ANSWER: A

• Indian Railways has made nearly 500 railway stations Divyangjan, Aged and Children friendly by installing the lifts and escalators at railway stations across the country under the Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan.
• Indian Railways has been consistently trying to improve passenger amenities at various stations.
• It said that provision of escalators and Lifts at the railway platforms is a part of the Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan and also a necessity in view of the ever-increasing passenger volumes.
• Such facilities would facilitate improvement at exit and entry of passengers at stations.

About Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan:

• Launched by the Prime Minister of India on International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3rd December 2015.
• Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) has launched Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) as a nation-wide Campaign for achieving universal accessibility for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).

 It has the following three important components:

• Built Environment Accessibility: An accessible government building is one, where persons with disabilities have no barrier in entering it and using all the facilities therein.  This covers the built environment – services, steps and ramps, corridors, entry gates, emergency exits, parking – as well as indoor and outdoor facilities including lighting, signages, alarm systems and toilets.
• Transportation System Accessibility: The term transportation covers a number of areas including air travel, buses, taxis, and trains. An airport is accessible, if a person with a disability has no barrier in entering it, using all the facilities, and boarding and disembarking from airplanes.  This covers the built environment – surfaces, steps and ramps, corridors, entry ways, emergency exits, parking – as well as indoor and outdoor facilities including lighting, signage, alarm systems and toilets.
• Information and Communication Eco-System Accessibility:  Enhancing proportion of accessible and usable public documents and websites that meet internationally recognized accessibility standards. Enhancing the pool of sign language interpreters.

ANSWER: C

• Legendary actress Asha Parekh will be honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2020. The award will be presented to her at the National Film Award ceremony in New Delhi on September 30.
• Announcing the decision, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said that the Dadasaheb Phalke Selection Jury has decided to award Ms. Parekh for her exemplary lifetime contribution to Indian Cinema.
• He also announced that the 68th National Film Awards will be held on 30th September and will be presided over by President Droupadi Murmu.
• Asha Parekh is a renowned film actress, director and producer and an accomplished Indian classical dancer. Starting her career as a child actor, she made her debut as lead heroine in Dil Deke Dekho and has gone on to act in over 95 movies.
• She has acted in various films like Kati Patang, Teesri Manzil, Love in Tokyo, Aya Saawan Jhoom Ke, Aan Milo Sajna, Mera Gaon Mera Desh. Ms. Parekh is also a winner of Padma Shri, which was awarded to her in 1992. She has also served as the head of Central Board for Film Certification from 1998-2001.

About the Dadasaheb Phalke Award:

• The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest honour in Indian cinema.
• The award was instituted in 1969, the award is the highest honour for an artiste in Indian cinema.
• Devika Rani was the first winner, while actor Rajinikanth is the most recent winner of the prestigious honour, in 2021.

ANSWER: B

• US space agency – NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft successfully crashed into the asteroid Dimorphos at breakneck speed.
• The target was Dimorphos, a 160-metre-tall asteroid. DART slammed into the harmless asteroid 9.6 million kilometres away at 22,500 kilometres per hour.
• The DART mission intentionally crashed on an asteroid to test a unique defence technology. The crash is aimed at giving Earth a defence tool against future asteroids headed our way.
• The 325 million dollar project was the first attempt to move a natural object in space but it will take days or perhaps weeks to assess how much the asteroid’s path was altered.
• The DART, a vending machine-sized spacecraft that was launched in November, used novel navigational techniques created by the mission manager and spacecraft builder, Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory.

ANSWER: B

• Having two manufacturing units in Ludhiana, Gurugram-based Hero Electric now intends to set up its third manufacturing plant in Rajasthan with an investment of over Rs 1,200 crore. The company has signed an MoU with the Rajasthan Government to set up a mega EV manufacturing hub with an annual production capacity of 20 lakh units.
• Located in Salarpur industrial region, the state-of-the-art plant would be spread over 170 acres and will commence commercial production by the end of 2023. There will be an estimated investment of over Rs 1,200 crore and it will provide direct and indirect employment opportunities. Furthermore, this initiative is a foot forward in making Rajasthan the new EV manufacturing hub for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and ancillaries.
• Naveen Munjal, Managing Director, Hero Electric, said, “This mega manufacturing facility is part of our capacity enhancement to boost EV adoption across India. It will allow the state to spearhead clean mobility solution shift and promote ecological tourism practices.” The two units in Ludhiana have combined manufacturing capacity of three lakh units.
• Sohinder Gill, CEO, Hero Electric, said, “The Rajasthan Government has been very proactive and positive in promoting electric mobility along with us and we will work closely with the government to create the largest and the best electric two-wheeler manufacturing cluster in North India. It will have a complete ecosystem of ancillaries to help the overall development of the rural zones in and around Salarpur. The state is already a popular destination for global tourism and we will endeavor to do our bit in adding the sustainability quotient in that drive.”
• Promoting the ‘Make-In-India’ vision, the facility will manufacture all the current and upcoming Hero Electric two-wheelers. It also aims to streamline the supply chain to achieve the expected production capacity of the Salarpur facility. The company has been electrifying mobility in India for the past 15 years through its varied product portfolio catering to unique customer demands.

ANSWER: B

• World Tourism Day is being observed on 27th September.
• This day is celebrated every year to foster awareness among the international community on the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value.
• The theme for this year is ‘Rethinking Tourism’ and will be highlighting the tourism sector being recognized as an important pillar for development.
• Tourism helps provide employment to millions of people to an extent that few countries are completely dependent on the tourism sector for financial stability.

ANSWER: D

• National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Chief Secretary of Haryana to deposit a sum of Rs 100 crore towards environmental compensation for continuing damage to the environment.
• The bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also constituted a nine-member committee, to be headed by the Chairman of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB). The Committee may appraise the performance of the contractor engaged as per the Concession Agreement and if it is found that the contractor has failed to perform as expected, the Committee may make suitable alternative arrangements to replace the contractor, as previously observed by the Tribunal.
• The Tribunal noted that the matters related to the same issue i.e. failure to maintain environmental norms for handling and disposing of legacy municipal solid waste dump sites to the prejudice of environment and public health and also adjoining forest areas.
• The dump site in question is the Bandhwari landfill site at Gurugram where about 33 lacs of Metric tonnes of solid waste is dumped for years.
• The Tribunal was hearing a matter stating that a Waste Management project has been developed and a contract was assigned to a Chinese company– Eco-green Energy Private Limited in the year 2017.
• However, the steps taken are inadequate, the waste is being burnt causing huge air pollution which has the potential to affect not only the inhabitants but also the Asola Bhati Wildlife Sanctuary having 193 species of birds, a large number of medicinal plants and more than 80 species of butterflies, black buck, Golder Jackal, and leopards.
• The State is under the obligation to protect eco-sensitive zone by controlling the adverse impact of violation of the environmental norms, said the Green Court.
• Tribunal while passing the direction on September 23 also said, having regard to the emergency situation, the State authorities may exercise their jurisdiction to use the nearest available land as per the law applicable for a temporary period on payment of user charges. If any plant is required to be established which requires Environment Clearance (EC), such plants will benefit the environment, grant of EC need not be awaited but all the environmental issues may be followed, including with regard to the forest, wildlife and waterbodies.
• NGT further said that the Bandhwari site which is already in existence for many years and 10 acres of land which is already been cleared may be utilized for setting up waste processing facilities to handle the waste generation of the local bodies in question. In case of non-suitability of the land, alternative arrangements should be explored.
• The Committee will be free to coordinate with statutory regulators for a levy of compensation from those who have contributed to the pollution, following due process of law.
• The Committee expected to achieve meaningful progress in the matter within six months with substantial headway within three months, said the NGT order.

ANSWER: C

• Union Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated and addressed the 13th FICCI Global Skills Summit 2022 on the theme of “Education to Employability – Making It Happen.” in New Delhi.
• Shri Dharmendra Pradhan shared his thoughts on leveraging skills to reap the demographic dividend and making India’s skills ecosystem more vibrant.
• He said that our country is blessed with a demographic dividend. Education and skills have to play an important role in converting our demographic dividend into a transformative powerhouse.
• Shri Dharmendra Pradhan also added that for our economy to be more productive and robust, we must make our workforce more productive. Simplification of labour laws and initiatives like apprenticeship will go a long way in making our workforce more vibrant.
• Further, he added that from academic bank of credit to the upcoming digital university, we are taking a number of initiatives and undertaking policy reforms to make our education and skills ecosystem more vibrant.
• Shri Dharmendra Pradhan also called for building a stronger academia-industry-policymaker connect and work with a collective approach to drive further transformation in the education and skills sector.

ANSWER: A

• The reason behind the development is currency volatility and global uncertainty. The ministry said, the geo-political situation is not suitable for long-term foreign trade policy.
• Earlier, the government had extended the due date for the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 to September 30, 2022. Currently, fears of a recession in major economies like the US and Europe have escalated a panic among investors.
• Foreign Trade Policy provides a framework for increasing exports of goods and services as well as generation of employment and increasing value addition in the country. It focuses to support both the manufacturing and services sectors.
• Earlier this month, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal held a meeting that focused on export target setting, the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) (2022-27), and the strategies and measures to take forward domestic manufacturing and exports.
• Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 was unveiled in 2015.
• The policy provides a framework for increasing exports of goods and services keeping Make in India vision of Prime Minister in focus.
• It also emphasizes on improving the ease of doing business.

ANSWER: D

• Acting on the directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the government has constituted a state-level committee for the assessment of carrying capacity of eco-sensitive zones.
• Presiding over the first meeting of the State-Level Joint Committee, Additional Chief Secretary (Environment, Science and Technology) Prabodh Saxena said the committee had been constituted as per the directions of the NGT. It was also decided to constitute a sub-committee so that the process could be expedited.
• Saxena directed the Forest Department to provide a list of notified eco-sensitive zones. “Besides environmental issues, other important aspects like economic, social, eco-tourism, tribal, wildlife and disaster management will also be taken into consideration while assessing the carrying capacity of the zones and a comprehensive report will be drafted,” he said.
• In the first phase, reports of four or five zones would be prepared on a pilot basis. The services of the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, the National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, the GB Pant Institute, Kullu, the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, and other institutions could be taken for the assessment of the carrying capacity of the zone.
• He said, besides senior officers of the Department of Environment, Science and Technology, Forest, Urban Development, Town and Country Planning, PWD, Rural Development, Transport, Pollution Control Board, representatives of the Himachal Pradesh State Biodiversity Board, the HFRI, Shimla, the State Disaster Management Authority, experts from top institures had also been included.
• Director, Environment, Science and Technology, Lalit said previous studies and reports of the departments could also be included in the assessment reports.

ANSWER: C

• Gram sabhas are an appropriate platform for creating awareness among voters and all Deputy Commissioners, who are also the District Election Officers (DEOs), should effectively utilise this platform for propagating SVEEP-related activities, said Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Maneesh Garg.
• He said, “A gram sabha is scheduled to be held on October 2 and this platform should be used to motivate, inform and facilitate all eligible citizens to enroll themselves and participate in the electoral process in a festive spirit.”
• Garg said that special focus should be laid on inclusion of eligible voters, especially those in the 18-21 age group, in the electoral process. He stressed the need for effective and active supervision by the DEOs to make electoral rolls error free.
• Garg said people willing to link their Aadhaar cards with the electoral rolls should be encouraged to fill Form-6B.
• Besides, he urged panchayat members to cooperate in verification of the photo electoral rolls.

About SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) 

• Started in 2009, as the flagship program of the ECI for voter education.
• Primary goal is to build an inclusive & participative democracy by encouraging all eligible citizens to vote and make an informed decision & ethical choice.