Current Affairs : 3rd February 2014

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Nepal and India amended bilateral transit treaty : India and Nepal amended a bilateral transit treaty on 2 February 2014. The amendment to the export procedure in the Memorandum to the Protocol to the Treaty of Transit of 1999 will facilitatethe transit of goods of third country origin exported from Nepal.This amendment in the provisions of the Treaty ofTransit brought into effect a significant decision which was reached between the two sides during the Nepal-India Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) meeting on Trade, Transit and Cooperation to Control Unauthorised Trade held in Kathmandu, Nepal on 21 – 22 December 2013

First online Global Freshwater Biodiversity Atlas launched : A new online Atlas of freshwater biodiversity that presents spatial information and species distribution patterns was launched on 29 January 2014 at the landmark Water Lives symposium. The symposium (conference) brought together the European Union policy makers and freshwater scientists. The Atlas has been edited by a pan-European group of freshwater science and conservation experts from 12 research institutes. It is supported by key international organsiation, which are active in the field of freshwater biodiversity research and conservation.

Tea Production of India rose by 6.5 percent in 2013: Indian Tea Association : Indian Tea Association (ITA) on 2 February 2014 announced that the tea production of India has gone up by 6.5 percent in the year 2013. In its report it said that the country’s production has rose to 1200 million kilograms in 2013 as against 1126 million kilograms in 2012. The northern part of India (Assam and West Bengal) produced 957.44 million kilograms in 2013 as against the 886.95 million kilograms in 2012. Production of the southern region stood at 242.60 million kilogram in 2013 against the 239.38 million kilogram of 2012.

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Jammu and Kashmir Government to develop 18 new Industrial Estates : The state government of Jammu and Kashmir has decided to GKdevelop 18 new Industrial estates of which nine each will be developed in Kashmir and Jammu divisions. This step has been taken with an aim to boost the industrial activities for socio-economic transformation of the state. Its main focus will on employment generation. To develop these industrial estates, over 2500 (over 314 acres) Kanals of land valued at about 82 crore rupees in Kashmir division and 5600 Kanals (over 703 acres) of land valued 87 crore rupees in the Jammu division is being acquired.

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World Wetland Day celebrated across the globe : World Wetland Day is observed on this day because on 2 February 1971 the Ramsar Convention was adopted. World Wetland Day was celebrated across the globe on 2 February 2014. The theme for this year’s World Wetland Day was Wetlands & Agriculture. The Ramsar Convention chose Wetland & Agriculture as theme for World Wetland Day 2014 in view of the UN declaring 2014 as International Year of Family Farming.

Silverine Swer, Meghalaya’s first Padma Shri Awardee died : Silverine Swer, the first Padma Shri awardee of Meghalaya died on 1 January 2014 at her residence at Riatsamthiah. She was of 103 years in age. She received the Padma Shri award in 1990 from the then President of India, R. Venkararaman. She was also the oldest voter from Meghalaya.

Union Ministry of Culture launched National Mission on Libraries : President of India Pranab Mukherjee launched the National Mission on Libraries (NML) on 3 February 2014. The mission was launched by Union Ministry of Culture. The creation of a National Virtual Library of India (NVLI) is one of the major component schemes of the National Mission on Libraries. With the aim of equitable and universal access to knowledge resources, the National Virtual Library of India would provide digital resources by digitizing the relevant reading material in different languages, which would be shared at all levels.

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Harish Rawat appointed 8th Chief Minister of Uttrakhand : Harish Rawat was appointed as the 8th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on 1 February 2014. He was administered the oath of office by Governor Aziz Qureshi at Raj Bhawan. He succeeded Vijay Bahuguna. Harish Rawat was a Union Minister for Water Resources. Rawat is a MP from Haridwar. He was made a Minister of State for Labour and Employment in 2009 and then MoS for Agriculture and FoodProcessing Industries.

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IUCN Red List has completed 50 years of its existence : IUCN on 30 January 2014 announced that it is celebrating 50 years of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in guiding conservation action and policy decisions. The Red list of IUCN is the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, plant species and fungi related to livelihoods.