Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 26 June 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 26 June 2015

Launching flagship programmes for urban development and housing on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi not only sought to give more powers to the States but also called for giving residents the mandate to decide how urban areas should emerge.
At the launch of the Housing for All, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart Cities schemes, he said it was the first time that residents were being challenged to formulate a development vision for their cities.
The competitive mechanism would end the top-down approach and lead to people-centric urban development.
Under AMRUT, 500 cities are targeted for development. The Smart Cities scheme will target development of 100 cities over five years and Housing for All envisages construction of two crore houses in urban areas in seven years.
AMRUT, which replaces the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, will give the States and the Union Territories the liberty and flexibility in formulation, approval and execution of projects.
The major common provisions incorporated in the guidelines of the new schemes include objective criteria for selection of cities and allocation of funds.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message to popularise ancient Indian medicine practices has found resonance with Rashtrapati Bhavan.
On July 25, President Pranab Mukherjee will begin his fourth year in office with the inauguration of an AYUSH wellness centre that will be run from a heritage building in the President’s Estate.
Being set up in collaboration with the Ministry of AYUSH, the wellness centre will offer elaborate and therapeutic services, including mud baths and oil massages, physiotherapy and yoga to de-stress the mind and body.
The services at the centre, being housed in an old circular building which is currently being renovated, will be offered to residents of the sprawling President’s Estate, said Omita Paul, Secretary to the President.

China and India are adding fresh momentum to the establishment of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor, which is expected to develop gradually before more ambitious goals are achieved.
Chinese officials acknowledge that unlike in the past, when it was perceived to be dragging its feet, India is now showing enthusiasm over the project, which will link Kolkata with Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan province, passing through Myanmar and Bangladesh, with Mandalay and Dhaka among the focal points.
The focus on linking provinces and States — in this case, Yunnan and West Bengal — seems to have given a new impulse to galvanising the plan.
The main artery of the 2,800-km, K (Kolkata)-2-K (Kunming) corridor is nearly ready.
A stretch of less than 200 km, from Kalewa to Monywa in Myanmar, needs to be upgraded as an all-weather road.

The State Government is firm on expediting work on LNG terminals at Kakinada and Visakhapatnam, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Thursday.
After a review with Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, he said the work on Kakinada project would be launched shortly.
The terminal at Kakinada with a capacity of five million tonne will be taken up by GAIL, GDF Suez Shell, GAIL and AP Gas Development Corporation as a joint venture.
Another terminal with a total capacity of 10 million tonne will come up at Gangavaram Port in two phases with an investment of Rs.9,000 crore by Petronet LNG Limited.
The university will come in North Coastal Andhra, he added.