Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe upgraded roads under the ADB project will boost links\nbetween local residents, productive agricultural land, and economic centers\nacross the state,\u201d said ADB Principal Portfolio Management Specialist Mr.\nSanath Ranawana. \u201cImproving farmers\u2019 access to markets will in turn help boost\nagricultural productivity and incomes as well as promote investment in\nagribusiness and agriculture value chain infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maharashtra accounted for almost 15% of India\u2019s gross\ndomestic product in fiscal year (FY) 2017, the biggest share among India\u2019s\nstates. However, economic development is concentrated around the urban centers\nof Mumbai, Pune, and Thane. There are imbalances in human development across\ndistricts while income inequality is one of the highest among all states in\nIndia. About 20 million people, or 17% of the state\u2019s population, still live\nbelow the national poverty line, while in some districts\u2014particularly in rural\nareas\u2014it is as high as 40%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Agriculture accounts for about 47% of employment, engages as\nmuch as 79% of the rural labor force, and contributes 11% to the state gross\ndomestic product. However, this contribution is falling. Farmers face\npersistent crop losses due to the variable climate and limited access to processing\nand storage facilities, resulting in high levels of debts and even farmer\nsuicides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maharashtra has an extensive road network, with rural roads\nmaking up two thirds of the network. But more than half of these rural roads\nare unsealed, making them unsuitable for motorized traffic and impassable\nduring the rainy season. Road safety has also been a growing concern, with the\nstate accounting for more than 8% of all fatal road accidents in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ADB has previously supported rural road development in\nseveral South Asian countries. The project will build on their experience to\nupgrade 2,100 kilometers of rural roads to all-weather standards, including\ncontractual maintenance for 5 years following construction. Road designs will\nincorporate climate resilient features such as improved drainage and higher\nsurface elevations, and stronger embankments, and safety features such as\nsignage, guard posts, and speed breakers. Environmentally friendly sealing\noptions such as asphalt blended with plastic waste will be piloted on selected\nroad segments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project will also work with the rural infrastructure\nagency, the Maharashtra Rural Road Development Association (MRRDA), to develop\nroad safety, road asset management, contract management, and climate resilient\ndesign. Accompanying the loan is a technical assistance grant of $1 million to\nsupport MRRDA to improve its management performance in these areas. Outreach\nfor road users will be carried out in the state to build awareness of road\nsafety, gender issues including human trafficking, and enhancing women\u2019s road\nconstruction and maintenance skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The total cost of the project is $296 million, of which the\ngovernment will provide $96 million. It is due for completion at the end of\nSeptember 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive,\nresilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts\nto eradicate extreme poverty. In 2018, it made commitments of new loans and\ngrants amounting to $21.6 billion. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68\nmembers\u201449 from the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $200 million to upgrade rural roads to all-weather standards in 34 districts of India\u2019s Maharashtra State to better connect rural areas with markets and services. Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2019 \u201cThe upgraded roads under the ADB project will boost links between local residents, productive agricultural […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4587"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4589,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4587\/revisions\/4589"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkseries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}