neil, Long and Hutbay islands in Andaman & Nicobar.
vi.Minicoy and Kavaratti in Lakshadweep.
vii.Dharoi and Shatrunjaya in Gujarat.

State-Wise PDF
About the Seaplanes:
i.The Twin Otters, a 14 passenger commuter airplane, certified by the Canadian Department of Transportation under
the normal category will be utilised for this initiative.
ii.The Twin Otters is an unpressurised, all metal, high wing, twin turboprop aircraft.
Key Points:
i.The Directorate of General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL) under the ministry of Shipping has utilised the
Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) technology, a system to provide the provisional correction to GPS
signal to mark the runway in the shallow waters of Gujarat.
ii.For the operation during the night, this provision has been made over the navigation buoys for fixing the automated
navigation lights.
iii.SpiceJet has chartered a seaplane from Maldives and more seaplanes like this will be hired after the
commencement of the services.
Note:
The Gujarat Government has cleared a proposal to enter a tri-party agreement with MoCA and AAI for the
development of four water aerodromes for seaplanes service under RCS.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to develop at least 100 Airports, Waterdromes, and Heliports by 2024
under UDAN (“Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik”)-Regional Air Connectivity Scheme.
About Ministry of Civil Aviation:
Union Minister– Hardeep Singh Puri
About Airport Authority of India(AAI):
Chairman- Arvind Singh
Govt plans to Set Up 14 More Water Aerodromes for Seaplane Services Under RCS UDAN Scheme
The Government of India plans to set up 14 more water aerodromes across India under the Regional Connectivity
Scheme(RCS) UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation(MoCA). This follows the launch of
the first seaplane service between the Statue of Unity in Kevadiya of Narmada Gujarat and Sabarmati Riverfront in
Ahmedabad.
These 14 aerodromes will enable seaplane services on multiple routes which includes, lakshadweep, Andaman and
Nicobar, Assam, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand.
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) requested the Inland Waterways
Authority of India (IWAI) for the following assistance.
• To conduct a hydrographic survey
• To provide assistance in setting up floating jetties to enable the movement of passengers
• To set up navigation buoys.
The Potential locations:
i.Tehri Dam in Uttarakhand.
ii.Khindsi Dam and Erai Dam in Maharashtra.
iii.Guwahati riverfront and Umrangso reservoir in Assam.
iv.Prakasam barrage in Andhra Pradesh.
v.Havelock, Neil, Long and Hutbay islands in Andaman & Nicobar.
vi.Minicoy and Kavaratti in Lakshadweep.
vii.Dharoi and Shatrunjaya in Gujarat.
About the Seaplanes:
i.The Twin Otters, a 14 passenger commuter airplane, certified by the Canadian Department of Transportation under
the normal category will be utilised for this initiative.
ii.The Twin Otters is an unpressurised, all metal, high wing, twin turboprop aircraft.

State-Wise PDF
Key Points:
i.The Directorate of General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL) under the ministry of Shipping has utilised the
Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) technology, a system to provide the provisional correction to GPS
signal to mark the runway in the shallow waters of Gujarat.
ii.For the operation during the night, this provision has been made over the navigation buoys for fixing the automated
navigation lights.
iii.SpiceJet has chartered a seaplane from Maldives and more seaplanes like this will be hired after the
commencement of the services.
Note:
The Gujarat Government has cleared a proposal to enter a tri-party agreement with MoCA and AAI for the
development of four water aerodromes for seaplanes service under RCS.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to develop at least 100 Airports, Waterdromes, and Heliports by 2024
under UDAN (“Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik”)-Regional Air Connectivity Scheme.
About Ministry of Civil Aviation:
Union Minister– Hardeep Singh Puri
About Airport Authority of India(AAI):
Chairman- Arvind Singh
L&T Emerges as Lowest Bidder for the India’s Longest River Bridge in Northeast
Larsen & Toubro(L&T) has emerged as the lowest bidder with Rs.3166 crores for the construction of the 20
kilometer(km) 4 lane road bridge across River Brahmaputra connecting Dhubri of Assam to Phulbair of
Meghalaya on National Highway(NH) 127B. This will be India’s longest Bridge over a River in the northeast.
National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) is the executing agency and is
expected to be completed by 2026-27.
About the River Bridge Project:
i.This river bridge project is financed by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency).
ii.This project will enable better connectivity between the Northeastern states to the rest of India.
iii.The approach including the embankment and viaduct in Dhubri and Phulbari will be around 4.3 km and 2.3 km
respectively.
Benefits:
i.This will reduce around 200 km of detour travel distance from Dhubri to Phulbari, and increase the connectivity of
the Northeastern states.
ii.This bridge will act as a conduit for the Indian armed forces and enhance trade and commerce.
iii.This bridge will also provide an additional domestic link for Meghalaya.
Additional Info:
In October 2020, L & T bagged a Rs 25,000 crore order for the largest section of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train
Project.
In November 2020, it bagged a Rs 7,000 crore order for another section on the corridor connecting Vadodara with
Ahmedabad.
Govt Provide 50% Subsidy for Air Transportation of Fruits, Vegetables from NE, Himalayan states
As a part of “Operation Green Scheme TOP to TOTAL”, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has
announced a 50% air transportation subsidy for 41 notified fruits and vegetables from North East and Himalayan
states to any place in the country.
• In this regard, Airlines will provide the transport subsidy directly to the supplier/ consignor/ consignee/
agent by charging only 50% of the freight charges and will claim the balance 50% from MoFPI as subsidy.
• Apart from above relaxation, all consignment of notified fruits and vegetables irrespective of quantity and
price would be eligible for 50% freight subsidy for air transportation from eligible airports.

State-Wise PDF
List of notified 21 fruits and 20 vegetables eligible for air transportation subsidy:
Fruits: Mango, Banana, Guava, Kiwi, Litchi, Mousambi, Orange, Kinnow, Lime, Lemon, Papaya, Pineapple,
Pomegranate, Jackfruit, Apple, Almond, Aonla, Passion fruit, Pear, Sweet Potato and Chikoo
Vegetables: French beans, Bitter Gourd, Brinjal, Capsicum, Carrot, Cauliflower, Chillies (Green), Okra, Cucumber,
Peas, Garlic, Onion, Potato, Tomato, Large Cardamom, Pumpkin, Ginger, Cabbage, Squash and Turmeric (dry) are also
eligible.
Airports under air transportation subsidy:
The air transportation of above mentioned commodities is allowed from all the airports in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim (Bagdogra), and Tripura from North-East, and Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, and Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh among the hilly states.
Earlier, the transportation subsidy was extended under Operation Greens Scheme for Kisan Rail Scheme with effect
from October 12, 2020.
i.In order to encourage the use of electric vehicles to prevent air pollution Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced
subsidy schemes for electric two-wheelers and e-rickshaws during a virtual programme on climate change to
commemorate the founding day of the state climate change department.
ii.On October 15, 2020 Indian Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Housing
andUrban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) at New
Delhi, to pay subsidy to street vendors under the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi)
Scheme.
About Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI):
Union Minister– Narendra Singh Tomar
Minister of State (MoS)– Rameswar Teli
About Operation Green Scheme TOP to TOTAL:
Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has recently extended the Operation Greens Scheme from Tomato,
Onion and Potato (TOP) to all fruits & vegetables (TOTAL) for a period of six months on pilot basis as part of
Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
Operation Green- Operation Greens was announced in the budget 2018-19 on the line of “Operation Flood”. It has an
outlay of Rs.500 crore and it aims to promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), agri-logistics, processing
facilities and professional management.
Jishnu Baruah Appointed as New Assam chief secretary; Succeeds Kumar Sanjay Krishna
On October 31, 2020 Jishnu Baruah, 1998 batch IAS(Indian Administrative Service) officer took charge as the new
chief secretary of Assam Government. He succeeds Kumar Sanjay Krishna.
Note
Jishnu Baruah prior to this appointment was serving as the additional chief secretary for Home and Political, Revenue
and Disaster Management and Assam Accord Implementation departments.
About Jishnu Baruah:
i.He had held several important capacities in his service career in the state govt.
ii.He had been on Central Deputation from 2001 to 2006 and had served as Private Secretary to Union Minister of
State for Commerce, Planning, Atomic Energy, and Space along with Statistics and Programme Implementation.
iii.He served in the Government of India as Joint Secretary, Services, Vigilance and Training, from 2014-2017.
About Kumar Sanjay Krishna:
i.Kumar Sanjay Krishna is a 1985 batch IAS officer.
ii.He took charge as the chief secretary of the state on January 1, 2020.
iii.Prior to being a chief secretary he was the additional chief secretary Home, Political and Disaster Management
About Assam:
Airports– Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Dibrugarh Airport, Jorhat Airport or Rowriah Airport,
Silchar Airport, Lilabari Airport.
Bird Sanctury– Bordoibam Bilmukh Bird Sanctuary, Panidihing Bird Sanctuary, Satajaan Bird Sanctuary

State-Wise PDF
Assam CM Laid Foundation Stone of Indo-Israeli Centre of Excellence for Vegetables Protected Cultivation at
Kehtri
On November 2, 2020, Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal and Ambassador of Israel to India Ron
Malka laid the foundation stone of Rs. 10.33 crore Indo-Israeli Centre of Excellence for Vegetables Protected
Cultivation at Khetri on the outskirts of Guwahati.
• The project will provide exposure to latest Israeli technologies to Assam’s agricultural and horticulture
activities thereby helping in maximizing the production and income of farmers.
• This project is an edition to the government’s efforts to double farmers’ income through technology in
agriculture, agribusiness and food processing.
Key Points:
–In the recent years, the Assam’s annual production of food grain, fruits, vegetable etc. has significantly increased
with export to Dubai, London, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi and several others international destinations.
–Assam already has ongoing collaborations with Israel in furthering the growth of start-up ecosystem in the state
through start-up exchange programme and Israeli mentorship of various start-up projects in Assam.
i.On 4th September 2020, The Government of Assam relaunched its old scheme Swami Vivekananda Assam Youth
ii.On 25th September 2020, Government of Assam launched a mobile app named “Visitassam” for air passengers from
other states. Visitassam enables the air passengers to download forms and fill it which can be used at the airports to
reduce the time spent on the formalities for COVID-19 tests and ensures the proper social distancing among the
passengers.
About Assam:
Governor– Prof Jagadish Mukhi
National Parks: Kaziranga National Park, Manas National Park, Dibru Saikhowa National Park, Nameri National Park,
Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park.
PFC, REC sign MoU with SJVN to provide INR 8, 520 Crore loan for Thermal power plant in Buxar, Bihar
On November 26, 2020, Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC) & REC Limited (formerly known as Rural
Electrification Corporation Limited) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SJVN Thermal (P) Limited
(STPL) at Power Finance Corporation (PFC), New Delhi for extending Term Loan of INR 8520.46 Crores for 2×660
MegaWatts (MW) Buxar Thermal Power Project, Bihar.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Ravinder Singh Dhillon, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Power
Finance Corporation (PFC), N. L. Sharma, CMD of SJVN, A. K. Singh, Director (Finance), SJVN and others.
Key Points:
i.The 2x660MW Thermal project will be commissioned in the Financial Year (FY) 2023-24.
ii.The power plant will generate around 9828 Million Units of Energy and will meet the future power requirements
of Bihar and other states.
SJVN:
i.Based in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh (HP), it is a Mini Ratna, Category-I and Schedule – ‘A’ CPSE under administrative
control of Ministry of Power.
ii.It is a joint venture (JV) GoI and Government of Himachal Pradesh (GOHP). Recent Related News:
i.SJVN Limited signed a MoU with GoI for the year 2020-21 as per which the former has the target to achieve 9680
Million Units of electricity generation during FY21 under “Excellent” category.
About Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC):
Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) – Ravinder Singh Dhillon
About REC Limited (formerly known as Rural Electrification Corporation Limited):
CMD – Sanjay Malhotra

State-Wise PDF
Kerala, Goa, Chandigarh emerge as Best Governed States and Union Territory : PAI 2020
Kerala emerged as the Best Governed State in the Large States Category, Goa emerged as the Best Governed
State in Small States Category, Chandigarh emerged as the Best Governed Union Territory based
on Governance in the 5th edition of Public Affairs Index 2020 (PAI 2020) released by Public Affairs Centre (PAC)
on October 30, 2020.
Overall PAI 2020 Index – Scores and Rankings
i.Large States:
Rank Large States PAI 2020 Index
1 Kerala 1.388
2 Tamil Nadu 0.912
3 Andhra Pradesh 1
ii.Small States:
Rank Small States PAI 2020 Index
1 Goa 1.745
2 Meghalaya 0.797
3 Himachal Pradesh 1
iii.Union Territory:
Rank Union Territory PAI 2020 Index
1 Chandigarh 1.057
2 Puducherry 0.52
3 Lakshadweep 0
Parameters:
i.The rankings are based on a Composite Index.
ii.The performance is analysed in context of sustainable development defined by 3 pillars – Equity, Growth and
Sustainability, 5 Themes, 13 Sustainable Development Goals, and 50 Indicators.
Least Performers:
i.Uttar Pradesh (-1.461), Odisha (-1.201) and Bihar (-1.158) finished at the bottom of the ranking of Large States.
ii.Manipur (-0.363), Delhi (-0.289) and Uttarakhand (-0.277) finished at the bottom of the ranking of Small States.
iii.Dadar and Nagar Haveli (-0.69), Jammu and Kashmir (-0.50) and Andaman & Nicobar (-0.30) were the least
performers in the Union Territory Category.
Delta Analysis:
i.The report included Delta Analysis in which the results on state performance and ranking measured as the Delta
value over the last five years from 2015- 16 to 2019-20 was covered by PAI 2020.
It is based on Equity, Growth and Sustainability.
Equity:
i.In the Large States Category, in terms of Equity, Bihar followed by West Bengal, Odisha are the top performers, while
Kerala, Punjab and Maharashtra feature at the bottom.
ii.In the Small states, Mizoram is the top performer, Goa is placed at the Bottom.
Growth:
i.Among Large states Bihar, Assam and Odisha showed the highest improvement, while Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar
Pradesh and Tamil Nadu feature at the bottom.
ii.Among small states, Mizoram, Meghalaya have the highest growth with Manipur at the bottom. Himachal ranks 2nd,
but has least improvement in Delta value.
Sustainability:
i.In terms of Sustainability, Odisha and Haryana show the highest improvement.
ii.Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Assam are placed at the bottom among the Large States.

State-Wise PDF
iii.Among small states, Goa is the top performer followed by Delhi and Tripura, while Meghalaya and Mizoram feature
at the bottom.
Key Findings:
i.Female Worker population ratio has a negative relationship with growth, meaning that Gender Disparities are
increasing in high performing states.
ii.Agriculture distress is persistent in both high performing states and poor performing states.
iii.Rural indebtedness is increasing with a positive correlation between rural indebtedness and farmer suicides.
iv.Female labour force participation is a driving force in the case of high and middle performing states but not in the
case of low performing states.
i.On January 29, 2020, As per the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India, India’s youngest state
Telangana has emerged as Number 1 state in the ‘Decent work and economic growth’ category with the score of 82 on
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India index in 2019.
ii.On January 22, 2020, According to the ‘SKOCH State of Governance 2019’ report, Gujarat gained the top spot on the
back of better performance in Health, Education, Power and e-Governance segments.
About Public Affairs Centre (PAC):
Chairman – K Kasturirangan
Location – Bengaluru, Karnataka
Arunachal Pradesh Records Best Sex Ratio in India: Annual Report from Office of Registrar General & Census
Commissioner
According to Annual Report on ‘Vital Statistics on India based on Civil Registration System 2018’, Arunachal
Pradesh recorded the Highest Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) in the country with 1,084 females born per thousand males. It
was followed by Nagaland (965) & Mizoram (964), Kerala (963), and Karnataka (957).
The report was released by the Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India, Ministry of Home
Affairs, Government of India.
States with High SRB:
State Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB)
Arunachal Pradesh 1,084
Nagaland 965
Mizoram 964
States with Low SRB:
State Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB)
Manipur 757
Lakshadweep 839
Daman & Diu 877
The sex ratio was determined based on the reports provided by Chief Registrar of Births and Death of respective
States/Union Territories for the year 2018.
Key Points:
i.Manipur (757), Lakshadweep (839), Daman & Diu (877) recorded the Lowest SRB in the country.
ii.The level of registration of births has increased to 89.3% in 2018 from 81.3% in 2009
iii.13 states/Union Territory (UTs) namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,
Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry recorded 100 % registration of
births in 2018.
iv.Out of the total registered births, the share of male and female are 52.0% and 47.9% respectively.
v.13 States/UTs namely which have recorded cent percent registration of births in 2018.

State-Wise PDF
India & Sex Ratio:
i. According to 2011 Census conducted by Government of India the sex ratio of India was 940, which is on the lower
side. Biologically normal sex ratio at birth is 1, 050 males to 1, 000 females or 950 females to 1,000 males.
ii.According to the Sample Registration System (SRS) Report 2018, India recorded a decline in SRB from 906 in 2011
to 899 in 2018.
Risks of Low SRB:
i.Low SRBs may lead to more violence against both men and women.
ii.It will also lead to an increase in human-trafficking.
Government Initiatives to increase Sex Ratio:
i.Government of India has introduced schemes like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao to address the issues of declining Child
Sex Ratio image (CSR). It is an initiative run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare and Ministry of Education.Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao launched in 2015.
iii.In 1994, Pre-conception & Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC & PNDT) Act, 1994 was enacted to bring a balance
in sex ratio.
i.On August 20, 2020 In New Delhi, India, M Venkaiah Naidu, Vice president of India released 2 research reports of
IAPPD namely, ‘Status of Sex Ratio at Birth in India’.
About Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India:
Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs
Registrar General & Census Commissioner – Vivek Joshi
Tarun Gogoi, Former Assam Chief Minister Passed Away

On 23rd November 2020, Tarun Gogoi, the longest serving chief minister of Assam and popular leader of Indian
National Congress (INC) passed away at a hospital in Gauhati, Assam. He passed away due to post COVID-19
complications and multiple organ failures. He was born in Assam Province, British India(now Assam, India).
About Tarun Gogoi:
i.Tarun Gogoi served as the Chief minister of Assam for three terms from 2001 to 2016,He has served as the Member
of Legislative Assembly from the Titabor Constituency since 2001.
ii.He also served as the member of Parliament for 6 terms and served as a Union Minister for two terms.
iii.He represented the Jorhat constituency in the Parliament from 1971 to early 1980’s and Kaliabor constituency
between 1991 to 1996.
World Fisheries Day 2020 – November 21

The World Fisheries Day is annually celebrated across the globe on 21st November 2020, to create and spread
awareness about the importance of the healthy ocean ecosystem and to ensure the sustainable stock of fisheries in
the world.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO) of the United Nations(UN) celebrated World Fisheries Day 2020
on 20th November 2020 instead of 21st November 2020.
FAO Events 2020:
i.The holy see and FAO partners to celebrate the World Fisheries day 2020 on 20th November 2020.
ii.The events of World Fisheries Day 2020 (20th November 2020) of FAO are held within the context of the
celebration of 75th Anniversary of FAO and the 100th Anniversary of Stella Maris.
iii.The events include, “Voices from the Sea” a tribute to all the fishermen and workers whose lives were impacted
due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
iv.The Voices from the Sea will provide an opportunity to discuss the measures that countries have taken and are still
taking to limit the impacts of the COVID-19 on the fisher’s community.
World Fisheries Day in India:
The World Fisheries Day is celebrated in India on 21st November to highlight the importance of fisheries in India and
to demonstrate harmony with all fish folk communities, fish farmers and other stakeholders across the world.

State-Wise PDF
2020 World Fisheries Day Events in India:
On 21st November 2020, The Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying,
Government of India organised the event to celebrate the World Fisheries Day 2020 at NASC Complex, Pusa, New
Delhi. Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Minister of State (MoS) Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, was the Chief Guest
of the event.
Awards:
The government of India felicitated the fisheries sector awards for the first time on the World Fisheries day 2020.
Best Performing States for 2019-20:
Category State
Marine states Odisha
Inland states Uttar Pradesh
Hilly and North East states Assam
Best Organisations for 2019-20:
Category Organisation
Marine region Tamil Nadu Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd
Inland region Telangana State Fishermen Cooperative societies Federation Ltd
Hilly region Assam Apex Cooperative Fish Marketing and Processing Federation Ltd
Best District 2019-2020:
Category District
Marine region Krishna, Andhra Pradesh
Inland region Kalahandi, Odisha
Hilly region Nagaon, Assam
Other awards:
Various awards for individuals and organisations were also presented to recognise their achievements in fisheries
and to acknowledge their contribution to the growth of the fisheries sector.
The category of the awards was,
• Best Fisheries Enterprise
• Best performing Fisheries Cooperative Societies/Fish Farmer Producer Organization(FFPO) /Self Help Group
(SHG)
• Best Individual entrepreneurs
• Best Marine and Inland Fish Farmer
• Best Finfish and Shrimp hatcheries
Key People:
Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary, Minister for Dairy Development, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Government of Uttar
Pradesh along with fishers, fish farmers, entrepreneurs, stakeholders, professionals, officials and scientists from
across India participated in the event.
About Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO):
Director-General– QU Dongyu
Headquarters– Rome, Italy
About Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying:
Union Minister– Giriraj Singh
Minister of State– Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Pratap Chandra Sarangi
Assam’s Rupsi Airport to Start its Commercial Operation by January 2021

On November 3, 2020 Airports Authority of India (AAI) stated that Rupsi Airport at Kokrajhar district, Assam is
ready to start commercial operation under the Regional Connectivity Scheme(RCS) by January 2021. It
is Assam’s 7th airport and Northeast’s 14th airport. It is a British-era airport that was originally constructed during

State-Wise PDF
World War-II to supply arms, manpower and ammunition to the Allied forces. The flight operations came to a halt in
the 1980s. At an estimated cost of Rs 69 crore it has been re-developed.
Assam Current Affairs - December2020

8th edition of North East Festival (NEF) 2020 Held in Guwahati, Assam for 1st time
On December 19-20, 2020, the 8th edition of the North East Festival (NEF) 2020 was held at Radisson Blu Hotel in
Guwahati, Assam by adhering to all Covid related protocols and guidelines. It was for the first time that Guwahati
hosted this annual two-day event. The festival was open for the public to attend virtually.
• The inaugural ceremony was graced by Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Ministry of Development of North
Eastern Region (DoNER) as the Chief Guest of the festival, Assam Chief Minister (CM) Sarbananda Sonowal,
and Tripura CM Biplab Deb among other dignitaries.
• The focus of this year was on ‘Growth Agenda for North East Post COVID-19’.
The events showcase and create awareness about the northeast and promote entrepreneurship, investment and
tourism.
Lachit Divas 2020 Celebrated Across Assam on 24th November to Remember Lachit Borphukan, Legendary
Ahom General
The Lachit Divas is annually celebrated across the state of Assam in India on 24th November to remember the valor
of Chao Lachit Borphukan, an army general of Ahom Kingdom (now Guwahati, Assam).Lachit Divas is celebrated
across India since 2017.
The day is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of the state Hero Lachit Borphukan.
About Lachit Borphukan:
i.Chao Lachit served as the army general, the Commander of Ahom Kingdom during the 17th century.
ii.In the Battle of Saraighat in 1671 against Mughal, He fought against the expansion of Mughal Empire in Assam and
he contributed to the reversal of Mughal Territorial gains in the Assam region.
iii.He died from natural causes in April 1672 following the year after the Battle of Saraighat.
Events:
i.On 24th November 2020, Lachit Divas was observed by the Ahom Sabha in Golaghat at Mahabir Lachit Borphukhan
and Bagh Hazarika Samannay Kshetra.
ii.The open session of the Lachit Divas was cancelled due to the demise of Tarun Gogoi, Former Chief Minister of
Assam.
Key Points:
i.As a part of the celebration of Lachit Divas, the state pays tribute to Chao Lachit at his statues across the State.
ii.To pay tribute to the State’s hero, The State government has announced that an initiative will be taken to introduce
a chapter on Lachit Borphukan in school textbooks.
TRIFED and DIVINITI Join Hands to Sturdy The Market of Tribal Made Products: Minister for Tribal Affairs E-
Launched New Tribes India Outlet in Assam
Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Tribal Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (TRIFED) is in motive to promote the
livelihood of the tribal artisans through marketing and provide support to tribal products across the country through
various initiatives. As a part of initiatives,
• Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda E-launched new Tribes India Outlet at the Lokpriya
Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport or also called International Airport, Guwahati in Assam.
• TRIFED and Shree Swarnam Divine Products Private Limited (DIVINITI) made an MoU to create a strong
market for tribal products in New Delhi.
Highlights of Initiatives: –
TRIBES India showroom: – Union Minister for Tribal Affairs virtually inaugurated the 126th TRIBES India
showroom in Guwahati,Assam.

State-Wise PDF
“TRIFED-DIVINITI Premium Range”: –
• TRIFED and Shree Swarnam Divine Products Private Limited (DIVINITI) made an agreement in areas of
research on future product sourcing and development, packaging and marketing of tribal products.
• “TRIFED-DIVINITI Premium Range” – This partnership aimed to create market leading products and to be
labelled as “TRIFED-DIVINITI Premium Range”.
• “TRIFED – DIVINITI Premium Range” products will be marketed in all Tribes India Outlets, e-marketplace,
Corporates, Government, and PSUs.
Other programs of Tribal Empowerment
i.Through Atma Nirbhar Abhiyan, “Go Vocal for Local” and other programmes of Ministries will plan to expand the
retail operations of local products including Tribal produce across the country.
ii.Inclusive development (Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas) is the main objective of Indian for the development of all sections,
including tribal who form a major part of the underprivileged.
Other Participants: –
Smt. Renuka Singh, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Shri Ramesh Chand Meena, Chairman, TRIFED, Smt. Pratibha
Brahma, Vice Chairman, TRIFED, Shri Pravir Krishna, Managing Director, TRIFED and Director, Airport Authority of
India, Guwahati
About Tribal Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (TRIFED)
TRIFED was established in August 1987 under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 1984 by the Government of
India as a National level Cooperative body.It is a national level cooperative body under the administrative control of
Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India.
Managing Director – Shri Pravir Krishna
Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs – Shri Naval Jit Kapoor
51st round of DG Level Border Coordination meeting between BSF & BGB held in Guwahati, Assam
The 51st round of the 5-day Director General (DG) Level Border Coordination meeting between India’s Border
Security Force (BSF) & Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) is taking place at Guwahati, Assam for the 1st time from
December 22-26, 2020. This is the 1st time in 4 decades that the Biannual conference is being held outside Delhi.
The 12-member BSF delegation was led by Director General Rakesh Asthana & the 11-member BGB delegation was
led by Major General Md Shafeenul Islam.
Objective:
To discuss border related issues & to build coordination between the two border guarding forces.
Key Points of the Meeting:
i.The two sides discussed issues regarding developmental, infrastructure work & joint efforts for implementation
of Coordinated Border Management Plan & Confidence Building Measures.
ii.The two sides also held discussions regarding river bank conservation in the border areas.
iii.The two sides agreed to share ‘real-time information’ through formal or informal channels in respect to issues
like human trafficking, smuggling of narcotics, fake Indian Currency notes, cattle, arms, ammunition, explosives,
information regarding anti-social elements, activities of IIGs (Indian Insurgent Groups) & breach or damage of border
fence.
iv.The conference concluded with the signing of a Joint Record of Discussion (JRD) by both sides.
v.BSF & BGB agreed to intensify joint night vigil to prevent smuggling & other activities.
Earlier Meetings:
In September 2020, a 6-day DG Level meeting between BSF-BGB took place at Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Background:
In 1975, BSF DG Aswani Kumar & former BGB DG Major General Kuazi Golam Dastagir met in Kolkata for the first
time to discuss trans-border problems between the 2 countries.
i.On September 29, 2020 India and Bangladesh held the 6th Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meet through a
virtual platform.

State-Wise PDF
About Border Security Force(BSF):
Director General– Rakesh Asthana
About Bangladesh:
Prime Minister – Sheikh Hasina
Capital – Dhaka
Currency – Bangladeshi Taka
Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal launches “Orunodoi” Scheme

On 2nd December, 2020 Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal launched “Orunodoi” Scheme in the state. The
scheme is allocated with an annual budget of Rs. 2400 crore to provide financial assistance to socio- economically
weaker sections for a period of 5 years.
Key Highlights of Orunodoi Scheme:
i.The scheme will provide financial assistance of Rs.830/month as Directly Benefit Transfer(DBT) to the bank
accounts of Women under the Jan Dhan Yojana.
ii.Provides Subsidies in medicines worth Rs. 400, Pulses worth Rs. 200, Sugar worth Rs.80 and essential vegetables &
fruits worth Rs. 150.
iii. Women with family income less than 2 lakhs per annum can avail the benefits of this scheme.
• The scheme is rolled out in 29 districts covering 17.86 lakh families
• 4 districts in the Bodoland Territorial Region are not included due to the schedule of council elections.
Schemes related to women in Assam:
1. Indira Miri Universal Widow Pension Scheme
2. Kanaklata Mahila Sabalikaran Scheme
3. Assam Gyan Deepika Scheme
4. Wage Compensation Scheme for Pregnant Women in Tea Gardens
About Assam:
Ramsar Site– Deepor Beel (Dipor Bil)
Tiger Reserve– Manas, Nameri, Kaziranga
Subansiri Lower Dam a gravity dam is constructed in the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.
Assam Proposed to set up its 6th National Park – “Raimona National Park” in the Ripu Reserved Forest
The Assam government has proposed to establish its 6th National park, the “Raimona National Park” in the Ripu
Reserved Forest of the state which was severely damaged due to militancy.
The proposal to upgrade an area of 422 square kilometer notified Ripu Reserve forest under Manas National Park and
Tiger Reserve into Raimona National Park has been submitted to Jagadish Mukhi, the governor of Assam.
Note:
On 28th November 2020, Parimal Suklabaidya, Forest Minister of Assam unveiled the map of the proposed national
park at the Manas National Park.
About Ripu Reserved Forest:
i.The Ripu Reserved Forest is a part of the buffer zone of the Manas National Park along the borders of Bhutan.
ii.The Ripu forest along with the Chirang Reserve forest has the largest known population of endangered golden
langur.
iii.Around 30% of this reserve forest has been encroached and cut down since 1989 due to the insurgency related
issues.
About Assam:
Chief Minister– Sarbananda Sonowal
National Parks– Kaziranga National Parks, Manas National Parks, Dibru-Saikhowa National Parks, Manas National
Parks, Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Parks.

State-Wise PDF
Assam Cabinet approves Bill to make ‘Bodo’ as Associate Official Language of the State
On December 22, 2020, Assam Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal approved the ‘Assam Official
Language Amendment Bill’ for making Bodo (Devanagari script) also known as Boro as an associate official
language of the state. The Bill will now be tabled in the Assam Legislative Assembly .
i.According to the Census 2011, There are ~ 14.16 Lakh Bodo speakers in Assam, which is around 4.53 % of the total
population of the state.
ii.Declaration of ‘Bodo’ as associate official language was one of the demands made by 4 Bodo rebel groups & 2
Bodo organizations during the signing of 3rd Bodo peace accord in January, 2020.
‘Bodo’:
i.It is one of the 22 languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
ii.It is spoken in the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya & West bengal.
iii.It is part of Sino-Tibetan language family.
Major Approvals:
i.The Assam cabinet also approved the establishment of Bodo Kachari Autonomous welfare council.
ii.Approval for proposal for amendment of Autonomous Council Acts of Kamtapur, Motak & Moran.
iii.Assam government has decided to bifurcate the Directorate of Social Welfare by creating two new ones —
Directorate of Women and Child Development and Directorate of Social Justice and Empowerment.
iv.It also approved taking over of Kokrajhar Music and Fine Arts College, Kokrajhar; Asom Sattriya Sangeet
Mahavidyalaya in Jorhat.
Other Approvals:
i.The Assam cabinet increased the service age of all National Health Mission employees to 60 years& offered them
benefits matching the staff of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
ii.Approval of Career Progression Scheme for doctors serving as faculty members of medical colleges in Assam.
iii.The State cabinet approved a loan of INR 91 crore from NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development) under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).
i.On August 24, 2020 The Guwahati Passenger Ropeway Project connecting the Northern and Southern banks of the
Development Department(GDD) Minister, Siddhartha Bhattacharya.
About Assam:
Capital – Dispur
ADB Approved US$300 mn Loan for Primary Health Care Program in Urban Areas; $2mn Additional Grant for
its Implementation
On December 8, 2020, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved USD 300 million (about Rs 2,200 crore) loan
for Strengthening Comprehensive Primary Health Care in Urban Areas Program in India. In addition to the loan,
a $2 million technical assistance grant was also provided from ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction to provide
technical support for program implementation.
Aim: The program involving all levels of governance viz. Central, State, and Municipal will strengthen, upgrade, and
increase the number of functional health and wellness centers in 13 states. It also aims to address COVID-19
challenges and to ensure equitable access and continuous provision of nonCOVID-19 health services.
• The program will support the Ayushman Bharat (the Healthy India initiative) Health and Wellness Centres
(AB-HWC) and Pradhan Mantri – Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PM-ASBY).
• The 13 states are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal.
Key Points:
–It will conduct awareness and education campaigns on health and nutrition, including preventive measures and
strategies.
–It will also look after the physical and mental health and wellbeing of beneficiaries.
–It will benefit an estimated 256 million urban residents. , including 51 million from the slum

State-Wise PDF
Reason behind the Program:
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that the Indian healthcare system is lacking behind even after the initiation of
favorable schemes by the Government. Taking this into consideration India launched Rs 65,560.98 crore PM-ASBY in
September 2020. Now in order to support it, the ADB funded above mentioned program was launched.
i.On November 3, 2020 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a USD 132.8 million loan to Modernize Power
Distribution Network in Meghalaya to improve power quality and upgrade the power distribution network in
Meghalaya.
ii.On September 25, 2020, ADB approved two loans worth USD 570 million (about Rs 4,200 crore) for urban sector
projects in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
About Asian Development Bank (ADB):
Establishment– 1966
President– Masatsugu Asakawa
Headquarters– Mandaluyong City, Manila, Philippines
Membership– 68 countries (Including India)
ADB Approves $231 Million Loan to Construct Lower Kopili Hydroelectric Power Plant in Central Assam,
India
On December 19, 2020 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $231 million(Around Rs 1,705 crore) loan
to construct the Lower Kopili Hydroelectric Power (LKHEP) plant in Central Assam, India. This loan is the 3rd and
largest tranche of the $300 million(about Rs 2,200 crore) Assam Power Sector Investment Program that was
approved by ADB in 2014.
Purpose of the Loan– To help enhance the clean energy supply in India.
Points to be Noted
i.The loan is enhanced by a $2 million project grant from Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction(JFPR) of ADB.
ii.This will finance the community-based disaster recovery efforts and resource management.
Benefits of LKHEP plant:
• The hydropower generation capacity of the Assam Power Generation Corporation Ltd(APGCL) will be doubled
by the LKHEP plant.
• The plant utilises water from Kopili River so as to generate a total capacity of 120 MW of electricity, especially
during peak demand periods.
About Assam Power Sector Investment Program
i.ADB approved a $300 Million Loan to Continue Power Upgrades in Assam on July 3, 2014.
ii.The multi tranche loan facility is a part of a broader 10-year, $3.5 billion state investment program.
iii.The funds were planned to disbursed in 3 tranches:
1st installment- $50 million; 2nd installment- $50 million; 3rd installment- $200 million.
About the Project
i.This project will generate clean energy and help to address the increasing electricity demand in Assam.
ii.It will help the state power companies to minimize their dependence on expensive electricity from fossil fuel
sources.
iii.It will finance the enterprise resource planning system of APGCL and help to implement measures to improve
financial management.
iv.It will also plan to mitigate the acidity concerns in the Kopili river through special measures
On September 8, 2020, Government of India (GoI) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $500 million loan
agreement for the Delhi-Meerut RRTS (regional rapid transit system) Investment Project. This is the first tranche of a
total $1billion (about Rs 7,485 crore) facility.

State-Wise PDF
About Asian Development Bank (ADB):
Headquarters– Mandaluyong, Manila, Philippines
President– Masatsugu Asakawa
Membership– 68 countries(Including India)
Formed– 1966
SIDBI Signs MoU with Assam Govt to Develop MSME Ecosystem in the State
On December 19, 2020 The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)signed Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Assam to develop the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)
ecosystem in the State. As per the MoU, a Project Management Unit (PMU) will be set up by SIDBI in Assam.
• SIDBI’s partnership with Assam is part of SIDBI’s initiative to set-up PMU to strengthen the MSME ecosystem
in 11 states namely Gujarat, Odisha, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, New Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka .
Key People
K K Dwivedi, commissioner and secretary of industries and commerce department, govt of Assam and RK Singh,
general manager of SIDBI signed the MoU in presence of Chandra Mohan Patowary, Cabinet Minister of Transport,
Industry & Commerce, Parliamentary Affairs and SEED, Govt. of Assam.
Benefit of Collaboration
The collaboration will bring all MSMEs in the state into a formal, organized sector
About PMU:
General Info
PMU will support the Assam Govt to make necessary interventions to improve the efficiency of MSMEs in the state.
Key Areas
PMU deployed in Assam will work towards the Key areas namely:
i.Schemes will be designed by PMU in the areas of equity support and interest subvention.
ii.It will conduct study of the existing framework of schemes, interventions, etc., to benefit the MSMEs and suggest
changes with a view to enhance the efficacy and remove the obstacles.
iii.In order to onboard MSME into digital platforms such as PSB Loans In 59Minutes, Stock Exchange listing, e-
commerce platforms such as GEMs, etc., PMU will start a process for hand holding MSME in the state
iv.It will also create awareness about the activities and schemes for the MSMEs offered by the state govt under
Atmanirbhar Bharat programme.
On October 29, 2020 Punjab Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Global Alliance
for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) for a 2 year project on transforming the ease of doing business for MSMEs(Micro,
Small & Medium Enterprises) in Punjab.
About Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI):
Set up– 2nd April 1990 under an Act of Indian Parliament
HeadOffice– Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Deputy MD– Manoj Mittal, V Satya Venkata Rao
BARC Develops India’s first indigenous Ruthenium 106 Plaque to treat Eye cancer
On December 29, 2020, an eye cancer therapy namely “Ruthenium plaque therapy” developed by Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre (BARC) has been successfully used for the first time for the treatment of patients with ocular
tumours in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-Delhi.
• The therapy used Ruthenium 106 plaque for treatment of a patient with choroidal hemangioma (benign
tumour in blood vessels).
• The efforts has been lauded by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern
Region (DoNER), Minister of State (MoS) Prime Minister PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic
Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh.

State-Wise PDF
• The minister also informed that the Bhubaneswar Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) in Guwahati, Assam has
been co-opted with the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital, Mumbai which functions under the aegis of the
Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
Key Points:
–The BARC-developed plaque is very convenient for surgeons and is at par with international standards.
— This development followed the collaboration between the DAE and Dr Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic
Sciences, AIIMS, Delhi.
— Ruthenium-106 plaque has been made available free of cost for AIIMS-Delhi, Hyderabad (Telangana) based Centre
for Sight and Sankara Eye Hospital in Bengaluru (Karnataka).
What is Ruthenium plaque therapy?
It involves placing a radioactive source like Ruthenium-106 (a radioisotope) in contact with the surface of the eyeball
for cancer therapy. Ru-106 is recovered from radioactive waste and has a simple and slim design. One plaque can
treat about 50 patients and its usable life is one year.
NHPC to commission 2, 000 MW Hydropower project on Subansiri River by March 2022

Public Sector Undertaking NHPC stated that the 2, 000 MegaWatt (MW) Hydropower Project on Subansiri
River would be commissioned by March 2022. The project is located near North Lakhimpur on the border of
Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The project was delayed due protests by Many groups in Assam.
All the Best for Your Exams!!!!!

Suggestions & Feedback are welcomed
Support@affairscloud.com

Assam Current Affairs 2020 by AffairsCloud

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Assam Current Affairs 2020 by AffairsCloud

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

State-Wise PDF

This is Paid PDF provided by AffairsCloud.com, Our team is working hard

CURRENT AFFAIRS PDF PLANS

Current Affairs PDF 2019: Study, Pocket and Q&A PDF’s

Current Affairs PDF 2018: Study, Pocket and Q&A PDF’s

CRACK HIGH LEVEL PDF PLANS

Crack High Level: English Language Questions PDF 2019

Crack High Level: Data Interpretation Questions PDF 2019

Suggestions & Feedback are welcomed

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 1

Assam Current Affairs 2020

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 2

Assam Current Affairs - January 2020

Eight States finalized Agriculture Export Policy by the Government of India

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 3

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 4

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 5

Overview of 3rd Khelo India youth games 2020 held in Guwahati,Assam

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 6

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 7

Assamese linguist Golok Chandra Goswami passed away at 96

Assamese litterateur Sashi Sarma passed away at 89

Assam Current Affairs - February 2020

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 8

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 9

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 10

Assam Current Affairs - March 2020

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 11

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 12

Assam Government to construct 33 stadiums under Uttaran scheme

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 13

Former Indian Footballer Abdul Latif passed away at 73

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 14

Assam Current Affairs - April 2020

Assam govt launches new medicine delivery scheme called ‘Dhanwantari’

Assam Current Affairs - May 2020

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 15

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 16

Centre sets up “Rice Export Promotion Forum” to promote rice export

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 17

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 18

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 19

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 20

Assam Current Affairs - June 2020

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 21

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 22

Padma Shri Pritam Singh, a pioneer in management education passed away at 78

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 23

Assam Current Affairs - July 2020

Poba Reserve Forest in Assam’s Dhemaji to be upgraded to wildlife sanctuary

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 24

CoM of Assam passes MSME Ordinance

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 25

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 26

Assam Current Affairs - August 2020

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 27

Maharashtra Learning Outcomes Smart Q Mobile App

India’s Longest River Ropeway Inaugurated in Guwahati, Assam

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 28

National Commission on Population: Projects India’s Population to be More Feminine by 2036

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 29

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 30

Assam Government to Launch ‘Orunodoi’ Scheme to provide Financial Assistance

Report Errors in the PDF - ebooks@affairscloud.com Copyright 2014-2020 @ AffairsCloud.Com 31