[CA] Daily News [June 06 - 07, 2018]

Around INDIA

# The Centre has decided not to file any “counter – affidavit” on Article – 35A, which has been challenged in the Supreme Court through a PIL petition

·       Article 35A: allows the Jammu and Kashmir legislature to decide the “permanent residents” of the State, prohibits a non – State resident from buying property in the State and ensures reservation in employment for residents

 # Government to launch “Make in Northeast” initiative to identify produces of the northeastern states and give them opportunity to collaborate with stakeholders

·       Sikkim: Organic state of India

·       Mizoram: Bamboo state of India

·       Manipur: Textile state of India

# IRCTC introduced the trial run of environment friendly bagasse – based food packaging on 8 premium trains like Shatabdis and Rajdhanis originating from New Delhi

# The latest Sample Registration System (SRS) data indicates that the MMR (Maternal Mortality Rate) in the country has been reduced from 167 to 130 [Click for more details]

# 11th edition of Geo – Intelligence Asia 2018 was held in New Delhi with the theme of “GeoSpatial: A Force Multiplier for defence and Industrial Security”

TAMIL NADU

 # Government announced that it would ban the manufacture, storage and use of plastic products except as packing material for milk, curd, oil and medical products from Jan 01, 2019

·       The ban would be imposed under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986

·       This is the AIADMK government’s second attempt to ban plastics. In May 2002, the government led by late Ms. J. Jayalalithaa had introduced the Tamil Nadu Plastic Articles (Prohibition of Sale, Storage, Transport and Use) Bill in the Assembly. However, following opposition from plastic manufacturers, the Bill was referred to a Select Committee and later withdrawn

# VIT (Vellore Institute of Technology) and NIT (National Institute of Tiruchi) has received the State Government’s “Green Award” for 2017

·       The Award recognizes the efforts to conserve nature and natural resources and promote create the concept of environment protection. It also acknowledges the initiatives taken to reduce pollution

·       VIT – Vellore was awarded for its contribution towards increasing the green cover of Vellore and efforts to rejuvenate the Palar River

·       NIT – Tiruchi was awarded for promoting sustainable development practices and has set itself a variety of goals to make the campus eco-friendly

# State’s first de-addiction centre for juveniles was opened in Chengalpattu

# Government has increased the subsidy being provided to transgenders to run their own small – scale businesses from Rs. 20, 000 to Rs. 50, 000.

# Mr. Masood Husain was appointed as the interim chairman of Cauvery Management Authority 

 STATES SCAN

# Assam: Baikho festival is celebrated across the State for the well-being of the Rabha community and for a good harvest

 # Jammu & Kashmir: to host its first ever “Global Investors Meet” in end of July 2018 focused on harnessing hydropower potential of 20, 000 MW in the State

# Jharkhand: Government announced that it would ban the use of polythene bags from June 05, 2019

# Madhya Pradesh: Government launched a outstanding power bill waiver scheme for poor and families of labourers (Bijli Bill Mafi Yojana 2018 / Power Bill Waiver Scheme 2018)

# Madhya Pradesh: Government launched “Mukhyamantri Jan Kalyan (Sambal) Yojana 2018: to give power supply at a rate of Rs. 200 per month to the BPL families

# Nagaland: Government announced that it would ban the use of polythene bags from December 2019

# Uttarakhand: Government announced that it would ban the use of polythene bags from July 31, 2018

# Uttar Pradesh: the over century-old Mughalsarai railway station has been renamed after RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhaya 

 BILATERAL ISSUES

# Infrastructure major, Hindustan Construction Company Ltd (HCC), in a joint venture with Bangladesh construction firm MAX Group has been awarded a $110 million (Rs. 737 crore) contract by Russia’s State Nuclear Company, JSC Atomstroyexport, for civil works of turbine island for Unit 1 of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant

# 31st edition of the India – Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (IND – INDO CORPAT) was held in Belawan, Indonesia (also held in Port Blair, India)

WORLD

# China: approved the first domestically developed, long – acting injectable HIV drug named Albuvirtide

# European Union: same-sex partners of EU citizens have the right to live in any member state whatever their nationality, even in countries that do not recognize gay marriage – EU Court (located at Luxembourg)

# Malaysia: Indian origin lawyer and a Constitutional expert Mr. Tommy Thomas was appointed as Malaysia’s new Attorney – General; becomes the first Indian origin to hold this post

 # Singapore: will strike commemorative medallions (in gold, silver and nickel plated) to mark the historic meeting between US President, Mr. Donald trump and North Korean Leader Mr. Kim Jong-un (in Sentosa island, Singapore); the medallions will depict an “affirmative handshake” between the two leaders, the scheduled date of the summit and the flags of both countries

 # UN declared 2022 as the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture

ECONOMICS

# India will reach its target of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity well before the deadline of 2022: Ministry of Renewable Energy

# The six – member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%

·       Increase in the repo rate is the first in four-an-a-half-years

·       Reverse repo rate: 6%

·       Bank rate: 6.5%

# To address concerns about depleting groundwater reserves in India, the government of India has joined hands with the World Bank to execute a Rs. 6000 crore scheme called ABHY (Atal Bhujal Yojana)

 # RBI has decide to allow Urban Co-operative Banks (UCB) to convert into Small Finance Banks (SFB), a move aimed at bringing these entities into mainstream banking

# Government has formed a group to study the SEZ policy of India, headed by Baba Kalyani

SPORTS

 # India’s Virat Kohli wax statue was unveiled at Madame Tussauds in New Delhi 

 # India’s Virat Kohli has become the only Indian to appear in annual list of the world’s 100 highest – paid athletes 2018 as per Forbes Magazine

·       Virat Kohli was placed at 83rd place with total earnings of 24 million dollars

·       This year’s list has not features any female athletes

·       American boxer Floyd Mayweather has topped the list with a earning of 285 million dollars followed by Lionel Messi and Crisitano Ronaldo

MISC

# As many as 539 new species of plants and animals were discovered by scientists and taxonomists in the country in 2017: Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and Botanical Survey of India (BSI)

# Nitrogen particles make up the largest fraction of PM 2.5, the class of pollutants closely linked to cardiovascular and respiratory illness; while the burning of crop residue is said to be key contributor to winter smog in many parts of North India, it contributes over 240 million kg of nitrogen oxides and about 7 million kg of nitrous oxide per year

# Book “Honeycomb” by Ayan Gogoi Gohai (4 years); India’s youngest author

 # Rudrendra Tadon was appointed as the Ambassador of India to ASEAN

# Global Peace Index (GPI)

·       Released by Australia – based IEP (Institute for Economics and Peace)

·       IEP is world’s leading think tank that develops metrics to analyse peace and quantify its economic value

·       India’s GPI rank was 136 out of 163 countries in 2018 (in 2017 it was 137)

·       Iceland continues to be the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008