11 January 2020: PIB Summary & Analysis

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January 11th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. An Ordinance promulgated for amendment of MMDR Act and CMSP Act
2. Four Refurbished Heritage Buildings in Kolkata
3. National Highway Excellence Awards 2019
4. PURVODAYA in steel sector launched

1. An Ordinance promulgated for amendment of MMDR Act and CMSP Act

Context

The government has promulgated an ordinance for amendment in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act, 1957 and the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 in order to ease auction of coal mines, allow FDI and enhance ease of doing business.

The amendments in the Acts would enable the following:

• Enhancing the ease of doing business
• Democratization of coal mining sector by opening it up to anyone willing to invest.
• Offering of unexplored and partially explored coal blocks for mining through prospecting license-cum-mining Lease (PL- cum-ML).
• Promoting Foreign Direct Investment in the coal mining sector by removing the restriction and eligibility criteria for participation.
• Allowing of successful bidder/allottee to utilise mined coal in any of the plant of its subsidiary or holding company
• Attracting large investment in coal mining sector as restrictions of end use has been dropped.

To read about Coal mining: Click here.

2. Four Refurbished Heritage Buildings in Kolkata

Context

• The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation Four Refurbished Heritage Buildings in Kolkata.
• These are Old Currency Building, the Belvedere House, the Metcalfe House and the Victoria Memorial Hall.

Old Currency Building

• This beautiful triple-storeyed structure was built in the early nineteen century, designed in Italian style with Venetian windows, cast iron grates of florid design, portcullis and railings etc.
• The restored Old Currency Building opens to the public as an ode to the art of Bengal, showcasing art across three centuries. Called “Ghare Baire – The Home, The World & Beyond”, the design and curation of this exhibition provides a glimpse of the richness, diversity and depth of Bengal’s art over the centuries.

Belvedere House

• Belvedere House was the former palace for the Viceroy of India and later the Govenor of Bengal.
• Now, Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts pays tribute to the Bengal renaissance and Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore with a very special exhibition in Belvedere House showcasing the original works of the Hungarian mother-daughter duo Elizabeth Sass Brunner and Elizabeth Brunner.

Metcalfe House

• Metcalfe House,located on the junction of Strand Road and Hare Street, is one of the torch-bearers of colonial architecture in Kolkata that perpetuates the memory of Lord Charles Metcalfe.
• The building was completed in 1844 to accommodate the Agri-Horticultural Society in the ground floor and the Calcutta Public Library on the floor above it.

Victoria Memorial Hall

• The Victoria Memorial is a large marble building in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria and is now a museum and tourist destination.
• The Victoria Memorial has 25 galleries. These include the royal gallery, the national leaders’ gallery, the portrait gallery, central hall, the sculpture gallery, the arms and armoury gallery and the newer, Calcutta gallery.
• It also has a collection of rare and antiquarian books such as the illustrated works of William Shakespeare, the Arabian Nights and the Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam as well as books about kathak dance and thumri music by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah.
• The monument also showcase an exhibition on the transition from colonialism and nationalism, which display iconic oil paintings, including the Jaipur Procession of 1876, the world’s second-largest oil painting.

3. National Highway Excellence Awards 2019

Context

• Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs will present the ‘National Highways Excellence Awards’ to outstanding performers in NH sector.

About the Award

• The awards were instituted in the year 2018. The first cycle of awards in 2018received wide participation from around the country.
• Following the success of the first cycle, the Ministry decided to make the National Highways Excellence Awards an annual feature.
• The aim is to recognise companies which are performing exceptionally well in the construction, operations, maintenance and tolling stages of highway development as well as in the arena of road safety.
• The motive behind starting an annual awards program is to create a spirit of healthy competitiveness amongst all stakeholders involved in the development of highway infrastructure in the country and to contribute to the larger goal of expanding the road network in the country.

4. PURVODAYA in steel sector launched

Context

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel launched PURVODAYA: Accelerated development of eastern India through integrated steel hub in Kolkata, West Bengal.

About PURVODAYA

Click here to read about the topic

January 11th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

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