GK Today(28-08-2015)

GK Today(28-08-2015)

GK TODAY

1. Scientist Dr Modadugu Vijay Gupta to receive inaugural Sunhak Peace Prize
  -Noted Indian agricultural scientist Dr Modadugu Vijay Gupta has been chosen for the inaugural Sunhak Peace Prize.

  -He will receive the first Sunhak Peace Prize in South Korean Capital city of Seoul along with President of Kiribati Islands Anote Tong.

  -Dr. M. V. Gupta has been selected for this award for his pioneering work in the blue revolution. He has invested his entire life to developing sustainable aquaculture as an alternative solution to the future food crisis.

  - Anote Tong has been chosen for this award for creating global awareness on the severity of climate change issue and sought for action by the international community for its solution.

2. About Sunhak Peace Prize

  -Sunhak Peace Prize was founded earlier in 2015 by South Korean religious leader Dr Hak Ja Han Moon.

  -It is an annual award that recognises eminent individuals from around the world for their contribution to peace and development of the world. 

 3. Union Government launches E-Payment Module to deposit compensatory levies into CAMPA Funds
  -Union Government has launched an e-payment module to make the payment of compensatory levies into the Compensatory Afforestation Management Planning Authority (CAMPA) Funds.

  -It was launched by Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi in order to make these payments for diversion of forest land quicker and more transparent.

  -The e-payment module has a designated account for the payment purpose, depending on the States in which the forest land is proposed to be diverted. Initially, the payments will be allowed through two modes viz. online challan mode through RTGS and NEFT and offline challan mode.

4. What is CAMPA Fund?

  -Levies are imposed on development projects that seek land inside a Reserved Forest or a Protected Area (PA) in a sanctuary or a national park.

  -These collected levies are accrued in the CAMPA Funds which are to be utilised to plant trees elsewhere in order to ostensibly compensate the loss of forest due to development projects.

5. Union Government gives nod to 6 new SEZ proposals

  -Union Government has approved six new proposals 6 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) proposals including four from Information Technology and IT enabled Service (ITeS) sector.

  -This decision was taken by the Board of Approval (BoA) for SEZ (under the aegis of Union Commerce Ministry) chaired by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia.

  -The approved SEZ proposals are HCL IT City Lucknow- set up IT/ITeS zones in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Loma IT Park Developer- set up IT/ITeS zones in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

  -North Mumbai International Commodity Township- It is proposed free trade warehousing zone in Thane, Maharashtra. It should be noted that SEZs account for about 25 per cent of the India’s total exports.

  -In 2013-14, exports from these zones had rose to 4.94 lakh crore rupees from 22,840 crore rupees in 2005-06. There are 330 notified SEZs across the country of which 36 are operational in Tamil Nadu, followed by Karnataka, Telangana having 26 each and Maharashtra having 25.