current affairs 28 january 2021

1. Nitin Gadkari approves proposal to slap green tax on old, polluting vehicles

A green tax could be levied on transport or commercial vehicles older than eight years at the time of renewal of fitness certificate. The levy will have to be in the range of 10-25 % of the road tax. In case of personal vehicles, it could be charged at the time of renewal of registration certificate after 15 years
Nitin Gadkari also approved the policy of deregistration and scrapping of vehicles owned by government departments, and public sector entitiesSuch vehicles will have to be more than 15 years old.
Revenue from the green tax will have to be kept in a separate account and used for tackling pollution

“The problems at Alphabet—and created by Alphabet—are not limited to any one country, and must be addressed on a global level
“Alphabet has long lost its commitment of ‘Don’t be evil,’ but we haven’t,”
“Together, we will hold Alphabet accountable. Together, we will change Alphabet.”

Children will be able to choose from a selection of 500 titles in English and Bengali on the Young Readers’ Boat Library

The idea behind the boat library is that one can read books while appreciating the beauty of Kolkata
A ride on the boat would cost Rs 100 for adults and Rs 50 for children.The library will host activities such as storytelling, dramatised readings, poetry sessions, book launches, music and more

Yerawada Jail has two historic yards, which are groups of cells, named after Gandhi and Tilak, which will be part of the tour for the visitors.
A move to help students learn about historical experiences
“Reading history books and getting a glimpse of its historical importance in real life has been a thrilling experience for me, thanks to the jail tourism initiative launched at Yerawada Central Prison,”