Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 03 August, 2014

Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams

Government will give a decisive push to make the Ganga-Hooghly waterway navigable for freight movement by tying up for a World Bank loan that could be as much as $1 billion.
Developing inland waterways is a key agenda for the National Democratic Alliance Government as it pushes for decongesting communication bottlenecks and opening up options for high volume freight.
These barrages will be part of the Government’s recent announcement of a series of barrages on the Ganga from Allahabad to Haldia which will facilitate movement of larger vessels. The plan has drawn criticism from environmentalists who have highlighted the dangers of sedimentation and the decline of fisheries.
Government believes that river transportation is the cheapest available option and should be maximised to boost economic growth. Already barges have begun supplying imported coal to Farakka super thermal power plant in the absence of land based transportation alternatives.
The plan for the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly stretch, which the Government is prioritising, envisages a large number of additions such as navigation aids along the entire 1,600-km-stretch and night navigation between Tribeni and Farakka, a GPS system and repair facilities along the route.

Barring a last-minute unseen hurdle, the Nepal government would sign the much-delayed project development agreement (PDA) for the 900MW Upper Karnali hydropower project with the Indian multinational, GMR, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit.
Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala had sought consent from his coalition partner, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist, and the main Opposition, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) over signing the PDA with the Indian multinational company.

President Pranab Mukherjee praised the NDA government at the centre for taking steps to bring in more FDI into the country. He also said a sustained average growth rate between eight to nine per cent is required to address the issue of poverty alleviation in the country.
He also stressed on the need for improvement in both physical and social infrastructure, as well as development of skills of the youth for taking advantage of the demographic dividend.
On GST, he said that the states would have to come on board and develop an appropriate mechanism for its implementation.