India Current Affairs [Nation & States] MCQs

Notes:
As per an order issued by the State Education Department of Madhya Pradesh, the state government has made the reading of the Preamble to the Constitution in schools mandatory. As per the order, the Preamble would be read out every Saturday, by the head master or the teacher in all the primary, middle, high and higher secondary schools after prayer, along with the students. It is said that such practice in school would inculcate the interest in our constitution among the students.
Maharashtra: Maharashtra has also has made reading of Preamble of the Constitution in all primary and secondary schools, starting from January 26, 2020. The resolution in this direction was adopted in 2013 but was not implemented so far.

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According to the recent survey conducted the international NGO Transparency International, Indian state Assam has been ranked as the top state in terms of best practices followed during budget formulation.
The survey considered four parameters for ranking the states, which are: public disclosure, budgetary process, post budget fiscal management and efforts to make budget more transparent and citizen friendly. The survey also revealed that the states which are placed at the bottom of the list were Goa, Maharashtra and Punjab.

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The Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu recently inaugurated the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) project between the twin cities of Karnataka, Hubbali to Dharwad.
The project cost of Rs 970 crore is jointly funded by the state and central governments and the World Bank. The BRTS established between the cities on a trial basis already serves more than 1 lakh passengers per day. It has now become fully operational and is expected to be a major boost in the state’s public transport.

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The Union Cabinet of India recently approved to set up 13th major port of India, at Vadhavan in Maharashtra. The project is to entail a total cost of Rs 65,544 crore.
The government is expected to hold 51 per cent stake in the project of the new port. All related business activities would be done under private-public partnership (PPP) mode. A special purpose vehicle is proposed to be formed, which would develop the infrastructure of the new port. This port would promote cargo movement from Gujarat, Maharashtra and other land-locked states.

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The state assembly of Odisha has recently passed the ‘Odisha State Backward Classes (Amendment)’ Bill. This will enable the Backward Class Commission of the state to conduct a survey, which will identify socially and economically backward classes on the basis of socio-educational conditions.
The Commission amended the ‘Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993’. The state government recently constituted the ‘Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes’ and Justice Raghunath Biswal was named as chairperson.

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The Punjab state government recently launched a mobile application called “Cova Punjab” to spread awareness about the precautions to be taken against coronavirus.
The application has been developed by the Department of Government Reforms and Public Grievances in association with the Health and Family Welfare Department. The mobile application has options to check for symptoms provided by the government. The application also suggests the nearest hospital and will spread awareness by sharing travel and preventive care advisories

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Union Consumer Affairs Ministry announced that the government has declared face masks and hand sanitizers as essential commodities up to June 30, 2020, by amending the schedule of the Essential Commodities Act 1955.
This decision will enable the government and States/Union Territories to regulate the production, quality and distribution of masks and hand sanitizers. Hence these commodities would be made available to all common citizens in affordable prices without hoarding and black-marketing.

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The Government of India has constituted an empowered Committee (Group 6) to coordinate with Private Sector, NGOs and International Organisations related to COVID-19.
The committee is chaired by the CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant. It aims to address the issues with UN agencies, World Bank, ADB; Civil society organisations and Industry associations. Other members include Principal Scientific Advisor Dr Vijayaraghavan and members from CBIC, Ministries of Home Affairs and External Affairs.

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The Department of Medical and Health of Andhra Pradesh has recently launched a mobile application called ‘Covid Pharma’.
The application aims at tracking the people who purchase medicines over the counter (OTC) for symptoms like cough, cold and fever from medical stores across the state. This database would help the state in tracing the people who may contract coronavirus.

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According to an official statement, Chhattisgarh has topped the list of states in providing employment to unskilled labourers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
Out of the total 77.85 lakh labourers employed under MNREGRA across the country, 18.51 lakh labourers are from Chhattisgarh, which is about 24% of the labourers. Rajasthan comes second with 14% of the total number of labourers, and Uttar Pradesh is ranked third with 12% of the total number of labourers.