27 May 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

Eastern Peripheral Expressway

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, dedicated to the nation, two newly built expressways in the Delhi NCR Region.
• The first of these is the 14 lane, access controlled, Phase-I of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, stretching from Nizamuddin Bridge to Delhi UP Border.
• The second project to be dedicated to the nation is the 135 km long Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), stretching from Kundli on NH 1 to Palwal on NH 2.
• The Delhi Meerut Expressway, once completed, will significantly reduce travel times from the National Capital to Meerut, and to several other parts of Western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
• The Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), will contribute towards the twin objectives of decongesting and de-polluting the national capital by diverting traffic not destined for Delhi.
• The foundation stone of the Greenfield project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 5, 2015. The highway has been completed in a record 500 days. 
• The project of Peripheral Expressways around Delhi, comprising Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE) and Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), connecting NH-1 and NH-2 from Western and Eastern side of Delhi, has been envisaged with the twin objectives of decongesting and de-polluting the national capital by diverting the traffic not destined for Delhi.
• This is the first Expressway in the country to use solar power on the entire length of 135 km. There are eight solar power plants on this Expressway, with a capacity of 4000 KW (4 megawatt) for lighting of the underpasses and running solar pumps for watering plants.
• Rainwater harvesting has been provided at every 500 meters on the EPE and there is drip irrigation for plants all along the expressway.

 Akshay Kumar launches ad campaign for Swachh Bharat

• Actor Akshay Kumar, today launched an advertisement campaign for the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) in the capital. 
• The campaign was launched at a Collectors Convention for Toilet Technology organized in the capital.
• The campaign focuses on promoting the twin pit toilet technology in rural India, and also features actor, Ms Bhumi Pednekar along with Akshay Kumar.
• The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation on this occasion announced that the producers of Toilet Ek Prem Katha have given rights to all State and District teams of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) to screen the movie in villages on a non-commercial basis.
• The twin pit toilet technology was invented in India and is the most well-suited toilet technology for rural India, and is recommended by Government of India and the World Health Organization. 

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