#Daily #Current #Affairs

Maharashtra government for first time invokes MCOCA against ration mafia

Maharashtra government has invoked stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against ration mafia. With this, state government aims at weeding out the widespread corruption by taking stringent action against those who tamper the public distribution system (PDS) mechanism. The first case in this regard was registered against five persons from Nashik for allegedly being ration mafia and were involved in the pilferage of food grains meant for PDS. The accused were involved in the infamous Surgana scam which had misappropriated nearly 3,000 metric tonnes (MT) of foodgrain supplied under the PDS to the tribal-dominated Surgana region of Nashik.

World Bank approves $ 250 million loan for Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project in J&K

World Bank has approved 250 million US dollars loan for Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). The project will be funded by loan credit from International Development Association (IDA), a World Bank’s concessionary with a maturity of 25 years, including a 5 year grace period.

About Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project

·         The recovery project will play important role in reconstruction of flood-affected public infrastructure. It includes roads, bridges and public infrastructure.

·         It will also strengthen the capacity of state government to respond and better manage natural disasters in future.

·         It will focus on 20 districts of state and help to rebuild damaged public buildings such as schools, hospitals, higher education buildings, fire stations, selected block and district offices.

·         It also seeks to strengthen and reinforce existing weak and vulnerable flood control infrastructure. The investments will primarily include rehabilitation and renovation of storm water pumping stations in several areas.

·         The project will also focus on disaster risk mitigation in state and strengthen the capacity of government entities in disaster risk management.

·         It will also help in preparation of a Hydro-Meteorological Resilience Action Plan to enhance #Ssome key rivers impacted by the disaster, extreme weather events and urban vulnerability assessment.

Jaipur Metro’s Phase-1 inaugurated by Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje

Jaipur Metro’s Phase-1 was inaugurated by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje by flagging off the inaugural train. Phase 1 of Pink City’s Metro covers 9.6 km long route from Mansarovar to Chandpole with nine metro stations. The phase 1 of Jaipur Metro was completed in record four-and-a-half-years making it one of the fastest-built rail metros in India with cost of 2,023 crore rupees. With this, Jaipur became the sixth city in India to have metro service. Other five cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Bangalore, and Kolkata.