India, Japan reiterate cooperation in Indo-Pacific
India and Japan reiterated that they would continue to work for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region during a meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono.
The two leaders exchanged views on regional and global issues of common interest, they reaffirmed that based on shared values and interests, the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership has acquired a broader significance in the current global context and has become a factor of prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
India, along with Japan, the US and Australia, in 2017 revived a quad that seeks to work for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, a region that stretches from the east coast of Japan to the east coast of Africa.
Sushma Swaraj and Kono held discussions on follow-up actions taken on decisions taken during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Japan for the 13th India-Japan Annual Summit in October last year.
Delhi government collaborates with Washington University to monitor air quality
Delhi government has signed a MoU with Washington University (St Louise) to undertake a real-time Source Apportionment Study in India’s national capital to evaluate the air quality issues.
The MoU is aimed at a joint study to be undertaken by the Washington University and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) for the real-time source apportionment with special reference to particulate matter (PM)2.5.
Analysis of elemental, organic carbon and 72 inorganic elements will also be undertaken under the study.
The work will be undertaken by the personnel of the Aerosol and Air Quality Research Laboratory (AAQRL). Under the study, two special monitors will be used to obtain the composition of PM2.5.
The data will help to understand the source profile which needs to be regulated for the effective improvement of air quality in the city.
Wireless sensors will also be deployed in the city to help monitor the real-time air quality and the source of pollution at select locations in the city.
Sheikh Hasina takes oath as Bangladesh PM for 4th term
Sheikh Hasina was sworn in as Bangladesh’s Prime Minister for a record fourth term following her party’s victory in the recent election.
PM Hasina was sworn in along with her new 47-member Cabinet before President Abdul Hamid at his official residence in Dhaka.
BIOGRAPHY – Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina Wazed is serving as the 10th Prime Minister of Bangladesh, having held the office since January 2009. She is the longest serving prime minister in the history of Bangladesh.
She is the daughter of Bangladesh’s first President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
She previously served as opposition leader from 1986 to 1990 and from 1991 to 1995, as Prime Minister from 1996 to 2001, and has been leading the Bangladesh Awami League since 1981.
In 2008, she returned as Prime Minister with a landslide victory.
In January 2014, she became Prime Minister for a third term and also won a fourth term in December 2018.
Hasina is considered one of the most powerful women in the world, ranking 26th on Forbes’ list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2018.
She is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an International network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers.
Cabinet approves Citizenship Amendment Bill
The Union Cabinet approved the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 that aims to give citizenship to illegal migrants of six minority groups from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Union Cabinet, cleared the bill soon after a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) presented its report in the Lok Sabha endorsing the move to legalize minority immigrants who entered Assam till December 31, 2014.
LS passes bills on right to education, personal laws
The Lok Sabha passed “Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018” and “The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018”.
Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar introduced “Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018” saying that the amendment made by the Rajya Sabha in the bill to further amend the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 be taken into consideration.
Union Minister P.P. Choudhary introduced “Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018” to amend the Divorce Act, 1869; Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939; Special Marriage Act, 1954; Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. It strikes out leprosy as a ground for seeking divorce.
January 09, 2018
India, Norway to boost cooperation on SDGs, Ocean economy
India and Norway agreed to work in close cooperation on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the ocean economy following delegation-level talks headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Norwegian counterpart Erna Solberg.
The two sides signed the terms of reference for the establishment of a Dialogue on Trade and Investment, which would give impetus to business cooperation and encourage participation of Norwegian companies in the flagship programmes of India.
Conclusion of the free trade negotiations between EFTA (European Free Trade Association) and India is a priority for both governments.
The agreement on bilateral ocean dialogue signed between the two sides following the talks will give new direction to cooperation in all sectors in this area. A joint task force on Blue Economy was also established in order to promote multi-sectoral cooperation in various aspects of Blue Economy.
They also urged the international community to work towards early finalisation of the (India-initiated) Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism mooted by India at the UN.
Lok Sabha passes DNA technology bill
The Lok Sabha passed “The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019,
The bill seeks to provide the regulation for use and application of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) technology for the purpose of establishing the identity of certain categories of persons including victims, offenders, suspects, undertrials, missing persons and unknown deceased persons.
There are only 30-40 DNA profiling experts in the country and 15-18 labs, but no DNA data bank is available in the country so far.
Over 40,000 unidentified bodies were recovered and around 1 lakh children were found missing previous year, as per a government data. So there is a need for a bill to identify them. Despite that, there is need to apprehend repeated offenders through DNA profiling.
The Bill establishes a DNA Regulatory Board. Every DNA laboratory that analyses a DNA sample to establish the identity of an individual, has to be accredited by the Board.
Written consent by individuals is required to collect DNA samples from them. Consent is not required for offences with punishment of more than seven years of imprisonment or death.
The Bill provides for the removal of DNA profiles of suspects on filing of a police report or court order, and of undertrials on the basis of a court order. Profiles in the crime scene and missing persons’ index will be removed on a written request.
Vikram Misri assume office as Indian envoy to China
India’s new envoy to China Vikram Misri, discussed the bilateral ties with top Chinese officials.
The envoy, who succeeds Gautam Bambawale, met Hong Lei, Deputy Director General of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, and presented his credentials.
Misri also met Wu Jianghao, Director General of Asian Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Misri, 54, was serving as Indian envoy in Myanmar before China assignment.
He was also stationed in various Indian Missions in Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America.
Lok Sabha passes Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2018
The Lok Sabha passed the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2018 that aims to run the scam-tainted Medical Council of India (MCI) through a panel of eminent professionals.
The government is looking at regulating the medical education in India in a qualitative and transparent manner.
This bill supersedes MCI and the powers of the council have been vested in a Board of Governors. This board will continue to perform till a Council is constituted.
This bill has been issued so that medical education can be regulated in best manner, as MCI turned out to be massive failure.
The related National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill 2017 that seeks to replace MCI with a National Medical Commission and overhaul the medical education system in India is still pending in the Parliament.
The NMC will consist of 25 members and it will determine fees for up to 40% seats in private medical institutions and deemed universities.
Medical Advisory Council will be constituted, which will be the primary platform through which the states/union territories can put forth their views and concerns before the NMC.
The Bill allows practitioners of Ayurveda and other traditional Indian systems of medicine the licence to prescribe allopathic drugs after they have passed a ‘bridge course.’
The government has been pushing the NMC Bill amid resistance from Indian Medical Association (IMA) and other sections.
Lok Sabha passes Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2018-19
The second batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2018-19 for gross additional expenditure of Rs 85,948.86 crore, which includes Rs 41,000 crore for recap of the Public Sector Banks (psbs), was passed by voice vote in the Lok Sabha on 31st December.
The supplementary demand was tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on December 20 seeking Parliament’s approval for additional expenditure of Rs 85,948.86 crore.
Responding to a debate over it, Jaitley said the government had enabled connecting villages by building roads and ensured that there wasn’t any villages left where there is no electricity.
Mamata Banerjee announces life insurance, financial aid for farmers in West Bengal
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a yearly financial aid worth Rs 5,000 per acre for all the peasant family in the state.
WB CM also announced a life insurance coverage worth Rs 2 lakh for each of the state’s farmers within the age group of 18-60 years under a state-sponsored scheme, Krishak Bondhu, from 2019.
All the farmers within the age group of 18 to 60 years will be provided life insurance coverage of Rs 2 lakh by the state government. In case of their death, be it natural or unnatural, the families would be provided the money.
January 2
India may have welcomed maximum new borns on New Year: UNICEF
India is estimated to have welcomed 18 per cent of the total babies born globally on January 1, 2019,
According to the UNICEF, 69,944 babies were expected to be born on the New Year Day out of 3,95,072 babies likely to be born across the world.
Globally over half of these births are estimated to taken place in seven countries, along with India like China (44,940), Nigeria (25,685), Pakistan (15,112), Indonesia (13,256), the US (11,086), Democratic Republic of Congo (10,053), and Bangladesh (8,428).Sydney was set to greet an estimated 168 babies, followed by Tokyo (310), Beijing (605), Madrid (166) and finally, New York (317).
Fiji in the Pacific was likely to deliver 2019’s first baby and the US its last.
First Chief Justice of Telangana High Court sworn-in
Justice Thottathil Bhaskaran Nair Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the first Chief justice of Telangana High Court. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan administered oath to him at a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan.
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, judges, lawyers and senior officials attended the ceremony.
Justice Radhakrishnan had been serving as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for both the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh since July last year.
The gazette notification said January 1 would be the appointed day for the Andhra Pradesh High Court which will start functioning from Amaravati while the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad will become the High Court for Telangana.
Assam Minister flags off export of mandarin fruit to Dubai, Hong Kong
Assam Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary flagged off the export of mandarin fruits produced in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam to Dubai and Hong Kong.
Assam as well as the North Eastern Region is considered an organic hub.
With a view to creating a sustainable market for the producers of the region, Industries and Commerce Department has initiated efforts to encourage and provide logistic and infrastructural support for export of agri-horti produces of the state.
Assam Publication Board Lifetime Achievement Award to Nagen Saikia
The Publication Board, Assam today announced its Lifetime Achievement Award for the current year to former Asam Sahitya Sabha president Prof Nagen Saikia.
The award consists of a cash amount of Rs 2 lakh, a citation, a shawl and a packet of books published by the Publication Board.
India, China agree on ‘10 pillars’ of cooperation
Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi held extensive talks under a newly set up framework and agreed on “10 pillars” of cooperation to enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges to open a new chapter in Sino-India ties.
Minister said the armies of the two countries are working to strengthen communication and striving to implement confidence building measures that will help in maintaining peace and tranquility in border areas, which she said, is an important prerequisite for development of ties.
On trade ties, there was a need to find a solution to India’s expanding trade deficit with China and hoped that China will provide support for market access to Indian goods and services.
India and China have agreed on ‘10 pillars’ of cooperation to enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges. These pillars are cultural exchange, cooperation in films and television, museum administration and sports, exchanges between youths, cooperation on tourism, exchanges between states and cities, cooperation in traditional medicine, yoga and education.
India and Japan signed loan agreements worth more than Rs 6,600 crore
India and Japan exchanged notes and signed loan agreements worth more than Rs 6,600 crore for developing the second phase of Chennai Metro, to help India on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and for a dairy project.
The Government of Japan has committed JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Official Development Assistance (ODA) totalling Yen 105.497 billion (equal to Rs 6,668.46 crore, approximately) for the three projects.
The Japanese ODA loan for Chennai Metro Project (Phase 2)(I) is for JPY (Japanese Yen) 75.5 billion, JPY 15.0 billion for Program for Japan-India Cooperative Actions towards SDGs in India and JPY 14.9 billion for Project for Dairy Development.
The notes were exchanged between Finance Ministry’s Department of Economic Affairs Additional Secretary C.S. Mohapatra and Ambassador of Japan to India Kenji Hiramatsu. The loan agreement for Chennai Metro and dairy project was signed between Mohapatra and JICA New Delhi Chief Representative Katsuo Matsumoto.
The cooperative actions programme aims to promote SDGs in India especially in social development by supporting government efforts to strengthen policy framework and implementation mechanism, thereby supporting India in achieving SDGs by 2030.
The dairy development project aims to increase sale of milk and dairy products by increasing farmers’ access to organised market, upgrading dairy processing facilities and marketing infrastructure and enhancing the capacity of producers owned institutions.
SDG India index by NITI Aayog
The government’s premier think tank has developed the country’s first SDG India Index to document the progress made by India’s states and Union Territories towards meeting SDG targets and released a baseline report for 2018.
Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have come out as the front runners in implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets.
Along with the three states, the UTs of Chandigarh and Puducherry were also among the front runners on the SDG India Index with a score between 65 to 99 on a scale of 0 to 100, where 100 signifies that it has achieved the 2030 national targets.
The SDG India Index baseline report 2018 highlights the progress being made by states and UTs in moving towards multiple targets of the SDGs.
The SDGs are ambitious global development goals that address key aspects of universal wellbeing across different socio-economic, cultural, geographical divisions and integrate the economic, social and environmental dimensions of development.
The Index has been developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Global Green Growth Institute and United Nations in India.
The Index tracks progress of all states and UTs on 62 priority indicators selected by NITI Aayog, which in turn is guided by MoSPI’s National Indicator Framework comprising 306 indicators and based on multiple-round consultations with ministries and states.
Odisha govt approves Rs 10,000 crore KALIA scheme for farmers
The Odisha cabinet approved the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme amounting to over Rs 10,000 crore for farmers.
The scheme will provide financial, livelihood, cultivation support along with insurances to the farmers.
Under KALIA, the amount will be spent over a period of three years till 2020-21. All the small and marginal farmers of the state (over 30 lakh) will be covered under this scheme.
An amount of Rs 10,000 per family at the rate of Rs 5,000 each for kharif and rabi seasons will be provided financial assistance for taking up cultivation.
This assistance is for five crop seasons spanning three years from 2018-19 to 2021-22.
Annual financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per household will be provided to take care of sustenance of those farmers who may not be able to take up cultivation or avail livelihood options due to old-age, disability, disease or other reasons.
Life insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh and additional personal accident cover of Rs 2 lakh will be provided to both cultivators and landless agricultural labourers covering about 57 lakh households.
December 23
State-level Farmers’ Fair held at Kahikuchi
Two-day-long State level Farmers’ Fair cum Farmer-Scientist interaction programme on the topic, ‘Doubling the farmers income by 2022 in Assam: Technological options and way forward’ was organised by the ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI), Zone VI, at the Horticultural Research Station, AAU, Kahikuchi.
The inaugural programme was attended by Parimal Suklabaidya, Minister of Fisheries, Excise, Environment & Forest, AK Singh, DDG, Agricultural Extension, ICAR, New Delhi, Dr SN Goswami, Vice-Chancellor, CMJ University, Jorabat, Meghalaya, Dr L Obed, Director, Coconut Development Board, Guwahati, Dr Bidyut C Deka, Director, ICAR-ATARI Zone-VII, Umiam, Dr Prasanna Pathak, DEE, AAU, Jorhat and other dignitaries of ICAR institutes and Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat.
Assam is a source state for child trafficking, says ASCPCR
The Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (ASCPCR) in collaboration with UNICEF Assam organised a State-level workshop ‘Prevention and response to combat child trafficking in Assam’ at the Assam Administrative Staff College.
ASCPCR Chairperson Dr Sunita Changkakati mentioned that Assam is a source state for child trafficking since the children are trafficked to different destination states and subjected to various forms of torture and exploitation.
Chief of UNICEF Assam, Dr Tushar Rane, gave a brief overview of the context and data on child trafficking and appreciated the child protection workforce for their tremendous work towards rescue and protection of vulnerable children.
The workshop discussed the key bottlenecks in addressing the issues of child trafficking and also explored and identified the key areas of intervention to combat child trafficking and ensure justice to the victim.
The participants included representatives from the Department of Social Welfare, State Child Protection Society, police, district legal services authorities, child welfare committees, district child protection units and civil society organisations from all the districts of the State.
Binod Khanal to receive Pratima Pandey Award
This year’s Pratima Barua Pandey Award will be given to BinodKhanal, an exponent of folk culture from Biswanath district.
The award, instituted by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) in memory of legendary singer Pratima Barua Pandey, is given every year to a person having significant contribution in preserving and promoting the folk culture of the State.
Nuclear-capable Agni-IV successfully test fired
Nuclear strategic ballistic missile Agni-IV was successfully test fired from APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast on 23rd December.
The Strategic Forces Command of Indian Army successfully test fired the surface-to-surface intermediate range ballistic missile from launchpad number-4 of the integrated test range at 8.30 a.m.
The missile was test-fired as a part of user training exercise.
The missile, which has the latest features to correct and guide itself for in-flight disturbances, is equipped with state of the art Avionics, 5th generation onboard computer and distributed architecture.
Earlier in December, Agni-V was successfully test fired from APJ Abdul Kalam Island.
7th anti-terrorism India-China military exercise ends
The 7th edition of anti-terrorism India-China joint military exercise concluded in Chengdu area of China. The Validation and Closing ceremony of the seventh edition of joint India-China military exercise ‘Hand-in-Hand 2018’ was conducted at Chengdu, China.
The exercise included lectures and discussions on various counter-terrorism aspects, like cordon and search operations, raid on terrorist hideouts, intelligence collection and joint operations.
Also, integrated live firing was conducted for both contingents to enhance interoperability and promote jointmanship.
As part of validation exercise, troops of both armies carried out specialised joint counter-terrorist operations including room intervention and hostage rescue which was witnessed by dignitaries of both armies
Exercise Hand-in-Hand 2018 was very successful in increasing the bonhomie and camaraderie amongst troops from both countries.
GST Council nods formation of Centralised Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling (AAAR)
The GST Council on Saturday gave its approval to creation of a Centralised Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling (AAAR) by amending the GST Act.
The GST Council in its 31st meeting held here gave in-principle approval to the creation of AAAR to deal with the cases of conflicting decisions by two or more State Appellate Advance Ruling Authorities on the same issue.
The Council also approved amendments to “Section 50 of the CGST Act”, which would allow interest to be levied only on the net tax liability of the taxpayer, after taking into account the admissible input tax credit.
North East Skill Centre (NESC) to be launched in January
The ambitious North East Skill Centre (NESC) project, a joint collaboration of the Assam Skill Development Mission (ASDM) and Institute of Technical Educational Services, Singapore (ITEES), will be launched in January.
The centre will offer a one-year certificate course to achieve the twin goal of generating employment and meet the demand of the industry for skilled manpower.
Specialised and industry-driven training would be imparted in four sectors – beauty and wellness, retail services, hospitality –food and beverage service and hospitality – housekeeping.
The NESC will have state-of-the-art infrastructure located on a sprawling campus in Guwahati with a fully equipped laboratory.
G20 summit: India presents 9-point agenda on fugitive economic offenders
India on Friday presented a nine-point agenda to G20 member nations calling for strong and active cooperation among them to comprehensively deal with fugitive economic offenders.
The agenda was presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the second session of the G20 Summit on international trade, international financial and tax systems.
Cooperation in legal processes such as effective freezing of the proceeds of crime, early return of the offenders and efficient repatriation of the proceeds of crime should be enhanced and streamlined.
India also called for joint efforts by G-20 countries to form a mechanism that denies entry and safe havens to fugitive economic offenders.
India suggested the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) should be called upon to assign priority and focus to establishing international cooperation that leads to timely and comprehensive exchange of information between the competent authorities and financial intelligence units.
India also advocated setting up of a common platform for sharing experiences and best practices including successful cases of extradition, gaps in existing systems of extradition and legal assistance, etc.
Double Taxation Pact between India & Hong Kong came into effect
The double taxation avoidance pact between India and Hong Kong came into effect on 30th November after both sides completed the due procedures.
The agreement between India and Hong Kong for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income was signed on March 19.
India completed all the relevant procedures required by its laws for the entry into force of the agreement on May 11 and the government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region completed all the relevant procedures required by its laws for the entry into force of the agreement on November 30.
The pact will stimulate flow of investment, technology and personnel from India to Hong Kong and vice versa.
It will prevent double taxation and provide for exchange of information between the two sides.
The agreement will also improve transparency in tax matters and will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance.
BRICS leaders declare common stand on WTO reform
Leaders of the emerging economies’ bloc BRICS declared their common stand on the reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on 30th
A communique was issued after Brazilian President Michel Temer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa held an informal meeting on the sidelines of G-20 Summit.
BRICS countries agreed that full support should be given to the rules-based multilateral trading system represented by the WTO and to ensure transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive international trade.
BRICS countries pledged to support the improvement of the WTO, increase its relevance and validity and safeguard the core values and basic principles of the WTO, and agreed that the WTO should embody the interests of all members, developing economies in particular.
December 2
Siu-Ka-Pha Divas observed on December 2
Asom Divas, a day to remember the contributions of the first Ahom king Chaolung Siu-Ka-Pha, was observed in various places in Assam.
Since 1996 December 2 has been celebrated in Assam as the Sukaphaa Divawkh, or Axom Divawkh (Assam Day), to commemorate the advent of the first king of the Ahom kingdom in Assam after his journey over the Patkai Hills.
FACTFILE – Chaolung Sukaphaa (r. 1228–1268)
Siu-Ka-Pha was the first Ahom king in medieval Assam, was the founder of the Ahom kingdom.
A Tai prince originally from Mong Mao, the kingdom he established in 1228 existed for nearly six hundred years and in the process unified the various indigenous ethnic groups of the region that left a deep impact on the region.
Rajnath Singh to inaugurate Hornbill Festival
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the 19th edition of the Hornbill Festival at Kisama village.
Nagaland Governor PB Acharya will be the chief host on the occasion, while US Ambassador to India, Kenneth I Juster, has been invited as the guest of honour.
The Nagaland Government has earmarked Rs 5 crore for the festival, which will culminate on December 10. The celebrations and programmes have been scheduled in five districts of the State including Kohima, Dimapur, Mokokchung, Phek and Wokha, she said.
The annual festival unites one and all, while promoting the tourism prospects of the State. The festival aims to display the rich traditions and the vibrant culture of Nagaland through colourful performances, crafts, sports, food fairs, games and ceremonies.
The heritage village of Kisama has been made a plastic-free zone. The visitor turnout to Kisama stood at 2.43 lakh last year and the number might swell this year.
Kaziranga National Park home to 907 Eastern Swamp Deer
During a Census of Eastern Swamp Deer in Kaziranga National Park, physical counting of the species in Kaziranga National Park had put the total population of Eastern Swamp Deer at 907, which is less than the last census figure carried out in 2016, where the total population was 1,148.
Last year’s heavy flood in Kaziranga had killed many wild animals, including Eastern Swamp Deer.
FACTFILE – The barasingha or swamp deer
The barasingha deer species distributed in the Indian subcontinent.
Populations in northern and central India are fragmented, and two isolated populations occur in southwestern Nepal. It is extinct in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The swamp deer differs from all the Indian deer species in that the antlers carry more than three tines.
Because of this distinctive character it is designated barasingha, meaning “twelve-tined.”
Mature stags have 10 to 14 tines, and some have been known to have up to 20.
It is listed on CITES Appendix I. In India, it is included under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
It is put under Vulnerable category in IUCN conservation status.
G-20 Summit endorses multilateral trade system and WTO reforms
The G-20 Summit concluded on 1st December, with members endorsing the multilateral trading system, and calling for reforms to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
International trade and investment are important engines of growth, productivity, innovation, job creation and development.
The system is currently falling short of its objectives and there is room for improvement. Therefore support the necessary reform of the WTO to improve its functioning.
Signatories to the Paris Agreement, reaffirm that the Paris Agreement is irreversible and commit to its full implementation, reflecting common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.
The two-day summit discussed issues such as the future of work, infrastructure for development, financial stability, climate sustainability and international trade, among others.
India to host G-20 summit in 2022, coinciding with the country’s 75th anniversary of Independence. PM Modi thanked Italy for allowing India to play the host. Italy was to host the international forum in 2022.
FACTFILE – G-20
The G-20 is a grouping of the world’s 20 major economies.
G-20 members comprise Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US. Spain is a permanent guest invitee.
Collectively, the G-20 economies account for nearly 90 per cent of the gross world product, 80 per cent of world trade, two-thirds of the world population, and approximately half of the world land area.
DAC approves purchase of BrahMos, armoured vehicles
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the procurement of equipment worth Rs 3,000 crore which included the BrahMos missile for Navy ships and Armoured Recovery Vehicles (ARVs) for the Army’s main battle tank Arjun.
The DAC, chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, approved the procurement of the indigenous BrahMos missile for two Indian Navy ships to be built in Russia.
The indigenously designed BrahMos missile is a tested and proven supersonic cruise missile and will form the primary weapon on-board these ships.
The ARVs to be procured are designed and developed by the Defence Research Development Organisation and would be manufactured by M/S BEML.
ARVs ensure efficient and speedy repair and recovery operations during combat.
ASEAN experts to meet on military medicine in Lucknow
A four-day meeting of experts in military medicine from ASEAN countries, being co-chaired by India and Myanmar, will be held here from 2nd The objective is to establish better cooperation in medical operations amongst the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries.
For civil support by military operations other than war, especially humanitarian assistance and disaster response missions.
There will be expert working group on military medicine, 4th bilateral talks between India and Myanmar, a table-top exercise and planning for field training exercises encompassing broad themes.
Around 50 delegates from various countries and officers from India’s Army Medical Corps are likely to participate in the event.
The event aims to establish preparedness and response mechanisms to manage mass casualties and outbreak of infectious diseases resulting from large-scale disasters as also to facilitate synergy, better understanding, increase capability of the combined operations amongst the Armed Forces of Asean member states and Asean Plus countries.
FACTFILE – ASEAN nations and thier Capital
Nation of Brunei – Bandar Seri Begawan
Cambodia – Phnom Penh
Indonesia – Jakarta
Lao People’s Democratic Republic – Vientiane
Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur
Republic of the Union of Myanmar – Naypyidaw
Republic of the Philippines – Manila
Republic of Singapore – Singapore
Kingdom of Thailand – Bangkok
Socialist Republic of Vietnam – Hanoi
Govt launches ‘Digital Sky Platform’ online platform for registration of drones
The Union Civil Aviation Ministry launched the ‘Digital Sky Platform’ for the registration of drones and their operators. Nano drones in India can start flying legally with immediate effect from 1st December as the Civil Aviation regulations come into force.
For drones, operators and pilots are required to register on the Digital Sky Portal. Payments for Unmanned Aerial Operator’s Permit (UAOP) and Unique Identification Numbers (UIN) will be accepted through the Bharat Kosh (bharatkosh.gov.in) portal.
To get permissions to fly Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS), operators or remote pilots will have to file a flight plan.
Flying in the ‘green zones’ will require only intimation of the time and location of the flights via the portal or the app.
Permissions will be required for flying in ‘yellow zones’ and flights will not be allowed in the ‘red zones’.
The government in August had announced a policy and guidelines for drones designed to open up an array of opportunities in the Indian civil aviation sector.
The regulations are intended to enable visual line-of-sight, daytime only and a maximum of 400 feet altitude operations.
The regulations list various categories of drones, and all of these except the “nano” type weighing less than 250 gram and those owned by government and intelligence agencies, are to be registered and issued with a Unique Identification Number (UIN).
Global Conference on Cyberspace organized in India.
Theme – Cyber4All: A Secure and Inclusive Cyberspace for Sustainable Development.
Brahmos missile successful air launch
The Indian Air Force conducted the first-ever successful air launch of the BrahMos cruise missile from a Sukhoi Su-30 MKI multirole aircraft.
It is the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile
Glide Bomb – Smart Anti Airfield Weapon
DRDO successfully test fired the Glide Bomb – a Smart Anti Airfield Weapon (SAAW).
India successfully test fires Indigenous Subsonic Cruise Missile Nirbhay
Chandipur test range along the Odisha coast.
It is India’s first indigenously designed and developed Long Range Sub-Sonic Cruise Missile.
NASA Launches Next-Generation Weather Satellite Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1)
to monitor weather around the world and help improve forecasts.
is a joint venture between the US space agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Moscow Declaration on TB &HIV
Representatives from 120 countries adopted the Moscow Declaration to eliminate additional deaths from HIV co-infection by 2020 and achieving synergy in coordinated action against TB and non-communicable diseases.
ISRO’s Sun Mission to take off in 2019
India will send ISRO’s solar mission Aditya-L1 to a vantage point in space, known as the L1 Lagrange point, to do imaging and study of the sun.
Facebook Rolls out Disaster Maps in India
In a bid to help communities recover and rebuild faster in the aftermath of natural disasters in India, Facebook introduced new measures, including its Disaster Maps feature in the country.
First Power Plant under PM Ladakh Scheme commissioned in Drass
The 1.5-mw small hydropower plant in Biaras Drass of Kargil has become the first project to be commissioned under the Prime Minister’s Ladakh Renewable Energy Initiative.
to minimize dependence on diesel in the Ladakh region and meet power requirement through local renewable sources.
International Solar Alliance and India
the first treaty-based international government organisation to be based in India, with 19 countries ratifying its framework agreement.
countries located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
The ISA is headquartered in Gurgaon
International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography
The Union Cabinet approved the agreement with UNESCO on establishment of International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography, as a Category-2 Centre (C2C) of UNESCO, in Hyderabad.
AAROGYAM – 2017
The 1st International Exhibition & Conference on AYUSH & Wellness.
Ajeya Warrior Military Exercises
This is a biennial joint military exercise between India and army of United Kingdom
Ekuverin
The joint military exercise between Indian Army and Maldives National Defence Force
Sentinel-5p Satellite
a European satellite being commissioned by the European Union and the European Space Agency, tracking the levels air pollutants around the world
designed to make daily global maps of the gases and particles that pollute the air.
New Graphene-Based Battery Charges Five Times Faster
Scientists has developed a new graphene-based battery material with charging speed five times faster than today’s lithium-ion batteries.
Graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms bound together in a honeycomb lattice pattern, is hugely recognized as a “wonder material” due to the myriad of astonishing attributes it holds.
Monkey Fever
Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) is a tick borne viral haemorrhagic fever endemic in Karnataka.
The virus causing the disease: KFD virus (KFDV) is a member of the genus Flavivirus and family Flaviviridae.
What Is CYBORG
The term Cyborg was first coined by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. kline to describe man-machine system in which the control mechanism of the human portion are modified externally by drugs or regulatory devices so that the being can live in an environment different from the normal one
an organism with organic and biomechatronic body parts that is partly human and partly machine .
Agni 5
India successfully conducted the “first pre-induction trial” of its over 5,000-km range Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile
Agni -5 is the fifth in the line of the Agni Missiles
NASA to launch Parker Solar Probe to explore Sun’s outer atmosphere
Bharat Bio Typhoid Shot
Bharat Biotech has received a pre-qualification from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for Typbar Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine.
Typbar TCV is the first typhoid vaccine clinically proven to be administered to children from 6 months of age to adults, and confers long-term protection against typhoid fever.
GOLD and ICON Mission to explore the Ionosphere
NASA has announced that it would launch two missions to explore the little-understood area of 96 km above Earth’s surface.
The Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission will be launched in January 2018, and the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) will be launched later in 2018.
India’s Fastest Supercomputer
Pratyush, India’s fastest supercomputer yet, was unveiled at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune.
Pratyush is a collection of several computers that can deliver a peak power of 6.8 petaflops, facilitating the weather forecasting and climate monitoring in the country.
Pratyush is fourth fastest supercomputer in world dedicated for weather and climate research
India Misses Kala Azar Elimination Deadline
India has missed the 2017 deadline for elimination of Kala Azar (black fever).
Elimination is defined as reducing the annual incidence of Kala Azar (KA) to less than 1 case per 10,000 people at the sub-district level.
Kala Azar is a slow progressing indigenous disease caused by a single-celled parasite of the Leishmania family.
In India Leishmania donovani is the only parasite causing the disease. The parasite is found in abundance in the bone marrow, spleen and liver.
Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer
In SCNT the nucleus, which contains the organism’s DNA, of a somatic cell (a body cell other than a sperm or egg cell) is removed and the rest of the cell discarded.
Rotavac is the First Indian designed vaccine to pass the WHO Test
Rotavac became first indigenously developed vaccine from India to be pre-qualified by World Health Organisation (WHO). It means that vaccine can be sold internationally to several countries in South America and Africa.
The Rotavac vaccine, developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech Limited, was included in India’s national immunization programme.
Venezuela becomes first country to launch its own Digital Currency
Venezuela became the first country to launch its own cryptocurrency.
The official cryptocurrency has been named Petro
World Congress on Information Technology
The Government of Telangana has hosted the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) in 2018, at Hyderabad.
World Sustainable Development Summit 2018 held in India
organized by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
International Conference on Sustainable Biofuels 2018 organized in New Delhi
jointly organized by Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India on behalf of Mission Innovation and Biofuture Platform
Biofuels – fuels produced directly or indirectly from organic material – biomass – including plant materials and animal waste.
India Energy Congress 2018 was held in New Delhi
organised by World Energy Council India (WEC India) and inaugurated by Union Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister.
Milan 2018 multinational mega event at Andaman & Nicobar
With the underlying theme of ‘Friendship Across the Seas’
Rustom 2
India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation successfully completed the test flight of its Rustom 2 drone at the Aeronautical Test Range.
It is part of the Rustom line of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that includes Rustom-I, Rustom-H and Rustom-C.
Three-parent Babies
Mitochondrial replacement therapy, which creates “three-parent babies”, involves a portion of the child’s DNA coming from their mother, father and a third person – an egg donor.
Britain’s fertility regulator Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has allowed doctors to create country’s first ‘three-parent’ babies through mitochondrial donation therapy.
aimed at preventing passage of incurable genetic diseases from mothers to offsprings
India Successfully Test-Fires Nuclear Capable Ballistic Agni II Missile
An indigenously developed intermediate-range nuclear capable ballistic Agni II was successfully test-fired from Launch Complex-4 of Integrated Test Range (ITR) from the Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast.
India Successfully Test-Fires Nuclear Capable Prithvi-II
India successfully test-fired it’s indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range in Odisha.
Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP)
was conceived by renowned scientist Dr A P J Abdul Kalam to enable India attain self-sufficiency in the field of missile technology.
IGMDP was sanctioned to develop Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag and a Technology Demonstrator Agni Missile.
Japanese Encephalitis
Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a flavivirus related to dengue, yellow fever and West Nile viruses, and is spread by mosquitoes.
Nearly 100 New Exoplanets Have Been Found in Kepler Space Telescope (K2 mission) Mission Data of NASA
Exoplanets – are all the planets in the universe beyond own solar system.
Rocky planets: Rocky planets are mainly composed of heavier elements
Super-Earths: Super-Earths are planets of between 1 and about 10 Earth masses
Ocean planets and desert planets: planets with enough water to completely cover the entire surface of the planet with oceans.
Gas Giants: All planets with masses exceeding 10 Earth masses
Hot Jupiter: a gas giant that orbits its host star in a very close orbit
Rogue planets: planets without a central star; they are free-floating throughout our galaxy
India To Launch Mission To Explore Moon’s South Pole
India’s second lunar mission – Chandrayaan-II – is scheduled for an April 2018 launch.
It is under Chandrayaan-1 mission that the ISRO spotted water on the moon.
Chandrayaan-2 is a further extension of the project and it is as good as landing a man on the moon.
Chandrayaan-2 Mission
India’s second mission to the Moon is a totally indigenous mission comprising of an Obiter, Lander and Rover.
Marshall Islands to Issue World’s First Legal Tender cryptocurrency
It will be world’s first sovereign cryptocurrency that can be used as legal tender.
This cryptocurrency will be called Sovereign (SOV), has been developed in partnership with Israeli startup Neema.
Unlike Venezuela’s Petro cryptocurrency, the SOV will be recognized in law as legal tender, holding equal status as the US dollar, which is the Pacific island nation’s current currency.
Arctic Seed Vault celebrated the 10th anniversary
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway in the Arctic Circle got a delivery of more than 76,000 seed batches from gene banks in 22 countries.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is meant as a natural deep freeze to back up the world’s gene banks in case of disasters ranging from nuclear war to global warming. It has about 900,000 seed samples.
Exercise Samvedna
a Multilateral Air Force exercise, aimed to ensure better understanding and sharing of response procedures between a number of friendly neighbouring nations.
It was the first Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in association with South Asian Region nations.
involved representatives from air forces of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and the UAE.
MILES-18: first ever multi-nation naval exercise at sea held in Andaman
As part of the tenth edition of MILAN 2018.
Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand were the participating countries.
MILAN:
Milan’ was first held in 1995 with the participation of just five navies.
The aim of the initiative was to have an effective forum to discuss common concerns in the Indian Ocean Region and forge deeper cooperation among friendly navies.
Saposhi – a new malware
It is capable of taking over electronic devices and turning them into ‘bots’, which can be then used for any purpose, including a Distributed Denial Of Service attack which, with enough firepower, can cripple entire industries.
DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is an illegal large-scale cyber campaign where a big number of devices are used to create traffic to a certain server.
Lamitye 2018
Joint military exercise ‘Lamitye’ was held between India and Seychelles. It is conducted biennially between the two countries.
Varuna-18
The navies of India and France conducted a joint bilateral exercise, “Varuna-18”, in the Arabian Sea off the Goa coast
The project in Theni district has been cleared by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
aims to study atmospheric neutrinos in a 1,300-m deep cavern in the Bodi West Hills in Theni district, Tamil Nadu.
If completed, the INO would house the largest magnet in the world, four times more massive than the European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN’s Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector’s magnet.
India Successfully Tests 3rd-Gen Anti-Tank Missile NAG In Desert Conditions
Anti Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) Nag is one of five missile systems developed indigenously by DRDO under integrated guided missile development programme (IGMDP). The other four missiles are Agni, Akash, Trishul and Prithvi.
India’s First Cloned Assamese Buffalo Born
The Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes (CIRB) claimed that a cloned Assamese buffalo male calf was born for the first time in India.
New State Of Matter Rydberg polarons Created
created “giant atom” and filled it with ordinary atoms, creating a new state of matter termed Rydberg polarons. These atoms are held together by a weak bond and are created at very cold temperatures.
It uses ideas from two different fields: Bose Einstein Condensation and Rydberg atoms.
BEC (Bose Einstein Condensate) is a liquid-like state of matter that occurs at very low temperatures. A BEC can be perturbed to create excitations which are akin to ripples on a lake.
A ‘Rydberg atom’ is an atom in which an electron has been kicked out to a very large orbit.
TESS: NASA, SpaceX Collaborate To Search For Exoplanets
NASA’s little spacecraft, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, will ascend on a Falcon 9 rocket of the SpaceX to go up in the space.
The primary mission objective of TESS is to survey brightest stars near Earth for transiting exoplanets over two-year period.
ISRO–BHEL Tie up for the Production of Space Grade Lithium-Ion Cells
ISRO has entered into a Technology Transfer Agreement (TTA) with Bharat Heavy Electricals
Limited (BHEL), to transfer the technology for the manufacture of space grade Li-Ion cells
Li-Ion Battery
type of rechargeable battery that contains several cells. Each cell consists of cathode, anode and electrolyte, a separator between electrodes and current collectors.
It is light weighted and is one-third the weight of lead acid batteries. It is nearly 100% efficient in both charging and discharging as compared to lead battery which has 70% efficiency. It completely discharges i.e. 100% as compared to 80% for lead acid.
Scientists discovered a new human organ ‘interstitium’
It will be the 80th organ in the human body. It might be also the biggest organ in human body.
The discovery of interstitium will help to explain how cancer spreads in body and pave way for new ways to detect and treat the disease.
Defence Planning Committee under National Security Advisor Ajit Doval
The committee will drive the country’s military and security strategy, draft capability development plans, guide and accelerate defence equipment acquisitions.
AFSPA lifted in Meghalaya
However, it has been partially revoked in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
enacted in 1958 to bring under control what the government of India considered ‘disturbed’ areas.
States under AFSPA (before April 1, 2018) included: Assam, Nagaland, Manipur (except the Imphal municipal area), Arunachal Pradesh (only the Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts plus a 20-km belt bordering Assam), Meghalaya (confined to a 20-km belt bordering Assam) and J&K.
Cybersecurity Tech Accord singed by 34 global technology and security companies
It represents a watershed agreement among the largest-ever group of companies agreeing to defend all customerseverywhere from malicious attacks by cybercriminal enterprises and nation-states.
The 34 companies include ABB, Arm, Cisco, Facebook, HP, HPE, Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle, and Trend Micro, and together represent operators of technologies that power the world’s internet communication and information infrastructure.
Internet Security Threat Report 2017 – India emerged as 3rd most cyber-threat vulnerable
released by security solutions provider Symantec, summarizes the state of cyber threats across the world.
ISRO loses contact with GSAT-6A Satellite
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has lost contact with GSAT-6A, a satellite launched aiming to provide mobile communication facilities.
Chinese Space Station Tiangong 1 Falls to Earth
China’s prototype space station, whose name translates as “Heavenly Palace 1,” breaking apart and burning up in the skies over the southern Pacific Ocean.
Tiangong-1 was China’s first prototype space station or space laboratory. It was placed in orbit in September 2011.
The spacecraft cemetery / Point Nemo
considered the most remote place on Earth (at about 2400 km from any spot of land).
used to crash-land defunct satellites.
Harimau Shakti 2018
joint training exercise between Indo-Malaysian defence is being conducted in the dense forests of Sengai Perdik, Hulu Langat, Malaysia.
SAHYOG-HYEOBLYEOG 2018
The Indo-Korean joint anti-piracy exercise
Govt. bans imports of hormone Oxytocin
to stop its misuse in the livestock industry because it causes hormonal imbalances and shortens the lives of milch animals.
Often called the ‘love hormone’
Oxytocin is a neurotransmitter and a hormone that is produced in the hypothalamus. From there, it is transported to and secreted by the pituitary gland, at the base of the brain.
It plays a role in the female reproductive functions, from sexual activity to childbirth and breast feeding.
Odilorhabdins (ODLs) – new class of Antibiotics to combat Drug Resistance
which has a distinct way of killing bacteria, has been discovered which may help combat drug-resistant or hard-to-treat bacterial infections.
The bacteria help to kill the insect and importantly secrete the antibiotic to keep competing bacteria away. The antibiotic kills bacteria by binding to ribosome.
IIT-Delhi Installs India’s First 5G Lab
It will be the first of its kind 5G lab in the country and has been setup at Bharti School of Telecommunication Technology and Management.
from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.
IRNSS-1I is expected to replace IRNSS-1A, the first of the seven navigation satellites that was rendered ineffective after its three rubidium atomic clocks failed.
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)
is an independent satellite based regional system developed indigenously by India
The NAVIC system is constellation of seven satellites, (namely IRNSS-1I, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F and 1G) of which three are geostationary and four are nongeostationary.
NASA launches planet-hunter Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
It will discover thousands of exoplanets in orbit around the brightest stars in the sky.
Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missile extended life of 15 years
The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with an extended life of 15 years was for the first time
successfully test fired from the Integrated Test Range in Balasore in Odisha.
BrahMos has become the first Indian missile whose life has been extended from 10 to 15 years.
The missile had also reached the maximum speed of 3 Mach, i.e. three times faster than the speed of sound.
BrahMos is supersonic cruise missile developed by joint-venture between Russia’s Mashinostroyenia and India’s Defence Research and Development Organization
It has been named after two rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva (river in western Russia).
Punjab government organised First census to estimate Indus Dolphin
Indus Dolphins, one of the world’s rarest mammals
Punjab government along with WWF-India are conducting a first organised census.
Found only in India and Pakistan, the Indus Dolphins are confined to only 185 km stretch between Talwara and Harike Barrage in India’s Beas river in Punjab.
Technology to tackle Space Junk
A spacecraft that will demonstrate a range of innovative technologies to clean up space debris has been deployed from the International Space Station (ISS)
RemoveDEBRIS – will attempt to address the build-up of dangerous space debris orbiting Earth.
RemoveDebris will deploy a large sail that will drag it into the Earth’s atmosphere, where it will be destroyed.
Net Generation SFDR Surface-to-Air Missile
successfully carried out the first test of a new surface-to-air missile with nozzle less booster making its mark as a military superpower in South East Asia region.
Indigenously designed and developed by DRDO, the missile flew in its intended trajectory at a
speed of Mach 3 (thrice the speed of sound).
The missile, powered by Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR), was test-fired at Integrated Test Range (ITR) off Odisha coast.
Russia Launches Soyuz-2.1B
Russia has successfully launched Glonass-M positioning satellite on board of Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket
GLONASS is Russian acronym for Global Navigation Satellite System, which provides real-time
positioning data for surface, sea and airborne objects around globe, at accuracy reportedly at par with US Global Positioning System (GPS).
now total 26 Glonass satellites in orbit.
Glonass is considered as counterpart to GPS of US, Galileo of European Union (EU) and Beidou of China.
Genome Valley 2.0
The Telangana Government has signed a MoU with Singapore-based Surbana Jurong for preparing a roadmap for Genome Valley 2.0, an upgraded version of life sciences and biotechnology.
The Genome Valley cluster has emerged as the largest life sciences destination in Asia, being home to over 200 companies employing 10,000 people.
Meghalayan – Newest phase in Earth’s History
named it The stalagmite from a cave in Meghalaya helped define climatic events 4,200 years ago, marking the beginning of the phase that continues till today.
The Meghalayan Age began with a mega global drought that devastated ancient agricultural civilizations from Egypt to China.
It is part of a longer period known as the Holocene Epoch, which reflects everything that has happened over the past 11,700 years.
This discovery done by the International Commission on Stratigraphy of the International
Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)
Biodiesel in India
India’s domestic crude oil output stagnating and the demand for oil continuing to rise at an everincreasing pace, India has an opportunity to use substitutes of fossil fuels for both, economic and environmental benefits.
Ethanol is one such substitute that can be produced from sugarcane and used for transport by blending it with petrol/gasoline.
Another option is biodiesel, which can be produced from the oil-bearing seeds of certain plants and blended with diesel.
India’s first-ever environment friendly biofuel powered flight between Dehradun and Delhi was propelled by blend of oil from jatropha seeds and aviation turbine fuel.
Bio-jet fuel is greenhouse gas (GHG) neutral, carbon neutral, reduces air pollution.
Jatropha
Jatropha is drought-resistant perennial plant that can grow in marginal or poor soil.
The Problem of Jatropha is availability of it’s seeds.
Delhi Police gets india’s first All-Women SWAT Team
Delhi Police is the first police force in the country to have an all-women Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team.
SCO Peace Mission 2018
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Peace Mission 2018 exercise was started on 24 August 2018 at Chebarkul, Russia.
All eight members of SCO (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) participitated
Roadmap for ‘Gaganyaan’ manned flight to space
ISRO unveiled details of its first indigenous human space mission to be launched in 2022.
This will be the first human space mission to be indigenously developed by ISRO. If successful,
India will become fourth nation in the world to send astronaut into space after US, Russia and China.
Indian Air Force (IAF) Rakesh Sharma was first Indian to travel to space.
World’s First Wind-Sensing Satellite ‘Aeolus’
European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched wind-sensing satellite named ‘Aeolus’ into orbit on board of Vega rocket from French Guyana.
satellite dedicated to map Earth’s wind on global scale in particular tropical winds which are very poorly mapped.
IIT Madras developed first microprocessors under Project Shakti
The first of family of six industry-standard microprocessors under Project Shakti.
Project Shakti was started in 2014 as IIT-M initiative and part of it is funded by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The International Nitrogen Initiative
Indian scientist and academician Nandula Raghuram was elected as the Chair of the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI), a global policy making initiative.
Government bans Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) Drugs
Central government has banned 328 combination drugs in the background of growing antibiotic resistance due to the misuse of medicines.
Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) drugs includes two or more active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) combined in a single dosage form, which is manufactured and distributed in fixed doses.
Zika Virus cause of microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome
Transmission: Zika virus is primarily transmitted to people through the bite of an infected mosquito from the Aedes genus, mainly Aedes aegypti in tropical regions. Sexual transmission of Zika virus is also possible.
Zika virus is a cause of microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Microcephaly – It is a condition where a baby is born with a small head or the head stops growing after birth.
Guillain-Barre syndrome – the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous
system muscle weakness and loss of sensation in the legs and/or arms.
National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) released the report HIV Estimations 2017.
The HIV Estimations 2017 is the 14th round in the series of HIV Estimations under National AIDS Control Programme (NACP).
India had around 21 lakh people living with HIV (PLHIV) with adult prevalence of 0.22%.
Around 87000 new HIV infections and 69000 AIDS related deaths happened in 2017.
The impact of the NACP has been significant with more than 80% decline in estimated new infection from peak of epidemic in 1995. Similarly, estimated AIDS related death declined by 71% since its peak in 2005.
goal of attaining the ‘End of AIDS’ by 2030.
World’s first human case of Rat Hepatitis E has been detected in Hong Kong.
Hepatitis E is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV): a small virus, with a positive-sense, single-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) genome.
India-US 2+2 Dialogue
India hosted inaugural 2+2 Dialogue with United States in New Delhi.
US defence secretary Jim Mattis and secretary of state Mike held talk with Indian Foreign minister and defence minister.
G-4 Summit
India hosted summit meeting of the G-4 nations (Brazil, Germany, India and Japan) at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN.
The summit aimed at pushing for early UN Security Council reforms.
They restated their support for Africa’s appropriate representation in a reformed and expanded
Council, which bears primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Saudi Arabia to join CPEC Project
Saudi Arabia is set to join the multibillion-dollar project China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a third major economic partner.
CPEC
The $46-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project focuses on road building and
energy infrastructure to end chronic power shortages in Pakistan and to link China’s landlocked
north-west with the deep-water port Gwadar on the Arabian Sea.
The ambitious project is a part of China’s “One Belt and One Road” or new Silk Road project. It is being built from the restive Xinjiang province in China to Gwadar in southwestern Pakistan.
India’s four more nuclear facilities under IAEA Safeguards
The four reactors included under IAEA are – two Russian-designed Pressurised Light Water Reactors and two Pressurised Heavy Reactors being built with Indian technology.
India’s Nuclear Programme
India plans to build 21 reactors by 2030 for power generation as well as to promote Cancer research.
In power generation, a notable achievement was one of the longest run of reactor Unit-1 of Kaiga plant.It has become the third longest running plant in the world.
IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)
It is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the nuclear field.
Headquarters: Vienna, Austria
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on 7 October 2005.
4th International Ayurveda Congress in The Netherlands.
The congress was organized jointly by The International Maharishi AyurVeda Foundation, The Netherlands; the All India Ayurvedic Congress, New Delhi; and the International Academy of Ayurveda, Pune.
Germany has rolled out World’s First Hydrogen Train
Nicknamed Hydrail, these trains are called Coradia iLint trains and have been manufactured by Alstom, one of Europe’s largest railway manufacturers.
The train has batteries made of lithium-ion that is used in mobile phones and home appliances.
the train is equipped with fuel cells that produce electricity through a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, a process that leaves steam and water as the only emissions. Excess energy is stored in lithium ion batteries on board the train.
International Center for Transformative Artificial Intelligence
NITI Aayog, Intel and the TIFR have come together to setup a model International Center for Transformative Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI) towards developing and deploying AI-led application-based research projects.
It will be located in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Dickinsonia – ancient fossil of the earliest animal
Scientists have discovered an ancient fossil of the earliest animal on geological record -Dickinsonia – that lived on Earth 558 million years ago.
Apsara U Reactor, India’s first and oldest atomic reactor
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has set in motiona higher capacity version Apsara-upgraded (U).
Radioisotopes generated via power generation in nuclear reactors, research reactors, accelerators and spent fuel are used in agriculture, healthcare, industry and even municipal waste management.
Apsara reached criticality in August 1956, was also the first in Asia.
Oneer – innovative technology for Drinking Water Disinfection System
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIRIITR), Lucknow has developed an innovative technology for Drinking Water Disinfection System with trade name Oneer.
Train 18 – India’s First Engine-less train
A 16-coach prototype known as Train 18 or T18, Indian Railways’ first engine-less train, made its inaugural trial run recently.
Capable of running at a speed of up to 160 kmph, it is being referred to as a successor to the Shatabdi Express.
The fully air-conditioned semi-high speed train has been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.
2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine
jointly awarded to James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo.
for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.
2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Frances H. Arnold “for the directed evolution of enzymes” half of the prize and other half of the prize to George P. Smith and Sir Gregory P. Winter ”for the phage display of peptides and antibodies.”
2018 Nobel Prize in Physics
one half to Arthur Ashkin “for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics” and other half jointly to Gérard Mourou “for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems”
Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize is awarded annually from a fund bequeathed by the Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel.
The prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award given for intellectual achievement in the world.
The prize is awarded for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace.
The first distribution of the prize took place in 1901. An additional award in Economic Sciences was established in 1968 and was first awarded in 1969.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences confers the prizes for physics, chemistry, and economics.
The Karolinska Institute confers the prize for physiology or medicine and the Swedish Academy confers the prize for literature.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee based in Oslo confers the prize for peace.
Gaganyaan
A MoU was signed between ISRO and the Federal Space Agency of Russia ROSCOSMOS on joint activities in the field of the human spaceflight programme Gaganyaan.
If successful, India would be the fourth nation to send a human in space after the US, Russia and China.
Gaganyaan is India’s maiden human spaceflight programme scheduled for completion by 2022.
GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle, which has the necessary payload capability for this mission, will be used to launch Gaganyaan.
China’s Artificial Moon
China has planned to launch an artificial moon over the city of Chengdu, in Sichuan province, by 2020 to provide an alternative means of street lighting and save on electricity.
As per preliminary reports the artificial moon would be a mirror orbiting Chengdu at a height of 500 km. It would reflect the sun’s light at night, and supplement street lighting in Chengdu, which has a population of 1.6 million.
China is not the first country to try beaming sunlight back to Earth. In the 1990s, Russian scientists reportedly used giant mirrors to reflect light from space in an experimental project called Znamya or Banner.
Andhra, West Bengal withdraws CBI power to investigate
Section 5 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DSPEA) gives powers to the CBI over all areas in the country, but Section 6 states that without the consent of the state concerned, it cannot enter that state’s jurisdiction.
Apart from Mizoram, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, the agency has consent in one form or the other for carrying out investigations across the country.
Kilogram re-defined
At the 26th CGPM, General Conference on Weights and Measures, in Versailles, Paris more than 60 nations came together to vote unanimously for a new system that redefines the kilogram.
kilogram, the ampere (electrical current), the kelvin (thermodynamic temperature) and the mole (amount of a substance) were redefined at the conference.
The kilogram has been defined since 1889 by a shiny piece of platinum-iridium kept in a special glass case, the International Prototype of the Kilogram (IPK), also known as Le Grand K (The Big K). It is housed at the headquarters of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), just outside Paris.
Now the kilogram will be defined by the Planck Constant, denoted as h, is a physical constant that is the quantum of action, which relates the energy carried by a photon with the frequency of its electromagnetic wave.
designed and built to work in the same way a human brain does, has been fitted with its landmark one-millionth processor core and has been switched on for the first time.
The SpiNNaker is capable of completing more than 200 million actions per second, with each of its chips having 100 million transistors.
Biological neurons are basic brain cells present in the nervous system that communicate primarily by emitting spikes of pure electro-chemical energy.
Neuromorphic computing uses large scale computer systems containing electronic circuits to mimic these spikes in a machine.
One billion neurons is one per cent of the scale of the human brain, which consists of just under 100 billion brain cells, or neurons, which are all highly interconnected via approximately one quadrillion synapses.
European Human Brain Project
The HBP Flagship was launched by the European Commission’s Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) scheme in October 2013
HysIS (Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite)
ISRO has successfully launched the PSLV-C43 mission that carried HysIS (Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite) as part of its payload.
GSAT 29 launched
ISRO’s GSAT-29 communication satellite recently launched successfully by the second developmental flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III-D2) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
GSAT 29 – weighing 3,423 kg at lift-off, GSAT-29 is the heaviest satellite to be launched from India.
GSLV Mk III – three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO. The vehicle has two solid strap-ons, a core liquid booster and a cryogenic upper stage.
Earth BioGenome Project
with an ambitious objective was recently announced to map the entire genome of every known animal, plant, fungus and protozoan on earth.
A decade-long experiment to map the genomes of roughly 1.5 million species — all the complex life forms known to man
China unveils heavenly palace space station ‘Tiangong’
a replica of its first permanently crewed space station, which would replace the international community’s orbiting laboratory and symbolises the country’s major ambitions beyond Earth.
The International Space Station – a collaboration between the US, Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan, has been in operation since 1998 but is due to be retired in 2024.
INS Arihant
INS Arihant, India’s first nuclear ballistic missile submarine, has completed its first deterrence patrol.
With the induction of INS Arihant, India is ready with its nuclear triad – the capability of firing nuclear weapons from land, air and sea.
India has now become part of an elite club of countries – Russia, the US, China, France and the UK that possess nuclear ballistic missile submarines – the only non-Permanent member of UNSC having a sea-based nuclear deterrent.
India’s Nuclear Doctrine
made in 2003.
The basic principle of India’s nuclear doctrine is “No First Use”.
Nuclear weapons will only be used in retaliation against a nuclear attack on Indian Territory or on Indian forces anywhere.
10th Indian Ocean Naval Symposium
26 of the 32 countries that constitute the membership of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) are participating in the 10th edition of the event that commenced in Kochi
CCRAS Developed AYUSH Drug QOL-2C for Cancer Patients
India ranked 108th in the WEF’s Global Gender Gap Index 2017
India slipped 21 places on the index to 108, ranked behind neighbours China (100th ) and Bangladesh (47th), mainly due to less participation of women in economy and low wages.
Top 10 of the Global Gender Gap Index
Iceland
Norway
Finland
Rwanda
Sweden
Nicaragua
Slovenia
Ireland
New Zealand
Philippines
India Youth Development Index and Report 2017
developed by Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu
Global Youth Development Index – India has been ranked 133rd out of 183 countries in the 2016 Global Youth Development Index (YDI)
‘Safe City’ Plan for Women
In eight metropolitan cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Hyderabad.
Key Initiatives Taken For Women Safety
‘Himmat’ app, all women patrol van, ‘shishtachar’ programme of the Delhi police;
‘Hawkeye’ mobile app and ‘Bharosa’ programme of the Hyderabad police;
‘Suraksha’ app of the Bengaluru police
Power Angels of Uttar Pradesh police.
The India Hypertension Management Initiative (IHMI) Launched
Union health ministry has launched The India Hypertension Management Initiative (IHMI) to reduce disability and death related to high blood pressure.
It is a joint collaboration by ICMR, Health Ministry, State governments and WHO.
Manipur Sangai Festival 2017
Named after Manipur’s state animal, the brow-antlered Sangai deer
It started in the year 2010. showcases the tourism potential of the state
Keibul Lamjao, a unique ‘floating’ reserve situated in Manipur in India’s Northeast, which is home to the brow-antlered deer, will also play host to the festival.
The Keibul Lamjao National Park
an integral part of Loktak Lake, in the Bishnupur district of the state of Manipur in India
the only floating park in the world
YONO App
State Bank of India, has launched a unified integrated app called YONO (You Need Only One) that would offer all kinds of financial and lifestyle products.
is an integrated digital banking platform to enable users to access a variety of financial and other services such as taxi bookings, online shopping, or medical bill payments.
India rank 100th in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2018
biggest improvement among all countries
Top 5 countries – NZ, Singapore, Denmark, South Korea, Hong Kong
Tax Accounting Standard ‘Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS)’
improved the country’s ranking (by the World Bank) over 50 notches in ease of paying taxes are an accounting standard for the purpose of income tax.
Google Tax
An entity which makes a payment exceeding Rs 1 lakh in a financial year to a non resident
technology company for some Business-to-Business Services (B2B) needs to withhold 6% tax on the gross amount being paid as an equalization levy.
This tax is applicable to B2B services and goods only and NOT on Business to Consumer goods (B2C) and services. And the tax is applicable to only those companies, which have no permanent establishment in India.
National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) to push Companies to pass on GST Benefits to consumers
The Union Cabinet approved setting up of the proposed National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) under the goods and services tax (GST) to ensure consumers get the benefit of lower taxes under the new indirect tax regime.
sharp reduction in the GST rates of a large number of items of mass consumption.
NAA will have five members and will act as the final adjudicating authority.
Decks cleared for first Mega CEZ
The government has given the go (CEZ) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra.
The Union Cabinet in 2016 had approved setting up of 14 mega CEZs under the National Perspective Plan of the Sagarmala Programme.
Moody’s upgrade India’s rating after 14 years
Moody’s upgraded India’s government debt Baa2 with a stable outlook.
The last upgrade in 2004 when Moody’s had upgraded the rating of India’sgovernment debt from speculative grade to Baa3.
Sovereign ratings give investors insight into the level of risk associated with investing in a particular country including political
Logistics Sector given Infra Status
The logistic sector covers cold chain, warehousing facilities and multimodal parks comprising Inland Container Depot (ICD) subject to certain conditions.
The cost of logistics in India is very high (about 13% of GDP) compared to developed countries
Cabinet Okays setting up of 15th Finance Commission
chairmanship of former expenditure and revenue secretary NK Singh
to recommend principles of devolution of central tax revenues and grants states and local bodies.
Members: former economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das and Anoop Singh, adjunct professor, Georgetown University. Two part time members are former chief economic adviser Ashok Lahiri and NitiAayog member Ramesh Chand.
International Day of Persons with Disabilities is observed on December 3
The theme for 2017 International Day of People with Disability is “Transformation towards sustainable and resilient society for all”.
Disabled Population In India
The World Bank estimates that 15% of the world’s population is affected by one disability or another.
According to Census 2011, India is home to 26.8 million people with disabilities and that is a huge Underestimation
India signed the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disability in 2007.
Term “divyang” is being considered in place of “viklang” to change mindset. The term would help in raising self-confidence and subsequent empowerment.
India is a signatory to Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate Access to Published works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016
The Act replaces the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.
It fulfills the obligations to the United National Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which India is a signatory. The Act came into force during December 2016.
World AIDS Day observed on 1st December
It provides an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate people who have died.
India has the third-highest population of HIV-positive people
Among the States/UTs, Manipur has shown the highest estimated adult HIV prevalence of 1.15%, followed by Mizoram (0.80%), Nagaland (0.78%).
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus And Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention And Control) Act, 2017 – The Parliament passed the bill in April 2017
UNAIDS
It leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.
UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.
UNESCO Recognises Kumbh Mela as “Intangible Cultural Heritage”
Kumbh Mela, considered the world’s largest congregation of religious pilgrims
The Kumbh Mela, held in Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik.
This inscription is the third in two years following the inscriptions of ‘Yoga’ and ‘Norouz’ on 1st December 2016.
Previous ones includes the Chhaudance( Inscribed in 2010), the Buddhist chanting of Ladakh (inscribed in 2012), Sankirtana–the ritual singing, drumming, and dancing of
Manipur( inscribed in 2013), the traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab(inscribed in 2014) and Ramlila– the traditional performance of the Ramayana ( inscribed in 2008).
National Trachoma Survey Report
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has declared that India is now free from ‘infective trachoma’, a contagious bacterial infection of the eye.
India met the goal of trachoma elimination as specified by the WHO under its GET2020 program.
Trachoma is a chronic infective disease of the eye and is the leading cause of infective blindness globally.
Apex Court to Re-Examine Adultery Laws: Section 497 Under Scanner
The Supreme Court admitted the petition to drop adultery as a criminal offence from the statute book. For this, the apex court is examining Section 497 of IPC, which deals with adultery.
Hornbill Festival of Nagaland
To encourage inter-tribal interaction and to promote cultural heritage of Nagaland, the Government of Nagaland organizes the Hornbill Festival every year in the first week of December.
The first festival was held in the year 2000. It is also called as the ‘Festival of Festivals’.
It coincides with the celebration of Nagaland Statehood Day on 1st December.
GST Council clears E-way Bill Mechanism
The GST Council has decided to go for early implementation of e-way bill for interstate movement of goods from February 1 and uniform mandatory roll out from 1st June 2018.
An e-way bill is required for movement of goods worth over Rs. 50000.
Quota for Acid Attack Victims in Central Government Jobs
Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has released an order in which victims of acid attacks have been included under Right of Person with Disability Act, 2016.
the Acid attack victims will also be entitled to 1 % reservation.
Stree Swabhiman Initiative
The Information Technology and Electronics Ministry has announced to launch the new scheme initiative under StreeSwabhiman Drive.
The new initiative has been introduced by the Ministry and the Common Service Centres (CSCs) to ensure and maintain perfect health for women and at the same time to maintain health hygiene.
NHFDC Conference 2018
The State Channelizing Agencies (SCAs), Public Sector Banks (PSBs), and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) of the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC) participated at a National Conference aimed to have better coordination with the NHFDC and the SCAs to achieve smooth and efficient implementation of the NHFDC schemes.
About NHFDC
The National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC) has been set up by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India in 1997.
NHFDC functions as an Apex institution for channelising the funds to persons with disabilities through the State Channelising Agencies (SCAs) nominated by the State Government(s).
India ranks 62nd in WEF’s Inclusive Development Index 2018
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released Inclusive Development Index(IDI) 2018.
Lithuania again tops among the list of emerging economies. The top-five most inclusive emerging economies are Lithuania, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Latvia and Poland.
BRICS economies – the Russian Federation ranking 19th, followed by China (26), Brazil (37), India (62) and South Africa (69).
neighbouring countries ranked above India – Sri Lanka (40), Bangladesh (34) and Nepal (22).
Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA)
The PMSMA has reached one crore mark in antenatal check-ups.
The scheme has been launched, in June 2016, with the objective of boosting the health care facilities for the pregnant women, especially the poor.
Pregnant ladies will be given free health check-up and required treatment for free on 9th of every month to ensure that every pregnant woman receives at least one checkup in the 2nd/3rd trimester of pregnancy.
Steel, Cement lead Core Sector growth to a 13-Month High
Activity in the eight core sectors of the economy accelerated to a 13-month high of 6.7% in November, with growth being propelled by the steel and cement sectors.
The eight infrastructure sectors included in the index are coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity.
National Logistics Index: Gujarat, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh best performing states
The new Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) index developed by the Commerce and Industry Ministry and Deloitte ranked states in terms of the logistical support they provided to promote goods trade.
Best performing states: Gujarat, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh are the best performing states in terms of mobility of goods and efficiency of logistics chain
Other states: Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Chhattisgarh made up the remaining top 10.
Assam, Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir featured on the bottom of the list owing to the lack of good transport facilities, scarcity of logistics services and bad track record in timeliness.
India ranks 30th on WEF Global Manufacturing Index
India on the 30th position five places below China, which is continuously striving to develop better avenues of manufacturing by boosting infrastructure.
Japan topped the rankings on the back of developing the best structure of production in the Geneva based WEF’s first ‘Readiness for the future of production report’ and is followed by South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, China, Czech Republic, USA, Sweden, Austria and Ireland in the top 10.
India had a total manufacturing value of over $420 billion in 2016
India’s manufacturing sector has grown by over 7 per cent per year on average in the past three decades and accounts for 16-20 per cent of India’s GD
India needs $4.5 Trillion for Infrastructure
India will require investments of about $4.5 trillion by 2040 to develop infrastructure to improve economic growth and community well-being according to the Economic Survey 2017-18.
The current trend shows that India can meet around $3.9 trillion infrastructure investment out of $4.5 trillion.
Centre mulls shifting Agriculture Marketing to Concurrent List
to bring marketing of farm goods under the Constitution’s Concurrent List so that it has greater say on the relevant regulations and taxation.
An amendment to the Constitution requires stipulated majorities in both Houses of Parliament and state Assemblies.
Many state governments have opposed the move as they feel the amendment will be against the concept of cooperative federalism.
Ayushman Bharat For A New India -2022
As part of Ayushman Bharat programme, the Government has announced two major initiatives in health sector.
To strengthen primary health care and to offer financial protection from catastrophic expenditure, often encountered once a family member is sick and needs long-term health care.
Two major initiatives under this scheme are:
Health and Wellness Centre – The National Health Policy, 2017 has envisioned Health and Wellness Centres as the foundation of India’s health system. 1.5 lakh centres will bring health care system closer to the homes of people. These centres will also provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services.
National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) – will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) providing coverage up to 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
This will be the world’s largest government funded health care programme.
Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE)
The govt proposed a new initiative called Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE), to be launched in the country with a total investment of Rs 1 lakh crore in the next four years.
Under it, all centrally-funded institutes (CFIs), including central universities, IITs, IIMs, NITs and IISERs can borrow from a Rs 1,00,000 crore corpus over next 4 years to expand and build new infrastructure.
It will be financed through suitably structured Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA).
Higher Education Financing Agency – The Union cabinet, in 2016, cleared a proposal to set up a higher education financing agency (HEFA) that will raise Rs20,000 crore from loans and bond sales to fund infrastructure development at central educational institutions.
Education Impact Bond for India
Britain’s Prince Charles has launched a new 10-million-dollar Development Impact Bond (DIB) to help improve education for over 200,000 children in India.
The DIB, the largest bond of its type in South Asia, is the latest fundraising initiative by the British Asian Trust (BAT), set up by the royal 10 years ago to fight poverty in South Asia.
Govt to create National Urban Housing Fund
The Union Cabinet has given approval for creation of National Urban Housing Fund (NUHF) for Rs.60,000 crores.
NUHF will finance the government’s Housing for All programme, which aims to build 12 million affordable housing units in urban areas by 2022.
Fiscal Glide Path Pushed Back To 2021
The government has missed the fiscal deficit target of 3.2% for 2017-18.
The fiscal deficit target for next financial year would be 3.3% and 3.1% for the year after and then 3% for 2020-21.
The budget also proposed to accept key recommendations of the Fiscal Reform and Budget Management Committee relating to adoption of the Debt Rule and to bring down Central Government’s Debt to GDP ratio to 40%.
Long Term Capital Gains tax makes a comeback
Union Budget re-introduced LTCG tax on stocks and now Investors will have to pay 10% tax on profit exceeding 1 lakh made from the sale of shares or equity mutual fund schemes held for over one year.
Commercial Coal Mining opened for Private Sector
The cabinet committee on economic affairs approved the methodology for auctioning coal blocks for commercial mining by the private sector.
Private sector will soon be able to mine coal and sell it to power plants, steel mills and other users ending the decades-old monopoly of state-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) and its affiliates.
The coal sector was nationalized in 1973 and the non-state coal mining had thus far been allowed only for captive use.
The key reform will virtually upend the Coal Mines (Nationalization) Act, 1973, which has kept the sector largely a preserve of public-sector monolith Coal India (CIL).
Draft Bill On Human Trafficking
The Union Cabinet has approved the draft Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018.
Trafficking in human beings is the 3rd largest organized crime violating human rights in the country.
India is a destination for human trafficking. In the year 2016 alone, 8132 human trafficking caseshave been reported in India.
The states where the cases reported high are West Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra andTamil Nadu.
The main purposes for human trafficking given in the NCRB report are Sexual exploitation, ForcedMarriage, Forced Labour and Domestic servitude.
Article 23 (1) of the Constitution prohibits trafficking in Human Beings or Persons
The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITPA) is the premier legislation for prevention of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.
Protection of Children from Sexual offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 is a special law to protect childrenfrom sexual abuse and exploitation.
Pan-India Expansion of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Programme (BBBPP)
BBBPP was scaled up to cover all 640 districts country-wide following the success of its 1st phase in improving child sex ratio from 914 to 919 (according to NFHS-4) which covered 161 districts.
Drop in Sex-Ratio at Birth: NITI Aayog in its report stated that sex-ratio at birth nationwide had dropped from 906 in 2012-2014 to 900 in 2013-2015.
The Delhi End TB Summit : TB-free India
In a landmark event ‘The Delhi End TB Summit’, India has launched TB Free India Campaign.
India has committed to eliminate Tuberculosis by 2025 which is ahead of the world target set under Sustainable Development Goal Framework which is 2030.
SC Upholds passive Euthanasia
Supreme Court has upheld the phenomenon of passive euthanasia together with allowing the right of every individual to draft a ‘Living will’ that gives her/him the right of self-determination with regards to medical treatment in case of terminal illness or permanent vegetative state.
Passive Euthanasia – the act of withdrawing or withholding medical support to a dying patient with a terminal illness with no hope for revival or cure. Active euthanasia, on the other hand is defined as the intentional act of causing the death of a patient.
World Happiness Report 2018 – India ranks 133rd
India ranked behind majority of SAARC nations, except the war-ravaged Afghanistan, which stood at 145. Bhutan has been placed at 97th rank. While Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are at 115 and 116 positions, respectively, China stands at 86. Myanmar is placed at 130th position.
The World Happiness Report published by Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations.
Top 10 countries
Finland
Norway
Denmark
Iceland
Switzerland
Netherlands
Canada
New Zealand
Sweden
Australia
Karnataka Govt approves Minority Religion tag for Lingayats
The Karnataka government approved the recommendation to accord separate religious minority status for the dominant Lingayat community.
In August 2017, through a massive rally in Bidar, Karnataka the Lingayats demanded a minority status for their community similar toSikkhism or Buddhism as they believe they are distinct from Hindu religion.
Lingayats – the followers of Basavanna, a 12th century socio-religious reformer who rejected discrimination based on Caste and Gender.
Union Cabinet Clears The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016
The Union cabinet has cleared the deck for Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016 that seeks to regulate altruistic surrogacy in India and putting blanket ban on commercial surrogacy.
Surrogacy is the process of carrying and delivering of the child of another. Surrogacy is of two types:
Gestational surrogacy -the genetic mother provides the egg, which is fertilized, and another woman (the surrogate mother) carries the foetus and gives birth to the child.
Traditional surrogacy – the woman provides her own egg, which is fertilized by artificial insemination, and carries the foetus and gives birth to a child for another person
Ministry for Tribal Affairs launched E-Tribes: Tribes India portal
‘e-Tribes: Tribes India’, e-commerce portal, and M-commerce, android app ‘Tribes India’, a window for national and international market for tribal artisans.
Nearly 55,000 tribal people are connected with TRIFED. With this digital platform, they can associate not only with local people but also can get access to international markets.
Atal Innovation Mission Ties Up With SAP To Foster Innovation
SAP India has tied up with NITI Aayog’sAtal Innovation Mission (AIM) to set up 100 Atal Tinkering Laboratories to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education among secondary school children across India.
Foreign Banks with 20 Branches also to follow Priority Sector Lending norm
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has brought foreign banks with at least 20 branches in India under the ambit of compulsory targeted lending to small farmers and micro-enterprises.
Priority Sector Lending – Categories under Priority Sector
Agriculture
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Export Credit
Education
Housing
Social Infrastructure
Renewable Energy
Others
Targets and Sub-targets for banks under priority sector
40 percent of Adjusted Net Bank Credit or Credit Equivalent Amount of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure, whichever is higher, for Domestic Scheduled Commercial Banks
Agriculture 18 percent of ANBC or Credit Equivalent Amount of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure, whichever is higher.
Micro Enterprises 5 percent of ANBC or Credit Equivalent Amount of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure.
Advances to Weaker Sections – 10 percent of ANBC or Credit Equivalent Amount of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure, whichever is higher.
Draft Policy Seeks Stable Regime for Agriculture Exports
The commerce ministry has drafted National Agriculture Trade Policy to help India realise the government’s goal of doubling farmer’s income by 2022.
India’s total agri-exports $30 billion annually, which is around 2.2% of global agri-markets.
The aims of India’s agri export policy
to become one of the top ten exporters of agricultural produce
to strive to double India’s share in the global exports of agri produce from the present figure of over $30 billion to over $60 billion by 2022.
SEBI Oks Kotak Panel Proposals to Boost Corporate Governance
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) approved sweeping changes proposed by the Uday Kotak panel on improving corporate governance standards such as splitting the post of chairman and managing director, tighter rules for independent directors and mandatory secretarial audits for listed entities.
Cabinet approves the Protection of Human Rights (Amendments) Bill, 2018
The Union Cabinet has given its approval to the Protection of Human Rights (Amendments) Bill, 2018 to make NHRC and SHRCs more compliant with the Paris Principles.
In 2018, the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) had accorded ‘A’ status to NHRC indicating its compliance with Paris Principles.
Paris Principles Adopted in 1993 by the United Nations General Assembly, require Human rights institutions of various countries to meet certain minimum criteria to protect and promote human rights.
Van Dhan Scheme launched to help Increase Tribal Income through Value Addition
First model Van DhanVikas Kendra was launched under the Van Dhan Scheme of Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED at Bijapur, Chattisgarh.
aims at economic development of tribals involved in collection of Minor Food Produces (MFPs) by helping them in optimum utilization of natural resources and provide them sustainable livelihood.
The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) came into existence in 1987
a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India
institutionalizing the trade of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) and Surplus Agriculture Produce (SAP) collected/cultivated by tribals as tribals are heavily dependent on these natural products for their livelihood.
India to soon have its first Gas Trading Exchange
to prepare for a surge in supply from India’s east coast and a slew of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals.
The first gas trading exchange will work on the lines of online platforms that trade in power
India produces close to 90 mscmd of gas and imports another 70 mscmd as LNG according to government figures for 2016-17.
India has laid out a plan to increase the share of gas in India’s energy mix to 15 percent by 2030 from below 6.5 percent now
Angel tax
angel tax under Section 56(2)(viib) of the Income Tax Act, 1961
to tax any capital raised by a closely held company, which is above its fair market value as income from other sources.
India World’s Second Largest Unbanked Population, 19 Crore People Without Accounts
At least 19 crore Indian adults do not have bank accounts making the country the second largest in terms of unbanked population according to a report by World Bank.
Jan dhanYojana: a national mission to ensure financial access in an affordable manner for the poorer sections of the society
The country’s adult population with bank accounts increased more than two-fold to 80 per cent since 2011.
China has an unbanked population of 225 million adults followed by India, Pakistan and Indonesia.
India remain Top Remittance Destination of Migrants
Remittances to India from abroad touched $69 billion in 2017 and outflows of remittances from India rise reaching $5.7 billion, according to World Bank’s report ‘Migration and Remittance Outlook’.
World’s largest diaspora population: Indians constitute the world’s largest diaspora population, making it the largest source of labour for the world market.
In 2017 there were 4 million Indians living abroad.
Of the 131 countries from where India received remittances UAE contributed the highest i.e. $13.8 billion or about 20% of India’s total receipts, followed by the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UK.
TCS now in $100 Billion Market Capitalization Club
Tata Consultancy Services became only the second Indian company to cross the $100 billion mark in market capitalization
TCS follows Reliance Industries Ltd., which touched the milestone in 2007.
Global $100 Billion club: Though much larger than TCS, the global $100 billion club includes Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc., Amazon, Facebook, ExxonMobil, Walmart Inc. and Samsung.
Constitutional Protection may be extended to denotified Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes
In line with the recommendation of National Commission for Denotified Nomadic (DN) and SemiNomadic Tribes (SNT) under BhikuRamjiI, the Union government is considering a move to grant Constitutional protection to Denotified Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes, thus creating a third category separate from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
These communities, also called as Vimuktajatis, are all those communities notified under the Criminal Tribes Acts enforced during British Rule
The entire communities were branded as criminals by birth under the colonial rule through enforcement of the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871. In 1952, the Act was repealed and the communities were de-notified.
India rank 145 in Healthcare Access and Quality Index 2016
The index is created by the Global Burden of Disease study, based on 32 causes of death considered preventable with effective medical care.
India has improved its ranking on a global healthcare access and quality (HAQ) index from 153 in 1990 to 145 in 2016, yet ranks lower than neighbouring Bangladesh and even sub-Saharan Sudan and Equatorial Guinea.
India lags way behind its BRICS peers Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa on the HAQ index, but matches China in the disparity in healthcare access and quality between states.
Within India, the best performers, Goa and Kerala, scored more than 60 points on the HAQ index in 2016, whereas the worst performers, Assam and Uttar Pradesh, scored below 40.
World Health Statistics 2018
The World Health Statistics series is WHO’s annual snapshot of the state of the world’s health.
It also links to the three SDG-aligned strategic priorities of the WHO’s 13th General Programme of Work: achieving universal health coverage, addressing health emergencies and promoting healthier populations.
India saw an estimated 211 cases of tuberculosis per 1,00,000 people in 2016, India has pledged to eradicate tuberculosis by 2025, five years ahead of the global target set by WHO.
Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in India was 174 per 1,00,000 births in 2015. The Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 is to lower MMR for all countries to less than 70 per 1,00,000 births.
Per capita health expenditure in India was around USD 63 in 2015, way lower than China (USD 426), while in Pakistan it was $38.
GSTN to be made a Government Company
The Goods and Services Tax Council approved a new comprehensive return-generation system and full government ownership of GST Network (GSTN) the IT backbone for GST.
Ownership of GSTN: The council also approved a proposal for the Centre and states to jointly (and equally) acquire the entire 51% of equity held by the non-governmental institutions in GSTN amounting to Rs 5.1 crore.
Currently the Centre and states jointly own 49% in GSTN (24.5% each), while the rest is held by five other entities, including LIC Housing Finance, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.
Indian Rupee declined signifinactly
The Indian currency sunk to a closing low of 68.07 against the U.S. dollar i.e. its lowest level in 16 months. The rupee already one of the worst performing Asian currencies has now weakened 6.2% in 2018.
Reason behind Rupee Depreciation
Rise in crude oil prices:
High CAD
Tightening of USA monetary policy
Impact Of Fall Of Rupee
Impact importers: Importers will be hit as the cost of getting goods or equipment into India will increase.
Impact on oil sector:
Impact on exporters: Exporters especially software exporters stand to benefit as they get more rupees while converting dollar export earnings into Indian currency.
Increase inflationary pressure: Crude prices are expected to rise further this year and imports are expected to grow by at least 14%.
Increase in remittances:
India’s ranking fell three places to 11th in FDI Confidence Index 2018
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index 2018 released by global consultancy firm A T Kearney. It was created in 1998.
Last year, India was ranked eighth. Its position was pushed out of the top 10 for the first time since 2015.
Top 10 Countries in the Index – United States (1st), Canada (2nd), Germany (3rd), United Kingdom (4th), China (5th), Japan (6th), France (7th), Australia (8th), Switzerland (9th) and Italy (10th)
Walmart to buy control of Flipkart
US based retail giant Walmart said it will invest $16 billion to acquire a 77 per cent stake in Indian e-commerce major Flipkart a deal that is the biggest M&A (merger and acquisition) in India so far higher than the $12.9 billion acquisition of Essar Oil by a consortium led by Russia’s Rosneft in 2016.
First Crude Oil Cargo from Abu Dhabi for India’s Strategic Crude Oil Reserve
The historic first cargo of crude oil from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), destined for the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) has been loaded and is en-route to India.
ISPRL is mandated to store crude oil for strategic needs, to locate 5.86 million barrels of ADNOC crude oil at the Karnataka facility in the Indian city of Mangalore.
Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve
is an emergency fuel store of total 5 MMT (million metric tons) of strategic crude oil enough to provide 10 days of consumption.
The reserves are maintained by the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited.•
India’s strategic crude oil storages are located at Vizag (1.33 million tonnes), Mangalore (1.5 million tonnes) and Padur (2.5 million tonnes)
The 2017-18 budget, announced that two more such caverns will be set up Chandikhole in Jajpur district of Odisha and Bikaner in Rajasthan as part of the second phase.
All Indian villages now have access to power supply
Manipur’s Leisang village became the last non-electrified inhabited village to join India’s mainline supply network an important milestone in the country’s journey towards universal electricity access.
All 597464 inhabited villages in the country now have access to power.
The seeds of 100 per cent village electrification were sowed with the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJUY).
Pasighat airport – The first commercial flight of Arunachal Pradesh under UDAN scheme landed at Pasighat airport.
World’s first floating nuclear plant – Russia unveiled world’s first floating nuclear power station at port city of Murmansk.
Zojila tunnel – PM Modi inaugurated construction of Rs 6,809 crore Zojila tunnel project in Jammu and Kashmir’s Leh. It will be India’s and Asia’s longest and strategic bi-directional road tunnel.
BSE became first Indian exchange to be designated as Designated Offshore Securities Market (DOSM) by United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US-SEC).
HDFC Bank became the first bank in the country to introduce a humanoid for customer service.
HDFC Bank launched IRA 2.0, its interactive humanoid. IRA will interact with customers, answer bank-related queries, frequently asked questions, and guide them inside the branch with voice-based navigation
India no longer a nation with world’s largest poor population
Think tank Brookings ‘The Start Of A New Poverty Narrative’ report highlighted that with persistent decline in poverty, India is no longer a nation having largest number of poor people in world.
The study defines poverty as living on less than $1.9 a day.
Nigeria has largest number of extreme poor in early 2018, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo could soon take over the number 2 spot.
extreme poverty in Nigeria is growing by six people every minute, while poverty in India continues to fall.
about 725 million people were in extreme poverty at the beginning of 2016
India’s first Advanced Forensic Lab dedicated to women related cases
Ministry of Women and Child Development laid the foundation of Sakhi Suraksha Advanced DNA Forensic Laboratory in Central Forensic Science Lab (CFSL), Chandigarh.
It will be funded from the Nirbhaya Fund.
India among 90 countries without Paid Paternity Leaves
India and Nigeria, which have high infant populations, are among 92 countries that do not have national policies in place that ensure new fathers get adequate paid time off with their newborn babies.
Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 has increased the duration of paid maternity leave available for women employees from the existing 12 weeks to 26 weeks.
Suvidha Bio-Degradable low-cost sanitary napkins
In a move to improve menstrual hygiene practices in India, the government will offer fully biodegradable low-cost sanitary napkins called Suvidha at all of its Pradhan Mantri Janaushadi Pariyojana stores.
It was released by the Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI), in association with the department of pharmaceuticals, on the occasion of World Environment Day.
It is a campaign launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses. PMBJP stores have been set up to provide generic drugs, which are not only affordable but are equivalent in quality and efficacy as expensive branded drugs.
Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) is the implementation agency for PMBJP
Ban on growth drug Oxytocin
Major curbs on the production and sale of growth hormone oxytocin will come into effect from July 1 with the government determined to end its misuse.
All private manufacturing of oxytocin will end from July 1 and its production for domestic use will be restricted to only one public sector company, Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Limited (KAPL).
rural health workers in some areas used oxytocin injections to induce child birth among women during home deliveries.
Excessive use of oxytocin in cattle by farmers to improve milk production leading to reduction in the animal’s lifespan was also documented.
Humans consuming oxytocin-infested milk can suffer hormonal imbalances.
Oxytocin
is a neurotransmitter and a hormone produced in the hypothalamus, it is transported to and secreted by the pituitary gland at the base of the brain.
It plays a role in the female reproductive functions from sexual activity to childbirth and breast feeding.
India launches first National Healthcare Facility Registry
It will be the first ever registry in the country which will facilitate registry of authentic, standardised and updated geo-spatial data of all public and private healthcare.
ISRO is the project technology partner for providing data security
Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) to replace UGC
The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has released the draft Higher Education Commission of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Bill 2018.
HECI will be the new, apex regulator for university and higher education in India.
UN has released Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a global blueprint for dignity, peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and in the future.
A fast-changing climate, conflict, inequality, persistent pockets of poverty and hunger and rapid urbanization are challenging countries’ efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
of hungry people in the world, rising from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016
RBI to set up Public Credit Registry (PCR) on All Borrowers
The PCR will be the single point of mandatory reporting for all material events for each loan notwithstanding any threshold in the loan amount or type of borrower.
It will serve as a registry of all credit contracts duly verified by reporting institutions for all lending in India and any lending by an Indian institution to a company incorporated in India.
The RBI considered the recommendations of YM Deosthalee headed High Level Task Force and decided to set up a PCR.
GST Council meet may take up inclusion of Natural Gas
Next item for consideration of inclusion in the GST regime could be aviation turbine fuel (ATF), which is among the five petroleum products proposed to be brought in under the GST ambit.
Petroleum is a considerably larger source for revenues not only for Centre but States also and on natural gas front there is some consensus for bringing it into GST ambit and therefore, it could be first petroleum product that could come in well within GST network.
Five petroleum products i.e. crude oil, diesel, petrol, natural gas, aviation turbine fuel (ATF) are still out of the GST ambit.
NBFCs to meet RBI on IndAS Implementation
RBI has deferred the implementation of Indian Accounting Standards (IndAS) for banks by a year, while it is applicable for NBFCs from April 1, 2018.
According to the initial plan, Ministry Of Corporate Affairs was to implement IndAS for banks, insurance companies, and NBFCs from 1 April 2018 onwards.
Also IndAS implementation date has been deferred for insurance companies by two years.
IndAS is a global accounting practice that NBFCs are mandated to adopt, which may lead to initial credit losses. The practice is at par with the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS).
FSDC Reconstituted to include more members
The government has reconstituted the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), the apex body of financial sector regulators and made it more broad-based.
The FSDC was set up to create an institutional structure and mechanism for financial stability, financial sector development and inter-regulatory coordination.
It is charged with financial literacy, financial inclusion and macro prudential supervision of the economy including the functioning of large financial conglomerates.
India started importing LNG from Russia
India has begun importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia at Dahej import terminal as part of its strategy to diversify its supply sources and cater to the rapidly rising local energy needs.
Russia is the latest country to begin supplying long-term LNG to India after US, Australia, and Qatar.
Russian rate is $1.5 per one million British Thermal Units (mmBTU) less than the price at which Qatar, India’s oldest supplier, delivered liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Importance of LNG Import
India is the 3rd largest energy consumer and 4th largest LNG importer in the world. Russia is the largest crude oil and second-largest gas producer in the world.
India imports 45% of the total amount of natural gas it consumes.
Indian govt plan to raise the share of natural gas in the country’s energy mix to 15% by 2030 from about 6.5% now, import of LNG is expected to rise.
Canada legalises Marijuana
Canada has legalised recreational marijuana across the country this week, making it the first G7 country to do so.
Under guidelines from Canada’s public health agency, marijuana products will be sold in plain packaging with limited branding.
Uruguay became the first country to legalise the sale of cannabis for recreational use in December 2013, Canada became the second country.
11th World Hindi Conference in Mauritius
Aim of this conference will be to increase the popularity of Hindi globally.
The Ministry of External Affairs also aims to promote Hindi at the United Nations and in this regard, a lot of work is being done and the disclosures would be made at the World Hindi Conference.
The World Hindi Secretariat (WHS) supported by India, is located in Mauritius.
SAARC Fund to Launch Social Enterprise Programme in India
Thimpu-based SAARC Development Fund (SDF) will soon be launching a social enterprise development programme (SEDP) to fund 80 entities annually across the 8- member states including India.
SDF was established in April 2010, succeeding South Asian Development Fund (SADF), which was launched in 1996 by merging SAARC Fund for Regional Projects (SFRP) and SAARC Regional Fund.
SDF has already committed USD 73.74 million for social window projects
International Conference on ICT at Kathmandu
Federation of Computer Association Nepal (CAN Federation) has organized the 18th edition of International ICT Conference 2018, from June 17 to 18 at Kathmandu, Nepal. The Theme of the conference was “Sustainable Development Goals for Smart Society”.
Assam Bill Against Witch-Hunt got President’s Nod
Indian President Ram Nath Kovind gave assent to the Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2015
President’s assent is required when an act passed by a state Assembly contravenes central law.
It makes every offence under the Act “cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable.” The Act prescribes a prison term of up to 7 seven years and up to ₹5 lakh in fine for calling a person a witch.
Branding people, mostly women, as witch and killing them is a very old problem across Assam. Such phenomenon affected states like Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand also.
Project Prahari The earliest concerted move to fight the practice launched by police officer Kuladhar Saikia, the current DGP of Assam. Back in 2001, launched as a model of community development that brought together various sections of the rural society to combat witch-hunting by focusing on alternative livelihood skills.
Mission Birubala forefront of Assam’s anti-witch-hunt campaign since 2011.
Birubala Rabha, a tribal villager from Goalpara, who in 2005 singlehandedly started raising her voice against the practice after being branded a witch herself.
World Population Day observed on July 11
July 11 was established as World Population Day in 1989 by the United Nations, to spread information of population-related issues across the globe.
Theme for 2018: “Family Planning is a Human right”
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) began operations in 1969 as the United Nations Fund for Population Activities under the United Nations Development Fund.
Debate on Section 377 Of IPC
Supreme court Constitutional bench is hearing petitions challenging the constitutionality of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
Section 377 refers to ‘unnatural offences’ and says whoever voluntarily has carnal inter course against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years and shall also be liable to pay a fine.
Bru Community of Mizoram
Less than a fortnight after Union Home Minister announced the signing of an agreement that would repatriate displaced Bru families living in Tripura since 1997 to Mizoram before September 30, the Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF) withdrew from the deal, saying the terms agreed upon between the governments of Mizoram, Tripura and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) were not acceptable to the Bru community.
The Bru community, once spread across Mamit and Kolasib districts of Mizoram, were forced to flee their native land in 1997 after animosity between the Bru and the Mizos turned violent.
All India Survey on Higher Education Report (AISHE) 2017-18
The top 8 States in terms of highest number of colleges in India are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
College density i.e. the number of colleges per lakh eligible population (population in the agegroup 18-23 years) varies from 7 in Bihar to 51 in Karnataka and Telangana as compared to All India average of 28.
48% colleges are located in rural area and 11.04% colleges are exclusively for women.
Total enrolment in higher education has been estimated to be 36.6 million with 19.2 million boys and 17.4 million girls. Girls constitute 47.6% of the total enrolment.
Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Higher education in India is 25.8%, which is calculated for 18-23 years of age group. GER for male population is 26.3% and for females, it is 25.4%.
The authorized share capital of Higher Education Financing Agency increased to Rs. 10,000 crore
CCEA has approved increasing the authorized share capital from the current sum of Rs. 2000 crore and approved infusing additional government equity of Rs. 5,000 crore (in addition to Rs.10,000 crore already provided) in HEFA.
HEFA has been set up on May 31, 2017 as a Non Profit, Non Banking Financing Company (NBFC) for mobilising extra-budgetary resources for building crucial infrastructure in the higher educational institutions under Central Govt.
It will also push institutions to become financially self-sustaining and not depend on the government for all their growth requirements.
LIC Buys IDBI Bank
The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has obtained the approval of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to buy upto 51 % in debt-ridden IDBI Bank from the current 10.82%.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana topped the Ease of Doing Business Ranking
The DIPP and World Bank has released the Ease of doing Business ranking in which Andhra Pradesh has topped the list, followed by Telangana and Haryana.
Others in the top-10 states are Jharkhand (4), Gujarat (5), Chhattisgarh (6), Madhya Pradesh (7), Karnataka (8), Rajasthan (9) and West Bengal (10).
DIPP, in collaboration with the World Bank conducts this annual reform exercise for all states and Union territories under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP).
India becomes World’s Sixth Largest Economy
World Bank figures for 2017 say India has become the world’s sixth-biggest economy, pushing France behind.
India’s GDP amounted to $2.597 trillion at the end of last year, against $2.582 trillion for France.
India is poised to become the world’s most populous nation by 2030. India’s per capita GDP continues to amount to just a fraction of that of France which is still roughly 20 times higher.
World’s top economy – The US, China, Japan and Germany
India slips to 11th in FDI ranking
India has fallen out of top 10 destinations for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in terms of its attractiveness according to 2018 Kearney FDI Confidence Index
India was at 8th in 2017 and 9th in 2016.
India joins European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
As it’s 69th shareholder.
India’s GM Crops area fifth largest in world, USA has the highest area under GM crops.
Samsung inaugurated world’s largest mobile phone factory in Noida.
HDFC Group has crossed the Rs. 10 lakh crore market capitalization milestone
only the country’s second corporate entity to do so after the Tata Group.
HDFC Bank is the country’s third most valued firm after Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act
mandatory for companies to disclose whether they have constituted an Internal Complaints committee (ICC) to probe allegations of sexual harassment at workplace.
the Annual Reports of Private companies will have to contain a statement about status of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC).
mandatory for any organisation with 10 or more employees to constitute an ICC.
Begging Decriminalized in Delhi
The Delhi High Court has decriminalized begging in the national capital on the ground that the penal provisions in the law were unconstitutional.
Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959 was extended to Delhi by a Central government amendment in 1960.
Currently, there is no central law on begging and destitution and most states have adopted the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act 1959, or have modelled their laws on it.
World Breastfeeding Week from August 1 to 7
World Breastfeeding Week is a worldwide celebration held annually from August 1st to 7th and is dedicated to nursing mothers & to raise awareness about significance of breast milk in infant’s life.
Three Northeastern States Emerge As New HIV Hotspots
Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura have emerged as the new hotspots for HIV. However, there has been a steady decline in the number of HIV cases in India.
The reason for the rise in the three northeastern States to the high-risk behaviour of Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), and unsafe sexual practices.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
a life-threatening disease caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
It makes difficult for the body to fight infections
NITI Aayog has identified 117 districts as Aspirational Districts, selected on the basis of composite index includes published data of deprivation enumerated under Socio-Economic Caste Census, health & nutrition, education and basic infrastructure.
central assistance is provided for opening of new Model Degree Colleges (MDCs) in Aspirational Districts and in unserved & underserved districts in North Eastern and Himalayan States.
Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) aim is to improve access, equity and quality in higher education through planned development of higher education at the state level.
Creating new academic institutions, expanding and upgrading the existing ones, developing institutions that are self-reliant in terms of quality education, professionally managed and characterised by greater inclination towards research and provide students with relevant education.
IMPRINT 2
MoHRD has approved 122 new research projects at a cost of Rs.112 crore under IMPRINT-2.
IMPRINT-2 has been approved with a revised strategy under which the initiative will be jointly funded and steered by MoHRD and Department of Science and Technology (DST).
For the second phase, the govt has sanctioned a fund of Rs. 1000 crore for research in Science and Technology over the course of next two years.
India rank 57th in Global Innovation Index (GII) 2018
GII is published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organisation, in partnership with other organisations and institutions.
Switzerland continued its long run of being at the top. It has been at the top of the list since 2011.
Other countries in the top 5 are Netherlands, Sweden, UK and Singapore.
China, at 17, broke into the world’s top 20 most-innovative economies for the first time.
India’s rank on the GII has improved from 60th in 2017 to 57th in 2018.
Delhi Police gets India’s first All-Women SWAT Team
Delhi Police is the first police force in the country to have an all-women Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team.
Pune topped the Ease of Living Index
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has released the Ease of Living Index, to assess cities’ ‘liveability’ with regards to global and national benchmarks and encourage in urban planning and management.
The index covers 111 cities that are smart city contenders, capital cities, and cities with population of 1 million plus. It is a government initiative
The list was led by Pune, Navi Mumbai, and Greater Mumbai while the cities of Patna and Rampur were at the bottom.
Vienna is the best city to live, as per Global Liveability Index 2018
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), of the magazine ‘The Economist’, has released the Global Liveability Index
It assigns scores on five broad parameters — stability, healthcare, culture/environment, education, and infrastructure using 30 indicators.
Top 10 liveable cities are – 1. Vienna (Austria) 2. Melbourne (Australia) 3. Osaka (Japan) 4. Calgary (Canada) 5. Sydney (Australia) 6. Vancouver (Canada) 7. Tokyo (Japan) 8. Toronto (Canada) 9. Copenhagen (Denmark) 10. Adelaide (Australia)
South Asian countries including India have fared poorly in the ranking of the world’s most liveable cities. From India, only New Delhi (112) and Mumbai (117) could make it to the list.
Top 10 least liveable cities in the world are – Senegal’s Dakar at 131, Algeria’s Algiers at 132, Cameroon’s Douala at 133, Libya’s Tripoli at 134, Zimbabwe’s Harare at 135, Papua New Guinea’s Port Moresby at 136, Karachi at 137, Nigeria’s Lagos at 138, Dhaka at 139, Damascus at 140.
Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) to be created
The GST Council has approved creation of the tribunal with a national bench in Delhi and three regional benches in Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai
The new body replaces the Central Excise and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal.
Need for review of Deposit Insurance Cover
In India, deposit insurance covers all commercial banks, local area banks, regional rural banks and co-operative banks.
The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) insures amount to the depositor, limited is restricted to just Rs. 1 lakh per depositor per bank.
Due to Poor health of banks, the maximum deposited amount insured must be increased.
Less than a third of bank deposits in value terms are insured by the DICGC, which is too low compared to the International standards, Most of the countries cover 60-70 per cent of total deposits.
Indonesia has a deposit-insurance cover of $1,47,000, Brazil $76,700, and Malaysia $55,700. Mexico too has insurance coverage of over $100,000. Canada, Switzerland and France provide cover upwards of $70,000 per depositor. In the US, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation offers an insurance coverage of $250,000. While, in India, the deposit insurance is just $1,543.
NABARD’s All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey 2016-17 survey
Average monthly rural income after deducting expenses incurred in the course of economic activity was Rs. 8059.
New Industrial Policy to be formulated
new industrial policy that aims to speed up regulatory reforms to make businesses more competitive and create more jobs.
The comprehensive industrial policy is envisaged as a follow up to initiatives such as Make in India and Startup India, aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and entrepreneurship.
India’s industrial sector has a 29% share in GDP at current prices, well below 44% for China.
MSME Development (Amendment) Bill, 2018
Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will soon be defined based on their annual turnover, if a new Bill is cleared.
Amendment Bill- Any business with a turnover of up to Rs. 5 crore will be considered a micro enterprise. The other slabs are Rs. 5-75 crore for small enterprise and Rs. 75-250 crore for medium enterprise.
At present, it is decided based on the investment made in plant and machinery/equipment. There are two sets of definitions, depending on whether the units produce goods or services. Under the goods category, the slabs are up to Rs. 25 lakh for micro, Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 5 crore for small and Rs. 5-10 crore for medium. In the case of services, the slabs are: up to Rs.10 lakh, Rs. 10 lakh to RS. 2 crore and Rs. 2-5 crore.
World Bank launches Bond-I, world’s first blockchain bond.
Sikkim’s first airport at Pakyong inaugurated
Indo-Bangla Friendship Pipeline
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated the construction of a friendship pipeline project
The 130-kilometre India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline Project will connect Siliguri in West Bengal in India and Parbatipur in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh.
The project will help fulfil energy needs of Bangladesh at cheaper rates.
Indian ranked 130th in 2018 Human Development Report
UNDP indicated a glaring inequality in the country though “millions have been lifted out of poverty”.
Top countries – Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland and Germany
Niger, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Chad and Burundi have the lowest scores.
out of the 189 countries for which the HDI is calculated, 59 countries are today in the very high human development group and only 38 countries fall in the low HDI group.
South Asia experienced the fastest HDI growth among developing regions with a 45.3 % increase since 1990.
South Asia has the widest gap between men and women in HDI at 16.3%.
India’s HDI value is 0.640, which put the country in the medium human development category.
Human Development Index (HDI)
composite measure of every country’s attainment in three basic dimensions:
(1) standard of living measured by the gross national income (GNI) per capita,
(2) health measured by the life expectancy at birth, and
(3) education levels calculated by mean years of education among the adult population and the expected years of schooling for children.
India ranked 158th in Human Capital Rankings
study published in the Lancet journal, measures Human Capital of 195 countries during the 1990-2016 period.
Parameters: Human capital is computed using four key parameters: (1) Life Expectancy, (2) Functional Health, (3) Years of Schooling and (4) Learning.
Finland is ranked first with 28 years of expected human capital, followed by Iceland, Denmark, Netherlands
Niger, South Sudan and chad were ranked lowest with 2 years of expected human capital.
MOVE: India’s First Global Mobility Summit 2018 organised by Niti Aayog in New Delhi
Section 377 Struck Down
The Supreme Court, in Navtej Johar vs Union of India, has decriminalised same sex relations between consenting adults in private under Section 377.
However, the “unnatural” sexual acts like bestiality and sexual act without consent continues to be a crime under Section 377.
Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA)
The HRD Ministry to rank education institutions on innovation related indicators.
It is an annual ranking of higher educational institutions based on how they fare in terms of innovation.
ARIIA and NIRF: ARIIA, which focuses on innovation, will work parallel to the ranking of institutions captured by the annual National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) which focuses on research.
Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)
Union HRD Ministry has decided to participate in PISA– an international assessment of student ability – in 2021 after a gap of 10 years.
Coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), India has participated only once in PISA in 2009.
Mauritius Tops India’s FDI Chart
Mauritius remained the top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India in 2017-18 followed by Singapore, whereas total FDI stood at $37.36 billion
Country wise FDI:
FDI from Mauritius totalled $13.41 billion
Singapore $9.27 billion
Netherlands $2.67 billion
China has opened the world’s longest sea bridge to general traffic.
The bridge spans 42.4km (26.3 miles) to connect the eastern coastal city of Qingdao to the suburb of Huangdao,
India ranked 103rd in the Global Hunger Index 2018
publication released annually by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide
The 2018 scores reflect data from 2013-2017.
India has GHI of 31.1 making the country fall in the ‘serious’ category.
The best-performing countries have a GHI score as low as 5 (Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia etc).
Wage Compensation Scheme for pregnant women in Assam
Assam has recently launched a wage compensation scheme for pregnant women in tea gardens of the state.
each woman will get Rs 12,000 so that she can look after herself and her unborn baby without affecting the livelihood of her family.
The tea-producing belt of upper Assam, comprising Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Sivasagar and Tinsukia, has one of the country’s worst maternal mortality rates (MMR) due to anaemia and other diseases
The Annual Health Survey of 2012-13 puts MMR at 404 in the tea gardens, whereas the state’s average is 301. India’s average during 2014-16 was 130.
WHO’s First Global Conference On Air Pollution And Health at Geneva.
The first Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health was recently held at in Geneva.
14 out of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India
IIT Bombay Tops in QS India University Rankings
The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay has emerged on top in the first-ever standalone QS rankings for Indian institutions of higher education.
The India University Rankings is the second country-specific rankings done by QS, after it released one for China.
Seven out of the top ten positions were occupied by IITs in these rankings as IIT Madras, IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur bagged the third, fourth and fifth slots respectively. IISc bagged the second spot on the list.
Global Rankings
The QS world rank list released has ranked 1011 institutes in 85 countries.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the world’s best university, IIT Bombay has been placed 162 rank followed by the foremost research institute of India IISc at 170.
IMPRESS and SPARC
The Union HRD Minister launched web portals of two schemes IMPRESS and SPARC, with an aim to build a research ecosystem in educational institutions.
Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences (IMPRESS) is to identify and fund research proposals in social sciences with maximum impact on the governance and society.
The Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) aims at building the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian and foreign institutions.
MoU Towards Sittwe Port Operationalisation
India and Myanmar have signed MoU towards operationalisation of Sittwe port.
appointment of a private Port Operator for the Operation and Maintenance of Sittwe Port, Paletwa Inland Water Terminal and associated facilities included in the Kaladan Multi Model Transit Transport Project.
Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport
is a project that will connect the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata with Sittwe seaport in Rakhine State, Myanmar by sea.
In Myanmar, it will then link Sittwe seaport to Paletwa, Chin State via the Kaladan river boat route, and then from Paletwa by road to Mizoram state in Northeast India
Trade Deal USMCA to Replace NAFTA
The US and Canada have reached a new trade deal, along with Mexico, to replace the current North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The new deal has been named as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
IORA Countries Adopt The Delhi Declaration
21 countries in the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) have adopted the Delhi Declaration on Renewable Energy in the Indian Ocean Region.
Adoption of the declaration took place at 2nd IORA Renewable Energy Ministerial Meeting held at the 2nd Global Re-Invest India-ISA Partnership Renewable Energy Investor’s Meet & Expo in Greater Noida.
India ranked 58th in the WEF’s Competitiveness Index for 2018
India has improved its ranking by five places the largest gain among all G20 countries, with an overall score of 62.
Top 10 countries – USA (1st), Singapore (2nd), Germany (3rd), Switzerland (4th), Japan (5th), Netherlands (6th), Hong Kong (7th), United Kingdom (8th), Sweden (9th) and Denmark (10th)
BRICS Ranking – Brazil (72), Russia (43), India (58), China (28), South Africa (67)
Direct Tax Base widens sharply over 4 Years
growth of more than 80% in the number of returns filed in the last four financial years from 3.79 crore in financial year (FY) 2013-14 to 6.85 crore in FY 2017-18.
the Direct Tax-to-GDP ratio rose to 5.98% in FY 2017-18, the highest it has been in the last 10 years.
Kalyani Panel Suggests Delinking SEZs From Exports
A committee on special economic zones (SEZs) led by Baba Kalyani has suggested delinking the enclaves from exports and allowing payments to be made in rupee when they deal with areas outside the zone.
India’s export-linked incentive schemes including SEZs being disputed by the US in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Exports from SEZs grew 15% to 5.52 lakh crore in 2017-18.
National Digital Communications Policy 2018
The Union Cabinet approved the new The National Digital Communications Policy 2018
aims to create four million jobs, draw $100 billion of investments into the telecom industry by 2022, boost sectoral contribution to 8% of GDP from 6% in 2017, besides backing the principles of net neutrality.
Axis Bank-e first to introduce iris authentication for Aadhaar-based transactions.
WEF launches Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution in India.
BSE – first stock exchange to launch commodity derivative contracts.
Mahila Mall, the first mall in the country with an all-women crew will come up in Kozhikode in the month of November.
Appointment/Awards
Sudha Balakrishnan appointed the first Chief Financial Officer of RBI
National Statistics Day: June 29 15.
International Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day: June 27
Vishwas Patel appointed as Chairman of Payments Council of India.
Justice Manjula Chellur taken oath as Chairperson of Appellate Tribunal for Electricity
R S Sharma re-appointed TRAI chairperson till 2020.
Ashish Kumar Bhutani appointed CEO of PM Fasal Bima Yojana.
Bhanu Pratap Sharma as new Banks Board Bureau Chairman
Sunil Mehta elected as new Chairman of Indian Bank’s Association for 2018-19.
Government sets up Injeti Srinivas High Level Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility.
2018 Nobel Peace in Economics – William Nordhaus & Paul Romer
2018 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to campaigners against rape in warfare – Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege. Nadia Murad is the first Iraqi to win the award and was also named the UN’s first goodwill ambassador for survivors of human trafficking.
Banaganapalle mangoes of Andhra Pradesh and Tulapanji rice of WB are granted GI tags
The other five products include Pochampally Ikat of Telangana; Gobindobhog Rice of West Bengal; Durgi Stone Carvings and Etikoppaka Toys of Andhra Pradesh; and Chakshesang Shawl of Nagaland
Musa Paramjitiana – new species of wild banana discovered in North Andaman
New Ant Species Discovered in the Western Ghats
discovered a new species of ant in the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghats,
Western Ghats is one of the world’s ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity.
named as Tyrannomyrmex alii after Prof. Musthak Ali, an eminent Indian myrmecologist.
Myrmecology is the branch of entomology focusing on the scientific study of ants.
Bamboo ceases to be a tree, freed of Forest Act
Bamboo has legally ceased to be a tree with Govt amending the Indian Forest Act,1927
Govt hoped to promote cultivation of bamboo in non-forest areas
The earlier act wrongly classified Bamboo as a tree.
Bamboo is a scientifically recognized grass.
India is the world’s second largest bamboo producer and has 13.96 million hectares, the largest area, under bamboo cove
India Awarded Certificate of Commendation by CITES
India has been awarded the Certificate of Commendation by Wildlife Crime Control Bureau by the Convention on Illegal Trade on Endangered Species (CITES) at Geneva.
for its specific wildlife enforcement Operation, “Operation Save Kurma” under “Operation Thunder bird”.
CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora)
multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals.
The convention was opened for signature in 1973 and CITES entered into force on 1 July 1975.
International Conference on Climate Change held in Nepal
to draw attention towards the adverse effects of global warming in the Hindu Kush mountain range.
FAME-India Scheme
The FAME-India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (hybrid &) Electric vehicles in India) is intended to support the hybrid/electric vehicles market
Its manufacturing eco-system to achieve self-sustenance.
launched in 2015 under the National Electric Mobility Mission (NEMM).
scheme has four focus areas: technology development, demand creation, pilot projects and charging infrastructure.
National Electric Mobility Mission (NEMM)
GoI launched National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 in 2013.
aims to achieve national fuel security by promoting hybrid and electric vehicles
NDMA conducts Training of Trainers for Sendai Framework
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), 2015-2030, is the first agreement of the post-2015 development agenda and identifies targets and priority actions towards reducing disaster risks
India one of the first countries to align its National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) with the SFDRR
Mankidia Denied Habitat in Simlipal
Mankidia, one of the 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in Odisha, were denied habitat rights inside the Similipal Tiger Reserve under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
Particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) govt classification created for enabling improvement in conditions of certain vulnerable tribal group.
Dhebar Commission within Scheduled Tribes existed an inequality in the rate of development
Sikkim allows people to forge Fraternal Ties with trees
Govt of Sikkim – unique way of preserving trees by encouraging people to forge a relationship of brotherhood or sisterhood with trees through a practice – known as Mith/Mit or Mitini.
allow any person to associate with trees by entering into a Mith/Mit or Mitini relationship.
India ranks 177 out of 180 in Environmental Performance Index(EPI)
India is among the bottom five countries on the Environmental Performance Index 2018, biennial report by Yale and Columbia Universities along with the World Economic Forum.
to poor performance in the environment health policy and deaths due to air pollution categories.
Zero Budget Natural Farming Project
ZBNF project launched by the Himachal Pradesh government to promote organic farming
set of natural farming methods under which the cost of growing and harvesting plants is zero.
The programme involves almost no monetary investment and envisages the use of ‘Jeevamrutha’ and ‘Beejamrutha’
‘Zero Budget’ refers to zero net cost of production of all crops, which means that farmers don’t have to buy fertilizers and pesticides to ensure the healthy growth of crops
The main aim is to eliminate the use of chemical pesticides and use biological pesticide instead.
advised to use cow dung, urine, plants, human excreta, earthworms and similar biological fertilizers for crop protection.
protect soil from degradation and help in retaining soil fertility
Floating ‘Island’ to clean up Neknampur Lake
The Floating Treatment Wetland (FTW) was inaugurated in Neknampur Lake in Hyderabad to clean and purify the pollution.
World Wetlands Day on 2 February
Pelican Bird Festival
The ‘Pelican Bird Festival-2018’ was held for the first time at Atapaka Bird Sanctuary on Kolleru lake in Andhra Pradesh.
Atapaka Bird Sanctuary was recognized as one of the largest pelicanry in the world.
Kolleru Lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes in India located in Andhra Pradesh – designated wetland of international importance in November 2002 under Ramsar Convention.
Rhodendron Park In Tawang
Rhododendron is a genus of 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae), either evergreen or deciduous, and found mainly in Asia
national flower of Nepal.
Rhododendrons of India about 80 species. It is distributed mainly in different regions and altitudes of Himalayas with a greater concentration in the eastern Himalayas.
Cabinet approves Ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury
The approval entails Ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury along with flexibility for continued use of mercury-based products and processes involving mercury compound up to 2025.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury urges the enterprises to move to mercury-free alternatives in products and non-mercury technologies in manufacturing processes.
Mercury is considered by experts to be one of the most toxic metals known.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury was adopted and signed in 2013 at a Diplomatic Conference held in Kumamoto, Japan, named after the Japanese city
India State of Forest Report 2017
The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2017
Forest and Tree Cover of the country has increased by 8,021 sq km (1 %) as compared to assessment of 2015.
national policies aimed at conservation and sustainable management of our forests like Green India Mission, National Agro-Forestry policy (NAP), REDD plus policy, Joint Forest Management (JFM), National Afforestation Programme and funds under Compensatory Afforestation to States.
Top 5 states where maximum forest cover has increased are Andhra Pradesh (2,141 sq kms), Karnataka (1,101 sq kms), Kerala (1,043 sq kms), Odisha (885 sq kms) and Telangana (565 sq kms).
Top 5 states where forest cover has decreased are Mizoram (531 sq km), Nagaland (450 sq km), Arunachal Pradesh (190 sq km), Tripura (164 sq km) and Meghalaya (116 sq km) – due to – shifting cultivation, other biotic pressures, rotational felling, diversion of forestlands for developmental activities, submergence of forest cover, agriculture expansion and natural disasters.
mangrove forests have increased by 181 sq kms. Maharashtra (82 sq kms), Andhra Pradesh (37 sq kms) and Gujarat (33 sq kms) are the top three gainers in terms of mangrove cover.
India NDC goal of creating additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
As per present assessment total carbon stock in forest is estimated to be 7,082 million tonnes.
Assam will mark September 22 as Rhino Day to raise awareness about the animal
to generate public awareness on protection of the one-horned pachyderm.
A State Rhino Project in line with National Rhino Project will be launched in Assam soon for protecting the pachyderms from threats of poaching.
The Global Host of World Environment Day 2018 – Drive Against Plastic Pollution
India will be the global host of this year’s World Environment Day on June 5
‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ will be the theme of this year’s event
World Wildlife Day – Wildlife Under Threat
March 3 is celebrated as World Wildlife Day to raise awareness about our planet’s flora and fauna.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was finalised on March 3 and has been celebrated as World Wildlife Day since 2014.
Newton-Bhabha Fund for Arsenic Research in Ganga Basin
An India-UK Joint Team has won the Newton-Bhabha Fund for a project on Groundwater Arsenic Research in Ganga River Basin.
Arsenic is an element that occurs in organic and inorganic compounds, its presence in inorganic compounds is highly toxic and carcinogenic.
Arsenic contamination of ground water in india
Within India, arsenic concentration is particularly high in and around the Ganges delta in eastern and northeastern India.
This is due to silt from the Himalayas containing arsenopyrite
Introduction of BS VI Fuel
BS VI fuel to be available in Delhi from 1 April 2019 and the country from 2020.
The Bharat Stage (BS) Fuel Norms
India is the third largest consumer of oil after China and the US.
The vehicular pollution norms introduced in the early 1990s.
BS VI norms seek to cut down sulphur content to 10 ppm from 50 ppm.
State-owned refineries in Mathura and Panipat are already producing BS VI fuel.
The shift from BS IV to BS VI, skipping a stage, is estimated to cost refiners Rs28,000 crore.
Based on the European regulations (Euro norms), these standards set specifications/limits for the release of air pollutants from equipment using internal combustion engines, including vehicles.
Typically, higher the stage, more stringent the norms.
BS V standard was earlier scheduled for 2019, now been skipped. BS VI has been now advanced to 2020.
Government unveils Draft National Forest Policy
India’s environment ministry has unveiled a draft of the new National Forest Policy (NFP).
aim of bringing a minimum of one-third of India’s total geographical area under forest or tree cover.
The first National Forest Policy in independent India took effect in 1952
suggests setting up of two national-level bodies—National Community Forest Management (CFM) Mission and National Board of Forestry (NBF) – for better management of the country’s forests.
also calls for “promotion of trees outside forests and urban greens”, while stating that it will be taken up in “mission mode”.
Delhi becomes first city to roll-out Euro VI Fuel
aim to combat the rising levels of air pollution in Delhi-NCR region.
Cities in the national capital region like Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad as well as 13 major cities including Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune will switch over to cleaner Euro-VI grade fuel from January 1 next year.
Rest of the country will follow suit from April 2020.
Assam’s Spring Festival begins in Manas National Park
The festival was organized by Indian Weavers’ Association and the Swankar Mithinga Onsai Afat, an association of reformed poachers in Manas who are now engaged in wildlife conservation and preservation.
Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, a Project Tiger reserve, an elephant reserve and a biosphere reserve
rare and endangered endemic wildlife such as the Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur and pygmy hog, wild water buffalo.
contiguous with Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan. It covers five districts of Assam- Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang, Udalguri and Barpeta.
Coal Bed Methane
CBM is simply methane found in coal seams.
It is called ‘sweet gas’ because of its lack of hydrogen Sulphide.
The methane is in a near –liquid state, lining the inside of pores within the coal (called the matrix).
contains very little heavier hydrocarbons such as propane or butane, and no natural gas condensate.
Meghalaya Landscapes Management Project
A loan agreement worth USD 48 million for the “Meghalaya Community-led Landscapes Management Project (MCLLMP)” – signed between India and the World Bank.
to strengthen community-led landscapes management in selected landscapes in Meghalaya.
Sunderban Reserve Forest to get Ramsar Site Status
The West Bengal government gave its approval to the State Forest Department to apply for recognition under the Ramsar Convention.
State Forest Department through Central Government will apply to Ramsar Convention Secretariat.
Ramsar convention
The Convention on Wetlands – inter-governmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for conservation and wise use of wetlands
Adopted in 1971 in Ramsar, came into force in 1975.
only one Ramsar site in West Bengal- East Kolkata Wetlands.
Sunderban was identified as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 for its exclusive biodiversity.
Once it is conferred Ramsar site status, Sundarban Reserve Forest will be largest protected wetland in the country.
Currently 26 sites in India recognised as Ramsar wetland sites of international importance.
Sunderban
vast contiguous mangrove forest ecosystem in the coastal region of Bay of Bengal spread
across India and Bangladesh.
It covers approximately 10,000 square kilometres of area of which 60% is in Bangladesh and remaining in India.
It comprises almost 43% of the mangrove cover in the country.
the largest tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world.
world’s largest tiger habitat
Royal Bengal Tiger, including Chital Deer, Crocodile and Snakes.
April 22: Earth Day
to increase the awareness among people about the environment safety as well as to demonstrate the environmental protection measures.
First time celebrated in the year 1970
The theme for 2018 Earth Day is ‘End Plastic Pollution’.
System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)
apex forecaster of pollution trends in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmadabad
generates likely air quality profile for a day in advance, for these cities.
Union Environment Ministry also released draft of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)
Restructured National Bamboo Mission
CCEA approved the centrally sponsored scheme ‘National Bamboo Mission’ (NBM) under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) for the remaining period of Fourteenth Finance Commission.
benefit directly and indirectly the farmers as well as local artisans and associated personnels engaged in bamboo sector including associated industries.
focus on development of bamboo in limited States where it has social, commercial and economical advantage – North Eastern region and MP, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, TN and Kerala.
Indian cities in WHO’s 20 Most Polluted
Delhi and Varanasi are among the 14 Indian cities that figured in a list of 20 most polluted cities in the world in terms of PM2.5 levels in 2016
very high levels of PM2.5 pollutants were Kanpur, Faridabad, Gaya, Patna, Agra, Muzaffarpur, Srinagar, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Patiala and Jodhpur followed by Ali Subah Al-Salem in Kuwait and a few cities in China and Mongolia.
In terms of PM10 levels, 13 cities in India figured among the 20 most-polluted cities of the world in 2016.
South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN)
The fourth meeting of SAWEN was held at Kolkata.
SAWEN is regional inter-governmental wildlife law enforcement support body of South Asian
Countries – combatting illegal trade in the region.
launched in January 2011 in Bhutan. In 2016, the Union Cabinet of India adopted the statute of SAWEN.
secretariat is in Kathmandu
Eight South Asia countries – Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives
International Biodiversity Day 2018: 22 May
to increase awareness on various biodiversity issues such as habitat destruction, marine pollution and climate change.
first observed in 1993 by the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly.
UN SDG # 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss
CBD
1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro – adopted Convention on Biological Diversity – ratified by 196 nations.
international legal instrument for “the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources”
Biodiversity Award for Arunachal Reserve
Singchung Bugun Village Community Reserve Management Committee (SBVCR) of Arunachal
Pradesh was awarded the India Biodiversity Award, 2018 by the National Biodiversity Authority.
Indore is India’s cleanest city – Swachh Survekshan 2018
Indore is India’s cleanest city for second year in a row, followed by Bhopal and Chandigarh
Jharkhand has been declared the best performing state, followed by Maharashtra.
Best city in Innovation and Best practices: Nagpur
Best city in Solid Waste Management: Navi Mumbai
The processing rate of solid waste management in India stands at 29 per cent
Swachh Survekshan
First launched in July 2017, a ranking exercise taken up by Government of India to levels of cleanliness and active implementation of Swachhata mission initiatives
Cochin airport – UNEP United Nations Environment Programme recognized Cochin International Airport as the world’s first fully solar energy-powered airport.
India’s E-Waste Generation
India continues to be generating highest e-waste vis-à-vis China, USA, Japan and Germany-according to an ASSOCHAM-NEC study
Maharashtra contributes the largest e-waste of 19.8%, followed by Tamil Nadu (13%) and Uttar Pradesh (10.1%) respectively.
E-waste generated in India is about 2 million TPA (tonnes per annum), the quantity that is recycled is about 4, 38,085 TPA.
mere 5% of India’s total e-waste gets recycled due to poor infrastructure, legislation and framework.
E-Waste Management Rules, 2016
Manufacturer, dealer, refurbisher and Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) have been introduced as additional stakeholders in the rules.
Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) and other mercury containing lamp brought under the purview of rules.
Collection mechanism based approach has been adopted to include collection centre, collection
point, take back system etc for collection of e-waste by Producers under Extended Producer
Responsibility (EPR).
Option for setting up of PRO, e – waste exchange , e – retailer, Deposit Refund Scheme
Pan India EPR Authorization by CPCB – replacing the state wise EPR authorization.
manufacturer is also now responsible to collect e – waste generated
UN World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
observed on June 17 to raise awareness on the global and national actions that address desertification, land degradation and drought.
Established in 1994, the United Nations to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
The new UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework is the most comprehensive global commitment to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN)
Uttarakhand HC declares animals to be ‘legal persons’
The entire animal kingdom, including avian and aquatic ones, are declared as legal entities having a distinct persona with corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person.
All the citizens throughout the State of Uttarakhand have been declared persons in loco parentis as the human face for the welfare/protection of animals.
India’s genetically modified crop area fifth largest in World
India has the world’s fifth largest cultivated area under GM crops, at 11.4 million hectares (mha) in 2017.
entire GM crop area is under a single crop – cotton – incorporating genes from the Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt soil bacterium coding for resistance against heliothis bollworm insect pests.
highest share in the world’s total 189.8 mh GM crop area for 2017 to be of soyabean (94.1 mh), followed by maize (59.7 mh), cotton (24.1 mh), canola (10.2 mh), alfalfa (1.2 mh) and sugar-beet (0.50 mh).
GM crops that are under regulatory consideration – include glyphosate-tolerant cotton and biotech hybrid mustard.
National Bamboo Mission
In October 2006, GOI had launched the National Bamboo Mission (NBM) on the basis of the National Mission on Bamboo Technology and Trade Development Report, 2003.
to focus on research and development, plantation on forest and non-forest lands through Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) or Village Development Committee (VDCs)
Around 80 per cent of bamboo forests lie in Asia with India, China and Myanmar having 19.8 million hectares of bamboo.
India is the world’s second largest cultivator of bamboo after China, with 136 species and 23 genera spread over 13.96 million hectares.
India’s annual bamboo production is estimated at 3.23 million tonnes. – the country’s share in the global bamboo trade and commerce is only 4 per cent.
To facilitate the benefit flow to the farmers, bamboo outside forest areas has been excluded from the definition of tree of Indian Forest Act, 1927
Ganga Vriksharopan Abhiyan
National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) is running “Ganga Vriksharopan Abhiyan” in five main stem Ganga basin states – Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research- India to expand polar research to Arctic
renamed the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), since 1998, charged with conducting expeditions to India’s base stations to arctic as the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research
India’s earth sciences community also views the Himalayas as a “third pole” – already established a high-altitude research station in the Himalayas, called HIMANSH, at Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.
three bases in Antarctica
India is an observer at the Arctic Council — a forum of countries that decides on managing the region’s resources and popular livelihood and, in 2015, set up an underground observatory, called IndARC, at the Kongsfjorden fjord, half way between Norway and the North Pole.
In 1996, the Ottawa Declaration formally established the Arctic Council intergovernmental forum to provide a means for promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States
Arctic Council Member States – Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States of America.
International Tiger Day: 29 July
the conservation strategy aimed at doubling them by 2022, Tx2
latest WWF estimates (2016), there are only 3,890 tigers left in the wild, whilst at the beginning of the 20th century their number exceeded 100,000.
Doubling wild tigers: In 2010, Saint Petersburg hosted the Tiger Summit, in which countries committed to the goal Tx2, i.e. doubling wild tigers by 2022.
Tigers are on the rise for the first time in 100 years
Celebrating tigers: Global Tiger Day is celebrated on the 29th of July worldwide, with numerous initiatives mostly organised by the 13 countries home to this feline: Bangladesh, India, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Bhutan, Nepal, and Russia.
National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has launched the M-STrIPES (Monitoring
System for Tigers – Intensive Protection and Ecological Status), a mobile monitoring system
for forest guards.
PARIVESH
PARIVESH (Pro-Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive, Virtuous and Environmental Singlewindow Hub) launched on World Biofuel Day, 10th of August, 2018.
National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank dedicated to Nation
The Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES), is a dedicated laboratory of the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad and the only institute in the country working towards conservation of endangered wildlife using modern biotechnologies to save endangered wildlife species of India.
Wildlife Genetic Resource Banking (GRB) is the systematic collection and preservation of tissues, sperm, eggs and embryos, genetic material.
Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve in World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR)
Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve become the 11th Biosphere Reserve from India that has been included in the UNESCO designated World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR).
India has 18 Biosphere Reserves and with the inclusion of Khangchendzonga, the number of internationally designated WNBR has become 11, with 7 Biosphere Reserves being domestic Biosphere Reserves.
Khangchendzonga National Park is also a World Heritage Site ‘mixed’ category.
Revival of Cheetah Reintroduction Project
The Madhya Pradesh forest to revive the plan to reintroduce cheetahs in the state’s Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary.
India’s last spotted cheetah died in Chhattisgarh in 1947. the fastest land animal was declared extinct in India in 1952.
Nauradehi was found to be the most suitable area for the cheetahs as its forests are not very dense to restrict the fast movement of the spotted cat.
As per the earlier action plan, around 20 cheetahs were to be translocated to Nauradehi from Namibia in Africa.
The species is IUCN Red Listed as vulnerable.
MP houses six major tiger reserves and is often called as the ‘tiger state‘. Prominent are Bandhavgarh, Pench and Kanha tiger reserves.
Nilgiri Tahr population increased
the population of the Nilgiri tahr (an endangered mountain goat) at the Mukurthi National Park has grown by an impressive 18% in the last two years, from 480 to 568.
The Nilgiri Tahr – lives at altitudes of 1,100 to 2,700 meters in the mountainous grasslands and rocky cliffs of the southern portion of the Western Ghats.
India’s National REDD+ Strategy
The Strategy Report has been prepared by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun.
The Strategy builds upon existing national circumstances updated in line with India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change, Green India Mission and India’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to UNFCCC.
The National REDD+ Strategy will be communicated to the UNFCCC
REDD+ means “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation”, conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries.
India has communicated in its NDC – will capture 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of Carbon dioxide through additional forest & tree cover by 2030.
Green Agriculture
The Green Agriculture project synergises biodiversity conservation, agriculture production, and development.
implemented by the Indian govt and FAO takes a novel approach to support the NBAP and synergise biodiversity conservation, agriculture production and development.
being implemented in five landscapes adjoining Protected Areas/Biosphere Reserves: Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand
India is signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
four of the 35 biodiversity hotspots are located in India, it is biodiversity-rich.
India’s National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) recognises the importance of biodiversity for inclusive development.
It envisages a transformation in Indian agriculture for global environmental benefits by addressing land degradation, climate change mitigation, sustainable forest management, and biodiversity conservation.
India Cooling Action Plan
India is the first country in world to develop such a document – addresses cooling requirement across sectors and lists out actions which can help reduce the cooling demand.
goal of ICAP is to provide sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for all while securing environmental and socio-economic benefits for the society.
World Ozone Day on 16th September
Theme: Keep Cool and Carry on: The Montreal Protocol
Montreal Protocol (The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer)
the only environmental treaty which enjoys universal ratification of 197 UN numbers countries. recognized as the most successful international environment treaty in history.
implementation led to the phase-out of around 98% of ozone depleting chemicals, averted more than 135 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.
Ozone Depleting Substances
those substances which deplete the ozone layer and are widely used in refrigerators, airconditioners, fire extinguishers, in dry cleaning, as solvents for cleaning, electronic equipment and as agricultural fumigants.
PM Narendra Modi gets top United Nations Champions of the Earth award
awarded the United Nations’ Champions of the Earth award for the year 2018.
recognised Modi with its highest environmental honour in the policy leadership category for his extensive efforts to ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’- including an ambitious pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in the country by 2022.
Cochin International Airport was also awarded for its leadership in use of sustainable energy in the category of entrepreneurial vision.
The airport is world’s first fully solar-powered airport.
The Champions of the Earth award is the United Nations highest environmental honour recognizing
visionary people and organisations all over the world that exemplify leadership and advocate action on sustainable development, climate change and a life of dignity for all.
Sikkim was awarded FAO’s Future Policy Gold Award for 100% organic farming.
GI Tag for Alphonso
Alphonso from Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Palghar, Thane and Raigad districts of Maharashtra, has recently been registered as Geographical Indication (GI).
The king of mangoes, Alphonso, better known as ‘Hapus’ in Maharashtra
long been one of the world’s most popular fruit and is exported to various countries including Japan, Korea and Europe, USA and Australia
Geographical Indication or a GI
indication used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
an assurance of quality and distinctiveness – attributable to its origin in that defined geographical locality.
governed by WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Shahi Litchi gets GI tag
After Katrani rice, Jardalu mango, and Magahi paan (betel vine), Bihar’s Shahi litchi has got the GI tag and has become an exclusive brand in the national and international market.
Bihar produces 40 per cent of the litchi grown in the country on 38 per cent of the area.
Delhi’s Air Quality set to Worsen
likely to deteriorate as burning of paddy stubble by farmers in Punjab and Haryana intensifies.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’, and 401-500 ‘severe’.
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), air quality is set to worsen, as levels of two main pollutants, PM 2.5 and PM 10
Stubble Burning
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana usually burn the paddy straw after combine harvesters leave a 7-8 inch stubble on the field following harvest, and farmers have to prepare the field for planting of wheat crop in two to three weeks.
India’s First Dolphin Research Centre
National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC), India’s and Asia’s first, is likely to be set up on the banks of the Ganga river in the Patna University premises.
important role in strengthening conservation efforts and research to save the endangered mammal.
K. Sinha, known as the Dolphin Man for his research on Gangetic dolphins as professor in Patna University
The Gangetic River Dolphin – is India’s national aquatic animal
Centre sets ‘Minimum River Flows’ for the Ganga
In a first, the Union government has mandated the minimum quantity of water – or ecological flow – that various stretches of the Ganga must necessarily have all through the year.
The new norms would require hydropower projects located along the river to modify their operations
so as to ensure they are in compliance.
The Central Water Commission would be the designated authority to collect relevant data and
submit flow monitoring-cum-compliance reports on a quarterly basis to the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)
UNDP supported project to boost Climate Resilience
the approval of a US$43 million grant from the Green Climate Fund for project to support climate resilience of millions of people living in the coastal states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha.
India’s coastline is expected to be among the regions most affected by climate change globally.
The Climate change projections predict a 2ºC rise in average annual temperatures across South Asia by the mid-21st century, exceeding 3ºC by the late 21st century.
an increase in global mean surface temperatures of 2ºC will make India’s monsoon highly unpredictable, while a 4ºC increase would result in an extremely wet monsoon occurring every 10 years by the end of the century.
India has about 6,740 km2 of mangroves, including some of the largest mangrove forests in the world.
SDG Goal 13- Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF)
new global fund created to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change. GCF helps developing countries limit or reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change.
set up by the 194 countries who are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010
headquarters in Songdo, Republic of Korea, in December 2013.
Siberian Amur falcons in Umru village of Assam-Meghalaya Border
Amur falcons, the world’s longest travelling raptors.
Doyang Lake in Nagaland’s Wokha district is better known as a stopover for the Amur falcons during their annual migration from their breeding grounds in Mongolia and northern China to warmer South Africa, a flock has been seen since 2010 in Umru.
Local community organises the Amur Falcon Festival since 2015 to celebrate the “birds that have this back-of-beyond area famous”.
Living Planet Report Earth’s Wild Animal population plummets 60% in 44 years:
Living The Living Planet Report 2018 has been published by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) –
international non-governmental organization founded in 1961
wilderness preservation, and the reduction of human impact on the environment
world’s largest conservation organization with over five million supporters worldwide
Appointment/Awards
Sikkim – FAO’s Future Policy Gold Award for 100% organic farming.
Seoul Peace Prize for 2018: PM Narendra Modi
World Food Prize 2018- awarded to Lawrence Haddad and Dr. David Nabarro.
Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel – Chairperson of National Green Tribunal.
Appointment of Second National Judicial Pay Commission
for recommending pay revision for the subordinate judiciary.
headed by retired justice of the Supreme Court, J.P.Venkatrama Reddi.
TRAI Upholds Net Neutrality
Net Neutrality is a concept where content and application providers get equal treatment by telecom operators.
it advocates that individuals should be free to access all content and applications equally, regardless of the source, without Internet Service Providers discriminating against specific online services or websites.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is a statutory body
Founded on 20 February 1997 – Ram Sewak Sharma (Chairman)
PRAGATI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired an interaction through PRAGATI , the ICT-based multimodal platform for Pro-Active Governance and timely implementation.
Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI) platform was launched in 2015
Darpan Project
Ministry of communications has launched DARPAN (Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India)
It aims at realising financial inclusion of un-banked rural population.
provide a low power technology solution to each Branch Postmaster (BPM) which will enable each of approximately 1.29 Lakhs Branch Post Offices (BOs) to improve the level of services being offered to rural customers across all the states.
Good Governance Day on 25th December
observed in India on the birth anniversary of former-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
established in 2014
India’s First Social Audit Law in Meghalaya
Meghalaya became the first state in India to operationalize a law that makes social audit of government programmes and schemes a part of government practice.
launched ‘The Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act,
2017’ that will allow citizens’ participation in the planning of development, selection of beneficiaries, concurrent monitoring of programmes, redress of grievances and audit of works, services and programmes on an annual basis.
Social audits refer to a legally mandated process where potential and existing beneficiaries evaluate the implementation of a programme by comparing official records with ground realities
Triple Talaq Bill
‘The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017’
its objective is “to protect the rights of married Muslim women and to prohibit divorce by pronouncing talaq by their husbands”.
In August 2017, the Supreme Court passed a judgment in the Shayara Bano v UoI on the practice of instant triple talaq, stating that it was “manifestly arbitrary” and “against the basic tenets of Islam”.
Plea to bar Politicians from contesting from Two Seats
A petition was filed in Supreme Court challenging Section 33(7) of Representation of People Act, 1951.
This section allows politicians to contest Parliamentary as well as Assembly elections from two constituencies
18th All India Whips Conference
at Udaipur, Rajasthan on 8th-9th January 2018
organized by Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA).
The conference focused on the efficient functioning of legislatures.
Whip – an important member of a political party’s parliamentary body, having a central role in ‘Floor Management’ in both the Houses of Parliament and is responsible for discipline within the party.
e-Sansad and e-Vidhan projects
These are mission mode projects of Government of India under Digital India, to make the functioning of Parliament and State Legislatures paperless.
Government notifies Electoral Bonds for Political Donations
In a bid to curb influence of illicit cash in Indian political system, the Finance Ministry has notified the contours of new electoral bonds.
these bonds will now be the only way to make donations to political parties.
Political parties, secured at least 1 per cent votes in the last Lok Sabha election or the state Assembly election and are registered under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, will be eligible to receive donations through electoral bonds.
Haj Subsidy Abolished
Haj subsidy funds will be used for educational empowerment of girls and women of minority community.
In 2012, a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court had directed that the Haj subsidy be done away with.
All Haj air traffic is now shared by Air India and Saudi Arabia’s national airline. – many beginning to view it as a subsidy for the airline rather than the Muslim community.
if Haj travel is opened to more airlines, the airfare will be cheaper.
Many Muslim leaders arguing that it is “un-Islamic” as according to the Quran, only those Muslims who can afford the expenses should perform Haj.
Constitution Bench to examine Citizenship Act
The Supreme Court to examination will include the cut-off date for awarding citizenship to Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam. Section 6A of the Act relates to provisions for citizenship of people covered by the Assam Accord.
Therefore, this act fixes March 25, 1971 as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to Bangladeshi migrants in Assam.
E-way Bill
The Government has made it mandatory for all States to implement the national e-way bill system for intra-state movement of goods by June 1 2018.
The E-way bill, is a document to be generated online under the GST system, when goods of the value of more than ₹50,000 are shipped inter-State or intra-State.
Government e-Marketplace (GeM) 3.0 launched
Offer standardised and enriched catalogue management, powerful search engine, real time price comparison, template-based Bid and RA creation, demand aggregation, e-EMD, e-PBG, user rating, advanced MIS and analytics and more.
GeM – aims to transform the way in which procurement of goods and services is done by the Government Ministries/Departments, PSUs, autonomous bodies etc.
Panel Recommends Separate Flag for Karnataka
If adopted with clearance from the MHA, Karnataka will be the second state after Jammu and Kashmir to have an official state flag.
Constitutional Position – So far, Jammu and Kashmir is only state having separate flag of its own due to special status granted by Article 370 of the Constitution.
no separate Central or State law to deal with this issue. In addition, the Indian Constitution does not prohibits States to have their own flag.
Atal Bhoojal Yojana
Government of India is going to launch this Water Conservation scheme
will be implemented by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation.
Through this scheme, the underwater level will be raised for providing pure and clean water for the use in agriculture.
President approves bill allowing Kambala in karnataka
making Kambala a legal rural sport in Karnataka.
The Bill seeks to exempt kambala and bullock-cart racing from the ambit of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960.
Kambala is an annual buffalo race which is a tradition in the Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts’ farming communit
Committee to select 20 ‘Institutes of Eminence’
N Gopalaswami has been appointed chairperson of the empowered expert committee (EEC) that will be the final authority to select 20 “institutes of eminence”, which will be free from government regulations.
The institutes of eminence scheme under the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry aims to project Indian institutes to global recognition.
The 20 selected institutes will enjoy complete academic and administrative autonomy.
Mahanadi Water Disputes
for adjudication of dispute on Mahanadi River Waters. The dispute is between Odisha and Chhattisgarh on sharing the waters of the river Mahanadi.
The tribunal will consist of a chairman and two other members nominated by the Chief Justice of India from among judges of the Supreme Court or high courts.
Article 262 of the constitution provides for the adjudication of inter-state water dispute.
NITI Forum for Northeast
created to accelerate the central government’s efforts to spur inclusive growth in the northeastern region of the country.
To identify constraints that stand in the way of achieving accelerated, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the eight states of the Northeast region.
co-chaired by the vice chairman of the Niti Aayog and the DoNER minister.
National Financial Reporting Authority to be set up
National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), an independent regulatory body to regulate the auditing and accounting standards as well as for oversight of auditing profession in India in line with global best practices.
under the Companies Act 2013, 15 members including a chairperson, 3 full-time members and a secretary.
Arbitration Council of India
Union cabinet approved the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill providing for creation of the Arbitration Council of India (ACI) which will grade arbitral institutions and accredit arbitrators in the country.
Currently in India there is a preference to ad-hoc arbitration contrary to the global practice where about 86% of arbitrary awards given in the last decade have been institutional arbitration.
Andhra Pradesh’s demand for Special Category Status
The Union government has declined the Andhra Pradesh’s demand of special category status
Special category status was awarded by the then National Development Council to certain states that were historically disadvantaged as a result of their geography, socio-economic status and other such parameters.
bases for the grant of SCS status: difficult hilly terrain, low population density, sizeable share of tribal population, strategic location along international borders, economic and infrastructural backwardness, and non-viable nature of the state’s finances.
SCS was accorded to the eight North Eastern and three Himalayan states (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and J&K)
Maiden Electoral Bond issued
Electoral Bonds worth Rs 222 crore were sold in its maiden issue in order to fund political parties.
to increase transparency in electoral funding in India.
India is the first country to introduce electoral bonds
Move to Impeach CJI Dipak Misra
parties has submitted a notice for an impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra citing five reasons. This is the first such move against the top judge of the apex court in the country.
minimum of 50 members are required to agree to the motion.
MyGov 2.0
Government’s biggest official digital platform MyGov has recently decided to scale up both the quality and quantity of its audience reach.
built on open source technology by the NIC
Panchayati Raj Act Turns 25 Years
On April 24, 1993 India conferred the constitutional status on the panchayati raj system.
The Panchayati Raj Act institutionalized PRIs as the mandatory third tier of governance.
Representation to the women
Indu Malhotra to be First Woman Judge in Supreme Court directly from bar
Seventh woman judge of SC
At present Justice R Banumathi appointed in August 2014 is the lone woman judge in the apex court
in August 2007 SC designated her as Senior Advocate only the 2nd woman to be elevated by SC
Facebook partners with NCW to launch Digital Literacy Programme
to train women on safe use of internet and social media.
National Informatics Centre (NIC) has set up cloud-enabled National Data Centre @ Bhubaneswar
offer round-the-clock operations with secure hosting for e-governance applications of ministries and departments.
It is fourth cloud-enabled National Data Centre of NIC after Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune.
The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2018
intends to jump-start India as a soughtout business destination in the world.
It aims to create a conducive regulatory environment for investors to set up and operate businesses.
Lowering of the specified value of a commercial dispute to Rs 3 lakh from the present 1 crore so that commercial disputes of a reasonable value can be decided by commercial courts.
Commercial court at the district level
State government to specify pecuniary value for commercial dispute at district level
Commercial appellate tribunal
RBI Note on Data Localization
RBI asked all payment companies operating in India to set up data storage facilities within the country in the next six months.
EU New Data Norms European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR)
came in to effect on May 25, 2018.
amid growing scrutiny about how major tech companies collect and use people’s personal information.
Gives citizen greater control over personal data
Citizen’s request to delete data, Right to opt in or opt out, Intimation about data breach, Constitution of supervisory authority, Strengthened regulation, Penalty
BharatNet Connect Every Village Home
Widen the scope of its national broadband project and help every village home surf the web.
deepening internet penetration which, as of September 2017, 33.22 subscribers per 100 persons.
Objective: envisages delivering broadband connectivity to 250000 gram panchayats
Law Commission to Codify Personal Laws
towards bringing a uniform civil code (UCC) for the country
Currently, different personal laws for Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Parsis and others. – cover matters of property, marriage, divorce, inheritance and succession.
Article 44 of the Directive Principles sets implementation of uniform civil code as the duty of the State.
North Eastern Council to come under direct control of Home Ministry
The council is the nodal agency for the economic and social development of the North Eastern region, was till now chaired by the Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Minister.
Home Minister will be ex-officio chairperson of the Council.
The DoNER Minister will be Vice Chairman and all the Governors and Chief Ministers of North Eastern States as Members.
Composite Water Management Index by NITI Aayog
to assess and improve the performance of States/ Union Territories in efficient management of water resources.
7-Star Gram Panchayat Rainbow Scheme by Haryana govt
give star rankings to its panchayats on the basis of seven social parameters
Ambala has topped star ranking followed by Gurugram and Karnal.
Strategic petroleum reserve at Chandikhol and Padur
Union Cabinet has approved establishment of additional 6.5 Million Metric Tonne (MMT) Strategic Petroleum Reserves facilities at Chandikhol in Odisha and Padur in Karnataka.
India, UAE, and Saudi Arabia would create tri-lateral cooperation to secure India’s energy security to check rising oil prices.
UAE was the first country to supply oil to India’s strategic oil reserve facility in Mangalore.
Jaitapur Nuclear plant
NPCIL to build for construction of 6 nuclear reactors of capacity 1,650 megawatt each at Jaitapur nuclear plant in Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra.
Government declares national targets for off-shore wind power
5 GW by 2022 and
30 GW by 2030.
Suresh Mathur committee to review norms related to Insurance Marketing Firms.
Rail MADAD App (Mobile Application for Desired Assistance During travel)
to expedite and streamline passenger grievance redressal.
Reunite’ Applaunched to track missing kids
The Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation has launched mobile
application “ReUnite” to track and trace missing and abandon children in India.
developed by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi‘s NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan.
Taj Declaration to beat Plastic Pollutionadopted in Agra
to make the 500-metre area around the historic ivory-white marble monument litter-free and phase out single-use plastic.
Ten New Swachh Iconic Places launched under Swachh Bharat Mission
Raghavendra Swamy Temple (Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh), Hazardwari Palace (Murshidabad, West Bengal), Brahma Sarovar Temple (Kurukshetra, Haryana), Vidur Kuti (Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh), Mana village (Chamoli, Uttarakhand), Pangong Lake (Leh-Ladakh, J&K), Nagvasuki Temple (Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh), Ima Keithal/market (Imphal, Manipur), Sabarimala Temple (Kerala) and Kanvashram (Uttarakhand) have been taken up in phase III.
EVMs, VVPATs
VVPAT machines are used to verify that the vote polled by a voter goes to the correct candidate.
VVPAT prints a slip containing candidate and symbol – chance for the voter to verify their vote
AAI to set up Civil Aviation Research Organisation in Hyderabad.
Ravindra Dholakia committee to upgrade norms for state, district level economic data collection.
India join European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
as the 69th member
EBRD Founded 1991; Headquarters London
President – Suma Chakrabarti
17th World Sanskrit Conference
held at Vancouver, Canada from 9th July to 13th July, 2018.
Gujarat government grants religious minority status to Jews
third state in India to have granted minority status for Jews, following Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Union Government accords the status of minority communities to six religious communities
Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Zoroastrians (Parsis), Buddhists, and Jains.
The Constitution of India does not define the word minority but refers to the word while according rights to religious and linguistic minorities.
Article 25 guarantees freedom of religion
Article 29, rights to promote and preserve their own culture.
Article 29forbids discrimination on grounds of race, religion, caste, language, in admission to educational institutions run by the state or receiving
Article 30 right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice
Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala – Right of Temple Entry
prohibits women of menstruating age (between 10 and 50 years of age) from entering it, a prohibition enforced under Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965.
Election of Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha
Constitution is silent on the time period within which the Deputy Chairperson of the Upper House should be chosen.
Article 89(2) states that the Council of States shall choose a member of the Council to be Deputy Chairman
Debate on Section 377 of IPC
Section 377 refers it as ‘unnatural offences’
Bru Community
Union Home Minister signed an agreement – repatriate displaced Bru families living in Tripura since 1997 to Mizoram
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (2nd Amendment) Bill, 2017
for no-detention policy in schools. – till the completion of elementary education.
Higher Education Financing Agency
CCEA approved increasing authorized share capital of HEFA to Rs. 10,000 crore from Rs. 2000 crore and approved additional infusing additional government equity of Rs. 5,000 crore.
HEFA set up as a Non Profit, Non Banking Financing Company (NBFC) for mobilising extra-budgetary resources for building crucial infrastructure in the higher educational institutions.
Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) Scheme
to step up investments in infrastructure in premier educational institutions, including health institutions, the government launched Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE).
All centrally-funded institutes (CFIs), including central universities, IITs, IIMs, NITs and IISERs can
borrow from a Rs 1,00,000 crore corpus over next 4 years to expand and build new infrastructure.
financed through suitably structured Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA).
NETA App
allows voters to rate and review their political representatives.
Bond-i
World Bank launches world’s first blockchain bond.
Kanyashree Prakalpa
a West Bengal Government sponsored scheme –
would not be any ceiling for a family’s annual earnings to be a beneficiary.
conditional cash transfer scheme aiming at improving the status and well being of the girl child by incentivising schooling of teenage girls and delaying their marriages until the age of 18
Odisha government announced Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY)
universal health coverage scheme – by providing secondary and tertiary cashless health care assistance up to Rs 5 lakh per family per annum.
Meghalaya government made it mandatory for married people to produce marriage certificates for all official purposes.
No Confidence Motion
Article 75(3) of our Constitution embodies this rule by specifying that the Council of Ministers are collectively responsible to Lok Sabha.
Lok Sabha rule on NCM: any Lok Sabha MP who can garner the support of 50 colleagues, to
introduce a motion of no confidence against the Council of Ministers
during the third Lok Sabha in 1963 that the first one was moved by Acharya J B Kripalani against the government headed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
The first successful no-confidence motion in 1979 against the government of Prime Minister Morarji Desai.
More Assembly Seats for Sikkim
The Home Ministry has moved the Union Cabinet to increase the number of seats in the Sikkim Assembly from 32 to 40.
Inadequate tribal representation: The seats are being increased to accommodate the Limboo and Tamang.
Cap on Election Expenses by parties and Candidates
The EC has asked the government to amend the Representation of People’s Act and Rule 90 of The Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, to introduce a ceiling on campaign expenditure by political parties in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.
Limits on expenditure by a candidate: EC imposes limits on campaign expenditure incurred by a candidate, not political parties.
by a Lok Sabha candidate is capped between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 70 lakh.
In Assembly elections, ceiling is between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 28 lakh.
Government claims RBI has enough power to regulate Banks
RBI’s Contention
Lacuna in 1949 Act: RBI says a banking company is defined in Section 69 (c) of that Act as any company, which transacts the business of banking in India. State Bank of India and nationalized banks, which are PSBs are not companies but corporations formed by statutes, therefore not banking companies. Thus, Banking regulation Act, 1949 does not apply to PSBs in full.
This forms a great constraint for a regulator and supervisor.
Sports University Bill, 2018
to establish a National Sports University in Manipur.
Swadesh Darshan Scheme – Development of North East Circuit
Governor of Manipur, launched the project “Development of North East Circuit: Imphal & Khongjom”
covers two sites i.e. Kangla Fort and Khongjom – first project under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme
Khongjom is the place where the last war of resistance of Anglo Manipur War of 1891 was fought.
Swadesh Darshan Scheme
flagship scheme of Ministry of tourism for development of thematic circuits
to promote cultural and heritage value of the country by developing world-class infrastructure
13 thematic circuits have been identified for development – Buddhist Circuit, North-East India Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit, and Heritage Circuit.
Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) aims to beautify and improve the amenities and infrastructure at pilgrimage centres of all faiths and harness the value of religious tourism.
Finance Ministry launches web portal to grant loans to MSMEs within hour.
Pakyong airport
PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Sikkim’s first airport.
Umeed Scheme
Union Cabinet has approved the extension of Umeed Scheme for Jammu & Kashmir for one more year during 2018-19.
Special programme for J&K, implemented under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), launched in J&K in 2013 to encourage rural women to make small savings so that their Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to eventually become bankable at reduced rate of interest.
2nd World Hindu Congress
The 2nd World Hindu Congress was organized in Chicago, United States. It was held to commemorate 125 years of Swami Vivekananda’s historic Chicago address on September 11, 1893.
Aadhar Bill as Money Bill
Aadhar judgment concluded that govt was justified in the passage of the Aadhaar Act as a Money bill.
Section 7, which enables the use of Aadhaar to avail of any government subsidy, benefit or service for which expenditure is incurred out of the Consolidated Fund of India is the core provision in law and that this makes it a Money bill.
Article 110: Definition of Money Bill
Odisha Plans for Legislative Council
Article 171:states can have a Legislative Council in addition to the Legislative Assembly.
Article 169, a Legislative Council can be formed, if the Legislative Assembly of
the State passes a resolution to that effect by a majority of the total membership of the Assembly
and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the Assembly present and voting.
Parliament can then pass a law to this effect.
Members: Article 171, the Legislative Council of a state shall not have more than one-third of the total number of MLAs of the state and not less than 40 members. But in J&K, LA has 87 members and the LC 36.
Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) is six years, with one-third of the members retiring every two years.
7 States have MLC – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, J&K, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.
SC Decision on Criminalization of Politics
The Supreme Court expressed its inability to make a law to check creeping criminalization of the polity
Section 8 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, bans convicted politicians. But those facing Trial are free to contest elections.
State Finance Commission (SFC)
created by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments to rationalize and systematize State/sub-State-level fiscal relations in India.
Article 243I mandated the State Governor to constitute a Finance Commission every five years.
primary task – rectify growing horizontal imbalances in the delivery of essential public services to citizens.
Government sets up Lokpal Search Panel
to recommend the names of chairman and members of anti-corruption watchdog Lokpal
Chaired by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai
Setting up of an Independent Payments Regulatory Board (PRB)
The growth in the financial tech sector has enabled non-banks to play a significant role in payments.
The government itself is keen to promote digital payment systems and set up a Committee on digital payments in 2016.
Delhi launches doorstep delivery of Government Services
Delhi government has launched its ambitious project Phone-a-sahayak scheme to deliver public services at the doorstep of residents.
Delhiites can now apply for 40 govt documents to be delivered at their homes for a fee of Rs. 50 per service.
The applicant would have to call 1076 and mobile sahayak will go to their home and help with filling forms, payment of fees and collection of documents.
Government replaced Scientific Advisory Committees (SAC) with PM-STIAC
scrapped two Scientific Advisory Committees (SAC) for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, and replaced them with a nine member, Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
The PM-STIAC will be chaired by the government’s Principal Scientific Advisor, Dr. K. Vijay Raghavan.
Odisha’s Food Security Scheme
On Gandhi Jayanti, the Odisha government launched its own food security scheme to benefit
who were left out of the National Food Security Act.
Michelle Bachelet appointed as the next United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
OHCHR was appointed by the UN General Assembly to realise a demand of the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993.
Operation Samudra Maitri
to assist victims of earthquake and tsunami in Central Sulawesi Province of the Republic of Indonesia.
E Sreedharan committee to lay down standards for metro rail systems.
WEF launches Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution in India.
IWAI has launched Ro-Ro service from Neamati to Manjuli Island in Assam.
Mahila Mall, the first mall in the country with an all-women crew will come up in Kozhikode in the month of November.
Appointment/Awards
AG Rohatgi – Lokpal Selection Panel as Eminent Jurist
Gita Gopinath has been appointed as Chief Economist of IMF.
Fali S. Nariman -19th Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration.
Sikkim – FAO’s Future Policy Gold Award for 100% organic farming.
Seoul Peace Prize for 2018: PM Narendra Modi
Sharad kumar: appointed as new vigilance commissioner in CVC.
Arvind saxena: Arvind Saxena has been appointed as acting Chairman of UPSC.
World Food Prize 2018- awarded to Lawrence Haddad and Dr. David Nabarro.
Public Affairs Index 2018: Kerala has topped the list of best governed States for third time.
Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel: appointed as a Chairperson of National Green Tribunal.
R S Sharma re-appointed TRAI chairperson.
Rekha Sharma appointed as Chairperson of National Commission for Women.
Ashish Kumar Bhutani appointed CEO of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
Justice Ranjan Gogoi – Chief Justice of India (46th CJI).
Kamlesh Nilkanth Vyas – Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission.
LK Advani – renominated as Chairman of Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha.
IIT-G scientists publish breakthrough research work on metastatic cancer
A research conducted by Gautam Biswas, IIT-G Director, alongwith his colleagues Siddhartha Sankar Ghosh of biosciences & bioengineering and Amaresh Dalal from mechanical engineering departments, have demonstrated the movement of metastatic cancer cells, a breakthrough in cancer research.
The research showed how cancer cells can deform, survive and pass through micro capillaries in the human body. Multi-cellular aggregates of cancer cells are the initiators of distant organ metastasis and cause spread of cancer in the body.
The findings been endorsed in the prestigious Scientific Journal, that publishes scientifically valid primary research from all areas of the natural and clinical sciences. Earlier it was assumed that cancer cells are too large to pass through narrow vessels such as pulmonary capillaries to reach other organs.
The research work is expected to be helpful for oncologists in devising new methods of cancer treatment.
FACTFILE – Cancer cells
Cancer cells are cells that divide relentlessly, forming solid tumors or flooding the blood with abnormal cells.
Healthy cells stop dividing when there is no longer a need for more daughter cells, but cancer cells continue to produce copies.
They are also able to spread from one part of the body to another in a process known as metastasis.
The enzyme telomerase is used to extend the cancer cell’s life span. While the telomeres of most cells shorten after each division, eventually causing the cell to die, telomerase extends the cell’s telomeres. This is a major reason that cancer cells can accumulate over time, creating tumors.
Nagaland launches Supply Chain Management for timely delivery of foodgrains
To ensure timely delivery of goods and services to the people of Nagaland, Supply Chain Management (SCM) was launched by DK Gupta, Director of Public Distribution, Ministry of Public distribution and Consumer Affairs.
SCM is a powerful monitoring tool for tracking stock inventory starting from the godown to the fair price shops. The application would make the beneficiaries aware about the availability of food grains.
Under the National Food Security Act, Nagaland has completed all the activities required for beneficiaries except FPS Automation. As per a Supreme Court order, all beneficiaries availing subsidized food grains in Nagaland and across the country have to seed their ration cards with Aadhaar on or before March 31, 2019.
The SCM will help in accquring accurate information on all storage facilities in the state and would help the department in making effective decision making.
Nagaland Govt. restricts use of plastics
The Nagaland government notified its policy for restricting the use of plastics in the state to eradicate the serious environmental and ecological challenges posed by rampant use of plastics with immediate effect.
As per the notification, all single-use plastics less than 50 microns especially plastic bags and plastic cutlery including styrofoam and thermocol disposable plates will be banned from December 1, 2018.
It said the government offices will stop using packaged drinking water bottles, below 20 litres capacity, by April 1, 2019. Alternatives like filtered water dispensers and reverse osmosis plants will be introduced while the government servants will be encouraged to carry reusable drinking water bottles.
Alternatives to plastic bags such as cloth, jute, paper bags, bamboo and leaf plates and cutlery will be promoted and popularized.
State Gvto will set up a taskforce in each district that will include government officials, NGOs and church leaders to devise local strategies and build awareness for plastic-free environment.
The village councils and municipal bodies will be sensitised to take proactive action for discouraging use of plastics in their jurisdiction and they can decide on the issue of levying penalties for continued use of single-use plastics in their jurisdiction.
The government will provide incentives to entrepreneurs investing in production of paper bags and cloth bag making units, disposable biodegradable cutlery from areca nut leaves, setting up of water ATMs in public places, plastic shredding units for recycling of plastics among others.
India’s PSLV rocket successfully puts HysIS satellite into orbit
India put into orbit its own Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS) an earth observation satellite.
The Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle Core Alone (PSLV CA) rocket variant lifted off with 31 satellites, the HysIS and 30 foreign satellites (including 23 satellites are from the US, the rest are from Australia, Canada, Columbia, Finland, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Spain).
The notable aspect of the rocket mission is the placing of the satellites in two different orbits of different altitude.
While the HysIS has been placed in its intended orbit, the remaining 30 foreign satellites will be later ejected at a lower orbit, all the foreign satellites were placed in a 504 km orbit.
HySIS is an Earth observation satellite which will provide hyperspectral imaging services to India for a range of applications in agriculture, forestry, defence and in the assessment of geography such as coastal zones and inland waterways.
Payloads
HySIS carries two payloads, the first in the Visible Near Infrared (VNIR) spectral range of 0.4 to 0.95 micrometers with 60 contiguous spectral bands and the second in the Shortwave Infrared Range (SWIR) spectral range of 0.85 to 2.4 micrometres with a 10 nanometre bandwidth and 256 contiguous spectral bands.
Indo-Russian joint military drill INDRA concludes
The 10th edition of Indo-Russian joint military exercise INDRA culminated at Babina Military Station here on Wednesday after a joint tactical exercise and a grand closing ceremony.
The 11-day long joint training that commenced on November 18 included developing “common understanding of transnational terrorism, interoperability and conduct of joint tactical operations” controlled by a Joint Command Post working under the aegis of United Nations.
Classes were organised on cordon and search operations, raid on terrorist hideout, intelligence gathering and sharing, perception management, humanitarian laws and hostage rescue.
The participating contingents also carried out specialised joint training on hostage rescue by slithering from MI-17 helicopters.
Major General P.S. Minhas, General Officer Commanding of White Tiger Division of the Indian Army and Major General Tsekov Oleg Moosovich, Commander, Fifth Army of the Russian Army witnessed the validation exercise conducted at the field firing ranges.
November 30
Silapathar Science Collegecreates rice bank to preserve indigenous varieties
The Silapathar Science College, located in Dhemaji district of Assam has not only set up a rice bank to preserve seeds of indigenous varieties that are losing out to new high-yielding varieties but also encouraging farmers to grow them so that they do not become extinct.
The College has so far documented and preserved 251 indigenous varieties through its rice bank.
Set up in 1996, the college started to work closely with farmers in the district since 2015 and organised a “Rice Mela” to showcase the indigenous varieties grown in the district.
Assam produced over 70 lakh tonnes of rice in 2017, compared to 52 lakh tonnes the previous year.
Besides the normal rice, Assam also produces different varieties of aromatic rice, locally known as “Joha”; some varieties of soft rice, locally known as “Komal Saul” that needs no cooking; and a huge variety of sticky rice, commonly known as “Bora”.
New health project ‘PLUS’ launched in five Arunachal districts
A health project named ‘Precious Lives under Safety (PLUS)’ is recently launched by Arunachal Government.
The project is initially launched in five district of Papumpare, Lower Subansiri, West Siang, East Siang and Lohit.
It was a modified form of Prime Minister Surakshit Matritwa Yojana, which ensures zero mortality of pregnant mother and neo natal babies besides 100 percent coverage of child birth in government run hospitals.
He said that about 50 percent registered pregnant women in the state gives birth out of government hospital under various reason, but the new project would facilitate them to come to government hospitals for at least four times ante-natal check up and hospital delivery.
Nagaland signed MoU with Estonia for setting up e-governance academy
The Nagaland government signed an MoU with Estonian to setup as academy in Kohima to enlighten the state people on the e-governance models prevailing in the world.
The main objective of the five-year agreement with the e-Governance Academy of Estonia is to work together to develop and expand scientific collaboration on setting up e-Governance Academy in Nagaland.
The agreement was signed during the e-Naga Summit, held with a vision to embark on a process to instill the spirit of innovation and use of technology for impacting positive change in the society.
Manipur emerges overall champion in National School Games
Host Manipur emerged overall team champion at the end of 5-day 64th National School Games, 2018 in Taekwondo for U-14 Boys & Girls held at the Taekwondo Training Hall of Khuman Lampak Sports Complex in Imphal.
Manipur won a total of five gold, three silver and one bronze medals and tops the medal tally while Haryana took three gold, four silver and one bronze medals to clinch the overall runner’s up title. The third position in the tally was bagged by Maharashtra with two gold, five silver and two bronze medals.
With two gold medals and one bronze medal, Nagaland ranked 7th the in medal tally after Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Delhi.
The Youth Affairs and Sports Department organised the games under the aegis of School Games Federation of India.
India-UK joint naval exercise Konkan-2018 begins at Goa
India-UK joint naval exercise “Konkan-2018” has started at Goa and would go on till December 6, The Royal Navy of UK will be represented by HMS Dragon, a Type 45 Class Destroyer equipped with an integral Wildcat helicopter.
The Indian Navy will field INS Kolkata, the first ship of latest Kolkata class destroyers, equipped with integral Seaking and an IN submarine.
In addition, Indian Navy’s maritime patrol aircraft Dornier will also participate in the exercise.
The thrust of the exercise this year would be on anti-submarine warfare, visit board search and seizure (VBSS), anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare and seamanship evolutions.
The bilateral Konkan exercise provides a platform for the two navies to periodically exercise at sea and in harbour, so as to build interoperability and share best practices.
Assam honoured with India Today’s most improved large State award
In recognition to the State Government’s initiatives to ensure development and quality of life for its citizens, Assam has been awarded the most improved large state in the categories of Overall performance, Economy and Health by India Today at the ‘State of the States Conclave’ held in New Delhi.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal received the award from Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu.
He also said that corruption-free Assam has been Govt’s top most agenda and govt has cracked down against corrupt practices in the state.
In the tenure of this govt, the state government has detected and cancelled four lakh bogus job cards under MGNREGA, over 36,000 bogus ration cards and over 70 thousand bogus beneficiaries registered under National Old age pension scheme apart from officials held for APSC ‘cash for job scam’.
The North East region is fast emerging as a centre of growth. PM Narendra Modi has called the North East as ‘New Engine of New India’ and ‘Ashtalakshmi’. And has laid special emphasis on improving connectivity within the region and with the rest of India, via railways, waterways, roads, air or telecommunication.
By plugging leakages, revenue collection of the State increased from Rs. 7011 crore in 2015-16 to 8457 crore in 2017-18, an increase of 21%.
Capital expenditurehas increased from Rs. 4919 crore in 2015-16 to 12,817 crore in 2017-18, showing our commitment to improve quality of expenditure.
Government’s sustained efforts to focus on boosting rural economy through leveraging growth of agriculture and other allied sectors, as a result of which annual production of rice has increased by 2.27 lakh tons, horticulture production has increased by 6.19 lakh tons and fish production by 33 thousand tons in 2017-18 as compared to 2015-16.
For the first time direct export of fruits and vegetables from Guwahati to Dubai and other international destinations has started..
State Government organized North East India’s first ever Global Investors’ Summit to realise agri-business potential being thrown open by the ‘Act East Policy’. The state has recorded Rs 12,000 crore worth of investments and this has generated direct employment of around 40 thousand and even more indirect employment.
Recently many initiatives being implemented in the health sector including schemes like Atal Amrit Yojana, CM’s Free Diagnostic Scheme, wage compensation scheme for tea garden pregnant women and cancer care grid, etc.
Chief Minister Sonowal thanked the Prime Minister and the Union Government for their un-stinted support and the cooperation of the government employees and people of the state in scripting a new growth narrative in the state, while highlighting the achievements of the State Government and various innovative measures adopted in economy, health, education and different other sectors.
7th International Tourism Mart started in Agartala
The seventh edition of The International Tourism Mart is organized by the Union Ministry of Tourism in association with the Department of Tourism of Tripura and other north-eastern states in Agartala.
The event facilitate interaction between buyers, sellers, media, government agencies and other stakeholders.
Engagement of business-to-business meetings with sellers from the north-eastern region which will enable the tourism product suppliers from the region to reach out to international and domestic buyers.
A total of 41 foreign delegates from 18 countries and 23 tour operators and travel agents along with 18 media representatives, journalists, travel writers and bloggers are participating in the event.
FACTFILE – International Tourism Mart
The International Tourism Mart, an annual event organized in the north-eastern region with the objective of highlighting the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets.
It provides platform to tourism business fraternity and entrepreneurs from eight North Eastern States.
It organized annually in North Eastern States on rotation basis.
The earlier editions of this event were held in Guwahati, Tawang, Shillong, Gangtok and Imphal.
Sela Pass tunnel construction started in Arunachal Pradesh
Director General Border Roads (DGBR) Lt Gen Harpal Singh informed that the bhoomi puja for starting the construction work of a tunnel through the Sela Pass in Arunachal Pradesh would be held in January next year.
The tunnel located on the vicinity of the border between the Tawang and West Kameng districts at an elevation of 13,700 ft will ensure faster movement of troops in the strategically located parts of the state bordering China.
Significant achievement has been made on improving the 317-km-long Balipara-Charduar-Tawang (BCT) road to two-lane road, which is the lifeline of West Kameng and Tawang districts.
The DGBR informed that stretch from 0-50 km road has been completed and stretch from 70-88 km is being carried out on EPC mode.
FACTFILE – The Sela Pass
The Sela Pass (Se La) is a high-altitude mountain pass located on the border between the Tawang and West Kameng Districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in India.
It has an elevation of 4170 m (13,700 ft) and connects the Tibetan Buddhist town of Tawang to Dirang and Guwahati.
The pass carries the main road connecting Tawang with the rest of India.
The pass supports scarce amounts of vegetation and is usually snow-covered to some extent throughout the year.
Sela Lake, near the summit of the pass, is one of approximately 101 lakes in the area that are sacred in Tibetan Buddhism.
While Sela Pass does get heavy snowfall in winters, it is usually open throughout the year.
Union HRD Minister launched Innovation Cell for research
Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar launched the Institution’s Innovation Cell (IIC) at the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) to foster an attitude of research among students.
So far, more than 1,000 higher education institutes have already established IICs on their campuses to “promote innovation”.
After Independence we established research centres separately from the universities. This was a historical mismatch. In all developed countries universities act as research centres. And it can happen only there, he said.
CCEA approved continuation of “Atmosphere & Climate Research-Modelling Observing Systems & Services (ACROSS)” scheme
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the continuation of its scheme “Atmosphere & Climate Research-Modelling Observing Systems & Services (ACROSS)” which will provide improved weather, climate and ocean forecasts and services.
The Cabinet has approved the continuation of the nine sub-schemes of the umbrella scheme ‘ACROSS’ during 2017-2020 at an estimated cost of Rs 1,450 crore.
It will be implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences through its institutes namely India Meteorological Department (IMD), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service (INCOIS).
November 23
Assam singer Nahid Afrin appointed UNICEF ‘Youth Advocate’
Assam singer Nahid Afrin was appointed the first ever ‘Youth Advocate’ of UNICEF, which
aims to inspire and gather the support of India’s 253 million adolescents towards the cause of children and young people.
UNICEF’s association with Nahid Afrin is part of an initiative to advocate child rights in the northeast. As a youth advocate, she would act as a role model to inspire children and young people to act in making the world a better place and ensuring that their rights are respected.
Youth advocates support initiatives of positive change that include access to quality education, basic healthcare, ending violence against children, and addressing the issues of equity and inclusion.
BIOGRAPHY – Nahid Afrin
Nahid made her playback debut in the 2016 Bollywood film Akira.
She won the best female singer award in 2017 for the song Dhuniya Joon.
She also won an award in 2018 at the Assam State Film Awards.
Awards for Nagaland, Tripura at India Today State of State’s Survey
Nagaland awarded ‘Best Performing Small State’ in ‘Law & Order’ by the India Today State of State’s Survey 2018. Nagaland Minister for Forest, Environment, Climate Change and Parliamentary Affairs, C M Chang received the award from Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu.
Tripura bagged three prizes in inclusive development, infrastructure and overall most improved small state. Somya Gupta, Special Resident Commissioner of Tripura Bhavan at New Delhi, received the award.
Meghalaya gets India Today award for ‘most improved small State’ in agriculture
Meghalaya has been adjudged the ‘most improved small State’ in the category of agriculture in the India Today ‘The State of the States’ 2018 Survey.
The Chief Advisor to the Chief Minister Thomas A. Sangma received the India Today ‘The State of the States’ award on behalf of the State Government.
Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said, the govt have laid adequate thrust on improving agriculture in Meghalaya and such award will further motivate our officials and the farmers to take a quantum leap to ensure innovative and sustainable farming practices.
India and Laos review bilateral ties
India and Laos reviewed the entire gamut of their bilateral ties during the Ninth Joint Commission meeting co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Lao counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith.
The meeting reviewed the India-Lao PDR relations comprehensively and took note of all that has been achieved and current state of the various cooperation programmes.
The meeting also laid out the road map for future cooperation and enhancement in bilateral relations.
Laos is member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) regional bloc with which New Delhi has been actively engaging under its Act East Policy.
FACTFILE – Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia at the heart of the Indochinese peninsula, bordered by Myanmar (Burma) and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southwest, and Thailand to the west and southwest.
Laos is a member of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), East Asia Summit and La Francophonie.
The capital and largest city is Vientiane.
Laos has been referred to as one of East Asia and Pacific’s Fastest Growing Economies by the World Bank, with annual GDP growth averaging 7.8% for the past decade.
India and China to hold border talks
India and China will discuss their vexed boundary dispute and try to sort out major issues at the 21st round of two-day border in the Chinese city of Chengdu.
The two countries, which fought a war in 1962 and have had several skirmishes since then along their largely undefined 3,488-km border, were locked in a 73-day military stand-off at Doklam, a contested region between China and Bhutan close to India’s arterial highway where the Chinese were building a road.
The two Asian giants are in a recovery mode and have seemingly made progress in their relationship, especially after the informal summit between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in April this year.
India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will hold the talks with China’s top diplomat and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Beijing’s new Special Representative on the boundary dispute.
FACTFILE – Sino-Indian border dispute
The Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the effective border between India and the People’s Republic of China.
It traverses 4,057 km along the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
The McMahon Line was part of the 1914 Simla Convention between British India and Tibet, an agreement rejected by China.
Areas of Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh are disputedly claimed by China also.
The 1962 Sino-Indian War was fought in both of these areas. An agreement to resolve the dispute was concluded in 1996, including “confidence-building measures” and a mutually agreed Line of Actual Control.
The 2017 China India border standoff or Doklam standoff refers to the military border standoff between the Indian Armed Forces and the People’s Liberation Army of China over Chinese construction of a road in Doklam near a trijunction border area, known as Donglang.
On 16 June 2017 Chinese troops with construction vehicles and road-building equipment began extending an existing road southward in Doklam, a territory which is claimed by both China as well as India’s ally Bhutan. On 18 June 2017, around 270 Indian troops, with weapons and two bulldozers, entered Doklam to stop the Chinese troops from constructing the road. On 28 August, both India and China announced that they had withdrawn all their troops from the face-off site in Doklam.
