Current Affairs June 2020 - Places in NEWS
1 - Gairsain declared as Summer Capital of Uttarakhand
The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat announced Bhararisen (Garsain) as the summer capital of the state. Gairsain is a town and Nagar Panchayat in Chamoli district and is situated at the eastern edge of the vast Dudhatoli mountain range, located almost at the centre of the state.
The announcement of summer capital has been done in order to expedite development of the hilly areas. Uttarakhand was carved out as a separate state from Uttar Pradesh on November 9, 2000.
2 - Petroleum major BP to set up major new global business services centre in PUNE
British Petroleum’s (BP) India has announced to set up a global business service centre in Pune. The new centre will employ around 2000 people. The GBS Centre is expected to begin operations by January 2021 and will provide business processing and advanced analytics capabilities in support of BP businesses worldwide.
BP is present in India in the lubricants, exploration and production businesses and also has a joint venture with Reliance Industries. BP currently employs 7,500 people in India.
3 - Mumbai launched flood warning system called iFLOWS
The Ministry of Earth Sciences in co-ordination with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has developed a new integrated flood warning system (iFLOWS) for Mumbai. It will be able to relay alerts of possible flood-prone areas anywhere between six to 72 hours in advance.
Mumbai is only the second city in the country after Chennai to get this system. The system has provisions to capture the urban drainage within the city and predict the areas of flooding.
4 - 500-year old Temple submerged in Mahanadi found
A temple believed to be submerged during floods in 1933, was found in the Mahanadi River in Odisha. It is 500 years old. Archaeologists survey team of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) unveiled that over a hundred years ago, an entire village and the temple were submerged at Nayagarh.
The temple of late 15th or early 16th century with height of 55 to 60 feet was found in the mid-river near Baideswar in the Padmavati area in Cuttack.
5 - Cabinet approved declaration of Kushinagar Airport in Uttar Pradesh as an International Airport
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for declaration of Kushinagar Airport in Uttar Pradesh as an International Airport. Kushinagar Airport is located in the vicinity of several Buddhist Cultural Sites like Sravasti, Kapilvastu, Lumbini. Kushinagar itself is a major Buddhist Cultural Site.
The declaration as an “International Airport” will offer improved connectivity, wider choice of competitive costs to the air-travellers. It will result in boosting of domestic/international tourism and economic development of the regions. Kushinagar is located in the north-eastern part of Uttar Pradesh.
6 - Agra-based company bagged NRDC license for manufacturing NavRakshak PPEs
The National Research Development Cooperation (NRDC) has signed a technology licensing agreement for the manufacturing know-how of a PPE Suit named NavRakshak with an Agra-based apparel manufacturing entity, the Indian Garment Company. This company is also a registered micro enterprise under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Act.
NavRakshak PPE has been developed principally by Dr. Arnab Ghosh, a Naval Doctor. It incorporates superior quality breathable fabric to make the PPE suit. It is cost-effective. The fabric, suit and seam have been found to meet the synthetic blood penetration resistance criteria comfortably.
7 - Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated PADC at Paradip, Odisha
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik virtually inaugurated Product Application and Development Centre (PADC) in Paradip. The PADC has been set up by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) on a five-acre of land with a capital expenditure of Rs. 43 crore.
There are four laboratories in PADC namely Polymer Processing Lab, Analytical Testing Lab, Chemical Analysis Lab and Characterisation Lab. PADC will act as incubation centre for new entrepreneur development in and around Odisha in the field of Plastics. It will render assistance to customers and investors in product and application development for polymer finished products.
8 - Indigenous AWMS & Drishti Transmissometers installed at Bangalore Airport
Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport) has become the first Airport in the Country to install indigenous AWMS technology, developed by Bengaluru-based CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), at both ends of the new runway. It was installled by Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) – operator of BLR Airport.
BLR Airport has installed four Drishti Transmissometers – also developed by NAL, in association with the Indian Metrological Department (IMD) – to measure the Runway Visibility Range (RVR).
