Current Affairs September 3 2019

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INDIAN AFFAIRS

‘72nd Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia’ held in New Delhi
On September 2, 2019 Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW) Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the ‘72nd Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia’ in New Delhi and was also unanimously elected as the chair of the 72nd Session of the WHO(World Health Organisation) Regional Committee for South-East Asia.
i. Address by Harsh Vardhan: 

• PoshanMaah: The month of September to be observed as  “PoshanMaah” (Nutrition Month) addressing malnutrition problems and improve healthy eating and move towards ‘Malnutrition-Free India’.
• Eat Right India: With the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) adoption of ‘food system approach’, the citizens are committed to the people’s movement called the “Eat Right India” movement with the tagline “SahiBhojan. BehtarJeevan” which means ‘Right diet leads to better quality of life’…………………..Click here to Read more

“Garvi Gujarat Bhavan” inaugurated by PM Modi in New Delhi
On September 2, 2019 the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the “Garvi Gujarat Bhavan” at Akbar Road in New Delhi. The building was built by the Gujarat government at a cost of Rs 131 crore which will serve as a home for Gujarati people in Delhi and the old Gujarat Bhavan at Chanakyapuri, Delhi will also continue to function.Key points
i. Members present: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister(Gujarat) Nitin Patel and other officials were present during the event.
ii. Building features: It is built on an area of 20,325 sq.mts with 7066 square mts grant from the central government and has 19 suits rooms, 59 regular rooms, a restaurant, a public dining hall, a business centre, a souvenir shop, a multi-purpose hall etc, all with modern and traditional architecture blend.
iii.Gujarat’s development: The efforts by Gujarat government toward development was appreciated by the Prime Minister and assured the state’s piped drinking water facility at every household would be accomplished by 2024.
About Gujarat:
Capital- Gandhinagar.
Governor- Acharya DevVrat.
National parks (NP) –  Gir forest NP, blackbuck NP, Marine NP, Vansda NP.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

First ASEAN-U.S. Maritime Exercise begins in Sattahip Naval Base, Thailand 
On September 2, 2019, The United States (US) and 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries began their first Asean-US Maritime Exercise (AUMX) at the Sattahip Naval Base in Thailand. The 5-day maritime drill will end in Singapore. It is a part of a joint exercise extending into the flashpoint South China Sea. AUMX was proposed at the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) in 2017. It was confirmed in the 12th ADMM in October 2018.

Key Points:
i. The exercise is co-led by the US and Royal Thai navies.
ii. It will consist of pre-sail activities in Thailand, Singapore, and Brunei, followed by a sea phase in international waters in Southeast Asia, including the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea.
iii. It consists of 8 warships, 4 aircraft and thousands of personnel.
iv. The task force headquarters is located onboard the Royal Thai Navy vessel HTMS Krabi (OPV 551), and include representatives from each Asean member state and the US.
v. The objective of the exercise is to prevent wrongdoing as Washington and Beijing are against each other for influence in the region.
vi. The exercise will help to maintain maritime security, focus on prevention and pre-empt wrongdoing in the sea.
About ASEAN:
♦ Motto: One Vision, One Identity, One Community
♦ Members: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand & Vietnam.

4th South Asian Speakers’ Summit organised in Maldives
Two day 4th South Asian Speakers’ summit on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) was held in Malé, Maldives from September 1-2, jointly organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the People’s Majlis(single legislative body of the Maldives). The summit was attended by Secretary-General of the IPU, Martin Chungong and senior lawmakers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Maldives.Key points
i. Delegations: The Indian delegation was led by Om Birla, 17th Lok sabha speaker. Rajya Sabha’s Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh was also part of it..
ii. Malé declaration rejects Pakistan’s Kashmir issue concerns:  The Malé declaration ignored Pakistan delegate Qasim Suri’s concern on bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh into Union Territories(UT), raised during the summit citing the reasons that the issue wasn’t part of the summit’s agenda.
iii. Summit agenda: The agenda for the summit was on equal pay, youth employment, nutrition, food security and delivering the Paris agreement on climate change. The summit hold discussions on the themes

•  ‘Promoting equality at work including equal remuneration and creating jobs for young people’.
• ‘Achieving SDGs 2 and 3 – Nutrition and food security as drivers of maternal, child and adolescent health in the Asia-Pacific region’ and
• ‘Catalyzing the global agenda on climate change-overcoming challenges and utilizing opportunities to strengthen the regional agenda for delivering on the Paris Agreement.

iv. Previous summit: The previous/3rd summit was held by the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 2018.
About Maldives:
♦ Capital- Malé.
♦ Currency- Maldivian rufiyaa.
♦ President- Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

BANKING & FINANCE

ICICI becomes the country’s first bank to deploy ‘Robotic Arms’ for counting currency at its chests
ICICI Bank(Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India), the leading private sector lender, has become the 1^st bank in India to deploy industrial ‘robotic arms’ to count millions of notes in currency chests across the country. 14 machines (robotic arms) have been deployed in 12 cities so that all these can count 6 million notes in a working day or about 1.80 billion notes annually. Key points:
i. Robotic arms operate continuously and seamlessly, without any breaks, using different sensors at more than 70 parameters.
ii. These 14 robots have been deployed in New Delhi, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Sangli, Mangaluru, Raipur, Siliguri, and Varanasi.
iii. This will bring more precision and flexibility in handling large amounts of notes.
About ICICI Bank:
♦ Founded:  5 January 1994
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
♦ Managing Director & CEO:  Mr. Sandeep Bakhshi
♦ Tagline: Hum Hai Na, Khayal Apka

Cabinet approves Rs 9,300 crore package capital infusion for IDBI Bank
On September 2, 2019, Information and Broadcasting(I&B) Minister Prakash Javadekar stated that the central Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Government of India(GoI) has approved a capital infusion of Rs 9,300 crore in IDBI Bank(Industrial Development Bank of India). The objective behind the government’s move is to increase the bank’s capital base. Key points:
i. Out of Rs 9,300 crore, the government (49%) will give Rs 4,557 crore, while Rs 4,743 crore will be given by LIC- Life Insurance Corporation (51%).
ii. LIC completed the acquisition of a controlling 51% stake in the troubled IDBI Bank in January 2019. After this, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) placed IDBI Bank in the category of private sector bank.
iii. IDBI Bank was placed under the immediate corrective action framework of RBI. It prohibits loans to companies and branch expansion, increments and other regular activities. This infusion will be through recap bonds ( Government infusing capital into the bank and the bank buying the recap bond from Government the same day) will help the bank to come out of RBI’s Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework sometimes in 2020.
iv. The Bank has over 800 branches, about 1.5 crore retail customers and has about 18,000 employees.
About IDBI Bank:
♦ Founded: 1 July 1964
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
♦ MD & CEO: Rakesh Sharma
♦ Tagline: Aao Sochein Bada

India increases contribution to Global Fund, $ 22 mn for 6th cycle
On September 3, 2019, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated that the central government  will contribute $22 million to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFTAM) for the 6^th replenishment cycle (2020-22), an 10% jump of the amount US$ 20 million contributed in the 5th cycle. So far, India has contributed US$ 46.5 million till 2019.
key points:
i. India stands strong to its long-standing partnership with the Global Fund  in fighting the epidemics of these three diseases(AIDS- Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, TB- Tuberculosis, and Malaria) & has now become the first among G20 (an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 19 countries and the European Union), BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and implementer countries to announce the pledge for the 6th Replenishment cycle.
ii. India adequately financing to eliminate three diseases has now stepping towards to strengthen health systems and save 16 million more lives across the world.
iii. since the year 2002, India has a strong partnership with the Global Fund both as recipient and as a donor. Global Fund support with the amount of US $ 2.0 billion so far has made to fight against three diseases. It has allocated US$ 500 million to India for the present funding cycle (2018-21).
About Global Fund:
♦ Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
♦ Founded: 28 January 2002

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Panel on Fintech related issues formulated by the ministry of finance submits its final report
On September 2, 2019, An Inter-Ministerial committee set up by the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India(GoI) on Fintech (Financial technology) related issues headed by Shri Atanu Chakraborty, DEA(Department of Economic Affairs) Secretary, submitted its final report “‘Steering Committee on Fintech related issues 2019 ” to the Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi.
i. It recommends NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development )to create a credit registry for farmers by using fintech along with core banking solutions (CBS) offered by agri-financial institutions, including cooperative societies………………..Click here to Read more

IAF receives 8 US-made ‘Apache AH-64E’ fighter helicopters
On September 2, 2019, The Indian Air Force (IAF) has received 8 US-made ‘Apache AH-64E’ fighter helicopters from US (United States)aerospace major Boeing at Airforce Station, Pathankot, Punjab. Air Chief Marshal B. S. Dhanoa was the chief guest of the ceremony held at the Pathankot Station.
Key points:
Order: In September 2015, IAF had signed a contract with US Government and Boeing for purchasing 22 AH-64E  Apache helicopters. Boeing delivered the first 4 out of 22 helicopters on 27 July 2019. The first batch was delivered to the Indian Air Force at Hindon Airbase in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh(UP). The remaining of 22 will get to India in a phased manner………….Click here to Read more

DBS lowers India’s FY20 GDP growth to 6.2%
The DBS bank (formerly Development Bank of Singapore Ltd) based in Singapore has reduced India’s GDP to 6.2% from its previous forecast of 6.8%. The bank also expects for another GDP (Gross Domestic Product) rate cut by 15-25 bps in the month of December. The DBS in its report “India: More policy support likely after weak Q2 growth” stated that severe slowdown in India’s GDP lowered the trajectory for the year and is expected to grow in FY21(Fiscal Year 2021).
About DBS bank:
♦ Founded-1968.
♦ Chairman-  PeterSeah.
♦ Chief Executive Officer(CEO)-Piyush Gupta.

Reliance Power will give electricity to Bangladesh for next 22 years
On August 31, 2019, Bangladesh has signed a power project agreement to buy 718 megawatts(MW) of electricity from India’s Anil Ambani led Reliance Power over the next 22 years. For which the company plans to invest about $1 billion to set up a local plant at Meghnaghat in Narayanganj, over 20 km southeast of the capital Dhaka, Bangladesh by 2022. It will be a combined cycle power plant, which will be set up in collaboration with Japanese energy major JERA. Reliance Power will hold 51 per cent stake in the joint venture (JV) company while JERA will hold 49 per cent stake.
Key points:
i. Bangladesh has signed an agreement with China earlier, under which renewable energy projects will be prepared. These projects, to be built with an investment of $ 400 million, will generate 500 MW of power by 2023.
ii. Bangladesh currently has a power capacity of more than 20,000 MW. It is working to provide electricity to its 160 million population by 2020. Its energy sector has registered a growth of 12.5% ​​in recent years. However, Renewable Energy’s share in it is just 3%. It plans to boost this to 10% by 2022.
About Reliance Power:
♦ Founded: 17 January 1995
♦ Founder: Dhirubhai Ambani
♦ Headquarters: Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra
♦ Chairman: Anil Ambani
About Bangladesh:
♦ Capital: Dhaka
♦ Currency: Bangladeshi taka
♦ Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina

Asia’s only 5th Generation VR based Advanced Driver Training Simulator Centre launched at Chennai 
Rtn G Chandramohan, Rotary Governor, Rotary International District 3232 launched Asia’s first 5th Generation – Virtual Reality (VR) based Advanced Driver Training Simulator Centre at the Automobile Association of Southern India Centre (AASI), Chennai, in the presence of T D Sadasivam, Chairman and other Executive Committee members of AASI. It is aimed to reduce on-road fatalities and make Indian roads safer.
Key Points:
i. Under ‘Safe Drivers Campaign’, AASI will train 200 Ambulance drivers free of cost in the initial 6 months.
ii. The patented simulator was ideated, designed and developed by Chennai based Red Chariots Technologies Pvt Ltd.
iii. A team of 12 engineers developed the hardware and software which took them nearly 3 years to complete.
iv. The existing drivers can make use of this simulator at the nominal cost of Rs 100 for an 8-minute session.
About AASI:
♦ Headquarters:  Chennai
♦ Vice chairman: Dr.M.S.Srinivasan

Ashok Leyland becomes the first OEM to meet BS-VI emission norms
Ashok Leyland, Indian automobile major headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu has become the 1^st Indian original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to meet the  Bharat Stage (BS ) VI emission standards for all its heavy-duty trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 16.2 tonnes and above. Key points:
i. N Saravanan, Chief Technology Officer of Ashok Leyland got the certificates for compliance to BS-VI emission standard from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), an autonomous body affiliated to the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
ii. The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered that BS-IV vehicle will not be sold across the country from April 1, 2020.
iii. The difference between the current BS-IV and the upcoming BS-VI norms is the presence of sulfur in the fuel. These emissions norms were prescribed by the central government to check pollutant levels emitted by vehicles using combustion engines.
iv. Ashok Leyland was the 1^st company to showcase Euro-VI trucks during Auto Expo 2016 held in New Delhi.
About Ashok Leyland:
♦ Founded: 7 September 1948
♦ Parent organization: Hinduja Group
♦ Chairman: Dheeraj Hinduja.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Sanjiv Ranjan concurrently becomes next Indian ambassador to the Republic of Ecuador
On September 2, 2019 Shri Sanjiv Ranjan, who is the present Indian Ambassador to the Republic of Colombia, has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Ecuador, with residence in Bogota (high altitude capital of Columbia). He succeeded Ravi Bangar.
Key points
Sanjiv who is a 1993 batch Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, previously served as Deputy high commissioner of India to Mauritius from 2006 till 2009. Prior to this post, he was serving as Ambassador of India to Argentina with concurrent accreditation to Uruguay and Paraguay.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Iranian army introduces a new homegrown jet-propelled drone called “Kian”
Iranian Army has unveiled a high-precision jet-propelled drone called “Kian”, which has the capacity of carrying long-time surveillance missions and attack the targets far from the country’s borders. Key points:
i. The unmanned military drone has been developed in two models & was fully developed by Iranian technicians of the Army within about a year.
ii. The new drone comes at a time increasing tensions between Iran and the United States(US) since US President Donald Trump in 2018 withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal -2015 and reimposed sanctions on Iran.
iii. Earlier in August 2019, It has unveiled its new home-grown air defense system called “Bavar-373”.
iv. On May 8, 2018, the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program reached in July 2015 by Iran, the P5+1 (the 5 Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council-China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States + Germany) and the European Union.
About Iran:
♦ Capital: Tehran
♦ Currency: Iranian rial
♦ President: Hassan Rouhani

‘Samudrayaan’-  deep ocean mining project to be undertaken by India 
On September 3, 2019, India’s deep-sea project “Samudrayaan” undertaken by National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai (NIOT) is proposed to be launched in 2021-22.  The proposed project announced by NIOT Director MA Atmanand, is a part of Ministry of Earth Sciences’ pilot project, and plans to send three persons to depth in a submersible vehicle of 6000mtrs for underwater studies related to deep-sea mining of rare minerals. Key points
i. Submersible vehicle: The vehicle crawls on the seabed, travelling 6kms for 72hours.
ii. Deep ocean mission: Rs. 200 crore Samudrayaan project is a part of ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ project worth Rs. 6000 crores awaiting Union Finance Ministry’s approval.
iii.Polymetallic nodules exploration: The International Sea-Bed Authority has allocated 75,000sq.km to India in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) for exploring Polymetallic nodules which are rock concretions on the sea bottom formed of concentric layers of iron and manganese hydroxides around a core which are also called as manganese nodules weighing 380million tonnes.
Features: The polymetallic nodules contain 4.7 million tonnes of nickel, 4.29 million tonnes of copper and 0.55 million tonnes of cobalt and 92.59 million tonnes of manganese.
About NIOT:
♦ Founded- November 1993.
♦ Headquarters- Chennai.
♦ Parent agency- Ministry of Earth Sciences.

SPORTS

Overview of Indian Cricket Team’s Tour to West Indies
Indian Men’s Cricket team toured the West Indies and the United States (US) from August 3-September 3, 2019. It played 2 Tests, 3 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 3 Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. The tour started with 2 of the T20I matches played at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. The Test series formed a part of the inaugural 2019–21 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship.
i. T20I Series: India won the 3 match series 3-0 against West Indies.
ii. ODI Series: India won the 3 match series 2-0 against West Indies. The first match finished as a no result…………………..Click here to Read more

Overview of 2019 ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2019 International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle / Pistol event was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from August 26-September 3, 2019. It was an annual edition of the ISSF World Cup in the Olympic Shooting events and governed by ISSF. India finished the tournament at the top spot with 5 Gold, 2 Silver & 2 Bronze medals, with 9 medals altogether.

• Sanjeev Rajput secured India’s 8th Olympic Quota for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He won the silver medal in Men’s 50m rifle event.
• Yashaswini Singh Deswal secured the 9th Olympic Quota for India. She clinched a gold in Women’s 10m air pistol………………Click here to Read more

Steve Smith claimed the top spot in ICC Test Rankings; Virat Kohli slips to second place
In the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Rankings, Steve Smith of Australia piped Indian captain Virat Kohli and secured the top spot. He has a one-point (904 points) lead over Kohli (903 points).Key Points:
i. Smith returned to the top spot riding on his twin centuries in the first Ashes Test against England and 92 in the second match.
ii. Kohli slipped to the second place after his first-ball duck in the Jamaica Test.
iii. In Test Batting Rankings, Cheteshwar Pujara is at the 4th spot & Ajinkya Rahane at 7th place. In Test All rounder Rankings, Ravichandran Ashwin is at 7th place.
iv. In Team rankings, India is at the top spot, followed by New Zealand and South Africa.
v. The rankings are as follows:

About ICC:
♦ Motto: Cricket for good
♦ Headquarters:  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Virdhawal Khade and Rujuta becomes India’s fastest couple at 73rd Glenmark National senior aquatics championships
At the 73rd Glenmark National senior aquatics championships 2019, held at Prakash Taran Pushkar Bhavan, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Indian swimmer Rujuta became the fastest female swimmer of India winning the title in 50m freestyle whereas her husband Virdhawal Khade(2010 Asian bronze medallist) broke his own national record winning gold in the men’s 50m breaststroke event. The couple earned the title of becoming India’s fastest couple in swimming. Gold in the women’s 50m breaststroke was won by Divya Satija (Haryana), who also broke her own national record.

Mithali Raj-Indian woman cricketer retires from T20 internationals
On September 3, 2019, former Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj has announced her retirement from T20 (twenty-twenty) International in order to focus on the upcoming 2021, 50 over World Cup to be hosted by New Zealand. She represented India in 89 matches of shortest format, scoring 2,364 runs which is the highest by any Indian Women to date.

Key points
i. Leading India into 32 matches and three World Cups, Rajasthan born Mithali made her debut in T20 international, in Derby in 2006, and has last played T20 international in March 2019 against England in Guwahati, Assam.
ii. Mithali has also played in 203 ODIs and 10 Tests scoring 6720 runs with 7 centuries and 663 runs with one century respectively.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

A new book entitled  “First They Erased Our Name: A Rohingya Speaks” to be released by Penguin Random House (India)
A new book entitled “First They Erased Our Name: A Rohingya Speaks” penned by journalist Sophie Ansel (France) will be formally released by Penguin Random House (India) on September 9, 2019.Key points:
i. The book documents the troubles of Rohingya community, through the eyes of a Rohingya, “Habiburahman”, who was born and raised in a small village in western Burma( now Myanmar), in 1979, grew up stateless with his people when their own country’s military leader ordered that Rohingya were not one among the 135 recognized ethnic groups that formed the 8 ‘national races’.
ii. As a result of utmost prejudice and persecution, millions of Rohingya people had left their homes since the year 1982.
iii. The Myanmar government rapids the process of ethnic cleansing in 2016 & 2017, and about 600,000 Rohingya were forced to cross the border into Bangladesh.

STATE NEWS

Nuakhai- harvesting festival celebrated in Odisha
September 3, 2019 marks this year’s Nuakhai festival, as the day is celebrated one day after the Indian festival Ganesh Chathurthi (September 2, 2019) in Odisha, especially in its western part. The name is derived from ‘nua’ which means new and ‘khai’ means food, thus denoting the newly harvested food by the farmers. The festival is also called as Nuakhai Parab or Nuakhai Bhetghat.About Odisha:
♦ Capital- Bhubaneswar.
♦ Governor-Ganeshi Lal.
♦ Chief Minister- Naveen Patnaik.
♦ Dance forms- Ghumra Dance, Chhau dance,medhanacha, odissi.

Odisha rolls out “One nation one ration card” scheme on September 1, 2019
On September 1, 2019 the Odisha government implemented the “One nation one ration card” programme on a pilot basis initially in areas under the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), to people possessing ration card ensuring inter-state portability of ration cards.Key points
i. Outlets: The beneficiaries can avail the ration from any Public Distribution System (PDS) outlet under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 and State Food Security Scheme (SFSS).
ii. Aadhar linkage: To avail the facility, the beneficiaries should link their Aadhar cards with ration card and the deadline for linkage has been made till September 15 by the Odisha government.
About “One nation one ration card” scheme:
The scheme aims at making poor migrant workers and others to buy subsidised rice and wheat from any ration shop in the country. The scheme will be available across the country from July 1, 2020 onwards.
About NFSA:
The National Food Security Act 2013, also called as the right to food was launched on 12 September 2013, to provide subsidized food to 67% people of India.

WB to fund UP’s “Pro-Poor Tourism”(PPT) Development Project worth $57 million
On September 2, 2019, the World Bank(WB) announced its partnership to fund the Uttar Pradesh(UP) government’s ‘pro-poor tourism’ (PPT) development projects with funding worth more than $57 million. PPT project is a poverty alleviation concept by the UP government in tourism hubs with 70% funding from the WB and the remaining by the UP government.
Key points
i. In the project signed by the WB and union Finance Ministry (FM), top tourist spots of the Agra and Braj-Mathura regions will be aimed.
ii. Statistics: UP ranked second after tamilnadu in attracting high no. of tourists in the country as of 2017 and also ranked third after maharashtra and TamilNadu in terms of attracting high no. of foreign tourists in the country as of 2017.
iii. Similar projects: Earlier project similar to PPT includes the Buddhist Circuit in Kapilavastu, Sarnath, Kaushambi, Sankisa, Kushinagar and Sravasti regions of UP. Other circuits such as the Ramayana circuit, Krishna circuit, Sufi circuit are also on the path of development.
iv. Records of UP tourism: Recently the UP government created 3 Guinness world records during its Kumbhmela event (2019). Those were for the largest sanitation drive, largest handprint painting exercise on the theme of ‘Jai Gange’ in 8 hours and for largest parade of buses.
About UP:
♦ Capital- Lucknow.
♦ Chief minister- Yogi Adityanath.
♦ Governor-Anandiben Patel.

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