UPSC EXAM QUIZ 11.01.2025

Explanation:

• Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy on January 6 launched the second round of PLI Scheme for Specialty Steels, called PLI Scheme 1.1, in New Delhi.
• The first round of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Specialty Steel was notified in July 2021 by the Ministry of Steel with a budgetary outlay of ₹ 6,322 Crore.
• The revised version of the scheme, termed ‘PLI Scheme 1.1’ introduces relaxed norms to encourage greater industry participation.
• Key changes introduced in PLI Scheme 1.1 include reducing the threshold for investment and capacity requirements in certain sub-categories, such as Cold-Rolled Grain-Oriented steel (CRGO), permitting the carry-forward of excess production to subsequent years for claiming incentives, etc.
• CRGO is a high-value steel used in the production of power transformers. The scheme will remain open for applications from January 6th to January 31st, 2025 and will be implemented during the production period of FY 2025-26 to FY 2029-30.

Explanation:

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched the 'Bharatpol' portal, developed to enhance international cooperation for law enforcement agencies.
• Broadcast centre for assistance and real-time action against international crimes through international police cooperation.
• Bharatpol is a portal developed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) aimed at helping law enforcement agencies in India work more efficiently with international police forces.
• Bharatpol will streamline international cooperation by enabling faster and more direct communication with INTERPOL. It will expedite criminal investigations involving international crimes by providing real-time assistance.

Bharatpol has five major modules - Connect, INTERPOL Notice, Reference, Broadcast and Resource.

• Through Connect, all our law enforcement agencies will essentially function as INTERPOL's National Central Bureau (NCB-New Delhi).
• Requests for assistance from INTERPOL's 195 member countries will be available on the Broadcast module.
• Resource module will facilitate easy sharing and management of documents and resources.

Explanation:

• Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, announced the launch of the nationwide cashless treatment scheme for road accident victims.
• The scheme builds on a pilot project launched by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in March 2024, in Chandigarh, which was later expanded to 6 other States/UTs including Assam, Punjab, Haryana, and Puducherry.
• The pilot project was aimed at establishing a framework for providing timely medical care to the victims of road accidents, especially during the critical “golden hour” after an incident.
• With the scheme now extended across the country, the government will come up with a modified scheme by March 2025 to improve emergency medical response and support accident recovery.
• Additionally, the government also launched the scheme for pan-India setup of Driver Training Institutes (DTI) which provides incentives for setting up DTIs and additional incentives for integrated infrastructure of Automated Testing Stations (ATSs) and DTIs.

Explanation:

• India’s National Highways recorded 60% growth in the last 10 years.
• The length of India’s National Highway network has increased from 91,287 km in 2014 to 146,195 km in 2024.
• India has the second largest road network in the world.
• National High-Speed Corridors have also increased from a mere 93 km in 2014 to 2,474 km in 2024.
• 2,540 km of highways have been added through Externally Aided Projects (EAP) with loan assistance from the World Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
• As part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) plans to develop a network of 35 Multimodal Logistics Parks (MMLPs) with an investment of Rs 46,000 crore.
• These MMLPs will serve as regional cargo aggregation and distribution hubs for various industrial and agricultural nodes.
• The government has also introduced the Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities. It is operating in 19 states and UTs.

Explanation:

• On January 8, Marathi language has been officially granted classical language status after the release of a Government Resolution (GR).
• Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat handed over the government order officially recognizing Marathi as a classical language to Maharashtra Marathi Language Minister Uday Samant during their meeting in Delhi.
• However, the Union Cabinet had given the status of classical language to Marathi along with Assamese, Bengali, Pali and Prakrit on October 3 last year, but no official notification was issued in this regard.
• Mr Samant said this is a dream come true for Marathi speakers in Maharashtra and across the world.
• Furthermore, he announced that the Maharashtra government would soon submit a proposal to the central government outlining the benefits available to classical languages as per established rules.
• Samant said Union Minister Shekhawat will also visit Pune on January 31, February 1 and 2, to inaugurate the Marathi World Conference.
• Tamil was the first language to be given classical status in 2004. Sanskrit received classical status in 2005.