1. Nitin Gadkari (Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation) Signed MoUs with 6 States - Uttarakhand, UP, HP, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi for construction of Lakhwar Multipurpose Project on Yamuna near Dehradun, with cost approx INR ______________________ Crores.
- It was initially approved in 1976 but work was suspended in 1992. It envisages construction of a 204 m high concrete dam across river Yamuna near Lohari village in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand with a storage capacity of 330.66 MCM.
- It will provide irrigation for 33,780 hectares land and availability of 78.83 MCM water for use in the 6 basin states. The project will also generate 300 MW of power.
- Besides Lakhwar Multi-Purpose project, there are two other major projects being envisaged in the Upper Yamuna reaches which are Kishau Multi-Purpose project and Renukaji Multi-Purpose project. A fourth project is the Vyasi project, a run-of-the-river scheme under which a concrete dam across River Yamuna is being constructed near Vyasi village in Dehradun district.
2. Odisha Government tied up with ___________________ for its mega investment Conclave 2018 to take place in November 2018, called Make in Odisha.
3. 10-day pineapple festival showcasing different varieties of it has been organised in __________________’s Thayong village.
4. 12th Plan Document has fixed targets of ______________ Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) by 2017-18 and 30% GER by 2020-21. As per All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2017-18, GER in higher education has increased from 24.5% in 2015-16 to 25.8% in 2017-18.
5. 2 new projects of Punjab and _____________ got sanctioned under Swadesh Darshan Scheme.
- In Punjab, project covers sites of Anandpur Sahib, Fatehgarh Sahib, Chamkaur Sahib, Ferozpur, Amritsar, Khatkar Kalan Kalanour Patiala at the cost of Rs 100 crore.
- In ___________, sites of Surma Cherra- Unakoti- Jampui Hills- Gunabati-Bhunaneshwari- Matabari- Neermahal- Boxanagar- Chotta khola- Pilak- Avangchaarra have been covered. It has planned cost of 65 Crores.
6. 4 Northern States will set up a joint secretariat at Panchkula (___________________), for data and information sharing to effectively tackle the issue of drug menace. States are Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. UTs of Delhi and Chandigarh will also be included.
7. A 126 MW capacity wind power project has been commissioned in Bhuj (____________________), as part of India’s first ISTS auction which was conducted by state-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) in February 2017.
- Bid was for projects to be connected on ISTS wherein power generated from one state (renewable resource rich state) can be transmitted to other renewable deficient states. Energy generated from this project is being purchased by Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
- It marks beginning of capacity additions in wind power based on market discovered tariffs, in line with Government’s plan of having 175 GW renewable energy by 2022.
8. AYUSH Ministry introduced new Central Sector scheme for promoting pharmacovigilance of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy (ASU&H) Drugs. It aims to develop culture of documenting adverse effects, monitoring and surveillance of misleading advertisements of drugs.
- Government has sanctioned grant of Rs 10.60 Crore for the establishment of 3 pharmacovigilance network, which will consist of National Pharmacovigilance Centre (NPvCC), Intermediary Pharmacovigilance Centres (IPvCCs) and Peripheral Pharmacovigilance Centres (PPvCC).
- All India Institute of Ayurveda _____________________ has been designated as National Pharmacovigilance Centre. It received the grant from the government.
- Government aims to achieve the target of 100 peripheral pharmacovigilance centres by 2020.
9. According to report by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), maximum (35 %) of cyber-attacks on official Indian websites are from _______________, followed by US (17 %) and Russia (15 %). It is followed by Pakistan (9%), Canada (7%) and Germany (5%).
10. According to study under IIT-________________Science and Heritage Initiative (SANDHI) Initiative, Ganga has witnessed unprecedented low levels of water in several lower reaches in last few summer seasons.
11. Airport Authority of India (AAI) allotted space to Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) for opening of Tribes India outlets at Ahmedabad (__________________), Udaipur (Rajasthan) and Kolkata (West Bengal) airports. It will provide good opportunity to market tribal products and help to promote tribes India as brand among target customers.s
12. Amnesty International India launched a new campaign named ‘Our Safety, Our Rights’, among children against sexual abuse. The campaign will culminate on ________________ – International Day of Girl Child.
13. ______________ Updates -
- State Government approved Mukhyamantri Yuva Nestam, an unemployment allowance scheme to provide Rs 1000 per month unemployed youth in state. It will benefit 12 lakh youth in the 22-35 years age group from state.
- State Government signed an MoU with electronics company Holytech, to set up Holytech' plant in 75 acres land in Tirupati and Chittoor districts. This first-of-its-kind facility in India will create 6000 direct job opportunities.
- ____________ and Odisha ranked at top 2 places in National Level Rating Framework assessment in implementation of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.
14. Arunachal Pradesh assembly approved creation of three new districts - Pakke-Kesang, Lepa Rada and Shi Yomi. It will take number of districts iin state up to up to __________ districts.
- Pakke-Kessang - To be carved out of East Kameng district.
- Lepa Rada - To be created by bifurcating Lower Siang district.
- Shi-Yomi - To be created by bifurcating West Siang district.
15. As a first of its kind ruling in India, _______________ High Court invoked 'parens patriae' doctrine and declared itself as a legal guardian of members of bovine (cow) family across state. It grants court inherent power and authority to act as guardian for those who are unable to take care of themselves.
16. As per a recent census, population of Nilgiri tahr, an endangered mountain goat, at the Mukurthi National Park (________________) has grown by 18% from 480 to 568 in last two years.
17. ________________ Governor Jagdish Mukhi extended application of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 (AFSPA) in the entire state for six more months.
18. Bharti Airtel will provide optical fibre network in Tamil Nadu, to add 3000 KM of fibre network to ____________________'s 14000 km fibre Network. Airtel will open 12,000 new mobile sites across the State to add to network capacity and take high-speed data services deeper into rural areas.
19. ___________________ Govt. launched girl child welfare scheme Mukhyamantri Kanya Utthan Yojana. It will provide 54100 for a girl child from her birth until she graduates. It will be run by three departments namely education, health and social welfare. Also, State Govt. raised amount under Bicycle Yojna from 2500 to 3000.
20. Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) will start operating its first regional centre or avifauna observatory on the campus of Wetland Research and Training Centre near Chilika Lake (Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon), in _________________. Avifauna observatory will carry out research on avian disease by collecting samples and monitor Nalabana Bird Sanctuary.
21. Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and NITI Aayog released ________________________ -
- It will serve as a standard reference document for energy intensive industries and help them achieve high operational efficiency of energy consuming utilities.
- States are categorised based on their efforts and achievements towards energy efficiency implementation, as ‘Front Runner’, ‘Achiever’, ‘Contender’ and ‘Aspirant’.
- Front Runner States are Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Rajasthan.
- While most states have implemented national programmes designed by BEE and EESL, the ‘Front Runner’ and ‘Achiever’ states have several individual initiatives as well.
22. CBSE affiliated schools in Kerala, whose board exam documents such as mark sheets/ migration certificates/ pass certificates have got lost or damaged in the state’s floods, CBSE will provide them with digital mark sheets, migration certificates and pass certificates through the ‘Parinam Manjusha’ portal/ DigiLocker.
- CBSE with National E-Governance Division (NEGD) has developed the first-of-its-kind digital academic repository called ‘_______________’. The academic repository will be integrated with DigiLocker.
23. Cabinet Approvals (Aug 01, 2018) -
- General Approvals -
- Raising funds up to 15,000 crores as _____________________________ (EBR) for Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) during 2018-19 through NABARD.
- Expansion of scope of work of International Centre for Drinking Water Quality to authorise it for receiving EBR funds for SBM(G), disbursement of same to Sates/UTs implementing agencies, and its repayment.
- Change name of Society to "National Centre for Drinking Water, Sanitation and Quality" in place of "International Centre for Drinking Water Quality".
- Permit exploration of unconventional hydrocarbons such as Shale oil/gas, Coal Bed Methane (CBM) etc. It will enable realization of prospective hydrocarbon reserves in existing Contract Areas. New investment activities and chances of finding new hydrocarbon discoveries and resultant increased domestic production thereof is expected.
- Restructuring Agricultural Scientists'Recruitment Board (ASRB), making it 4 Member body (up from 3 Members). Tenure of ASRB member will be for 3 years or till 65 years of age. Functioning ASRB shall be delinked from ICAR and to be attached with Deptt. of Agricultural Research & Education (DARE) under Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare.
- Approved first extension of Concessional Financing Scheme(CFS) to support Indian Entities bidding for strategically important infrastructure projects abroad. It is proposed to extend the Scheme for another five years from 2018 to 2023.
- Approved death penalty or life imprisonment to those involved in piracy at sea, to have a domestic anti-piracy legislation to provide necessary legal framework for prosecution of those involved in piracy-related crimes.
- Approved introducing a Bill to restore original provisions of SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, that was ruled out by Supreme Court in March 2018. It introduces three new clauses after Section 18 of original Act.
- Preliminary enquiry shall not be required for registration of a First Information Report against any person.
- Arrest of a person accused of having committed an offence under Act would not require any approval.
- Provisions of Section 438 of Code of Criminal Procedure, which deals with anticipatory bail, shall not apply to a case under this Act, in spite of any judgment or order of any Court.
- CCEA Approvals -
- Approved Interest Free Loan (IFL) equivalent to interest during construction (IDC) component of 422 crores, 415 crores and 419 crores for Gorakhpur, Sindri and Barauni projects respectively to Hindustan Urvarak and Rasayan Limited (HURL) fertilizer projects.
- Approved issue of fresh equity shares to extent of 15% of paid up equity capital efface value of Rs. 5 each by Hindustan Copper Limited(HCL) through Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP) route . Gol shareholding will come down from 76.05% to 66.13%.
- Approved opening of 13 new KendriyaVidyalayas (KVs) in 7 States and 2nd JawaharNavodayaVidyalaya (JNV) in Alot in Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh). Presently, KVs are imparting quality education to more than 12 lakh students and JNVs are providing modern education free of cost to nearly 2.50 lakh students across country.
24. Cabinet Approvals (Aug 09, 2018) -
- General Approvals -
- Approved extension of term of Commission to examine issue of Sub-categorization of Other Backward Classes in Central List till November 2018.
- Approved raising 4 additional battalions of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), at estimated cost of 637 crores. These will initially be raised as 2 battalions in Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and 1 battalion each in Border Security Force (BSF) and Assam Rifles (ARs). Later these battalions will be converted into NDRF battalions and will be placed in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi National Capital Region.
- MOUs -
- Indonesia - cooperation in health and Scientce sector.
- MoU between Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada).
- Korea - Trade Remedy Cooperation.
- Approved Joint issue of Postage Stamps on India-South Africa on theme 20 Years of Strategic Partnership.
- CCEA Approvals -
- Approved release of pulses to States/UTs at discounted rate to be utilized for various Welfare Schemes from stock of pulses procured under Price Support Schemes (PSS), to enable States/UTs to use pulses in various Welfare Schemes like PDS, Mid-Day Meal Scheme etc.
- States/UT can lift 34.88 lakh MT of Tur, Chana, Masoor, Moong and Urad at discount of 15 per Kg over prevailing wholesale market price of sourcing state. Government will spend 5237 crores for its implementation.
- Approved construction of 6.930 km long 4-lane bridge at Kosi River in Phulaut (________________________________), to be completed by June 2022. It will fill 10 km long missing link between Phulaut and Bihpur on NH-106, to bring down journey between 2 places to 12 KM, from 72 KM Currenty.
- Approved revision of Post Matric Scholarship for Other Backward Classes Students for studying in India scheme for upto 2019-20. Revisions include - Annual parental income will be increased from Rs. One Lakh to Rs. 1.5 lakh, 30% of funds allocated earmarked for girl students and 5% for students with disabilities.
- Approved continuation of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) beyond 12th Five Year Plan period ((2012–2017)). It will help in connecting 38,412 habitations at estimated cost of Rs. 84,934 crore.
- Initially targets of PMGSY were to be achieved by March 2022, however, sunset date of achievement of PMGSY-I was pre-poned to March 2019, with changed funding pattern in ratio of 60:40 between Centre and States (90:10 for 8 North Eastern and 3 Himalayan States)
- PMGSY-II and habitations under identified LWE blocks (100-249 population) covered by March 2020. Under, PMGSY-II, against target length of 50,000 km works of upgradation almost 32,100 km road length have been sanctioned in 13 states, which have transited to PMGSY-II. 12,000 km road length has been completed up to March, 2018 against the sanctions issued.
25. Cabinet Approvals (Aug 29, 2018) -
- MOUs -
- Bulgaria - tourism
- South Korea - railways
- United Kingdom and Northern Ireland - Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries
- Morocco - signing of Air Services Agreement
- Rwanda - Trade Cooperation Framework
- USA - insurance regulatory sector
- General Approvals -
- Revision of project outlay for setting up of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) from Rs. 800 crore to Rs. 1,435 crore, to make up for enhanced Technology Costs and Human Resource Costs.
- IPPB services shall be available at 650 IPPB branches and 3250 Access Points from 1st September 2018 and in all 1.55 lakh post offices (Access Points) by December 2018.
- Approved release an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners w.e.f. 01.07.2018 representing an increase of 2% over the existing rate of 7% of the Basic Pay/Pension.
- CCEA Approvals -
- Approved umbrella scheme “_____________________________________ (O-SMART)”, for implementation during 2017-18 to 2019-20 at an overall cost of INR 1623 crores. It encompasses a total of 16 sub-projects addressing ocean development activities such as Services, Technology, Resources, Observations and Science.
- Implementation of O-SMART will help in addressing issues relating to Sustainable Development Goal-14, which aims to conserve use of oceans, marine resources for sustainable development. This scheme (O-SMART) also provide necessary scientific and technological background required for implementation of various aspects of Blue Economy.
Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Recursive Modelling and Science
Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Safety
Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Science
Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Recursive Mutual and Science
None of These
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26. Central Government notified that it has withdrawn proposal for setting up ‘__________________’, after Supreme Court termed it like creating a surveillance state. It was a proposed platform to allow government to keep eye on all social media platforms, to track any individual’s public posts across these online platforms.
27. ______________ Government renamed Naya Raipur smart city as Atal Nagar, in honour of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away recently. Also, Madhya Pradesh Govt. named 3 awards after former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Awards are for poets, journalists and administration.
28. ___________________ became first state to provide Right to Skills’ Development to the youth, flagging off 15 Skill Chariots to launch government’s ‘Skills on Wheels’ project.
29. Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra launched three applications for benefit of litigants and lawyers - e-Filing, e-Pay, and _______________________ (NSTEP); created under eCourts project Phase II and led by Justice MB Lokur.
- e-Filing - Available at efiling.ecourts.gov.in, it is meant for online registration of lawyers and litigants.
- e-Pay - Available at pay.ecourts.gov.in, It is a unified portal wherein facility to pay online court fees is provided.
- NSTEP - It is a transparent and secure system for transmission of process from one location to another and will address delays in process.
30. Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu unveiled a new transaction structure for future greenfield airports proposed under NABH Nirmaan 2018, aimed at boosting investment in Indian aviation sector.
- Maximum Blended Aeronautical Yield (MBAY) in terms of INR per passenger shall be pre-determined by Concessioning Authority at beginning of Concession Period. It shall undergo adjustments to account for inflation and certain eventualities over Concession Period. MBAY for greenfield airports for FY 18-19 is proposed to be INR 400 per passenger.
- Concession Period is proposed to be ___________________ years. Base rate of MBAY and Concession Fee shall be indexed to 50% of inflation.
- Once in 5 years, Concessionaire shall propose base rate of MBAY for the next 5 years.
- Quality assurance -
- Regulator may formulate the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for greenfield airports and modify them once every 5 years.
- Every greenfield airport shall constitute a Airport User Consultative Committee (AUCC).
- AUCC may recommend change in MBAY to Regulator (limited to 10%) based on Concessionaire’s performance.
- Benefits of new approach -
- Future airports will be simple and cost-efficient. There will be no incentive to enhance Capex and Opex to demand higher tariffs. The era of high revenue share (30-50 %) for Concessioning Authority may end. It will bring down cost to passengers. It will attract more investors and funding institutions into airports.
31. Civil Aviation Ministry approved setting up water aerodromes in Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Assam. In first phase of the project, Chilka Lake (_______________________________), Sabarmati River Front and Sardar Sarovar Dam (Gujarat) have been identified for the development of such facilities.
- Airdrome is location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers. The development of aerodromes projects in India will pave way for operation of amphibian planes (both in land and water) to enhance air connectivity.
32. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and UP CM Yogi Adityanath launched a defence industrial corridor in Aligarh (_________________), as part of government’s efforts to develop specialised zones dedicated to defence production in state. Six nodal points, Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Chitrakoot and Jhansi have been identified in state for corridor. Another defence corridor is wet to launch in Tamil Nadu.
33. Delhi High Court declared several sections of Bombay Prevention of Begging Act __________________ which have been extended to Delhi, as unconstitutional. With this, it struck down legal provision criminalising begging in Delhi, in response to PILs arguing that poverty can never be crime and if a person is destitute and begs for living, such person cannot be treated as criminal.
34. _______________ Police inducted India’s first all-woman Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team for anti-terrorist operations.
35. ______________ has been ranked last among 14 cities on basis of vehicular emissions in a survey conducted by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based research organisation to assess transport-related emissions from urban commuting.
- It classified Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai as megacities and Bhopal, Vijaywada, Lucknow, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Kochi, Pune, Ahmedabad as metro cities.
- Bhopal ranked best for its lowest overall vehicular emission and fuel consumption, followed by Vijaywada and Chandigarh.
- In terms of Per-travel trip emissions & energy consumption - Kolkata (1), Mumbai and Bhopal.
36. Department of Biotechnology (Ministry of Science and Technology) signed MoU with __________________ (IEA) for enhancing innovation for Clean Energy Transition, to suppowrt clean energy technologies in India.
- It will be coordinated for Ministry of Sceince & Technology by Mission Innovation India Unit set up by DBT and for IEA it will be coordinated by its International Partnership and Initiatives Unit (IPI). It will be initially valid for three years.
37. Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) or regulations for civil use of ____________________ (RPAS) commonly known as Drones, to be effective from December 1, 2018.
- Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said Drone Regulations 1.0 are intended to enable visual line-of-sight daytime-only and a maximum of 400 feet altitude operations of drones.
- Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit (UAOP) will be required for drone operators except for nano drones operating below 50 ft.; micro drones operating below 200 ft; and those owned by NTRO, ARC and Central Intelligence Agencies.
- Digital Sky Platform is the first-of-its-kind national Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) platform that implements “No Permission, No Takeoff” (NPNT).
- Users will be required to do a one-time registration of their drones, pilots and owners.
- For every flight, users will be required to ask for permission to fly on a mobile app. This requirement is exempted for the nano category of drones. Once the user puts forward his request to fly, an automated process permits or denies the request instantly.
38. FCI Aravali Gypsum and Minerals India Limited (FAGMIL), a CPSU under Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers received approval from Government of ________________________ for setting up of White Cement Plant to cater to demand of white cement in North India. It will be first PSU white cement plant in India. Installed capacity of Plant will be 1000 TPD.
39. Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) notified food safety standards for honey and its products in bid to curb adulteration, to help farmers to fetch better prices for their products.
- Honey products should comply with 18 parameters like that of sucrose content, glucose ratio, pollen count, foreign oligosaccharides etc.
- These products should contain fixed maximum 5% limit for sucrose, 10% for carvia callosa and honeydew honey. The moisture percentage should be maximum 20% and pollen count should be 25,000 per gram.
- FSSAI launched RUCO (_____________________________) initiative to enable collection and conversion of used cooking oil to biodiesel. According to FSSAI, maximum permissible limits for Total Polar Compounds (TPC) have been set at 25%, beyond which cooking oil is unsafe for consumption.
40. Former President Pranab Mukherjee launched ____________________________ (NETA) mobile application that allows voters to rate and review their political representatives, developed by Pratham Mittal. It is first of its kind platform in India that allows voters to rate and review the political representatives in their constituencies.
- It aims to foster political accountability and transparency among leaders., inspired by US’ approval system. Using it, voters can review and rate their elected representatives (MLAs, MPs and ministers) and hold them accountable as well.
- It is also seen as instrument to gauge voter sentiment across constituencie, available in 16 languages.
41. General Events / Conferences (Aug 1 - 10, 2018) -
- President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated One District One Product Summit in Lucknow (______________________). Amazon partnered with UP government to provide support MSME entrepreneurs across nine districts, under ODOP Scheme. This will be a part of Amazon India’s Kala Haat programme which aims to help traditional industries to enter in to ecommerce business.
- NITI Aayog’s International Conference on “Sustainable Growth through Material Recycling: Policy Prescriptions” Held in New Delhi.
- 17th Indo-US Military Cooperation Meeting held in New Delhi
- 51st ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Foreign Ministers meeting Held in Singapore.
- Telangana Govt. signed MoU with It Firm Tech Mahindra to launch India’s first Blockchain district, during International Blockchain Congress 2018 in Hyderabad. It will be centre of excellence, incubator and process development for emerging technology with innovative infrastructure and facilities to foster growth of Indian blockchain start-ups and companies.
- Startup India Yatra launched in Raipur (capital of Chattisgarh), to travel to other cities of state over coming month.
- Bridging Japan and India by Bamboo event held in Tripura, with Japan committing to assist in Bamboo handicraft sector of Tripura.
- 5th Act East Business Show -2018 held in Shillong (Meghalaya).
- First-ever festival for insects that help maintain ecosystem is organized jointly by WWF (World Wide Fund) India and Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
- Govt. inaugurated an exhibition entitled Pratibandhit Sahitya mein Swatantrata Sangram (Freedom Movement through Prescribed Literature) in National Archives of India (New Delhi).
- NITI Aayog hosted an Investors’ Conference in New Delhi, for Holistic Development of Islands. It will attract investment for sustainable development of eco-tourism projects in Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands.
- Hardeep S Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs launched official trailer for film Halkaa, under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) in partnership with New Delhi Municipal Council, set to release on Sep 05.
- All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) signed MoU with IIT Delhi to boost research in traditional medicine and streamline hospital care facilities. It was signed at two-day conference of heads of AYUSH National Institutes organised by All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in New Delhi, aimed at upgrading national institutes of traditional medicine at par with IITs and IIMs.
42. General Events / Conferences (Aug 11 - 20, 2018) -
- Jatayu sculpture inaugurated at Jatayu Earth Center (JEC) at Chadayamangalam in Kollam district (___________________), as world’s largest bird sculpture.
- Meeting of Senior Officials of the Bay of Bengal Initiatives for Multi-Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) held in Kathmandu (Npeal) today.
- Nepal-India Literature Festival 2018 held in Birgunj (Nepal).
- Parijat Urja Chakra and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) organized a special campaign at Fatehgarh villageof Ambala in Haryana, to create awareness about the ill effects of crop residue burning and management.
43. General Events / Conferences (Aug 21 - 31, 2018) -
- Indian Council of Agricultural Research organized 2 day conference on Motivating and Attracting Youth in Agriculture (MAYA) held in ___________________, In order to meet the challenge of providing sustainable livelihoods for a rapidly growing population and to motivate and attract youth in agriculture.
- India Banking Conclave (IBC) 2018 held in New Delhi, organised by Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) along with NITI Aayog.
- 5 day International water colour festival held in Ranchi at Audrey House, to promote the rich art and culture of Jharkhand.
44. Global monument conservation body International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) launched ____________________ Heritage Rescue Initiative to assess damage to rich cultural and built heritage sites in flood-devastated state. It aims at setting up platform for emergency response to cultural heritage damaged by floods in state.
45. ________________ unveiled Project Navlekhā to help Indian language publishers take their content online. It will allow 1.35 lakh Indian publishers to digitise their offline content by creating instant web pages using scanned documents or PDFs.
46. Goverment unveiled a draft scheme for extending affordable air travel programme UDAN to international circuits, with state governments identifying routes for operation. Draft International Air Connectivity (IAC) scheme envisages to increase international ticketing to 20 crore by _______________________.
47. Government approved __________________________ new research project proposals worth Rs 112 crore for funding under its Impacting Research Innovation and Technology ‘IMPRINT-2’ scheme.
- Implementation of 142 projects under IMPRINT-1 has got underway. Knowledge portal for monitoring progress of these research projects and to disseminate findings will be launched in October 2018.
- IMPRINT is the first of its kind government-supported initiative to address the major science and engineering challenges that India must address and champion to enable, empower and embolden nation for inclusive growth and self-reliance.
48. Government launched National REDD+ Strategy India. to improve livelihood of forest dependent population.
- REDD+ means “______________________________”, conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries.
- REDD+ aims to achieve climate change mitigation by incentivizing forest conservation. It seeks to address drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and also enhance forest carbon stocks.
- India under its communicated in its Nationally Determined Contribution under Paris Agreement, has committed to capture 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of Carbon dioxide through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
- India’s first biennial update report to UNFCCC has revealed that forests in India capture about 12% of India’s total GHG emissions. Thus, forestry sector in India is making a positive cost effective contribution for climate change mitigation.
- Complying with UNFCCC decisions on REDD+, India has prepared its National REDD+ Strategy, built upon existing circumstances which have been updated in line with India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change, Green India Mission and India’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to UNFCCC.
49. Government reached target of providing _________________ crore free LPG connections under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), 8 months ahead of schedule. Uttar Pradesh (87 lakh), West Bengal (67 lakh), Bihar (61 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (45 lakh), Rajasthan (37 lakh) and Odisha (30 lakh) accounted for 65% of connections under PMUY and 47% of beneficiaries are from weaker sections.
- PMUY was launched in May 2016 with tagline of Swachh Indhan, Behtar Jeevan.
50. Government stated that Non-Resident Indians (NRI) cannot file Right to Information (RTI) applications to seek governance-related information from Central government departments, under RTI Act ___________________.
51. Govt. launched Innovation Cell and ______________________ (ARIIA), at AICTE premises to systematically foster the culture of Innovation in all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across country. Major Programs of MHRD Innovation Cell are -
- Network of Innovation Clubs (NIC) -
- It will prescribe basic framework for the structure and smooth running of ICs and will soon share list of different activities which ICs need to undertake for entire academic year.
- Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) -
- This will systematically rank education institutions primarily on innovation related indicators, to foster spitit of innovation ain Higher education.
- Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2019 -
- 3rd edition of World’s Biggest Open Innovation Model - Smart India Hackathon - 2019 has been launched.It is a nationwide initiative to provide students a platform to solve some of pressing daily life problems, and thus inculcate a culture of product innovation and a mindset of problem solving.
- Smart India Hackathon 2019 would also have 2 sub-editions – Software edition (a 36-hour software product development competition) and Hardware edition (a 5 days long hardware product development competition).
- National Student Startup Policy (NSSP) -
- AICTE launched its Student Start-up Policy in November 2016, designed for AICTE approved Institutions in accordance with Govt of India’s "Start-up India" Action plan. AICTE’s Student Start up policy intends to guide AICTE approved institutions to promote student driven innovations and start-ups.
52. Gurugram (_____________________) is named India’s most polluted city, in Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)’s Air quality index (AQI). 6 cities have been marked as ‘Poor’, 1 City (Gurugram) has been marked as ‘Very Poor’, 2 cities has been marked as ‘Good’, 26 cities marked as ‘Satisfactory’ and 27 cities as ‘Moderate’.
53. HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar launched 3rd edition of World’s Biggest Open Innovation Model - _________________ (SIH 2019) -
- SIH-2019 is a nationwide initiative to provide students a platform to solve some of pressing problems we face in our daily lives, and thus inculcate a culture of product innovation and a mindset of problem solving. For 1st time, Private industry/organisations and NGOs can also send their problem statements to students under SIH-2019.
- It would have 2 sub-editions – Software edition (a 36-hour software product development competition) and Hardware edition (a 5 days long hardware product development competition).
54. Hardeep S Puri, Minister of State (I/C), Housing & Urban Affairs launched several entities -
- Swachh Survekshan 2019 - Planned to be conducted from 4th – 31st January 2019 – to rank all cities under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U). This will be the fourth survey of MoHUA.
- SBM ODF Plus and ODF Plus Plus Protocol - Aims at addressing issue of holistic sanitation.
- Swachh Manch web portal
- Ease of Living Index (111 Cities) -
- Maharashtra Cities at Top 3 - ___________________ (1), Navi Mumbai (2), Greater Mumbai (3). Others in Top 10 - Tirupati, Chandigarh, Thane, Raipur, Indore, Vijaywada and Bhopal.
- West Bengal refused to participate in Centre’s rankings, just as it has done with all other urban schemes.
- Last 3 - Rampur (UP - 111), Kohima (Nagaland - 110), Patna (109).
55. _________________________ CM Jai Ram Thakur launched horn not ok awareness campaign and ‘shaur nahin’ (no noise) mobile application, to spread awareness of unnecessary blowing horn as it creates unnecessary noise pollution and is harmful to health.
56. Hinduja Group’s flagship company Ashok Leyland introduced Innoline technology as a BS IV engine driven by an in-line fuel pump, combination of indigenous mechanical pump for BS III engines with iEGR (_________________________) technology.
57. Home Ministry excluded 29 inhabited islands in Andaman and Nicobar from ________________ (RAP) regime under the Foreigners (Restricted Areas) Order 1963, till December 2022., to promote tourism. However, citizens of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan and foreign nationals having their origin in these countries will continue to require RAP to visit here.
- Under RAP regime, foreigners are not normally allowed to visit protected area unless Government allows them. Every foreigner, except citizen of Bhutan, who desires to enter protected area, is required to obtain special permit from competent authority.
- Citizens of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan and foreign nationals of Pakistani origin are exception and are not allowed to enter such areas.
58. Home Ministry relaxed conditions ‘four-corner agreement’ signed with Bru migrants for their repatriation from Tripura to Mizoram, signed with Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF) in July 2018.
- As per Agreement -
- It covers 5,407 Bru families (32876 persons) presently staying in temporary camps in Tripura to repatriate them to Mizoram by end of September 2018. These families who moved to Mizoram from Tripura will be given one-time financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh to be kept as fixed deposit in name of head of family. Apart from this, house building assistance of 1.5 lakh, free ration for 2 years will also be provided.
- Relaxed Provisions -
- Period of stay for cash assistance of Rs 4 lakh for Bru refugees will be relaxed from 3 to two years. They can withdraw 90% of 4 lakh assistance as bank loan immediately after their return.
- On relocation, at least 50 refugees will be settled in each village.
- Background -
- Bru (or Reang) are tribals inhabit to some parts of Northeastern states. In _______________________________, following bout of ethnic violence between Mizos and Brus, thousands of people from Bru tribe were forced to leave their homes in Mizoram and settle down in Tripura.
- First phase of repatriation of Brus from Tripura to Mizoram started in November 2010, when 1,622 Bru families with 8,573 members were resettled in Mizoram. But repatriation stalled in 2011, 2012 and 2015 amid protests by Mizo NGOs.
59. India opened Zokhawthar land immigration check-post in Mizoram along border with ____________________, as authorised immigration centre for travel to and from ______________.
60. Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) launched ______________________________ (FabCI) as an exclusive incubator to boost chip design.It is first of its kind in India that will focus on creating an ecosystem for start-ups in chip design.
- FabCI’s purpose is to incubate at least 50 ‘Make-in-India’ chip design companies that can compete globally and generate Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).
- It will also offer virtual support to non-Hyderabad start-ups which can join FabCI and leverage the offerings and participate remotely.
61. Indian Instituted of Technology (IIT) __________________ will set up Aditya Choubey Re-Water Research Center to replenish and rejuvenate water resources. It aims to tackle challenge of resolving two burning issues faced by urban India – sewage disposal and access to clean potable water.
- It will set up an on-campus plant which will convert 1.35 million litre of sewage water from the hostels to 1.2 million litre of potable water daily.
62. Indian Railways signed MoU with __________________ India, to replace Industrial gases like Dissolved Acetylene, LPG, BMCG and Furnace Oil / High Speed Diesel (HSD) oil with environment friendly Natural Gas. Replacement by Natural Gases is likely to result into a saving of about Rs. 20 crore per annum to Indian Railways.
63. India’s first engineless semi high speed train will run between Delhi and Bhopal, at a speed of ___________________ km/hr. Named ‘Train 18’, it will take journey time down by 3 Hours.
64. India’s first flight using biofuel flown from Dehradun (capital of ________________________) to Delhi, conducted by SpiceJet on its turborporp Q-400 plane. Flights used alternative environment friendly fuel for 10 minutes over Dehradun.
- India joined elite club of nations who have operated flight on alternative energy source like biofuel, having countries like Canada, Australia and US have already conducted these test flights. Biofuel is developed by CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Dehradun. The flight was powered with a blend of 75% air turbine fuel (ATF) and 25% biojet fuel.
- The Flight carried blend of 25% of bio jet fuel (derived from jatropha seeds) and 75% of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) in one of the two engines of plane, while other carried only ATF. International standards permit a blend rate of up to 50% biofuel with ATF. It can reduce fuel costs by 15-20%.
- Jatropha is drought-resistant perennial plant that can grow in marginal or poor soil. It is grows relatively quickly and lives, produces seeds for 50 years. Its seeds has oil content of 37% which be combusted as fuel without being refined. It burns with clear smoke-free flame.
- It has been tested successfully as fuel for simple diesel engine. Its oil also acts as insecticide..
- The use of bio jet fuel, apart from reducing carbon emissions by 80 %, greenhouse gas emissions by about 15 % and sulfur oxides (SOx) emissions by over 99 %, is expected to provide indigenous jet fuel supply security, possible cost savings as feedstock availability at farm level scales up, superior engine performance and reduced maintenance cost for the airline operators.
- World’s first dedicated biofuel flight (by Dreamliner Boeing 787-9) was flown for first time from Los Angeles (US) to Melbourne (Australia) in January 2018 by Australian carrier Qantas.
- Biofuel is produced from vegetable oils, recycled grease, algae and animal fat. It is cleaner, environmental friendly fuel that can be used as alternative in place of fossil fuels.
- Ministry of New and Renewable Energy recently on August 10, 2018 (World Biofuel Day 2018) had released National Policy on Biofuels 2018. Under it, Government plans to triple ethanol production over the next four years. It also has set target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol by 2030.
65. India’s wealthiest women list 2018 by Kotak Wealth-Hurun -
- Smitha Crishna, 3rd generation heir of Godrej Empire, topped the list with estimated net worth approx USD _____________________.
- Roshni Nadar (HCL) ranks second with approx 5 Billion USD. Indu Jain of BCCL and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw are ranked 3rd and 4th in list.
- Hurun Global Rich List 2018 has 404 women, of which 14 are from India.
66. __________________ (IWAI) made public 13 standardised state-of-the-art ship designs suitable for large barge haulage on river Ganga (National Waterway-1), to serve as an enabler for domestic shipbuilding industry working on inland vessels and open huge possibilities for cargo and passenger movement on National Waterway-1.
- Government is implementing Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) for capacity augmentation of navigation on NW-1 (Varanasi-Haldia stretch) at cost of INR 5369 crores with technical assistance and investment support of World Bank.
67. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) signed MoU with __________________ Government, to conduct a research on impact of Mission Kakatiya programme
- Mission Kakatiya aims to restore all minor irrigation tanks and lakes in State, in 5 years. Tanks and lakes are dug to remove silt for increasing water storage capacity.
68. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust signed MoU with Ministry of Railways, _____________________ and Madhya Pradesh for implementation of the 362 km Indore- Manmad New Railway Line Project -
- It will reduce distance from Mumbai/Pune to key central India locations by 171 kilometers, resulting in lower logistics costs.
- Joint Venture Company will be formed between Ministry of Shipping or its nominated entity including JNPT with equity share of 55 %, Maharashtra or its nominated entity, Madhya Pradesh or its nominated entity and others with equity share of 15 % each.
69. ______________ Updates -
- State government launched ‘Swachha Meva Jayate’ campaign, to promote cleanliness across state.
- State government made Yoga mandatory for all colleges and universities in State. All government, aided and private degree colleges in state must conduct yoga for 20-minutes.
70. ___________________ government told Supreme Court that barring entry of women aged 10 - 50 years into Sabarimala temple is not permissible under Constitution, stating that it is a Hindu temple and not a temple of a particular denomination.
71. _____________ Updates -
- State Governmet announced to observe August 14 eyery year as Shahid Samman Divas. State Govt. also launched Dial 100 Mobile app, to help needy at the time of emergency.
- State forest department asked National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to revive its Cheetah Reintroduction Project to reintroduce Cheetahs in Nauradehi sanctuary located in Sagar district of state.
- Cheetah, fastest land animal was declared extinct in India in 1952. India’s last spotted Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) had died in Chhattisgarh in 1947. According to earlier action plan, around 20 cheetahs were to be translocated to Nauradehi from Namibia in Africa.
- The Project was conceived in 2009, but State was not ready to finance plan contending that it was Centre’s project.
- State received Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Kadaknath chicken breed from State. GI tag denotes that product comes from particular geographical.
- Kadaknath Chicken Kadaknath or Kali Masi is unique breed of chicken that is complete black colour. Apart from its meat, its bones and most organs are also black. It is native tribal districts of Jhabua, Alirajpur and parts of Dhar in Madhya Pradesh.
- Kadaknath chicken contains 25-27% of protein in comparison with other breeds of chickens that contain 18% protein. It is also known for its high iron content.
72. Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal delivered its final verdict to ending 50-year-old dispute over sharing of Mahadayi / Mandovi River between Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
- The tribunal was constituted in November 2010 under Interstate River Water Disputes Act _________________________________.
- About two-thirds (76 km) of Mahadayi’s 111-km stretch lies in Goa and remaining 35 km is in Karnataka and Maharashtra. Mahadayi River is lifeline of Goa because it is one of few sweet-water sources at state’s disposal (most of Goa’s 11 rivers contain salt water).
- Dispute -
- Sharing of waters of Mahadayi River was major cause of dispute between Karnataka and Goa. Karnataka wanted to divert excess water from Mahadayi river to Malaprabha river basin, as part of Kalasa-Banduri Nala project.
- Goa opposed Karnataka’s proposal, stating that its population is dependent on river’s natural path.
- Verdict -
- Tribunal pegged Karnataka’s access to 13.4 tmc of Mahadayi River water for its consumptive use (5.4 tmc) and power generation (8.02 tmc). Goa was allowed to use 24 tmc for state’s needs.
- Maharashtra was awarded lowest share of 1.33 tmc for meeting its in-basin needs with respect to five projects.
- Central Government will set up Mahadayi Water Management Authority to implement this decision.
73. Maharashtra’s Mahabaleshwar become wettest place in India in 2018, leaving behind _____________________’s long famed Cherrapunji. Mahabaleshwar received a staggering 5661.6 mm rainfall this season till now, much more than Cherrapunji’s 4735 mm.
- Cherrapunji holds two Guinness world records for receiving the maximum amount of rainfall in a single year, 26,471mm (1,042.2 in) of rainfall between August 1860 and July 1861 and maximum amount of rainfall in a single month (9,300mm) in July 1861.
74. __________________ government constituted two committees to deal with illegal migrants, State Level Monitoring Committee and District Level Monitoring Committees. These will monitor presence of illegal immigrants in state.
75. Minister of __________________, Chaudhary Birender Singh unveiled corporate sports policy for Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) under it.
76. Ministry of Earth Sciences will set up a Cyclone Warning Centre in Thiruvananthapuram (______________________), by October 2018, after recent extreme weather events striking Kerala and Karnataka. Currently, IMD has cyclone warning centers at Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
- Earth Sciences Ministry will also set up a C-Band Doppler Weather Radar at Mangalore by end of 2019, which will cover parts of northern Kerala. At present, 2 Doppler Weather Radars are in Kerala, at Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.
77. Ministry of HRD has launched a Project called SWAYAM (_____________________________), as an integrated platform and portal for online courses. It aims to ensure that every student has access to best quality higher education at affordable cost.
78. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued advisory to all states and Union Territories to not allow manufacture, sale and advertisement of e-cigarettes and other _____________________________________________ (ENDS).
- ENDS are devices that heat solution to create aerosol, which also frequently contains flavours, usually dissolved into propylene glycolor and glycerin. e-cigarettes (electronic cigarettes) are most common prototype of ENDS.
79. Ministry of ____________________ Updates -
- Designated National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) as nodal authority to curb online child pornography, sexual violence and rape videos. It also has been mandated to launch online portal for receiving complaints and acting on them.
- Revoked security clearance of Qatar government’s state-funded English news broadcaster Al Jazeera, supposedly to be for documentary made by it on militancy in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), which Indian Government viewed as “biased”.
80. Ministry of Women and Child Development announced to observe ___________________ as the National Nutrition Month to mark the country’s fight against malnutrition.
81. Monsoon Session Passed Bills (August 2018) -
- Parliament passed Constitution (___________________________ Amendment) Bill that seeks to provide constitutional status to National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). It was passed by Both (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) in current Monsoon Season of Parliament.
- It provides for granting of constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) on par with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, to extend Benefits given to SC / STs to backward classes.
- Cabinet also decided to amend the SC/ST Act to further strengthen the law to protect their rights. A committee has been set up under G Rohini to examine sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes.
- Parliament passed Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill 2018. It enables creation of commercial divisions in High Courts and commercial courts at district level to adjudicate commercial disputes. Features -
- Bill Reduction in pecuniary limits, from 1 crore to 3 lakh.
- Parent Act barred commercial courts to be constituted in cases where High Court has original jurisdiction to hear commercial cases. Bill removes this bar and allows states to constitute commercial courts where High Courts have original jurisdiction.
- Allows state governments to notify commercial appellate courts at the district judge level in areas where High Courts do not have ordinary original civil jurisdiction.
- Introduces pre-institution mediation process in cases where no urgent, interim relief is contemplated, to provide parties with opportunity to resolve commercial disputes outside ambit of courts through authorities.
- Bill removes provision of counterclaim in relation to transfer of suits in a commercial dispute of at least Rs. 1 crore in civil court.
- It was passed by Both (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) in current Monsoon Season of Parliament.
- Parliament passed National Sports University Bill 2018, to set up India’s first National Sports University in Imphal (Manipur). It is mandated to promote sports education in areas of sports sciences, sports technology, sports management, and sports coaching. Bill empowers It to grant degrees, diplomas and certificates. It was passed by Both (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) in current Monsoon Season of Parliament.
- Parliament passed Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill 2018 -
- Investigating officer will not require approval of any authority for the arrest of an accused.
- Preliminary enquiry will not be required for the registration of a First Information Report against a person accused under the Act.
- SC/ST Act 1989 states that persons accused of committing an offence under the Act cannot apply for anticipatory bail. The Bill seeks to clarify that this provision will apply despite any judgements or orders of a court that provide otherwise.
- Bill restores original provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. It prohibits commission of offences against members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs) and establishes special courts for trial of such offences and rehabilitation of victims. It overturns a March 2018 Supreme Court judgment which diluted some provisions of law protecting Dalits and tribals from atrocities.
- It was passed by Both (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) in current Monsoon Season of Parliament.
- Parliament passed Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2018 -
- Jail term of minimum 20 years or life imprisonment or death for rape of girl under 12 years.
- Increases minimum punishment from 10 years to 20 years for crime of rape of girl under 16 years, which can be extended to imprisonment for rest of life.
- Increases minimum punishment for rape of women from rigorous imprisonment of 7 years to 10 years, which can be extended to life imprisonment.
- Investigation and trial must be completed in two months. It proposes 6 months’ time limit for disposal of appeals in rape cases.
- It was passed by Both (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) in current Monsoon Season of Parliament.
- Lok Sabha passed Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2017, to extend facility of ‘proxy voting’ to overseas Indians, on lines of service voters. It amends Representation of People Act (RPA) 1950 and 1951 to allow for proxy voting and make certain provisions of these Acts gender-neutral.
- Approx 1 crore Indians are settled abroad, of which 60 lakh may be within eligible voting age. By granting them proxy voting rights, overseas Indians will be able to exercise franchise during elections and also need not to spend foreign currency to come to India during elections.
- Lok Sabha passed Arbitration and Conciliation Bill (Amendment) 2018, which provides for time-bound settlement of disputes as well as accountability of arbitrator, to amend Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996.
- It contains provisions to deal with domestic and international arbitration, and defines law for conducting conciliation proceedings.
- Key Provisions -
- Seeks to establish Arbitration Council of India (ACI), for promotion of arbitration, mediation, conciliation and other alternative dispute redressal mechanisms.
- Relaxation of time limits - Under 1996 Act, arbitral tribunals are required to make their award within a period of 12 months for all arbitration proceedings. Amendment bill has proposed to remove this time restriction for international commercial arbitrations.
- New Bill requires that written claim and the defence to the claim in an arbitration proceeding, should be completed within six months of the appointment of the arbitrators.
- Bill provides that all details of arbitration proceedings will be kept confidential except for details of the arbitral award in certain circumstances.
- Applicability of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 2015: The bill clarifies that the 2015 Act shall only apply to arbitral proceedings that started on or after October 23, 2015.
- Parliament passed Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (2nd Amendment) Bill 2018, seeking to replace Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance 2018. Provisions -
- It clarifies that home buyers under a real estate project should be treated as financial creditors.
- Voting threshold for routine decisions taken by committee of creditors has been reduced from 75 % to 51 %. For certain key decisions, this has been reduced to 66 %.
- Allows withdrawal of a resolution application submitted to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Code, after approval of 90 % of committee of creditors.
- Features of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance 2018 -
- Section 29(A) of IBC 2016 has been amended to exempt pure play financial entities from being disqualified on account of non-performing assets (NPA).
- Promoters of companies with turnover of up to Rs 250 crore will be allowed to bid. Earlier, they were barred from bidding as government feared that they will walk away with stressed assets at a discount.
- It provides a year time to Resolution Applicant to obtain necessary statutory clearances from central, state and other authorities.
- Lok Sabha passed Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, outlawing talaq-e-biddat. According to it, talaq-e-biddat has been made a cognizable and non-bailable offence.
- Three provisions of the Bill - Instant triple talaq is illegal, It imposes a jail term of up to 3 years and fine, It provides additional safeguards from the Act being misused It also provides for subsistence allowance to Muslim women and custody of minor children as may be determined by the magistrate.
- It will soon be tabled in Rajya Sabha, for clearance.
- Parliament passed Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property (Amendment) Bill, regarding compensation payable for acquisition of immovable property by the Centre for defence and security purposes. It was earlier passed by Lok Sabha in July 2018.
- The act enables central government to requisition immovable property (or land) for any public purpose like defence and security purposes. Amendment also involves a provision to allow the Centre to re-issue the notice of acquisition to make sure that the property owner gets an opportunity to be heard.
82. Mughalsarai Railway Junction of __________________________________ renamed as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction Railway station.
- RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya was found dead in mysterious circumstances near Mughalsarai station in February 1968.
83. ____________________________________’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport was renamed as Chhatrapati Shivaji ‘Maharaj’ International Airport, To pay more respect to great maratha warrior. It was formerly known as Sahar International Airport.
84. _________ Updates -
- Has made computer chip manufacturer NVIDIA its deep learning technology partner to support its MoveHack event. NVIDIA will help it to solve grand challenge of making innovations in mass mobility matter of national importance using Artifical Intellegence (AI) and deep learning.
- MoveHack is global mobility hackathon event organized by NITI Aayog to crowdsource solutions aimed at the future of mobility in India.
- Deep learning technology is subset of machine learning (ML) in artificial intelligence (AI) that has networks capable of learning unsupervised from data that is unstructured or unlabelled.
- Identified 117 districts as Aspirational Districts, for 2nd phase of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), in which central assistance is provided for opening of new Model Degree Colleges(MDCs) in ‘Aspirational Districts. During first phase of RUSA, central assistance to States has been provided for creation of one Model Degree College each in 60 Educationally Backward Districts.
- Launched Pitch to MOVE mobility pitch competition, aiming to provide budding entrepreneurs a unique opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a distinguished jury. Winners will be felicitated during Global Mobility Summit to be held in New Delhi in September 2018.
- Pitch to MOVE aims to identify startups, which will help vision of Shared, Connected, Intermodal and Environment Friendly Mobility in India. It is available at http://mobilitypitch.movesummit.in
- Launched global mobility hackathon Move Hack to crowdsource solutions aimed at future of mobility in India. It is first platform in world that has enmeshed public transport, private transport, road safety, multimodal connectivity and new age transport technologies such as zero emission vehicles and intra city aerial transport spearheaded by Government.
- Released five Thematic Reports on Sustainable Development in Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) recognizing uniqueness of Himalayas and challenges for sustainable development, prepared by 5 working groups that were set up by NITI Aayog in June 2017. Areas are -
- Inventory and Revival of Springs in Himalayas for Water Security, Sustainable Tourism in Indian Himalayan Region, Transformative Approach to Shifting Cultivation, Strengthening Skill & Entrepreneurship Landscape in Himalayas and Data and Information for Informed Decision Making.
- Inventory and Revival of springs in Himalayas for Water Security.
- Sustainable Tourism in Indian Himalayan Region.
- Transformative approach to shifting cultivation (i.e. slash and burn (Jhum cultivation)) - There is urgent need for assessment of nature and extent of shifting cultivation area.
- Strengthening Skill and Entrepreneurship Landscape in Himalayas - There is need to set up demand driven network of skill and entrepreneurship development Centers in Himalayan States along with consortium of institutions of high learning for mountain specific research and technology.
- Data/Information for Informed Decision Making - Central Data Management Agency for Himalayan Database must be set up at GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development. It should be linked with Hindukush Himalaya Monitoring and Assessment program (HIMAP).
85. _________ Updates -
- State government has set up a state-of-the-art interpretation centre at Bhitarkania National Park to showcase its flora, fauna and rich biodiversity.
- State government signed MOU with two US-based agencies to eradicate malaria. in. The 2 agencies are: ‘Malaria No More’ and ‘Malaria Elimination Trust’.
86. President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated ‘Festival of Democracy’ in Thiruvananthapuram (________________________), to mark diamond jubilee (60 years) celebrations of state assembly.
87. Project Development of North East Circuit: Imphal & c inaugurated under Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism. The project covers two sites i.e. Kangla Fort and Khongjom.
- Swadesh Darshan scheme was launched in 2014 -15,with 70 projects sanctioned as on date.
- Kangla Fort is one of most important historic and archaeological site of Manipur located in the heart of the Imphal city. It served as the seat of Manipur’s power till 1891.
- Khongjom is place where the last war of resistance of Anglo Manipur War of _____________ was fought.
88. ___________ Updates -
- CM Amarinder Singh launched PUDA 360 model to facilitate online property transactions, provided by State Urban Planning and Development Authority. It would offer services like E-auction, common platform to the promoters/ builders for advertisement, Checking of delays in sanction of building plans etc.
- State Cabinet approved amendments to Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to make disrespect of religious texts (Sacrilege) punishable with life imprisonment.
- State Cabinet approved formation of the state higher education council to offer quality education, to be headed by CM Amarinder Singh and Higher education minister as vice chairman.
- It is formed to provide quality higher education in Punjab’s institutions through optimum sharing of resources between universities and colleges, for research purposes, academic and governance reforms, monitoring and evaluation of higher education institutions.
- Cabinet also approved proposal of the Local Government Department for amending validity of the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Fund (PMIDF) Act, 2011, to extend its validity till 2037-38, from 2020-21.
- Cabinet als0 approved a bill for creation of a price stabilisation fund, to ensure that state farmers get minimum support price (MSP). It would protect interests of farmers amid sudden fall in prices of certain agricultural commodities.
- State assembly passed Police (Amendment) Bill 2018 that would pave way for setting up of a State Security Commission for selection of director general of police (DGP). It amends Police Act 2007, that did not provide for selection of DGP from panel as prepared by UPSC.
- State government started a ‘Tatkal sewa’ for property registration across the state. Under this, people can seek appointment for ‘tatkal’ (instant) registration for properties for an hour-long slot from 9 am to 10 am, with facilitation charges INR 5000.
89. Railways released report on Station Cleanliness conducted by Quality Council of India (QCI) -
- A1 category stations (out of 75) - Jodhpur (____________________), Jaipur (NWR), Tirupati (SCR).
- A category stations (out of 332) - Marwar (NWR), Phulera (NWR), Warangal (SCR)
- Zonal Railway rankings are - North Western Railway, South Central Railway AND East Coast Railway.
90. _________ Updates -
- CM Vasundhara Raje inaugurated Bhamashah Techno Hub in Jhalana Industrial Area of Jaipur, said to be India's biggest start up incubator centre.
- State government announced to observe September as ‘month of nutrition’. State Govt earlier launched ‘Annapurna Milk Scheme’ -
- Students of Class 1 to 8 of government schools will be given milk daily instead of thrice a week.
- Students in age group of 3-6 years, adolescent girls and pregnant women registered with Anganwadi centres will be provided milk thrice a week.
91. Road and Transport Minister Gadkari launched _________________________ (BIMS), Bhoomi Rashi and PFMS linkage Initiatives of Ministry. Also, Annual Awards for Excellence in National Highways Projects were institutes, to be given from this yearonwards.
- BIMS aims at streamlining process of pre-qualification of bidders for EPC Mode of contracts for National Highway works with enhanced transparency and objectivity. The portal will work as a data base of information about bidders, covering basic details, civil works experience, cash accruals and network, annual turnover etc.
- Bhoomi Rashi portal comprises entire revenue data of country, including all 6.4 lakh villages. It has been instrumental in reducing time taken for approval and publication of notifications pertaining to land acquisition.
- Integration of Public Financial Management System (PFMS) with Bhoomi Rashi is one of the key functionalities to facilitate payment related to compensation for land acquisition to all the beneficiaries directly through the Bhoomi Rashi system.
92. ______________ has become the first Indian tribal language to get a Wikipedia edition in its own script after. Santali is written in Ol Chiki script and spoken by 6.4 million people in India. ?
93. Startup India launched ______________________ programme, as a unique mentorship opportunity between academic scholars and startups working in similar domains, to fulfill Government’s mission to promote entrepreneurship.
94. ______________ Updates -
- It adjourned till end of August 2018, the hearing on pleas challenging Constitutional validity of Article 35A, pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Article 35A and controversy regarding it -
- Article 35A ppears in Constitution as an appendix and not as an amendment. In 2014, an NGO ‘We the Citizens’ filed a writ petition in Supreme Court seeking striking down of Article 35A as it was not added to Constitution through stated procedure. Hence, it lacks parliamentary sanction. In 2017, two Kashmiri women filed another case in Supreme Court against Article 35A for its discrimination against J&K women.
- This led to an uproar in Kashmir. Political Parties and peopel of J & K are warning to trigger an explosive situation in J&K, if Article 35A is scrapped.
- About Article 35A -
- It was added to Constitution (Appendix II) through Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order 1954, issued by then President Rajendra Prasad on May 14, 1954.
- Presidential Order of 1954 provided framework for division of powers between J&K and Union Government under Article 370.
- If Supreme Court strikes down Article 35A, it will have serious impact on all subsequent Presidential Orders.
- Article 370 accords special status to Jammu and Kashmir and acts like a bridge between Indian Constitution and Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Its Origin dates back to 1927 when the Dogras from Jammu approached Maharaja Hari Singh fearing that arrival of people from Punjab will lead to their control in government services. These fears led to issuance of a separate notification by maharaja in 1927 and 1932 which defined the state subjects and their rights.
- J&K Constitution, framed in 1956, retained Maharaja's definition of permanent residents of state.
- J&K constitution defined a permanent resident as a person who was born or settled in J&K before 1911 or has been resident in the state for 10 years after lawfully acquiring property in state.
- Under Article 35A, emigrants from J&K, including those who migrated to Pakistan, are considered state residents. The descendants of emigrants are considered state subjects for two generations.
- It prohibits non-permanent residents from acquiring immovable property, government jobs, scholarships and aid in the state.
- Approved issuing hologram-based coloured stickers for vehicles in Delhi based on the fuel used. While petrol and CNG vehicles will need to have a blue sticker, diesel vehicles must carry an orange one. This is aimed at better tackling of air pollution-related issues in Delhi.
- Directed Tamil Nadu government to lower water level at Mullaperiyar dam on Periyar River to 139 feet from current 142 feet, considering flood situation in all 14 districts of Kerala.
- Tamil Nadu government opposed bringing down water level in the dam, saying that the inflow of water presently is over 12,000 cusec in contrast to outflow of 5,000 cusec.
- Ruled that None of The Above (NOTA) option will not be applicable for voting in Rajya Sabha elections. SC held that NOTA option is meant only for universal adult suffrage and direct elections and not for the polls held by the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote as done in Rajya Sabha.
95. ______________ Updates -
- CM Edappadi K. Palaniswami has inaugurated India’s tallest Film Studio named ‘MGR Centenary Film Studio’, as 56 feet tall, 110 metres long and 100 feet wide studio. The studio is named after former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran.
- CM Edappadi K. Palaniswami laid the foundation stone for setting up of a Special Investment Region (SIR) in northern Krishnagiri district to attract investments, with approx 2420 crores expense.
- State overnment banned students from using mobile phones in college / schools premises. Centre-run institutes like IIT Madras have been exempted from ban stating ‘their students know how to use mobiles reasonably’.
96. ____________ Updates -
- State Government increased the free electricity supply to the families of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for domestic purpose from the current 50 units to 101 units.
- State Government launched Disaster Response Force (DRF) vehicles in Hyderabad, as state's own dedicated disaster force trained in tackling of urban flooding, tree falls, structural collapses and any other site of normal emergencies.
- State government launched first-of-its-kind life insurance programme worth Rs 5 lakh for farmers in state, called Rythu Bandhu Life Insurace Bonds, with cost approx 650 Crores. Insurance amount will be given to farmer’s family within 10 days, in case of death of Farmer. Some Limitations -
- It is limited to farmers aged 18 - 60 years.
- Limited to landowners who received monetary assistance of Rs 4000 from the state government to bear farming costs under the ‘Rythu Bandhu’ programme earlier this year.
- Tenant farmers have been left out of it.
- State government will set up a biotech and pharma facility, B-Hub, India’s first organised cluster for life sciences Research & Development at Genome Valley, To support manufacturing activities for bio-pharma R&D. Also, a web portal for life sciences sector has been launched.
97. Traditional annual Hindu festival of Onam held in _______________________. It is celebrated to commemorate King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit the state at the time of Onam.
98. Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (Ministry of Tribal Affairs) signed MoU with National Medicinal Plants Board (Ministry of AYUSH), to promote ____________________ (MAPs) forest produce for livelihood development of tribal people through promotion of primary level value addition to MAPs produce from forest area at grassroots level.
99. _____________ Updates -
- Announced a new measure that seeks to facial recognition mandatory for every authentication that requires Aadhaar. It is being used to provide an added security layer and also make Aadhaar process more inclusive.
- Announced phased roll-out of face recognition for carrying out Aadhaar authentication as an additional security layer, from September 15, 2018. It also announced new feature live face photo, as live feed of person facial features whose Aadhaar is submitted. It will be in addition to fingerprint or iris scans for Aadhaar authentication.
- It will curb possibility of fingerprint cloning or spoofing and also seeks to tighten audit process and security around issuance and activation of mobile SIMs.
100. ________________ Govt. approved revised policy on adventure sports -
- Imposed total ban on smoking and substance abuse by enthusiasts when they perform rafting, kayaking or canoeing in state. Minimum qualification has been fixed for raft operators.
101. ______________ High Court (HC) banned commercial use of elephants in state and directed the state forest department to rescue the elephants deployed for commercial purposes within 24 hours. It also became first state to give identity cards to gau rakshaks, to differentiate people who protect cows from those who resort to violence in name of cow vigilantism.
102. Various Welfare schemes for North eastern Region -
- _______________________ (NESIDS) - It is a 100% Central Sector Scheme to be implemented till March 2020, with sum of 1600 crores.
- Schemes of North Eastern Council (NEC) and North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS) - With total cost of 4500 crore for upto 2019-20.
- North East Venture Fund (NEVF), set up by North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi), with capital commitment of 100 crores. Out of this, 25 crores has been committed by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
103. Various changes in names as tribute to Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee who passed away recently -
- ____________________ University announced its decision to rename its School of Management and Entrepreneurship as Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship.
- Chhattisgarh Govt. renaming upcoming capital of the state Naya Raipur as Atal Nagar.
- Uttar Pradesh Govt. will name proposed Bundelkhand Expressway as ‘Atal Path’.
- AIIMS Rishikesh auditorium, a ghat on Sabarmati River in Gujarat and cyber tower in Mauritius to be named after him.
- Andhra Pradesh to name AIIMS Mangalagiri after Him.
- Himachal Pradesh to rename Rohtang Tunnel after him.
- Madhya Pradesh govt. to rename Habibganj railway station after him.
- Assam to name the yet-to-be-inaugurated Bogibeel bridge after him, as Atal Setu.
104. ________________________ Government removed annual family income ceiling in eligibility criteria to be beneficiary under state’s Kanyashree Prakalpa scheme.
- Currently only girls belonging to families with annual family income not more than Rs 1.20 lakh were entitled to get benefits of this scheme. State government will also set up Kanyashree University soon.
- Kanyashree Prakalpa scheme -
- It is conditional cash transfer scheme aimed at improving status and well-being of girl child by incentivising schooling of teenage girls and delaying their marriages until age of 18, launched in October 2013.
- Targeted Beneficiaries are girl children within age 13 - 19 years.
- Girls regularly attending institutions for education or vocational or sports training.
- Girls of Child Care Institutes registered under Juvenile Justice Act (JJ), 2000 within age of 18-19 years.
- Components Include -
- Annual Scholarship of INR 500 for unmarried girls aged 13-18 years enrolled in classes VIII-XII and One time Grant of Rs 25,000 for girls turned 18 at time of application.
- Over 50 lakh girls from the state have been benefited by scheme and removal of ceiling will help another three lakh more girls annually. It was awarded United Nations Public Service Award in June 2017.
105. World's first-ever thermal battery plant will be set up in _____________________, by Bharat Energy Storage Technology Private Limited (BEST). First-of-its-kind batteries will aim to boost renewable sources of energy production and reduce dependence on non-renewable fossil fuel-based energy generation.
- In first phase, batteries suited for telecommunications, mini or microgrids and electric buses would be manufactured. Batteries will run for up to 800kms on a single charge.
- Thermal plant is expected to start commercial operations by May 2019.
