Current Affairs and Gk -March 2013 Part-2

West Bengal
The West Bengal Government announced sops to encourage girls towards higher education. Announcing a special scheme for girls, Kanyasri Prakalpa, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the State Government would provide Rs 500 a year as scholarship to girls belonging to families with an annual income of Rs 50,000. This apart the Government would also provide aid of Rs 25,000 to the girl when she became 18 years under this scheme. The Chief Minister also announced that the State has readied a bill for reservation in higher education.

Tamil Nadu
Traditional brass lamps from Nachiarkoil in Thanjavur district obtained the geographical indication (GI) tag. The traditional Nachiarkoil brass lamps are known as Nachiarkoil Kuthuvilakku. The production of the ornamental lamp is mainly done by local artisans who have domicile in and around Nachiarkoil, a town in Kumbakonam taluk. The craftsmanship is not found anywhere else. The lamps made for temples are artistically used in South India. The lamp usually consists of four parts—base (Keezhbagam), stem (kandam), oil container (Thanguli) and the apex or Prabhai. The Thanguli or oil container consists of V-shaped spouts to hold the wicks. These four parts are joined together with the help of screw threads. The lamps are suspended from the ceiling and richly decorated and always excellent in workmanship and design.

Nepal and United States
Nepal and the United States are jointly conducting the military exercises, named Shanti Prayas-2 or Peace Initiatives from March 25 to April 7.

Sharad Pawar
To address concerns of farmers who have been agitating in the capital for two days, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh formed a ministerial panel which will discuss impact of retail FDI and minimum support prices among other things. The committee of six ministers headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has decided to take up only 3-4 main issues, including impact of retail FDI, out of various demands of protesting farmers’ bodies Bharatiya Kisan Union, Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers’ Movement and National Alliance of People’s Movements.

Vishakhapatnam
Slum households comprise 17.4% of the households in the country with Vishakhapatnam having the most number of such households according to the first ever survey of slum households by the Census of India. The census surveyed slum households in close to 4000 statutory towns (any settlement with more than 5,000 population and 75% pursuing non agricultural work qualifies to be a statutory town) for data on slum households leaving out census towns as part of the first ever Housing stock, Amenities and Assets in Slums census. The census defines a slum as a settlement of at least 60 households of poorly built congested tenements in unhygienic environment usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking in drinking water and sanitation facilities. The revised definition given by the Planning Commission committee on slums headed by Pronob Sen considered a settlement of at least 20 households in such conditions as a slum.

March 20
The International Day of Happiness is celebrated throughout the world on 20 March. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 28 June 2012.

Rajasthan
Aishwarya oil field commercial production at Barmer in Rajasthan has begun. About 25 thousand barrel crude oil and 50 thousand lakh cubic feet natural gas is expected to be released per day from these oil fields. The oil field was dedicated to the nation today by Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily and Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot. They inaugurated commercial production of natural gas from Rageshwari well of this area.

Central African Republic
Rebels in the Central African Republic seized control of the riverside capital Bangui after fierce fighting, forcing President Francois Bozize to flee and raising fears of instability in the mineral-rich heart of Africa. The Seleka rebel coalition resumed hostilities this week in the former French colony and quickly swept south towards Bangui with the aim of toppling Bozize, whom it accused of breaking a January peace deal to integrate its fighters into the army. The violence is the latest in a series of rebel incursions, clashes and coups that have plagued the landlocked nation – which has rich deposits of gold, diamonds and uranium – since its independence from France in 1960.