International News
President Visit to Switzerland
- President Kovind unveiled the bust of Mahatma Gandhi, marking the 150th anniversary of the Father of the Nation at Villeneuve, Switzerland.
- Mahatma Gandhi had a special connection, as he visited Villeneuve in 1931 at the invitation of Noble laureate Romain Rolland.
National News
Task Force for Infra Projects by Finmin
- The Finance Minister has constituted a task force to draw up a National Infrastructure Pipeline worth $1.4 trillion.
- The Task Force will submit its report on the pipeline for FY 2019-20 by 31st October 2019 and by 31st December 2019 on the indicative pipeline for FY 2021-25.
1st Mega Food Park in Telangana
- The initiative will aid the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme by reducing post-harvest losses and hedging the farmer’s risk, by adding value and reducing food wastage at each stage of the supply chain.
- The government provides financial assistance up to Rs50 crore per Mega Food Park project.
New Animal Facility established by University of Hyderabad
- The facility is one of the largest in the country and will cater to the needs of research investigators working with small animal models like rodents and rabbits.
- It will provide the researchers to perform cutting edge research and publish them with facts and accuracy in high impact journals.
India’s second Multi-Modal Terminal
- The MMTs are built as part of the Jal Marg Vikas Project which aims to develop navigation of large vessels upto1500-2000 tonnes weight, on river Ganga between Varanasi to Haldia.
- Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the Implementing Agency of the MMT project.
Motihari-Amlekhganj Petroleum Products Pipeline
- This is a 69 km pipeline with a capacity of 2 million metric ton per annum, will provide petroleum products to Nepal at a cheap price.
- The project is led by the Indian Oil Corporation and the Nepal Oil Corporation.
PM Modi to launch National Animal Disease Control Programme
- The programme is launched for eradicating the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis in the livestock.
- If a cow/buffalo gets infected with FMD, the milk loss is up to 100% for 4 to 6 months and with infection of Brucellosis, the milk output reduces by 30%, for the entire life cycle.
NCST demanded inclusion of Ladakh in the 6th Schedule
- The commission observed that the territory of Ladakh created recently is predominantly a tribal region, accounting for more than 97% tribal people.
- The Scheduled Tribe population represent 66.8 per cent in Leh, 83.49 per cent in Kargil, 89.96 per cent in Sanku and 99.16 per cent in Zanskar, 73.35 per cent in Nubra, 97.05 per cent in Khalsti areas of the Ladakh region.
Indian Institute of Skills, Mumbai
- The institute is launched to provide skills to students who want to pursue technical education after completing Class X and Class XII.
- It will operate on PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model and Tata Education Development Trust (TEDT) was selected through a competitive bidding process as the private partner for setting up IIS at NSTI campus in Mumbai.
Rajasthan launched the “ Jan Soochna Portal”
- The portal has promised to provide information about government authorities and departments suo motu to the public in the true spirit of the Right To Information Act, 2005.
- Rajasthan, where the RTI movement had started in 1990s has become the 1st state in the country to launch a public portal for providing governmental information to the public.
Banking
ADB to provide $200 million to Maharashtra
- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $ 200 million to Maharashtra to improve road safety by upgrading rural roads to all-weather standards.
- The state of Maharashtra accounts for 8% of the total road incidents in India.
- The states’ agriculture accounts for about 47% of employment and contributes 11% to the state gross domestic product.
IPPB rolled out AePS Services
- IPPB with the launch of AePS services has now become the single largest platform in the country for providing interoperable banking services to the customers of any bank.
- IPPB’s 100% equity is owned by the Government of India.
