BIHAR
- Three-day Rajgir Festival kicks off from Nov 25
- The event will also feature a Gramshree Mela which has been planned at the vast hockey ground at the heritage town.
- The fair will also have activities like palanquin decoration contest, the “tonga”, or the horse-driven cart race, and dangal (wrestling), besides a Mahila Mahotsav where rural women will gather to discuss how to achieve economic independence and become self-sufficient.
- Also, various government departments will be showcasing their activities and achievements at their stalls.
- Rajgir Festival has been hosted jointly by the state tourism and the district administration, Nalanda. While the cultural event will be held at the International Convention Centre Rajgir, all other activities will be held at the hockey ground.
- The Rajgir Festival was started in 1986 on the lines of Khajuraho Festival, the world famous Indian classical dance festival held in Madhya Pradesh every year.
INTERNATIONAL
· Bangladesh partners with China to build Purbachal
- Bangladeshhas partnered with Chinato build its first smart city and the biggest planned township on the outskirts of Dhaka. The project also includes a mega water project which upon completion, will divert water from the Meghna river to the settlement. The township is signed under Bangladesh’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative. It is the first PPP project in the water sector in Bangladesh.
- In the northeastern suburbs of Dhaka, a 6,150-acre town will be developed as the first smart city in Bangladesh. The biggest planned township in Bangladesh will be named Purbachal. A Chinese company will play a leading role in building a smart city in Bangladesh. Many mega infrastructures, including an international exhibition center, is to be constructed under the construction of another Chinese firm.
- Chinese United Water Corporation and Delcot Water Limited jointly won the deal to implement the project Development of Water Distribution and Supply Facilities at Purbachal New Town via Public-Private Partnership.
- China has already implemented a $10 billion worth infrastructure project in Bangladesh. The major projects between the two countries are the Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone, the 8th China Bangladesh Friendship Bridge, the Payra Power Plant, and the International Exhibition Center. In 2019, Bangladesh set up a $400 million joint venture (JV) with a Chinese company in order to build renewable energy projects to provide a total of 500 megawatts of power by 2023.
· NASA detected a massive thermonuclear explosion from outer space
- NASAdetected a massive thermonuclear explosion coming from outer space. It was caused by a massive thermonuclear flash on the surface of a The huge explosion in the space released as much energy in 20 seconds as the Sun does in nearly ten days. It was detected by NASA’s Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) telescope on the International Space Station (ISS).
- NICER figured the X-ray burst came from an object named J1808. NASA reported that this explosion is the brightest seen by NICER so far. The observations by the NICER revealed many phenomena that have never been seen together in a single burst. The details captured by NICER on this record-setting and massive eruption will help astronomers to understand and study the physical processes driving the thermonuclear flare-ups of it and other bursting pulsars.
NATIONAL
· India International Trade Fair to begin on 14 November
ð The India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2019 is to begin in New Delhi on 14 November 2019. The 14-day fair is the 39th edition of IITF. The fair will be inaugurated by the Union Minister of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Nitin Gadkari.
ð The multi-product exhibition aims to offer an equal opportunity for large corporations, MSMEs, non-government agencies, artisans, self-help groups (SHGs). It ensures to promote their products and services to a very large sample of potential customers.
· Ministry of AYUSH is to organize the International Conference on Yoga
- Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) is to organize theInternational Conference on Yoga on 15-16 November 2019 at Mysuru, Karnataka. The conference will be inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Karnataka Shri B.S. Yediyurappa.
- Events such as Yoga walk, CME programme, a mass Yoga demonstration, etc. will be held to project the health benefits of Yoga and a healthy lifestyle.
- The conference will have technical sessions onYoga for heart care, the role of Yoga in preventive cardiology, emerging trends and researches, the Role of Yoga in the management of Hypertension, and Yoga for coronary artery disease will be delivered.
- Piped-water scheme to be Aadhaar-linked
- The government will link the Aadhaar number of the head of the household for each functional tap water connection under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
- According to an official document of the Jal Shakti ministry, which is implementing the ambitious programme of providing tap water connection to every household (‘har ghar nal se jal’) in less than five years, the Aadhaar link will be done for “targeted delivery and monitoring of specific outcomes”.
- All assets created under the mission will be geo-tagged for better monitoring. The government has approved Rs 3.6 lakh crore for this massive scheme. While the Centre and majority of states will have 50:50 sharing of costs, this will be 90:10 for Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and north-eastern states and in the case of UTs, the Centre will bear the entire cost.