Current Affairs 12th August 2015

Current Affairs 12th August 2015

Updated : 12-Aug-2015

Current Affairs 12th August 2015 - Important Points
Current Affairs 12th August 2015 - Details
Who has composed panel to probe CNG fitness scam - Delhi government
On 11th August 2015, an independent Commission of Inquiry to investigate the multi-crore CNG fitness scam of Delhi was composed and led by Delhi Government Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. A retired High Court judge, Justice SN Agarwal will head this Commission of Inquiry.

The Delhi cabinet has made it mandatory for the commission to complete their investigation within three months from the date of its first sitting.
About the CNG fitness scam
In 2012, Anti Corruption Bureau found that the Delhi government had lost over 100 crore rupees by awarding the contract to operate and maintain certification of CNG vehicles at the transport authority in Burari to ESP India instead of ESP USA.
Uttar Pradesh Government approved new guidelines for - Begum Akhtar Award
On 11th August 2015, the modified guidelines for Begum Akhtar Award was approved by Uttar Pradesh Government. From now the Chief Minister has the power to make any further changes to the guidelines.
The award will be presented every year to the singers of ghazal, dadra, and thumri who have attained a milestone in these forms of music and should not be less than 40 years of age and a local resident of the state.
The award will comprise of an 'angvastram', a citation and a cash award of 5 lakh rupees.

Do You Know :
Begum Akhtar Award is named after Akhtari Bai Faizabadi, also known as Begum Akhtar who was a well known Indian singer of Ghazal, and Dadra, and Thumri genres of Hindustani classical music.
She was awarded with the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan (posthumously) by Union Government and also received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for vocal music and also given the title of Mallika-e-Ghazal (Queen of Ghazals).
India & World Bank signed agreement with - NCRMP-II
On 11th August 2015, to support the second phase of the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Program (NCRMP-II) an agreement of 308.40 million US dollar was signed between World Bank and Union Government. State Governments of Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and West Bengal also signed the agreement.
On behalf of the World Bank, John Blomquist, Program Leader and Acting Country Director in India and Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs on behalf of the Union Government signed the agreement.
Aim of NCRMP-II
- To decrease the accountability to cyclone and other hydro-meteorological hazards of coastal communities in the states of West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat.
- The capacity of the State entities to effectively plan for and respond to disasters will be increased.
- Financing of technical assistance for strengthening of multi-hazard risk management at the national level.
To tackle impending drought crisis a cabinet sub-panel was constituted by - Maharashtra Government
On 11th August 2015, a cabinet sub-committee was constituted to assemble an action plan to tackle the forthcoming drought crisis by Maharashtra government. State Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse will head this committee.
Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde and Water Supply Minister Babanrao Lonikar will be the other members o the committee.

The government has planned to transport drinking water from the Ujani dam to Latur in the Marathwada region through railway wagons to overcome the situation of drought.
To increase the water storage level during the good rainfall, government has also decided to increase the depth of rivers.
NTCA & Traffic India data reports the loss of 41 tigers in 7 months in India
In August 2015, between January and 9 August 2015, India has lost about 41 tigers as released in a report by Fresh data from National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and TRAFFIC-India.
Facts revealed by the data comprises :
Shooting of tigers by the authorities in case of man-animal conflicts is also the main cause of decrease in their population whereas snares and traps, even poisoning are the other some of the other reasons behind their death.
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are the few states that have reported maximum number of tiger deaths.