Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 09 March 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

::NATIONAL::

Indian Railway has integrated all railway helplines into single number 139 which is Rail Madad Helpline for quick grievance redressal and enquiry during the journey. As the new helpline number 139 will take over all the existing helpline numbers, it will be easy for the passengers to remember this number and connect with Railways for all their needs during the travel.
The Ministry of Railways in a statement said that various Railway grievances helplines were discontinued last year and now, Helpline number 182 would also be discontinued from 1st of April, 2021 and will be merged into 139.
The Helpline 139 will be available in twelve languages and passengers can opt for Interactive Voice Response System- IVRS or directly connect to call-centre executives by pressing the asterisk button.
There is no need for a smart phone to call on 139.

In Switzerland, people have voted in favour of banning full face coverings in public places. Dubbed as ‘burqa ban’ by media and campaigners, the proposal was put into referendum after years of debate in the country following similar bans in some European countries.
According to official reports, 51.2 per cent of voters have supported the proposal. The result means nobody in the country can cover their face completely in public whether in shops or in the open across the country except in places of worship or for health and safety reasons.
The Islamic Central Council of Switzerland has said the ban is a great disappointment for Muslims. European countries including France, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria and Denmark have already banned full face coverings.

Cochin Port Trust (CoPT), one of the major port trusts in India will sign nine MoUs of ₹2,825 crore at the second Maritime India Summit 2021 scheduled to take place from March 2 to 4.
These MoUs will be majorly signed between Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT); Kottayam Port &ICD Services; IOCL; IGTPL; etc.
The MoUs will be signed in the areas like dredging for maintenance of channels and basins, coastal connectivity, cargo handling, tourism related projects, aviation fuel terminal, deepening and widening of port channels, etc., according to a press release.
The Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways is also in process of finalizing more than 217 MoUs to be signed in conjunction with the summit. These MoUs will be signed with different coastal states and stakeholders of the sector. The MoPSW is looking forward to closing over 400 MoUs during the Maritime India Summit 2021, the ministry said.
These MoUs are focused on attracting investment, skilling, and generating employment in the sector. The signing of the MoUs will help streamline the process of ship maneuvering resulting in more business to the ports and economic stability to the sector and its stakeholders.

Russia and China signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday to set up an international lunar research station, Russia's Roscosmos space agency said.
Moscow and Beijing will draw up a roadmap to establish the station and cooperate closely on planning, designing and implementing the project as well as presenting it to the world space community, it said.
"An international lunar science station is a complex of experimental and research facilities created on the surface and/or in orbit of the moon, designed to conduct multidisciplinary and multipurpose research work," it said.
Russia and China will promote international cooperation on the project and offer equal access to any nation that wants to take part, the agency said in a statement on its website.
The memorandum was signed by Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin and Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration, during a meeting by video conference, it said.