
RAJASTHAN
- Projects under RUIDP in 42 cities of Rajasthan to begin soon
- Drinking, drainage and sewerage projects in 42 cities of the state under the Rajasthan Urban Infrastructure Development Project (RUIDP) phase-IV are expected to begin soon.
- Under the project, the department will work to beautify and restore 10 heritage sites, including Khetri, Mandawa, Deeg, Kama, Phulera, Jobnair, Sambhar, Pilibanga etc. The government will also improve water distribution work, sewerage, drainage in cities where population falls between 50,000 and 1 lakh bracket.
- The total programme size proposed was $610 million (Rs 3,660 crore), out of which Rs 3,000 crore was proposed to be given by the Asian Development Bank and state share was of Rs 660 crore.
INTERNATIONAL
· Chang e 4 lunar probe landed on far side of the moon
- Chang’e-4 lunar probe, a Chinese space probe, touched down on the far side of the moon.The probe, which has a lander and a rover, that was launched in December made the soft landing and transmitted the first-ever close-range image of the far side of the moon. It touched down at a targeted area near the moon’s south pole in the Von Karman Crater.
- The purpose of the Chang’e-4 includes astronomicalobservation, surveying the moon’s terrain, landform, and mineral makeup, and measuring the neutron radiation and neutral atoms to study the environment of its far side.
- The moon is tidally locked to Earth, rotating at the same rate as it orbits our planet, so most of thefar side or dark side is never visible to us. Previous spacecraft have seen the far side, but none has landed on it. China’s space agency hailed the event as a historic first and a major achievement for the country’s space programme.
- Israel and US officially withdraw from UNESCO over ‘anti-Israel’ bias
- The US had notified UNESCO of its decision to quit the organisation in October 2017 and had called for its “fundamental reform“. Israel followed the US in quitting UNESCO.
- The Paris-based organisation has previously criticised Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem and granted full membershipto Palestine in 2011.
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was co-founded by the US after World War II with the mission of seeking to “build peace through international cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture.”
- UNESCO is best known for its work to preserve heritage, including maintaining a list of World Heritage sites, and programmes to promote education in developing countries.
- The US has pulled out of UNESCO before. The Reagan administration did so in 1984 because it viewed the agency as mismanaged, corrupt, and used to advance Soviet interests. The US rejoined in 2003.
NATIONAL
- Bhoomi Rashi Portal launched for National Highway Projects
- The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has recently launched the BhoomiRashi portal. In the past years, acquisition of land for the purpose of National Highway projects, payment of compensation to the land owners etc were done manually by physical movement of documents in the 288 64S117.2 64 74.6 75.5c-23.5 6.3-42 24.9-48.3 48.6-11.4 42.9-11.4 132.3-11.4 132.3s0 89.4 11.4 132.3c6.3 23.7 24.8 41.5 48.3 47.8C117.2 448 288 448 288 448s170.8 0 213.4-11.5c23.5-6.3 42-24.2 48.3-47.8 11.4-42.9 11.4-132.3 11.4-132.3s0-89.4-11.4-132.3zm-317.5 213.5V175.2l142.7 81.2-142.7 81.2z"/> Subscribe on YouTube