General Awareness Questions

The Kerala government has implemented Green Protocol for making weddings more naturally in the state. The purpose of the initiative is to reduce the use of plastic in daily life. With the implementation of the protocol, use of plastic and other non-degradable articles including disposable glasses and plates and thermocol decorations will be discouraged at marriage functions. Inspections will be held at marriage halls, convention centres and hotels and other venues of the wedding ceremony in this regard and action would be taken if the protocol is violated. The state nodal agency for sanitation ‘Suchitwa Mission’ has already launched the initiative in Kannur, Ernakulam, Kollam and Alappuzha on a pilot basis. As per officials, the protocol would be implemented in the rest of the districts soon.

Kolkata Metro Rail is the first metro rail operating since 1984 in India.

1. The National Green Tribunal banned the use of ‘Chinese’ kite strings, made of nylon or any synthetic material on the grounds that it poses threat to life and environment.

2. The Tribunal directed all state governments to prohibit the “manufacture, sale, storage, purchase and use” of synthetic manja or nylon threads and all other synthetic strings used for flying kites with immediate effect.

3. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar ordered the authorities to ban import of any synthetic manja.

i. The 'Swachh Survekshan 2017' survey results were recently announced by Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu. The total 434 cities of India were surveyed. Indore in Madhya Pradesh is India’s cleanest city while Gonda in Uttar Pradesh is the dirtiest.

ii. Gujarat has the maximum of 12 cities among the top 50 clean cities, closely followed by Madhya Pradesh with 11 and Andhra Pradesh with eight. Uttar Pradesh accounted for half of the bottom 50 cities in the cleanliness ranking.

Top 10 clean cities of India in 2017 are:

Indore (MP)
Bhopal (MP)
Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh)
Surat (Gujarat)
Mysuru (Karnataka)
Tiruchirapally (Tamil Nadu)
New Delhi Municipal Council (New Delhi)
Navi Mumbai (Mumbai)
Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh)
Vadodara (Gujarat).

Top 5 Dirtiest cities of India (with Rank) in 2017 are:

Gonda (UP)- 434,
Bhusawal (Maharashtra)- 433,
Bagaha (Bihar)- 432,
Hardoi (Uttarakhand)- 431,
Katihar (Bihar)- 430.