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was referred to a Select Committee and later withdrawn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
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