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Contents

Topic Page Number MOU/Agreement Countries 3 MOU Industry/States/Others 3-4 Appointments and Resignations 4-9 Awards and Recognitions 9-15 Conference and Summits 15-21 International News 21-25 National News 25-47 State News 47-64 Finance and Banking News 64-71 Business News 71-73 Economy News 74-77 Science & Technology 77-81 Projects 81 Defence News 81-84 Sports News 84-98 Committees 98-100 Rankings of Countries 100-101 Rankings (Persons and Organisations) 101-103 Loans from 103-104 Deadlines 105 Books and Authors 105-106 Obituaries 106-110 Nobel Prize Winners 110-111 Important Days 111-113

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MOU/Agreement Countries

Country Country Purpose Total 8 Agreemnts signed including: Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) in Nursing, Naval cooperation, Economic co- operation, Fintech, Cybersecurity, Combating Narcotics smuggling & Human Trafficking, Personnel Management and Public Administration and MoU between the NITI Aayog and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) on Cooperation in the Field of Planning

India Norway Cooperation in area of health sector through the Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI) for a period of three years starting from 2018 to 2020 India China Share Brahmaputra water data during flood season and exporting non-basmati rice to China.

 India and Nepal signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Kathmandu on preliminary engineering-cum- traffic survey of the proposed Raxaul-Kathmandu railway as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepal counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli agreed to foster bilateral ties.  India and France have signed an implementation agreement on “Mobilise Your City” (MYC) in the presence of MoS, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Hardeep Singh Puri and Alexander Ziegler, Ambassador of France in India. The MYC will support three pilot cities — Nagpur, Kochi and Ahmedabad in their efforts to reduce their Green House Gas (GHG) emissions.  The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and South on cooperation in the exploration and uses of outer space for peaceful purposes.  The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Malta for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism.  The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and BruneiDarussalam on cooperation in the operation of telemetry tracking and telecommand station for satellite and launch vehicles, and for cooperation in the field of space research, science and applications.

MOU Industry/States/Others

Industry/State/Organisation Industry/State/Organisation Purpose Ministry of Environment, Forest The Energy and Resources To set up a resource efficiency cell in and Climate Change (MoEFCC) Institute (TERI) the Ministry Kerala Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) To construct 3 marine ambulance for the state fisheries department Central Electro Chemical Research RAASI Solar Power Pvt Ltd Transfer of technology for India’s first Institute (CECRI), Karaikudi, Tamil Lithium Ion (Li-ion) Battery project. Nadu (under Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) ) Odisha Pullela Gopichand Badminton To establish P Gopichand Badminton

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Foundation (PGBF), Hyderabad Academy in Odisha. Canada’s Quebec province Cooperation in areas of information technology, biotechnology, artificial intelligence and welfare of the tribal community PhonePe Ola To offer a hassle-free cab and auto booking experience to the users. Arunachal Pradesh Smart Village Movement (SVM), To develop smart village initiative in Andhra Pradesh selected villages of the north eastern state Odisha Earth Network (US based To install lightening detection and Lightning analysing firm) warning system in the state to reduce number of casualties due to lightning strike incidents ICICI Marg ERP limited ( Enterprise To offer an integrated payments Resource Planning (ERP) platform to Micro, Small and Medium company) Enterprise (MSME) customers, using Marg’s accounting software. Greece Macedonia To change Macedonia’s name to the Republic of Northern Macedonia, Central Water Commission (CWC) To seek help in effective flood forecasting using . Bharat Bill payment operating True Balance To facilitate quick and easy bill Unit (BBPOU) payments. Core Energy Systems Pvt NIKIRET (subsidiary of Russian To promote the technical security Ltd (Indian engineering services state atomic energy corporation equipment of NIKIRET in India. firm) Rosatom) Nepal China To develop a cross-border railway line that will connect the Tibetan town of Kerung with Kathmandu. Reliance Mutual Fund For financial inclusion of low-income households by investing in the mutual fund for an amount as low as Rs 500. India Seychelles Signed 6 MoUs including naval cooperation, cybersecurity, culture, development projects etc. India has announced US $100-million credit to Seychelles for augmenting its defence capabilities. Saudi Aramco Abu Dhabi National Oil Company To jointly develop an integrated refinery (ADNOC) and petrochemicals complex at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. Ministry of Health and Family Indira Gandhi National Open To train 14 lakh youth in healthcare Welfare University (IGNOU) sector over the next four years to meet the growing demand for skilled professionals Andhra Pradesh Singapore To speed up the construction work of

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Andhra Pradesh’s new , Amaravati. of Maharashtra To launch Cotton Mission for India (MCX) empowering cotton farmers in the Vidarbha region. NITI Aayog Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers To work together towards implementing & Chemicals Limited (GNFC) a Proof-of-Concept (“PoC”) application using Blockchain Technology for fertiliser subsidy management Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited South Korean firm NANO Co Ltd To design and manufacture of emission (BHEL) controlling devices (SCR Catalysts) for De-NOx application (emission control systems )

 The Union Ministry of Water Resources, the NABARD and the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) signed a revised Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for funding of central share of 99 prioritised irrigation projects under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).  National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) signed an MoU with SME Corporation Malaysia for exchange of information and cooperation in areas such as policies to aid development of small and medium businesses (SMBs) in the two countries.  Prasar Bharati and Mizzima Media Group of Myanmar signed an MoU to realize cooperation and collaboration in broadcasting and content sharing.  A Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) was signed between the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and National Health Agency (NHA), to provide capacity building for Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) to ensure effective rollout and continued quality implementation.  Software major Adobe signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to launch an “Adobe Digital Disha” programme across vocational institutes in India.The programme is focused on helping vocational institutes leverage the power of a free online and mobile graphic design app “Adobe Spark” to integrate creativity and digital literacy into classrooms and curriculum.  NITI Aayog, Intel and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, TIFR are collaborating to set up a Model International Center for Transformative Artificial Intelligence, ICTAI. Appointments and Resignations

Name Post Institution Lt General Devraj Anbu Vice Chief of the Army Staff Indian Army (VCOAS) Pedro Sanchez Prime Minister Spain Abdel Fattah al-Sisi President Egypt Giuseppe Conte Prime Minister Mahesh Kumar Jain Deputy Governor Reserve (RBI) Tommy Thomas Attorney General Malaysia Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces President 73rd Session of United Nations (UN) General Assembly

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Omar al-Razzaz Prime Minister Jordan Keshari Nath Tripathi (West Governor (Additional Charge) Tripura Bengal Governor) Harun Rasid Khan Non Executive, Part Time Chairman Shri Sharad Kumar Vigilance Commissioner Central Vigilance Commission S Ramesh Chairman Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Justice Deepak Raj Joshee Chief Justice Supreme Court of Nepal Rana Kapoor Managing Director & Chief Executive Office Dr. Inder Jit Singh Secretary Ministry of Coal Dhivya Suryadevara Chief Finance Officer (CFO) US based General Motors Sunil Chhetri Brand Ambassador Online fantasy sports platform “ StarPick” Lieutenant General Aziz Ahmed Chief of Army Staff Bangladesh Ivan Duque President Colombia Sandeep Bakhshi Wholetime Director and Chief ICICI Bank Operating Officer (COO) N.S. Kannan MD & CEO ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Rama Subramaniam Gandhi Advisor A.R. Rahman Brand Ambassador BVR Subrahmanyam Chief Secretary Jammu & Kashmir Vijay Kumar Advisor Jammu & Kashmir Governor Paul Polman Chairman International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Ajay Banga, First Vice-Chair International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) B Sriram MD & CEO IDBI Bank Abhay V. Udeshi President International Castor Oil Association (ICOA) Arijit Basu Managing Director Recep Tayyip Erdogan President Ajay Chitkara Director and Chief Executive Airtel Business Officer Pankaj Miglani Chief Executive Officer Airtel Global Business Janardan Singh Gehlot President International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) Dedar Singh Gill Judicial Commissioner Supreme Court of Singapore GC Chaturvedi Non-Executive part-time ICICI Bank Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu Chancellor Pondicherry Central University B. Sriram MD and CEO IDBI Bank T Latha MD and CEO Limited Surendra Rosha India CEO Hongkong and Shanghai Banking

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Corporation Saraswati Prasad Chairman and Managing Director Steel Authority of India (SAIL) Adarsh Kumar Goel Chairman National Green Tribunal (NGT) K B Vijay Srinivas Director and General Manager United India Insurance Company Vishwas Patel Chairman Payments Council of India Janardan Singh Gehlot President International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) Rajat Sharma (‘Aap Ki Adalat’ President Delhi and District Association anchor and senior journalist) (DDCA) MukeshAmbani Managing Director Reliance Industries (RIL) Actor Akshay Kumar Ambassador Revital H Medicine of Consumer Healthcare Company Dr. Sandeep Sanchet President Association of Indian Universities (AIU), New Delhi Rajan Kohli President Wipro Ltd Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe Chairman All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Imran Khan Prime Minister Pakistan Recep Tayyip Erdogan President Republic of Turkey López Obrador President Mexico Actress Richa Chadha has become the face and voice of the Save the Elephants campaign by animal rights organisation People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the appointment of Major General Jose EladioAlcain of Uruguay as head of mission and chief military observer for the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). Award-winning Italian singer Laura Pausini has been named Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), WFP announced, calling her “a role model both on and off stage”. RESIGNATIONS/TERMINATIONS Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia, has announced his resignation amid a growing disagreement over his economic policies with Bidzina Ivanishvili, the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party. Mehbooba Mufti resigned as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended its the alliance with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state. Parakala Prabhakar (husband of Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman), the communications advisor to the Andhra Pradesh government, has handed in his resignation from his post blaming the Opposition for his resignation. Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, who succeeded the high-profile Raghuram Rajan in the Finance Ministry in 2014, has quit the government with plans to go back to the US for research and writing. Sunil Bharti Mittal, the Founder and Chairman of , stepped down as the Chairman of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on June 21. He will now function as the Honorary Chairman of the ICC commencing July 1. State Bank of India (SBI) Managing Director B Sriram has resigned from the country’s largest lender after his appointment as chief executive of IDBI Bank. Paytm CEO Renu Satti has resigned from the role and will now head Paytm’s new retail initiative.

Name Post Set to Replace and other info

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President Ram Nath Kovind gave Madhya Pradesh Governor Anadiben Patel additional charge of Chhattisgarh following the demise of its Governor Balramji Dass Tandon. Minister of Finance and Minister of He took charge after a 3 month interval. In Corporate Affairs Mr. Jaitley’s absence, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal took care of Finance and Corporate Affairs. M.K. Stalin DMK President Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is a state political party in the state of Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry. Balesh Sharma ’s first CEO The merger of Vodafone India and is complete after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the merger, creating India’s largest telecom operator with over 400 million subscribers, a joint statement by the two companies said on 31 August. G Satheesh Reddy Chairman of the Defence Research S Christopher Development Organisation (DRDO) Satya Pal Malik Governor of Jammu & Kashmir Will replace NN Vohra Lal Ji Tandon Governor of Will replace Satya Pal Malik Satyadeo Narayan Arya Governor of Haryana Will replace Kaptan Singh Solanki Kaptan Singh Solanki Governor of Tripura Will replace Tathagata Roy Tathagata Roy Governor of Meghalaya Will replace Ganga Prasad Ganga Prasad Governor of Sikkim Will replace Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil Baby Rani Maurya Governor of Uttarakhand Will replace Krishan Kant Paul Sandeep Bakhshi Chief Operating Officer (COO) of ICICI Bank Rana Kapoor Yes Bank CEO Re-appointed Prachi Mishra Managing Director and Chief India Economist of Goldman Sachs Ashish Kumar Bhutani Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) Geeta Mittal First woman judge of J&K High Court Ram Sewak Sharma Chairperson of the Telecom Re-appointed for 2 years Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Rekha Sharma Chairperson of National Commission Lalitha Kumarmangalam (had demitted office for Women in September 2017) Justice Manjula Chellur Chairperson of Appellate Tribunal Justice Ranjana P. Desai (who retired on for Electricity November 30, 2017)

N Raghuram Chairman of the International Raghuram is the first Indian and Asian to be Nitrogen Initiative (INI) elected to the Chair. He will succeed Mark Sutton of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh. Uday Kumar Varma Assocham Secretary General

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Actor Akshay Kumar Road Safety Brand Ambassador By Road Transport & Highways MInistry Raveena Tandon Brand Ambassador of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) Parineeti Chopra Brand Ambassador of fashion brand Rangriti by Biba Apparels Pvt Ltd Ranjan Gogoi Chief Justice of India He will take charge on October 3, 2018 after Justice Dipak Misra’s retirement. L K Advani Chairman of the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha Shivakumar Chairman of the board of The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) Sunil Mehta Chairman of Indian Banks He is ’s managing Association (IBA) director and chief executive. He will succeed Usha Ananthasubramanian Anshula Kant Managing Director of State Bank of Will succeed B Sriram India Amitabh Chaudhry Chief Executive and Managing After Shikha Sharma’s tenure will end in Director of December Ashwani Bhatia Managing Director and Chief Will take over from Anuradha Rao Executive Officer of SBI Mutual Fund Vibha Padalkar Executive director and Chief Will succeed Amitabh Chaudhary, who joined financial officer of HDFC Standard Axis Bank on September 8. Life R Madhavan Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Poonam Khetrapal Singh Regional Director of WHO South- East Asia Akshay Kumar Ambassador of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Foundation MC Mary Kom Brand Ambassador of BSNL Hima Das Sports Ambassador of Assam nicknamed the "Dhing Express", is an Indian sprint runner from Assam Satya S. Tripathi Assistant Secretary-General at UN Environment Programme’s New York office Michelle Bachelet (Chile’s UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein twice-serving president) Emmerson Mnangagwa President of Zimbabwe Iván Duque Márquez President of Columbia Juan Manuel Santos Calderón Mario Abdo Benítez President of Paraguay Horacio Cartes Ibrahim Boubacar Keita President of Mali Re-elected for a 5 year term Scott Morrison Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull Imran Khan Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Dr Arif Alvi President of Pakistan He will succeed Mamnoon Hussain

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RESIGNATIONS: Anil Ambani resigned as director of Reliance Naval and Engineering. (NHB) Managing Director Sriram Kalyanaraman has resigned amidst allegations of favouring housing finance companies. Indian origin business executive Indra K. Nooyi will step down as the Chief Executive of global food and beverages major PepsiCo, Inc. in October. ’s MD and CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian was fired on her last day in office, in relation to the PNB scam. She had served as the CEO and Managing Director of PNB from 2015 to 2017, and was named in the CBI chargesheet.

 Ajay Data, Founder & CEO of Data XGen and a global leader in email linguistic services, is selected as a new council member of Country Code Supporting Organisation (ccNSO). Ajay Data is the first Indian to have been selected as a member of ccNSO.  The Asia-Pacific Institute of Broadcasting Development (AIBD) elected Fayyaz Sheheryar, Director-General of All India Radio, as its new President. This is the first time India has been elected for the position of president of AIBD.  National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Harivansh Narayan Singh was announced as the new Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman after he received 125 votes, while Congress’ BK Hariprasad got 105 votes out of the total 332.  The Indian Banks’ Association has appointed Egon Zehnder International (Headquarters – Zürich, Switzerland) as a ‘Knowledge Partner’ to the to design, implement and institutionalise a flagship leadership development strategy for public sector banks in India.

Awards and Recognitions

Award Name Person/Institution Extra Knowledge Sansad Ratna Award 2018 Parliamentary Standing These awards were instituted by Committee on Finance Prime Point Foundation in 2010 based on the suggestion by late President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam 2018 Women's Prize for Fiction Kamila Shamsie She was awarded the €30,000 pound ($40,000) prize for her 7t novel Home Fire World Food Prize 2018 Lawrence Haddad and Dr. David For their work in improving the Nabarro nutrition of mothers and children from pregnancy to a child’s second birthday Japan’s ‘Nikkei Asia Prize for Bindeshwar Pathak Founder of Sulabh International Culture and Community’ Femina Miss India 2018 Miss Anukreethy Vas (Tamil Nadu) Miss Meenakshi Chaudhary (Haryana)- First Runner Up Miss Shreya Rao (Andhra Pradesh)- Second Runner Up 2018 Prime Minister’s Award Vishwas Mandlik (Nashik) Individual – National category for outstanding contribution to promotion and development of yoga.

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2018 Prime Minister’s Award The Yoga Institute, Organisation – National category for outstanding contribution to promotion and development of yoga. 52nd Skoch Award for Chief Vasundhara Raje Rajasthan Chief Minister Minister of the Year 52nd Skoch Award for Best Ministry of Women and Child Performing Social Sector Ministry Development 52nd Skoch Award for Order-of- Delhi Delhi bnagged 4 Skoch Order of Merit Merit. SKOCH Order-of-Merit for ‘Jan Suvidha (Toilet) Complex Monitoring’ SKOCH Order-of-Merit ‘Night Shelter Management System’ SKOCH Order-of-Merit for ‘GIS Mapping of DUSIB Vacant Land’ and SKOCH Order-of-Merit Award for ‘Aam Admi Mohalla Clinic Project (Health)’. 52nd Skoch ‘Gold Award’ in Sagarmala Project The Sagarmala Programme also infrastructure sector received the ‘Order of Merit’ at the Summit. Living Legend Prize at 25th annual Prem Chopra Raza Murad- Achievrs Award awards, Atibadi Jagannath Das Samman It is Odisha’s highest literary award 2018 24th Rajiv Gandhi National Gopalkrishna Gandhi Former West Bengal Governor Sadbhavana Award Sangita Kalanidhi Award Aruna Sairam (Carnatic vocalist) Special Lifetime Achievement T.H. Vinayakram (ghatam ) Music Academy announced the Award award. National Kalidas Samman AnjolieElaMenon (one of India's She received award for visual arts leading contemporary artists) from the Madhya Pradesh government British Indian of the Year Ishwar Sharma He is an Indian-origin schoolboy who is the under-11 UK national yoga champion Golden Man Booker Prize ‘The English Patient’ It is the wartime love story by Michael Ondaatje who is - born Canadian poet Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Gopalkrishna Gandhi He is former West Bengal Governor Award “Shalaka Samman” for 2017-18 Academy Delhi gave the award Hindu Playwright Award 2018 Annie Zaidi Award for her play Untitled-1 Legion of Merit (Degree of General Dalbir Singh Awarded by US government for exceptionally Commander) Suhag (Retired) meritorious service as chief of the Army staff, Indian Army

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Dr B.C. Roy National Award Eminent neurosurgeon Dr As Eminent Medical Person of the Year award B.K. Misra Miss Universe India 2018 Nehal Chudasama She will now be representing India at Miss Universe. Meryl Streep Award for Excellence Aishwarya Rai Bachchan She got the award at the first Women in Film and Television (WIFT) India Award Wyler Award for Excellence in Zoya Akhtar She got the award at the first Women in Film Direction and Television (WIFT) India Award WIFT Emerald Award Janhvi Kapoor She got the award at the first Women in Film and Television (WIFT) India Award Sarala Puraskar Odia poet Satrughna For his poetry collection ‘Misra Dhrupad’. Pandav 2018 Balzan Prize for Terre des Hommes (An humanitarian achievement. international children rights charity) based in Switzerland Meera Puruskar by Rajasthan Sawai Singh Shekhawat He is poet and writer Sahitya Academy American actress Anne Hathaway Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Equality Award India’s Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) project has won the World Bank’s internal award for exceptional performance in achieving many development goals. Dr. T.K Chand received Knowledge Excellence Award from Secretary, Mines, Govt. of India for Outstanding Contribution in Aluminium Knowledge domain at the 22nd International Conference on Non-Ferrous Minerals and Metals 2018 at , Jharkhand. Major General VD Dogra became the first serving Indian Army officer to complete an Ironman triathlon. SatyarupSiddhanta has become the second Indian mountaineer after MalliMastanBabu to climb Mt Ojos del Salado, the highest volcano in the world. A team comprising experts from the Indian Institute of Technology- and the University of Oxford has been selected for an award for exceptional research-led innovation to mitigate arsenic poisoning in the Ganga- Brahmaputra delta in the north and northeast India. India Heritage Walk Festival, a collaboration of Sahapedia and YES Arts & Culture, has been awarded the PATA ( Pacific Asia Travel Association ) Gold Award 2018 for its recently concluded pan-India event. Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), the marketers of the popular Amul brand of milk and dairy products, has been awarded the ‘Marketer of the Year’ award by the International Advertising Association of India (IAAI). The United Nations has honoured the Cochin International Airport (CIAL) with ‘Champion of Earth’ award for being the first airport in the world to be completely powered by solar energy. CIAL is the first airport in the world to receive the highest environmental award issued by the United Nations. Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk are among the winners of Ramon Magsaysay Award 2018.| Bharat Vatwani is a psychiatrist who works for mentally-ill people living on the streets. Sonam Wangchuk, known for his reforms in the education sector in Ladakh. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is often referred to as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize. RECOGNITIONS

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over the Padma Shri award, India’s fourth highest civilian awards, to former Singaporean diplomat Tommy Koh. Kerala cartoonist Thomas Antony won the World Press Cartoon Awards in the best caricature category at the 13th edition of the World Press Cartoon awards. He is the lone cartoonist selected from Asia selected for the prize. Pallavi Durua, who belongs to Odisha’s Koraput district, was crowned as the first Tribal Queen at the Adi Rani Kalinga Tribal Queen competition held at Utkal Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Panchami Majhi of Titlagarh and Rashmirekha Hansdah of Mayurbhanj were declared as the first and second runners-up of the beauty pageant respectively. The Government of Singapore has named an Orchid after Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Dendrobrium Narendra Modi, to commemorate his visit to the National Orchid Garden of Singapore. An all women Naval mountaineering team led by Lt Cdr Kokila Sajwan summited Mount Deotibba. Mt Deotibba is the second highest peak (6001M) in the Pir-Panjal range in Himachal Pradesh and is considered to be a difficult peak to summit. Around 800 differently-abled people from across India attempted to set a Guinness World Record for ‘Largest Silent Yoga Class’ in Ahmedabad on the occasion of 4th International Yoga Day. Bollywood actress Kalki Koechlin has been conferred with the French distinction of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) for her contribution in enhancing Indo-French ties in cinema. Kolkata based Jiya Das is the first transgender Operation Theatre (OT) technician in India. Chinese President Xi Jinping awarded his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin the first-ever Friendship Medal (the highest state honor to foreigners) of the People's Republic of China.

 Outstanding Parliamentarians Award for the year 2013 was given to Manipur’s Governor and five time Rajya Sabha member Dr Najma A. Heptulla and for year 2014, the award was presented to Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Lok Sabha member Hukumdev Narayan Yadav. President Ram Nath Kovind presented Outstanding Parliamentarians Award for the year 2015 to Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad. Trinamool Congress’ Dinesh Trivedi was also honoured by the Outstanding Parliamentarians Award for the year 2016. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Member of Parliament (MP) from Odisha’s Cuttack Bhartruhari Mahatab was also honoured with the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for 2017.  K. Anvar Sadath, vice chairman and executive director of Kerala Infrastructure and Technology For Education (KITE), has become the first Indian to receive The International Contributions Award.  An Indian-born, Australian-raised mathematics genius Akshay Venkatesh has been awarded the Fields Medal, which is often called the Nobel Prize of mathematics.  Shimla-based filmmaker Devkanya Lotheta’s film “Behind the Bars” has won the first prize under the Short Film Award Scheme — 2018 of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).  Indian-American high school student Avi Goel has won the world championship at the International Geography Bee’s junior varsity division which was held in Berlin, . 14-year old Avi is a tenth grader at Silver Creek High School in Evergreen, San Jose, California.  Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie was the most influential woman in history, Britain’s BBC found in a poll, highlighting her role in curing cancer. Readers of BBC History magazine ranked Polish-born Madam Curie at the top

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of a list of 100 women who changed the world, for becoming the first person to win two Nobel Prizes and for her research into radioactivity – a word that she coined.  “Lost in Transaltion” actress Scarlett Johansson (American actress and singer) has been named as the world’s highest paid female actress by Forbes.  Smitha V. Crishna, a third-generation heir of the Godrej family, ranks first in the Kotak Wealth Hurun-Leading Wealthy Women 2018 list with an estimated wealth of ₹ 37,570 crore. Ms. Smitha owns one-fifth of the Godrej Group.  Delhi government’s additional director of health S K Arora has been awarded the prestigious WHO World No Tobacco Day 2017 Award for his extraordinary contribution towards tobacco control.  Reliance Power said its wholly-owned subsidiary Reliance Power Netherlands BV has won an international arbitration award of $56 million (Rs 390 crore).  PepsiCo’s India-born CEO will be honoured with the Game Changer of the Year award by a global cultural organisation in recognition of her business achievements, humanitarian record and advocacy for women and girls around the world.  Two Indian nationals, Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk, were given the Ramon Magsaysay award, popularly known as Asia’s Nobel Prize. Vatwani has dedicated his life for rescuing mentally ill people from the streets of India — who number around 400,000 according to estimates — and providing them with shelter and treatment through his Shraddha Rehabilitaion Foundation. Wangchuk has been recognised for “his uniquely systematic, collaborative and community—driven reform of learning systems in remote northern India, thus improving the life opportunities of Ladakhi youth, and his constructive engagement of all sectors in local society to harness science and culture creatively for economic progress, thus setting an example for minority peoples in the world”.  Indian poet-diplomat Abhay K. has become the first Indian poet invited to record his poems at the Library of Congress in Washington D.. in ‘The Poet and the Poem’ series conducted by poet Grace Cavalieri.  Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, was conferred ‘Honoris Causa’ by the University of Engineering & Management (UEM).  The US National Cancer Institute has give the “Outstanding Investigator Award” to Professor Arul Chinnaiyan, from the University of Michigan, and $6.5 million in funding over seven years, to identify cancer biomarkers to improve diagnosis and develop new targeted therapies.  Nandakumar Rajalakshmi , an India-born woman research scholar from the University of Washington won the Paul Baran Young Scholar Award for 2018 for using to detect life-threatening symptoms, the California- based Marconi Society.  State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) bagged the “Rajbhasha Kirti” award for outstanding performance in implementing the Official Language Policy during 2017-18.  Actors Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das were among 13 others who were awarded the Bharatiya Manavata Vikas Puraskar in New Delhi for their contribution to the society and championing the cause of equity, social justice and human welfare.  BSNL yet again swept WiFi Leadership Awards 2018 by bagging six awards and emerged as the largest public WiFi focused organization while Vipin Tyagi, Executive Director, C-DOT was conferred WiFi Leader of the Year at My India WiFi India Summit & Awards 2018 organised by DigiAnalysys in New Delhi.

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 Six airports of the Airports Authority of India have been conferred with seven international awards. The Airports Council International (ACI) presented the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards 2017 at Customer Excellence Global Summit at Halifax, Canada. Based on the results of the survey carried out by the ACI, a global non-profit organisation of Airport Operators on ASQ, Lucknow Airport has been rated as the world’s top airport in the ‘Best Airport by Size’ category, among the airports handling two to five million passengers per year. It has also bagged the award for“Best airport by size and Region” among the airports handling two to five million passengers per year in the whole Asia Pacific region. Indore Airport has bagged the award for ‘Best Airport by Region’ among the airports handling under two million passengers per year in Asia-Pacific region. Ahmedabad Airport has been rated as the ‘Most Improved Airport’ in Asia-Pacific region. Indore and Ahmedabad airports are the two first time winners from India for 2017. While Kolkata and Pune airports have been ranked third in the world in the ‘Best Airport by Size’ category, among the airports handling five to 15 million passengers per year, Chennai Airport has been adjudged the third best in the world in the category – ‘Best Airport by Size’ among airports handling 15-25 million passengers per year.

IIFA 2018 Awards

The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards 2018 held at Bangkok’s Siam Niramit theatre on June 24 and was hosted by director Karan Johar and actor Riteish Deshmukh.

Complete List of Winner

 Best Picture: Tumhari Sulu  Best Actor Male: Irfan Khan for (Hindi Medium)  Best Actor Female: Sridevi (posthumously) (Mom)  Best Director: Saket Chowdhary (Hindi Medium)  Best Supporting Actor Female: Meher Vij (Secret Superstar)  Best Supporting Actor Male: Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Mom)  Best Story: Amit V Masurkar (Newton)  Best Debut Director: Konkona Sen Sharma (A death in the Gunj)  Best Playback Singer (Male): Arijit Singh (Hawayein from “Jab Harry Met Sejal)  Best Playback Singer (Female): Meghna Mishra (Main Kaun Hoon from “Secret Superstar”)  Best Music Direction: Amaal Mallik, Tanishk Bagchi and Akhil Sachdeva (Badrinath Ki Dulhania)  Best Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir (Mere Rashke Qamar – Baadshaho)  Style Icon Award: Kriti Sanon  Outstanding Achievement Award: Anupam Kher  Next IIFA give away winner: Arjun Kapoor

India Smart Cities Award 2018

The India Smart Cities Awards were announced in 3 categories with total 9 awards. The categories includes: City Award, Innovative Idea Award and Project Award.

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 City Award – Surat  Innovative Idea Award – Bhopal and Ahmedabad for Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) and Safe and Secure Ahmedabad (SASA) Project respectively.  The Project’ awards were given in seven categories namely: o Social Aspects’ category – NDMC, Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), Visakhapatnam, Pune o Urban environment category – Bhopal, Pune and Coimbatore and Jabalpur o Culture and Economy category – Bhopal and Jaipur o Transport and Mobility category – Ahmedabad and Surat o Water and Sanitation category – Ahmedabad o Governance category – Pune o Built Environment category – Pune Swachh Survekshan 2018 Awards

The Swachh Survekshan 2018 assessed 4203 Urban Local Bodies and was organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), under the aegis of the (Urban).

Top 3 Winning Cities are:

 Indore  Bhopal  Chandigarh Conference and Summits

Summit Place Extra Knowledge 49th Conference of Governors and Lieutenant Rashtrapati Bhavan Presided by President Ram Nath Kovind Governors 3rd National Health Editors’ Conference on Yoga Morarji Desai Orgainsed by Ministry of AYUSH in National Institute collaboration with the PIB and MDNIY. of Yoga (MDNIY), Theme : ‘Evidence Based Recent New Delhi Innovative Research on Yoga – A Review of Yoga Research’ 13th National Convention of the Global Compact Bengaluru Theme: Sustainable Development Goals Network India (GCNI) (SDGs): A Blueprint for Action. 2018 Asia-Pacific Regional Early Childhood Kathmandu, Nepal Development (ECD) Conference and 3rd Asia- Pacific Regional Policy Forum on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) 11th Geo-Intelligence Asia 2018 New Delhi Theme: ‘GeoSpatial : A Force Multiplier for Defence and Industrial Security’. Workshop on ‘Skill Development in Port and New Delhi Organised by Ministry of Shipping in Maritime Sector’ association with Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gramin Kaushal Yojana under the Ministry of Rural Development to highlight skill development initiatives undertaken by the

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Ministry of Shipping International Round Table Conference on ‘Data New Delhi for New India’ First ever India Tourism Mart (ITM) New Delhi To be held in September 2018 MOVE: Global Mobility Summit New Delhi NITI Aayog, in collaboration with various ministries and industry partners will organize summit in September, 2018 Exhibition titled “Arth: Art for Earth” New Delhi Conference of Heads of AYUSH National New Delhi Institutes National Traders’ Conclave New Delhi India’s Largest Apparel Trade Show – The 67th Mumbai, National Garment Fair” Maharashtra 4th National Conclave on Mines & Minerals Indore, Madhya Pradesh 67th plenary meeting on north east council Shillong, (NEC) Meghalaya India’s first private sector triennial (Named the Odisha Triennial will see the convergence of Odisha Triennial of International Art) artists from the national and international scene. 2nd National Tourism Conclave Jaipur, Rajasthan International Blockchain Congress Hyderabad, Telangana First-ever metal craft exhibition Chilling village in Leh, Jammu and Kashmir International Union of Food Science and India To be held in Navi Mumbai in October Technology (IUFoST) 2018. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2019 Varanasi, Uttar Theme: Role of Indian Diaspora in building Pradesh a New India 18th International Children’s Film Festival Kolkata, West Bengal 18th Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Qingdao, China Organization (SCO) 44th G7 summit La Malbaie, 45th G7 summit will be held in Summer Quebec, Canada 2019 in Biarritz, Nouvelle- Aquitaine, France. 11th World Hindi Conference (WHC) Mauritius Will be held from August 18-20. Theme: “Hindi Vishwa Aur Bharatiy Sanskriti”. Thematic Seminar on “Private Sector Mumbai Organised by Ministry of Finance in Participation and Innovation in Resource collaboration with Research and Mobilisation” Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) as knowledge partner in partnership with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI).

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2nd India-US colloquium on Earth Observations Goa Co-organized by Ministry of Earth and Sciences for Society and Economy Sciences, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR-NIO) and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. International Conference on Information and Kathmandu, Nepal Theme: “Sustainable Development Goals Communication Technology (ICT) for Smart Society ” 1st military exercise of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Pune To be held in September 2018. Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Theme: Counter-terrorism in semi-urban Economic Cooperation) terrain and cordon and search. 10th Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic New Delhi Theme: Celebrating progress towards Filariasis (GAELF) elimination: Voices from the field on overcoming programme challenges. 106th edition of the “Indian Science Congress” Lovely Professional To be held from January 3 to 7, 2019. University Theme: ‘Future India: Science & Technology’.

International Conference on Information and Nepal Theme: Sustainable Development Goals Communication Technology (ICT) 2018 for Smart Society Conference on “International Decade for Action: Republic of India was represented by Union Minister Water for Sustainable Development, 2018- Tajikistan for Water Resources, River Development 2028” & Ganga Rejuvenation and Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari 7th OPEC International Seminar Vienna, Austria Theme: Petroleum – cooperation for a sustainable future 7th India Minerals and Metals forum New Delhi 3rd Annual Meeting of Mumbai Theme: Mobilising Finance for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Infrastructure: Innovation and Collaboration Photo Exhibition on ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Chandigarh Padhao campaign, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Khelo’ 19th All India Conference of Directors of Finger Hyderabad Print Bureaux East India Climate Change conclave Patna Attended by Ministers from six eastern states namely Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Assam 4th Annual Meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Luxembourg Will take place in July 2019 Investment Bank (AIIB) 15th India-Australia Joint Ministerial Canberra, Australia Co-chaired by Minister of Commerce & Commission (JMC) Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu and Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo. 4th National Review and Consultation on Hyderabad Swachh Iconic Places

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Seminar on Technology Partnerships for Steering New Delhi Organised by Ministry of Women and POSHAN Abhiyaan called ‘TECH-THON’ Child Development Special session of the Conference of the States Hague India voted against the use of Chemical Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention Weapons 9th meeting of Eminent Persons Group Kathmandu, Nepal (EPG) on India-Nepal relations 42nd session of the UNESCO's World Heritage Manama in Bahrain Committee 17th World Sanskrit Conference Vancouver, . Canada. India Japan AI and Fintech Forum Tokyo, Japan . Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Ulaanbaatar, Theme of the meet -- ‘Preventing Disaster Reduction Mongolia Risk: Protecting Sustainable Development’. Asean Education Ministers Meeting (ASED) Myanmar  Will be held in October 2018. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) partner countries include India, China, Japan, , New Zealand, Russia, the US and Australia.

The International Congress of Parliamentary , Ireland  It is international conference of female Women’s Caucuses parliamentarians

5th Regional Comprehensive Economic Tokyo, Japan . Partnership (RCEP) Intersessional ministerial meeting World Cities Summit (WCS) Singapore UNCTAD meeting of a third inter-governmental Geneva . group of experts on consumer protection 10th edition of BRICS Summit Johannesburg, Theme - ‘BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution’ 3rd BRICS Media Forum Cape Town, South Theme - “BRICS Media Cooperation – Africa Fostering an Inclusive, Just World Order” 8th BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting Durban, South Africa Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Kathmandu, Nepal To be held in Nepal from August 31, 2018 Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit Nepal-India Think Tank Summit 2018 Kathmandu, Nepal 8th India-Oman Joint Commission meeting Muscat, Oman 11th World Hindi Conference or Vishwa Hindi Port Louis, Sammellan Mauritius Global Disability Summit 2018 London, UK Defence & Homeland Security Expo and New Delhi . Conference 2018

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2+2 dialogue between India and the United New Delhi Communications Compatibility and States Security Agreement (COMCASA) was signed between the two nations Conference on E-Mobility in Indian Railways New Delhi 71st Session of the WHO Regional Committee New Delhi . for South-East Asia International Aviation Summit New Delhi Global Mobility Summit – MOVE New Delhi World Summit on Accreditation New Delhi Theme - Challenges and Opportunities in Outcome-Based Accreditation Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation New Delhi Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation Convention (MGISC) will organize the convention to mark the beginning of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi Global Investors Meet 2019 Tamil Nadu Indian Association of Tour Operator’s (IATO) Visakhapatnam, annual convention Andhra Pradesh First summit of US-India Business Council Mumbai, Theme - ‘US and India connecting our (USIBC) Maharashtra future’ USIBC president- Nisha Desai Biswal Aero India 2019 Bengaluru, Regional Conference on Good Governance Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 87th Izmir International Tradeshow Turkey India is the Partner Country First tripartite meeting of India, Iran and Kabul, Afghanistan Afghanistan International Women Entrepreneurs Summit Kathmandu, Nepal Theme - “Equality begins with Economic 2018 Empowerment” 4th BIMSTEC summit Kathmandu, Nepal Sri Lanka has now become the new chair of the BIMSTEC. The BIMSTEC is a regional grouping comprising India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. 6th East Asia Summit- Economic Ministers’ Singapore Meeting (EAS-EMM) 15th India-ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting Singapore (AEM) 4th International Ayurveda Congress Leiden, Netherlands World Hindu Congress , US Theme - ‘Think collectively, Achieve valiantly’ World Economic Forum for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) India-UAE Partnership Summit (IUPS) Dubai, UAE 4th Eastern Economic Forum Vladivostok, Russia Theme - The Far East: Expanding the

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Range of Possibilities 23rd Meeting of India-Russia Intergovernmental Moscow, Russia Commission G-20 Trade And Investment Ministerial Meeting Mar del Plata, Argentina National Conference on Child Marriage New Delhi . Motivating & Attracting Youth in Agriculture New Delhi . (MAYA) Investors’ Conference for the Holistic Pravasi Bharatiya . NITI Aayog hosted the conference Development of Islands Kendra, New Delhi Fifth act east business show Meghalaya The show was hosted to strengthen business ties between ASEAN countries northeastern states. ATAL (Arunachal Transformation & Aspirational Arunachal Pradesh To be held in September Leadership) Conclave India Baja 2018 Jaisalmer, It is the Indian edition of the greatest Rajasthan challenge of all extreme motorsport competitions in the world ‘One District One Product’ Summit Lucknow, Uttar Under the ‘One District One Product’ Pradesh scheme, the state government has set a goal of providing employment to 25 lakh people in five years through the financial assistance of Rs. 25,000 crores. 4th Annual Sustainable Smart Cities India Bengaluru, . Conference Karnataka Bengaluru Space Expo Bengaluru, To be held in September. Theme - Creating Karnataka dynamism in Indian space ecosystem 6th International Buddhist Conclave 2018 New Delhi and Ajanta (Maharashtra) World’s largest Water Colour Festival Ranchi, Jharkhand India-Kenya Joint Trade Committee Meeting Nairobi, Kenya Indian Ocean Conference Hanoi, Vietnam Theme - Building Regional Architectures 11th World Hindi Conference Port Louis, Theme - “Hindi World and Indian Culture” Mauritius or “Hindi Vishwa Aur Bharatiy Sanskriti”. 24th World Congress of Philosophy (WCP) Beijing, China Theme - “Learning To Be Human” Mountain Echoes Literature Festival Thimphu, Bhutan 4th Asian Electoral Stakeholders Forum Colombo, Sri Lanka Theme - Advancing Election Transparency and Integrity: Promoting and Defending Democracy Together G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting Salta, Argentina Theme - Building consensus for fair and sustainable development Nepal-India Literature Festival 2018 Birgunj, Nepal Special meeting of Senior Officials of the Bay of Kathmandu, Nepal Theme - Towards a peaceful, Prosperous Bengal Initiatives for Multi-Sectoral, Technical and Sustainable Bay of Bengal Region and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)

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First SAARC Agri Cooperative Business Forum Kathmandu, Nepal Theme - Organizing and Strengthening Family Farmers 6th RCEP Trade Ministers’ Meeting Singapore

International News

 The United States has renamed its strategically important Pacific Command (PACOM) to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in a move to signal India’s importance to the US military.  Saudi Arabia and the (UAE) has announced a new alliance of joint economic, development and military strategy through 44 projects to further push strong ties between the two countries. o The two countries named the new cooperation “Ala’Azm”, which means determination. The strategy focuses on three aspects: economy, human and knowledge, and politics, security and military.  NASA has extended the Juno spacecraft mission for 41 months until July 2021. The probe took off in 2011 and reached Jupiter in 2016 to complete the 14 days mission in February 2018. Unfortunately, something went wrong with the valves in its fuel system (and those are necessary for main engine burns), so it got stuck doing 53-day orbits instead of 14-day. Longer orbits mean it needs more time to collect the amount of data NASA wanted to get — this extension will give the agency the chance to learn everything it can about the biggest planet in our solar system.  Japan’s Cabinet has adopted an economic plan that would allow more foreign workers to join Japanese companies as the country seeks to make up for its declining workforce. Under the plan, Japan would relax visa requirements in sectors facing severe labor shortages. The workers would be allowed to stay in the country for only up to five years as visitors, not as immigrants. They would not be allowed to be accompanied by family members.  NASA Astronaut Peggy Whitson, who has spent more time in space than any other American, retired from NASA on June 15. The 58-year-old NASA astronaut holds the US record for most cumulative time in space spending a record- breaking 665 days in space. She also claimed the title for most spacewalks by a woman – 10 spacewalks totalling 60 hours and 21 minutes.  The World Health Organization (WHO) has included “gaming disorder” as a mental health condition in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The ICD, a diagnostic manual published by the WHO, was last updated in 1990 and its new edition, ICD-11, has included gaming disorder to the section on addictive disorders in ICD-11.  The world’s oldest known Sumatran orangutan named Puan has died at Zoo, Australia aged 62, leaving behind 54 descendants. Described as the “grand old lady” by Zoo authorities, she had been at the zoo since 1968, and was officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the oldest of her species in 2016.  The United Kingdom government has excluded Indian students from a new list of “low risk” countries eligible for easier visa application to the UK on account of India’s refusal to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the return of illegal Indian immigrants in the UK to India and vice-versa.  Canadian Parliament has passed a “historic” bill legalizing the recreational use of marijuana nationwide, becoming the second country in the world to do so. The Bill C-45, otherwise known as the Cannabis Act, controls and regulates how the drug can be grown, distributed and sold. Uruguay became the first country to legalize the sale of cannabis for recreational use in December 2013.  International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has removed Nepal from its Significant Safety Concern (SSC) list. In 2013, the ICAO had enlisted Nepal in SSC category as Nepal’s compliance to the ICAO’s standard at that time stood

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only at 55 percent out of the standard 60 percent. Nepal’s removal from SSC list is regarding the significant progress that it has made to acquire a 66.08 percent as per the ICAO standards.  The United Arab of Emirates (UAE) has announced to host a two-day “World Tolerance Summit” in November 2018 that will coincide with the International Day of Tolerance (Nov 16). The Summit to take place on November 15-16 will be based on the theme “Prospering From Pluralism: Embracing Diversity through Innovation and Collaboration”.  The Government of Pakistan is set to launch its indigenously developed observatory satellite, PakTES-1A, in July 2018. The 285 kg satellite is fitted with sensors and cameras and will remain stationary 610 km in space. The navigation technology for the satellite was acquired from China in 2012.  The United Arab Emirates (UAE) based carrier Emirates Airline has launched a joint project with US Crop One Holdingsto build the world’s largest vertical farming facility near Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport at an investment of $40 million.  The global anti-terror financing watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), has placed Pakistan on the ‘grey list’ (International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG)) for failing to curb anti-terror financing and money laundering on its soil.  According to a report from organization European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), Norway observes the lowest rate of traffic accidents in the world, leaving behind other European countries. Norway accounts for 20 deaths per one million inhabitants which is the lowest death rate in traffic since cars became common way of transportation in the post-war era.  Asia’s first Arbitration Centre specialised in intellectual property is slated to open in Tokyo in September to resolve the growing number of disputes in the region.  The Australian Senate has passed two new Foreign Interference Laws to criminalize interference in Australia’s democratic processes by foreign nations as well as providing intelligence to foreign nations and penalties for espionage has also been increased. The two laws passed are: “Espionage and Foreign Interference Bill” and Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill”.  According to a report released by Global System for Mobile Communication Association (GSMA) and Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI), China is expected to become the world’s largest 5G market by the year 2025.  Two women, Jayshree Ullal and Neerja Sethi, who belong to an Indian background, have secured a place on Forbes list of Americas 60 richest self- made women, ranking on the 18th and 21st spot, respectively.  Asia’s first arbitration centre specialized (International Arbitration Centre in Tokyo (IACT)) in intellectual property is slated to open in Tokyo, Japan in September to resolve the growing number of disputes in the region.  According to the study titled ‘The start of a new poverty narrative’, has already overtaken India as the country with the largest number of extreme poor in early 2018, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo could soon take over the number 2 spot.  The Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) would be operated as a Sri Lanka-India joint venture. The $210 million facility, 241km south-east of Colombo, is dubbed the “world’s emptiest airport” due to a lack of flights. India would operate the airport as a Sri Lanka-India joint venture.  Nepal and India will Jointly Promote Tourism  Nepali and Indian officials agreed to an early finalization of an MoU for Preliminary Engineering cum Traffic Survey of the Raxaul-Kathmandu rail line.  Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli inaugurated a library in Kathmandu built by the Indian Government in the presence of Indian Ambassador Manjeev Singh Puri.

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 Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the world’s largest state-of-the-art visa centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh with modern facilities, promising shorter waiting times for applicants.  Militaries of India and Pakistan will be part of a mega anti-terror drill in Russia named “Peace Mission” in August 2018 which is being organised by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). It will be for the first time since Independence that India and Pakistan will both be part of a military exercise.  India’s latest frontline warship INS Trikand has reached Sri Lanka on a goodwill visit. The Sri Lanka Navy ceremonially welcomed the state-of-the-art warship in accordance with naval traditions.  Indian naval ship INS Sumitra became the first-ever warship to enter port of Sabang in Indonesia. The warship was deployed in Malacca Straits.  The UN Security Council adopted a resolution 2427, aimed at a framework for mainstreaming protection, rights, well-being and empowerment of children throughout the conflict cycle.  Not educating girls or creating barriers in their school education globally costs between USD 15 trillion to USD 30 trillion, the World Bank said as the UN marks ‘Malala Day’ on July 12.  Iceland was elected to take up the seat left vacant at the United Nations Human Rights Council after the United States quit the body.  Myanmar has joined the India-initiated International Solar Alliance (ISA), becoming the 68th member of the grouping that is aiming at optimum utilisation of solar energy.  In Turkey, the state of emergency, which was imposed after the failed coup two years ago, came to an end on 19th July. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared emergency on 20th July 2016, five days after warplanes bombed Ankara and clashes broke out in Istanbul that claimed 249 lives.  The UN has entered into a partnership with Google to monitor the impacts of human activity on global ecosystems by using sophisticated online tools.  The UN has cut its peacekeeping budget by $610 million for the current year while the monthly payment to each peacekeeper will increase by $96 per month.  The UN member states have approved a 6.69 billion US Dollar budget for 13 peacekeeping operations for the year 2018-19.  Disney has launched a campaign titled ‘Dream Big Princess’ with an aim to inspire and support aspiring women filmmakers.  The world’s first digital art museum opened its doors to the public in Tokyo, Japan allowing patrons to step all the way into the artworks.  The 42nd World Heritage Committee meeting held in Bahrain’s capital Manama, with 19 new sites inscribed to the World Heritage List.The World Heritage List now contains 1,092 sites in 167 countries.The next session of the World Heritage Committee will be held in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan.  Mount Fanjingshan, situated in China’s southwestern province of Guizhou, was inscribed to the World Heritage List at the 42nd World Heritage Committee meeting in Bahrain.  One of Colombia’s last remaining national environmental treasures, and the country’s largest national park (Chiribiquete National Park), has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  China, UAE, Cyprus and significantly, Mauritius, along with 21 other countries have been tagged as “high-risk jurisdictions” by global banks acting as custodians for foreign funds which comprise the largest group of investors in the Indian stock market.

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 Video sharing platform YouTube has announced the investment of $25 million to counter the spread of fake news on its platform.  According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), world sugar production is likely to hit a record 187.6 million tonnes (mt) this year on account of increase in output in India, the EU, Thailand and China.  Google has rolled out “caller ID and spam protection” on its Phone app with which the app itself would be able to filter out calls that it detects to be spams, eliminating all notifications and alerts for those calls as well.  Twin stamps of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela will be released during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.  China has successfully launched an optical remote sensing satellite – Gaofen-11, as part of its high-resolution Earth observation project which will also provide data for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).  An intertidal art gallery, filled with around 30 sculptures acting as a habitat for coral and other marine species, was opened in the Maldives. The gallery, called the Coralarium, is located at the Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi resort.  Chinese scientists claimed to have created the world’ first single-chromosome yeast while not affecting the majority of its functions, a breakthrough that could help in furthering research related to aging and diseases in humans.  India plans to launch an “Understanding India” programme in China to “demystify” the country and create a better understanding of it.  Typhoon Jongdari made landfall in Shanghai’s coastal Jinshan district, according to the National Meteorological Centre. The situation has been handled in a timely manner and the rain has weakened, it said.  Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port is gearing up to become a leading port in the Indian Ocean region. The location of the port had always been extremely advantageous as it was located just a little less than half a nautical mile from the sea lanes.  In Sri Lanka, the ten-day festival of the historic Esala Maha Perehera began In Kandy with a grand procession. The procession set off from the biggest Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka, Sri Dalada Maligawa at an auspicious time.  India handed over the first lot of houses built for Indian-origin people in Sri Lanka’s tea plantation areas on 12th August, 2018. India had committed 60,000 houses under the ‘innovative Indian housing project’. It is the largest Indian assistance project in any country with a grant of over USD 350 million.  In a ceremony on the sidelines of the 51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore, Iran officially joined the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.  Japan has pipped China as the world’s second-largest stock market. The Chinese market was worth $6.09 trillion next to Japan’s $6.17 trillion.  Facebook announced the launch of a “Digital Literacy Library” to help young people build the skills they need to safely enjoy online technology.  Apple Inc. became the first U.S.-based company with a market value of $1 trillion, four decades after it was co- founded by Steve Jobs in a Silicon Valley garage and later revolutionized the worlds of computing, music and mobile communications.  Typhoon Jongdari made landfall in Shanghai’s coastal Jinshan district, according to the National Meteorological Centre. The situation has been handled in a timely manner and the rain has weakened, it said.  The Indian Embassy in Nepal handed over 30 ambulances and six buses to various hospitals, non-profit charitable organizations and educational institutions of Nepal on the occasion of India’s 72nd Independence Day.

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 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj inaugurated ‘Panini Language Laboratory’ at Mahatma Gandhi Institute (MGI) at Port Louis in Mauritius.  An influential American lawmaker has said she would introduce a historic legislation to posthumously award Mahatma Gandhi a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award in the US, for inspiring peaceful movements for civil rights around the world.  Iran unveiled its first domestic fighter jet with President Hassan Rouhani insisting that Tehran’s military strength was only designed to deter enemies and create “lasting peace”.  Scientists have set a new Guinness World Record by creating the smallest medical robot – a device measuring just 120 nanometres that could assist in future cancer and Alzheimer’s treatments.  International tourist arrivals hit record high in 2017 with India leading the growth in South Asian region. According to data from the UN’s tourism organisation, a total of 1,323 million international tourist arrivals recorded in destinations around the world. The figure represents an 84 million increase over 2016, and a new record.  Typhoon Jebi left trail of destruction across Japan. Kansai airport, a major transport hub serving Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, was cut off when an ocean tanker hit and damaged its bridge to the mainland.  Russia will launch the biggest military drills “Vostok-2018” (East-2018) in its history involving 300,000 troops as well as Chinese soldiers, in a move NATO denounced as “exercising large-scale conflict”.  Hurricane Florence, packing sustained winds of 140 mph (220 km/h), seems to have its sights set on the Carolinas. Hundreds of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate along the coast of North and South Carolina and Virginia, according to news reports.  Seven countries including Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Turkey are at risk of exchange rate crisis as investors re-assess their risks following the contagion in Argentina and Turkey, a new index by Nomura says. According to the global major, emerging markets are under pressure as investors re-assess the risks amid monetary policy normalisation in developed markets, trade protectionism and China’s economic slowdown.  South Africa declared an official end to the world’s worst recorded listeria outbreak after it killed 216 people and sickened more than 1,000 since early 2017.  Typhoon Mangkhut has left multiple dead as the storm pummelled the northern with ferocious wind and rain that set off landslides, damaged an airport terminal and ripped off tin roofs.  Google is set to shut down its alternate mailing app “Inbox” in March 2019, giving users time to shift to the traditional by then, the company has said in a blog post.  The UN says more people went hungry in 2017 than at any time in the previous decade as food deprivation on the rise due to conflict and climate change.  UN to hold Climate Summit in September 2019

National News

 The Union Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved raising of Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR) of Rs 15,000 crore through NABARD for the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) during 2018-19.  The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) launched a dedicated portal to connect cargo owners and shippers with real time data on availability of vessels. Named as the ‘Forum of Cargo-Owners and Logistics-Operators’ (FOCAL), the link of the portal is available on the homepage of IWAI.

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 Prime Minister Narendra Modi set rolling a new slogan, ‘Saaf Niyat, Sahi Vikas’, about his government as he gave away over 1 lakh houses to women under the flagship Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (rural) scheme, calling it a Rakshabandhan gift.  The Supreme Court will have three serving women judges for the first time, after the Centre cleared the elevation of Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee. The other two judges are R Banumathi, appointed in August 2014, and Indu Malhotra, appointed in April 2018. Notably, SC will have a total of 22 male judges including two new male appointees.  Ranchi man Ranjit Srivastava,38, has developed Indian version of ‘Sophia,’ a social humanoid robot developed by a Hong Kong based company, named Rashmi which can speak Hindi, Bhojpuri and Marathi along with English.  FICCI Ladies Organisation, the women’s wing of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has launched a mobile application “WOW” (Wellness of Women) aimed at creating awareness on preventive healthcare. This easy to use platform allows users to talk to doctors through video conferencing or connect with them via voice or email.  Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has launched the Mission Solar Charkha for implementation of 50 Solar Charkha Clusters across the country with a budget of Rs.550 crore for the year 2018-19 and 2019-20. The scheme will generate direct employment to nearly one lakh persons.  The Ministry of Culture launched a scheme called “Seva Bhoj Yojna” to reimburse central share of CGST and IGST on food, prasad, langar or bhandara offered by religious and charitable institutions. The scheme has a total outlay of Rs 325.00 crore for financial years 2018-19 and 2019-20.  The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the first extension of Concessional Financing Scheme (CFS) to support Indian Entities bidding for strategically important infrastructure projects abroad for five years till 2023.  In order to sustain and accelerate the adoption of energy efficient textile technologies in the power loom sector and cost savings due to use of such technology, Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Power (GoI) have joined hands under the initiative SAATHI (Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help Small Industries).  Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu launched a logo and tagline for Geographical Indications (GI) to increase awareness about intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the country.  The Governor of Manipur, Dr. Najma A. Heptulla inaugurated the project ‘Development of North East Circuit: Imphal & Khongjom’ implemented under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism, on August 14. The project is the first project to be completed under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of the Government of India. The project which covers two sites – Kangla Fort in Imphal and Khongjom was taken up at an estimated cost of Rs. 72,22,82607 under the Union Ministry of Tourism.  The central government launched an online management system – Bidder Information Management System (BIMS) – to expedite land acquisition and the bidding process for road construction.  PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) and Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) have signed an MoU to establish India-Nepal Centre in Kathmandu, Nepal. It will further strengthen economic engagement between the two countries.  The Government of India has released 470 million Nepali rupees grant for Terai roads project in Nepal. The amount has been released to maintain fund liquidity for the ongoing construction of 14 road packages under Postal Highway Project.

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 PM Modi inaugurated 400-bed Nepal-Bharat Maitri Pashupati Dharamshala in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Nepal Bharat Maitri Pashupati Dharamshala has been built by the Government of India with an assistance of over 20 crore Nepali rupees.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the occasion of Independence Day, announced the launch of ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyaan’ on September 25. The scheme is the flagship project of Ayushman Bharat, the national healthcare policy launched by the Government earlier this year. Ayushman Bharat, also refered to as ‘Modicare’, was launched by the Government of India in February this year.  A mere 19 per cent of people in the 15-65 age group use Internet in India, according to a report named “AfterAccess: ICT access and use in India and the Global South”. It was published by Lirneasia, a policy and regulation think tank in collaboration with the Cellular Operators Association of India.  The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the joint issue of postage stamps between India and South Africa on the theme of 20 years of strategic partnership between the two countries. A commemorative postage stamp, released in June, depicts the images of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh thinker Deendayal Upadhyaya and Oliver Reginald Tambo of South Africa.  The Ministry of HRD has embarked on a major and new initiative Project called ‘Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds’ (SWAYAM), which will provide one integrated platform and portal for online courses. This covers all higher education subjects and skill sector courses.  Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Aviation Suresh Prabhu launched ‘Niryat Mitra’ – mobile App in New Delhi. It provides wide range of information required to undertake international trade right from the policy provisions for export and import, applicable GST rate, available export incentives, tariff, preferential tariff, market access requirements – SPS and TBT measures.  HRD Minister has said that IIT-PAL lectures would now be available in handheld devices via the ‘SWAYAM’ portal in order to reduce students’ dependence on coaching classes.  On the occasion of “World Biofuel Day 2018” on 10th August, PM Narendra Modi unveiled a Booklet on “National Policy on Biofuels 2018”, and launched “Pro Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive and Virtuous Environmental Single window Hub”[PARIVESH].  Giving a boost to rural road connectivity, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the continuation of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) beyond the 12th five year plan period.  Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry announced a spending of Rs 418 crore from 2018-20 on collaborative research between Indian and foreign institutes under the ‘Scheme for promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration’ (SPARC).  Santhali has become the first Indian tribal language to get a Wikipedia edition in its own script after the Santhali Wikipedia went live earlier this month. Santhali is written in Ol Chiki script and spoken by 6.4 million people, according to the 2001 census, in India alone and its speakers live mostly in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam. It is also spoken in Bangladesh and Nepal.  The civil aviation ministry has approved a proposal for setting up of water aerodromes in the country, with Chilika Lake in Odisha, Sardar Sarovar Dam and Sabarmati River Front in Gujarat being identified in the first phase for development of such facilities.  The Union Government has unlocked green funds worth over Rs 66,000 crore to increase the country’s forest cover.

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 The Minister of State for Culture (I/C) and Minister of State for Environment Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma inaugurated an exhibition entitled ‘Prathibandhit Sahitya mein Swatantrata Sangram’ (Freedom Movement through Proscribed Literature) in the premises of National Archives of India, in New Delhi.  NITI Aayog has launched “Pitch to MOVE” – a mobility pitch competition that aims to provide budding entrepreneurs of India a unique opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a distinguished jury.  In the wake of PM Modi’s vision for creating digital museums at stations using QR code, Ministry of Railway has made “digital screens” operational at 22 stations on this Independence Day (15.08.2018) as an innovative low cost solution to spread awareness among public about the opulent heritage of Indian Railways. Being initiated on a pilot basis, the project aims at showcasing the legacy of Indian Railways through one to two minute-long movie clips on digital LED screens at the entrance gate of railway stations and also at different comfort areas.  Urdu author Ismat Chughtai, known for her literary works exploring free speech, social liberation, and gender equality, was on 21st August paid homage by search engine giant Google with a colourful doodle on her 107th birthday.  INS Vikramaditya, India’s only aircraft carrier, is going to be fitted with marine hydraulic system for the first time as part of its upgrade that will give an edge to the air-capable wing of the ship.  IIT-Kharagpur launched its Re-Water Research Institute, which will primarily look at treating and converting sewage water into potable water. The pilot plant at IIT-Kharagpur is expected to be ready by March 2019.  The health ministry issued new images for the pictorial warning on packs of cigarette and other tobacco products. The new pictures, which will be used with effect from September 1, will have to be accompanied with a quitline number. According to a health ministry order, all packs of tobacco products must have “tobacco causes cancer” and “tobacco causes painful death” written in white on a red background, and the words “quit today call 1800-11-2356” in white on a black background along with the pictorial warning.  The Centre declared the Kerala floods a ‘calamity of severe nature’, amid demands for declaring it a national disaster.  Under its scheme SPARC to forge international research partnerships, the Human Research Development (HRD) Ministry will fund 600 projects in top-ranked institutes with a total of about Rs 400 crore, according to the IIT- Kharagpur, the coordinating centre for the scheme. SPARC – Scheme for promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration  After the launch of the government e-marketplace (GeM), the centre is trying to replicate its success at a much larger scale by bringing together all logistics players on one platform through a national logistics e-marketplace for better price discovery and reducing logistics cost. The test run for the online logistics marketplace is likely to begin by March 2019.  The highest pollution is due to transport in the national capital of Delhi. At the same time, Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal has the lowest level of pollution. The Center for Science and Environment (CSE) has released the report named The Urban Commute after studying 14 cities in the country. The cities which CSE has studied include Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kochi, Bhopal, Vijayawada and Chandigarh.  Aptly called Neta app, which was unveiled by former President Pranab Mukherjee, the technology platform will let users rate their MLAs and MPs and is being billed as an instrument to gauge voter sentiment across constituencies in the country. The app is created by 27-year-old entrepreneur Pratham Mittal.

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 Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal flagged off Kathgodam-Dehradun Naini-Doon Janshatabdi Express via video conferencing from Rail Bhavan. The new train will be providing direct connectivity between two important hill stations of Uttarakhand– Mussoorie and Nainital.  In a major decision, the defence ministry approved procurement of 111 utility helicopters for the navy at a cost of overRs 21,000 crore. Ministry cleared procurement proposals worth nearly Rs 46,000 crore which included the acquisition of the helicopters.  Real average daily wages in India almost doubled in the first two decades after economic reforms, but low pay and wage inequality remains a serious challenge to inclusive growth, the International Labour Organization warned in its India Wage Report published recently.  The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said 126 MW wind power capacity, part of country’s first inter state transmission system (ISTS) auction, is commissioned in Bhuj,Gujarat.  The committee on review of penal provisions of Company Act 2013 submitted its final report to Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi. The Committee (Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Injeti Srinivas) was constituted by the government last month to review the existing framework dealing with offences under the Companies Act, 2013 and related matters and make recommendations to promote better corporate compliance.  No-frills airline SpiceJet today operated India’s first test flight powered by biojet fuel, marking a new chapter in the fast-growing domestic aviation sector. The nearly 45-minute flight from Dehradun to the national capital was operated with a Bombardier Q400 aircraft, partially powered by biojet fuel made from Jatropha plant.  An MoU was signed for the implementation of 362-km Indore-Manmad New Railway Line Project in New Delhi. Talking about the project, Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said, the first of its kind of project will not only reduce the distance by a huge margin but also boost the developmental process of the tribal areas along the line.  Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here with 6 states for the construction of the Lakhwar multi-purpose project in the upper Yamuna basin to deal with water crisis. Chief Ministers of (Yogi Adityanath), Rajasthan (Vasundhara Raje Scindia), Uttarakhand (Trivendra Singh Rawat), Himachal Pradesh (Jai Ram Thakur), Haryana (Manohar Lal Khattar) and (Delhi Arvind Kejriwal) signed the MoU. Under the agreement, the 204-metres high project will be constructed near Uttarakhand’s Lohari village with live storage capacity of 330.66 million cubic metres (MCM).  Understanding the importance of regional languages in India, search giant Google has announced a new program that will empower offline newspapers and magazines in India to bring their content online. Announced during the fourth edition of ‘Google for India’ event, the Project Navlekha claims to bring offline content online in just a few clicks. Google is using its expertise in artificial intelligence for Project Navlekha, using which, it will quickly render any PDF with Indian language content into editable text, overcoming issues that usually occur when you try to copy text in Indian languages from a PDF.  The Centre has sanctioned Rs 730 crore for the Gujarat’s Sardar Sarovar Dam project on the Narmada river for the current year and also committed soft loan of Rs 1,500 crore for the state’s other irrigation projects, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said on 28 August.  The third edition of World’s Biggest Open Innovation Model – Smart India Hackathon 2019 was launched by the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi.  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for the umbrella scheme “Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Science (O-SMART)”, for implementation during the period from 2017-18 to 2019-20 at an overall cost ofRs.1623 crore.

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 The Union cabinet approved an additional 2 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for central government employees. The hike will come into effect from July 1, 2018.  In a bid to increase its market share in India’s payments market, Google rebranded its payments app Google into , introduced new features and widened its scope with new tie-ups. Launched first in India last year as Google Tez, the re-branded Google Pay will now be offered in other countries too. Google said it will be unifying all of Google’s payment offerings globally.  Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has been invited by the United Nations (UN) to deliver a keynote address at an event, titled ‘Financing Sustainable Agriculture: Global Challenges and Opportunities’ – to be organised on the sideline of the annual UN General Assembly in New York on September 24.  NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr.Rajiv Kumar, and Chief Executive Officer Shri. Amitabh Kant, unveiled a series of events to take place in the‘Mobility Week’ from 31 August to 6 September 2018, in the run up to MOVE: The Global Mobility Summit 2018 on 7 and 8 September 2018 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The Summit will be inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.  Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has launched the Innovation Cell and Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements, ARIIA in New Delhi.  Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh has launched an Online Analytical Tool to facilitate closer monitoring of the flow and utilisation of foreign contributions received by various organisations registered or permitted under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.  Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi laid the foundation stone of an Advanced DNA Forensic Laboratory “’Sakhi Suraksha” at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory campus in Chandigarh. o The state-of-the-art lab, built at a cost of Rs 99.76 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund is India’s first such lab dedicated to investigate crimes against women and children with speedy redressel.  The National Sports University Ordinance, 2018 has come into force which provides for setting up India’s first National Sports University in Imphal, Manipur. The Ordinance will be on the lines of the National Sports University Bill, 2017.  The Centre has further approved construction of 1.5 lakh houses for urban poor under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana at an investment of Rs. 7,227 crore with central assistance of Rs. 2,209 crore. With the latest approval, the cumulative figure under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana has reached 47.52 lakh houses.  Ahead of the World Environment Day 2018, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) in association with Yes Bank organised a cleanliness drive at Kalindi Kunj ghat on river Yamuna in New Delhi.  The Union Government has set up an executive committee, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spread Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy among the people at the national and international level.  The Government of India has constituted the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee to address the dispute over sharing of river water among the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry. The authority would comprise a chairman appointed by the Central government for tenure of five years. The Government will initially contribute a sum of Rs 2 crore for the functioning of the authority.  NTPC Ltd has adopted the iconic Charminar in Hyderabad under the Swachh Iconic Places Projects of India as a part of a special drive under the Centre’s Swachh Bharat Mission.  The Ministry of Culture has introduced a new scheme namely Seva Bhoj Yojna with a total outlay of Rs. 325.00 Crores for Financial Years 2018-19 and 2019-20 to reimburse the Central Government share of Central Goods and

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Services Tax (CGST) and Integrated Goods and Service Tax (IGST) so as to lessen the financial burden of such Charitable Religious Institutions who runs Community Kitchen free of cost.  The Union Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla announced that the North East region has witnessed 18.3 percent growth in direct tax collections in 2017-18 over the previous year with the net tax collection of Rs 7,097 crore.  Deccan Queen, the legendary Express train, also known as Dakkhan ki Rani completed 88 years of service on June 1. India’s first deluxe train was launched by the Indian Railways in 1930 to connect two of Maharashtra’s most prominent cities- Mumbai and Pune. It is named after Pune, the city popularly known as the Queen of Deccan.  The Ministry of Tourism along with the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) has launched a set of guidelines on ‘Safety and Quality Norms for Adventure Tourism in India’ that lists the basic minimum standards for adventure tourism activities to help adventure tour operators understand and execute safety guidelines in a better manner.  Following a suggestion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indian PSUs would organise Board meetings and conference at lesser known tourist destinations identified to be developed as iconic sites to help promote tourism in the country. The 5 suggested destinations include Ajanta-Ellora (Aurangabad), Bodhgaya, Hampi, Khajuraho and Mahabalipuram.  The Ministry of Culture held a high level stakeholders’ workshop on the Taj Mahal in Agra under the chairmanship of Dr. Mahesh Sharma to discuss the issues of pollution around Taj Mahal. The workshop was followed by the Taj Declaration to ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ pledging to make the 500 metres area in and around the Taj Mahal litter free.  13 Indian beaches have been identified to get the Blue Flag certification. These beaches will be the first in not just India, but in Asia, to get the Blue Flag certification. o To get Blue Flag standards, a beach has to strictly comply with 33 environment and tourism related conditions. o The Indian beaches are being developed according to the Blue Flag certification standards by the Society for Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM), an environment ministry’s body working for the management of coastal areas.  India received its first supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) cargo, LNG KANO, from Russia’s Gazprom at the Petronet LNG terminal in Dahej, Gujarat on June 4, 2018.  State-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd and Gazprom Marketing and Trading Singapore (GMTS) of Russia has entered long term contract as per which GAIL will purchase about 2.5 million tonne of LNG from Gazprom on annual basis.  The Ministry of Food Processing Industries is soon to create Agro-Processing Financial Institution, a new financial institution that will cater exclusively to the credit and lending needs of the food processing sector. It will be a non- banking financial institution with proposed corpus of Rs 2,000 crore having 20% government equity investments amounting to Rs 400 crore.  The Government of India has launched the ‘JANAUSHADHI SUVIDHA’, a Oxo-biodegradable Sanitary Napkin, under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP). The affordable sanitary napkins will be available at Rs. 2.50 per pad over 3600 Janaushadhi Kendras functional in 33 States/UTs across India to ensure Affordable and Quality Healthcare for All.  Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan unveiled the first non-plastic bound copy of the National Geographic magazine inline with 2018 World Environment Day’s theme “Beat Plastic Pollution”. The plastic wrapping of the magazine in India, UK and the US editions has been eliminated from June onwards to save more than 2.5 million single-use plastic bags every month.

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 The Krishi Kalyan Abhiyaan is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare from June 1, 2018 till July 31, 2018 to assist and advice farmers on ways to improve their farming techniques and raise their incomes by 2022. o The Krishi Kalyan Abhiyaan will be undertaken in 25 Villages with more than 1000 population each in 111 Aspirational Districts identified in consultation with Ministry of Rural Development as per directions of NITI Ayog.  The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched the trial run of the environment- friendly bagasse-based food packaging on eight select Shatabdis and Rajdhanis originating from the New Delhi with the initiative to go green in addition to promoting the nation’s sugarcane industry. Bagasse are the fibrous remains left behind after extracting sugarcane juice.  The government has announced a bailout package of Rs 8,000 crore to sugar industry to ensure the cash-starved mills clear cane dues of Rs 22,000 crore. India is the second largest producer of sugar in the world after Brazil and is also the largest consumer.  The General Insurance Corp of India (GIC) will assist Myanmar authorities in amending laws related to insurance and reinsurance and in expanding insurance services in the country.  India has registered a significant decline of 22 percent in Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) since 2013, according to the recently released Sample Registration System (SRS) 2016. As per the report, the MMR has declined from 167 in 2011-2013 to 130 in 2014-2016. MMR is defined as the proportion of maternal deaths per 1, 00,000 live births.  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time participated in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit as a full member after it became a member in 2017, together with Pakistan, during its summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. The 18th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held in Qingdao in China on June 9th and 10th.  The UN India Business Forum and the Women Entrepreneurial Platform of NITI Aayog has formed a consortium “ UN India-NITI Aayog Investor Consortium for Women Entrepreneurs” to reduce gender disparities in start-up investments and provide equal opportunity to women entrepreneurs.  The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India has launched a National Media Campaign titled ‘What Damage Will This Cigarette/Bidi Do’ to encourage smoking cessation. The campaign will achieve pan-India reach by being broadcast in 17 languages on all major national government and private TV and radio channels. In addition, the campaign will be supported by a comprehensive social media campaign and will run on major digital platforms.  The Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi will soon become India’s first airport to have an automated smart facial recognition system being developed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious DigiYatra scheme. Varanasi is among three airports – the others being Visakhapatnam and Kolkata – selected under the programme for availing of this facility.  The central government has decided to set up India first national police museum in Lutyens’ Delhi and is expected to be inaugurated on October 21 (Police Commemoration Day). It will come up as an underground facility in the premises of the national police memorial in Chanakyapuri area of the national capital.  The Northern Railways will now monitor cleanliness of its trains using WhatsApp groups supervised by senior officials. Every department will have separate WhatsApp groups, in which status report of cleanliness will be uploaded on a daily basis including photographs.  The Ministry of Railways has launched a new App “Rail Madad” to expedite & streamline passenger grievance redressal. Rail MADAD (Mobile Application for Desired Assistance During travel) will register the complaint with

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minimum inputs from passenger(option of photo also available), issues unique ID instantly and forward the complaint online to relevant field officials for immediate action.  Railway Ministry has launched a new App ‘Menu on Rails’, a Mobile Application developed by IRCTC for creating awareness to the Railway Passengers for the items served to them on their Rail Journey.  East coast Railways, Waltair Division launched ‘SUBHADRA VAHINI’ programme for the security and protection of Women at Visakhapatnam Railway Station. Under the programme, a 32 member- women team consisting of RPF police and TC women employees will monitor the security of the women passengers in Trains and Railway stations in the division. Women can complain on 24 hours toll-free helpline 182 for the grievance related to security of women.  Electronics and IT Minister has launched 5000 Wi-Fi Choupals in villages in partnership with CSC to transform rural Internet connectivity through BharatNet and deliver Railway tickets through CSCs.  NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), has selected 3,000 additional schools for the establishment of Atal Tinkering Labs, ATLs. The selected schools will receive a grant of Rs 20 lakh spread over the next five years to establish labs for nurturing innovation and entrepreneurial spirit among secondary school children across India.  The Union Cabinet has approved reconstitution of North Eastern Council (NEC) to bring the Council under the direct control of the Home Ministry. The reconstituted NEC will have Home Minister as the ex-officio chairperson of the Council and the DoNER Minister will be the Vice Chairman. The council, which is the nodal agency for the economic and social development of the North Eastern region, was till now chaired by the Development Of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Minister.  The government has added 10 more Swachh Iconic Places (SIP) under phase III of its flagship programme, Swachh Bharat Mission taking the total places under the project to 30.  The Central government has given nod to raise two women battalions in the Jammu and Kashmir Police to enhance the representation of women in the State Police. One Battalion each would be raised in the Jammu region and Kashmir region respectively. Besides, 60 percent of the posts would be kept reserved for women of 10 border districts– Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Poonch, Rajouri, Baramulla, Bandipora, Kupwara, Kargil and Leh.  The Union Cabinet has extended the tenure of the Commission constituted to examine sub-categorization within Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Central list. It has been extended till July 31, 2018. The tenure of the panel was ending on June 20.  The government has approved a 33 percent increase in carpet area of houses eligible for interest subsidy under its affordable housing scheme Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) to attract more beneficiaries. The carpet area of a house has been enhanced to 160 square metres from 120 square metres for Middle Income Group-1, while it has been increased to 200 square metres from 150 square metres in case of Middle Income Group-2. The new rules will be effective from 1st of January, 2017, the date on which the scheme became operational.  Government think-tank Niti Aayog has prepared the Composite Water Management Index as a useful tool to assess and improve the performance in efficient management of water resources. The index is an attempt to inspire states and UTs towards efficient and optimal utilisation of water and recycling thereof with a sense of urgency.  Raksha Mantri, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the first Representative Office of Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in Hanoi, Vietnam.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Integrated Command and Control Centre at Naya in Chhattisgarh. The ICCC, Naya Raipur becomes the 10th Smart City Centre to be operational in the country. Under the ambitious Smart City Mission, ICCC in 9 cities are already operational including Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Pune, Nagpur, Rajkot, Visakhapatnam, Bhopal and Kakinada.

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 The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) conducted a mock exercise on flood preparedness in Uttar Pradesh in a move to improve flood preparedness ahead of the monsoon season. The exercise was held in collaboration with State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA).  Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Shipping, Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari released a book titled ‘Water productivity mapping of major Indian crops’ published by NABARD. The book is based on study of 10 important crops by a team under the leadership of leading agricultural economist Dr. Ashok Gulati.  The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has proposed to set up a National Tribal Museum along with a National Level Tribal Research Institute at Delhi.  The State Health Ministers of 20 States have exchanged the Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare marking their commitment towards the launch of the Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM).  India will host the 23rd European Union Film Festival (EUFF). The festival will traverse through 11 cities in India including New Delhi, Chennai, Port Blair, Pune, Puducherry, Kolkata, Jaipur, Visakhapatnam, Thrissur, Hyderabad and Goa from 18th June till 31st August featuring 24 latest European films from 23 EU Member States.  Union Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated three 100 MW Solar Power Projects of Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Limited (NLCIL) for commercial operation. The Solar Power projects is situated at Thoppalaakkarai and Sethupuram in Virudhunagar District and Sellaiya Sezhiyanallur in Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu. Each project has an installed capacity of 100 MW and have been erected at a cost of Rs.1300 crores, which includes Operation & Maintenance cost for 15 Years.  Centrally-sponsored drinking water scheme, Swajal, has been launched in 115 aspirational districts of the country at an outlay of Rs 700 crores through flexi-funds under the existing National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) budget. These schemes will aim to provide villages with piped water supply powered by solar energy.  Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva in Washington DC to seek assistance for a Multimodal Transport Corridor and the Rural Livelihood Project which aims to provide sustainable livelihood enhancements in 10,000 villages in the state.  Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone for Septage Management System and Storm Water Drainage System for Itanagar City under AMRUT Scheme at Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh. The project cost estimated at Rs 16.59 crore and Rs 14.53 crore respectively is aimed at improving the urban infrastructure related to drainage system and improving the urban landscape.  A committee set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to inspect the lakes in Bengaluru found Bellandur, the biggest lake of Bengaluru, to have become the largest septic tank of the city just because of lack of interest and negligence towards duty by the authorities. The committee also found Varthur lake “far worse” than Bellandur lake in almost every aspect, “from sewage to stink” and “from fire to froth”.  India is likely to introduce retaliatory tariffs worth $240 million in coming week on a revised list of 30 items imported from the US to counter the American move to unilaterally hike duties on Indian steel and aluminium.  Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State, (I/C), Ministry of AYUSH, inaugurated the 10 days long Yoga Ambassador Tour on June 14, 2018 at Leela Convention Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The tour is a part of government’s tourism promotion programme to propagate Kerala as a global destination for yoga where Yoga professionals from around the world participated.  Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi and Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir jointly launched a handbook titled “Legal Processes for the Police in Respect of Crime Against Children” on

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ways to prevent crimes against children. The handbook has been brought out by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai.  The government has formed a seven-member committee of the Chief Ministers headed by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to examine the feasibility of linking Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act (MNREGA) with the agriculture sector both pre-harvest and post-harvest and way to implement the same. o Other members in the committee include: Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Vijay Rupani (Gujarat), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), N. Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh) and Pawan Chamling (Sikkim).  According to the 11th Common Review Mission (CRM) report of the , India registered a record 22% reduction in MMR since 2013, which is the highest percentage decline so far when compared to all the previous reductions in Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR). The MMR of India has declined from 167 in 2011-2013 to 130 in 2014-2016.  The Indian Railways will become a “net zero” carbon emitter by 2030 through the current action plans on anvil for 100 percent electrification of its network, coupled with renewable strategies.  Union Human Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar has launched the National Digital Library, a repository of millions of academic texts from around the world. The digital library at present hosts 17 million-plus items (books, audiobooks, images, etc) in 200-plus languages from more than 170 institutions. It has been built by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.  The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has formed a 10 member panel to review norms related to insurance marketing firm (IMF) with an aim to increase insurance penetration in the country. The committee is headed by Suresh Mathur, Executive Director (insurance marketing firms), IRDAI, with nine more members.  Mehbooba Mufti resigned as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended its the alliance with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state. With her resignation, Governor’s rule has been imposed in the state. This will be the fourth time in the last 10 years that Governor’s rule is imposed in Jammu and Kashmir.  Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya has been selected as 100th Smart City, to receive funding under the Centre’s flagship . The total proposed investment in the finally selected 100 cities under the Smart Cities Mission would be Rs.2, 05,018 crores.  The Indian Government has planned to expand its BPO promotion scheme from current 48,000 seats to one lakh seats. The Centre will also set up India’s largest National Data Centre in Bhopal with capacity of five lakh virtual servers. The National Data Centres, that host Government websites, services and apps, are currently operational at four locations namely Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi and Bhubaneswar.  The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) is all set to launch its multi-species Aquaculture Complex in Kochi with an aim to revolutionize fish production in the country.  Union Health Minister JP Nadda has launched the National Health Resource Repository (NHRR) — the country’s first-ever national healthcare registry of authentic, standardised and updated geo-spatial data of all public and private healthcare establishments. o NHRR will be the ultimate platform for comprehensive information of both, Private and Public healthcare establishments including Railways, ESIC, Defense and Petroleum healthcare establishments.

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o The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is the project technology partner adhering to paramount Data Security.  Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) had provided 6,000 tonnes steel for Manipur’s 111km long Jiribam-Imphal broad gauge railway project. As per reports, once completed, this will be the tallest girder rail bridge in the world.  The Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal has received Rs 5 crore central grants for setting up a 'Yoga Gram' in the university campus.  The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has announced its new medium and long term target for off-shore wind power capacity additions, which are 5 GW by 2022 and 30 GW by 2030. Globally, UK tops the list of offshore wind markets, followed by Germany, Taiwan, China and the USA.  The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), under the MSME Ministry, has adopted Jagatpur village in Delhi for its Swachhata Abhiyaan.  India will construct an Indian Armed Forces Memorial at Villers Guislain, a town around 200 km from Paris to highlight the contribution of the soldiers of the undivided India to the freedom of France in the World War I. This will be the second such memorial in Europe.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Vanijya Bhawan at Delhi’s Akbar road, which upon completion will house the Department of Commerce which is currently housed in Udyog Bhawan. The Rs 226 crore new, green and modern Vanijya Bhawan will be completed before December 2019.  The Indian Railways has come up with a new initiative to provide free meals and refreshments through IRCTC to the passengers travelling on reserved tickets if trains get delayed on a Sunday by five-six hours due to planned maintenance works on tracks.  The World’s first International Centre for Humanitarian Forensics (ICHF) has been inaugurated in Gujarat. It is a joint initiative of the Gujarat Forensic Sciences University (GFSU) in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Regional Delegation for India, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives.  The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has received an award at the X International IT Forum at Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia for its support and active participation at the forum consecutively for two years.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated America’s YO1 Luxury Nature Cure Centre in the United States via video-conferencing on the occasion of the International Yoga Day. YO1 is the largest nature cure centre of the country unveiled in the Catskills area of New York State of US. YO1 is derived from ‘Youvan’ meaning youth in Sanskrit.  Yoga guru Baba Ramdev will soon have a wax replica at the Madame Tussauds museum of London. After Swami Vivekanand, Ramdev will be the second swami to be depicted at the notable wax museum.  The Rs 3,866-crore Mohanpura irrigation project has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh.  Justice Jasti Chelameswar, one of the senior most judges of the Supreme Court ended his tenure and retired on June 22after serving for a period of six years and eight months. Justice Chelameswar shot into the limelight on January 12 by holding a press conference along with three others Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph saying “all was not well” on the administrative side of the Supreme Court. It was an open critic of the functioning of the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.  State-run carrier Air India has introduced ‘Maharaja Direct’, a new category of seats for the passengers on long-haul international flights.  The Indian government is trying to make the Chabahar Port in Iran to become operational by 2019. Iran and India, in February 2018, signed an agreement worth $85 million to develop Chabahar Port in south-eastern Iran. The lease

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agreement gives operational control to India of Shahid Beheshti port (phase one of the Chabahar port). The port will open a new strategic transit route between India, Iran and Afghanistan.  Former Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has suggested renaming the Haj House in Bengaluru after former president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. This came two days after Minority Welfare and Wakf Minister of Karnataka, Zameer Ahmad raised the issue of re-naming of the state Haj House as Tipu Sultan Haj Ghar.  Home Minister Rajnath Singh laid the foundation stone for an oil refinery in Mongolia during his three-day visit to Central Asian country in a bid to further enhance India’s bilateral relationship with Mongolia and strengthen security cooperation. This refinery project has been financed by the Government of India through a line of credit of USD 1 billion.  Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 11-km elevated Bahadurgarh-Mundka Metro Line build at a cost of Rs 2,028-crore. Bhadurgarh, also known as the Gateway of Haryana, is the third place in Haryana, after Gurugram and Faridabad to be connected to Delhi via metro line.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a proposal to set up a committee to lay down standards for metro rail systems in the country. The committee will be headed by E Sreedharan, also known as the “Metro Man”.  Union Ministry for Women and Child Development has launched the report titled ‘Women in Prisons’ to throw light on the condition of women in prisons and their entitlements; issues faced by them and possible methods for resolution of the same. o The report contains a comprehensive list of 134 recommendations for improving the lives of women under incarceration, addresses a wide range of issues pertaining to pregnancy and childbirth in prison, their mental health, legal aid and reintegration in society.  United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley was on three-day visit to India from June 26. Nimrata “Nikki” Haley is currently the 29th United States Ambassador to the United Nations. She served as the 116th governor of South Carolina and is a former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives.  The Government of India has pledged USD 5 million assistance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees to make up for the shortfall in its funding.  The Government has proposed to set up 3000 Van Dhan Kendras involving 30,000 SHGs across the country under the Van Dhan Scheme of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to provide skill up-gradation and capacity building training for value addition of forest produce. The training and technical support is provided by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India, TRIFED.  The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has organised a two-day training workshop on cybercrime targeting children in collaboration with Police Bureau of Research and Development (PBR&D) and UNESCO in New Delhi to provide professional training to the investigators designated to tackle crime against children.  India has handed over a second Dornier aircraft to Seychelles for enhancing the country’s surveillance capabilities to tackle maritime threats. India had earlier gifted the Seychelles Coast Guard a fast track vessel, a Dornier aircraft, and two helicopters.  External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj launched a mobile app “ Seva App” on the occasion of “Passport Seva Divas” (June 26) to make the process for obtaining passports easier as one can apply for a passport from any part of the country. Swaraj also announced the launch of two new schemes – Passport application from anywhere in India, and Filling passport application forms from mobile phones.  The Indian government has announced an increase in the sum of money to be paid to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for the next four years. India will now be contributing $15 million instead of $ 12 million to the

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GEF’s new four-year investment cycle, known as GEF-7 to play crucial role to mitigate climate change and other environmental challenges across the globe.  The 22nd edition of the three-day annual symbolic festival of Indus River known as Sindhu Darshan Festival was inaugurated in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir on the bank of Indus River. It was first started in the October, 1997 and continues to be held every year since then to endorse the Indus River (Sindhu River) as an icon of the communal harmony and of India.  The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has approved 2 projects for the Kumbh Mela-2019 in Allahabad anemly, setting up of community toilets and procurement of dustbins to ensure that pollutants are not dumped into river Ganga. The estimated cost for community toilets will be Rs 113 crore rupees while procurement of dustbins will cost Rs 3.6 crore.  The Central Government has released an assistance of Rs. 340 crore for flood relief work in Assam. Out of the sanctioned amount, Rs. 101 crore has been released by the Ministry of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), while the remaining Rs 239 crore rupees was given by the Home Ministry under the State Disaster Relief Fund.  The Government of India has imposed a ban on the manufacture of Oxytocin drug for domestic use with effect from July 1, 2018. It has also banned the import of Oxytocin and its formulations. Only Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (KAPL) has been tasked to manufacture this drug for domestic use from that date to be sold to the registered hospitals and clinics in public and private sector directly.  The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the Udyam Sangam-2018 to celebrate the 2nd United Nations Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day (June 27). He also launched the Solar Charkha and MSME Sampark Portal. o The Solar Charkha Mission will cover 50 clusters and every cluster will employ 400 to 2000 artisans. The MSME Ministry will disburse subsidy of Rs 550 crores to the artisans under the Mission. o The Sampark portal will act as a bridge between the talent pool and those enterprises seeking trained human resources.  Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved contribution of Grant-in-Aid (Corpus) of Rs.1, 040 crore to National Export Insurance Account Trust (NEIA) to be utilised during three years from 2017-18 to 2019-20.  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the capital infusion of Rs.2000 crore in the three financial years for strengthening of Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC).  The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to increase the age of receiving pension of general duty medical officers, specialist grade doctors and teaching medical faculty working in Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) to 65 years.  As part of the India’s first inter-state translocation of tigers project, a male tiger (MB2) about 3 years old was transferred from Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh to Satkosia Tiger Reserve, Odisha. Similarly, a 27 month old female cub was shifted from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR), Madhya Pradesh to Satkosia. In all six tigers — three pairs — will be shifted from MP to Satkosia under an ambitious project conceived by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun. This is for the first time in the wildlife conservation history in India when big cats are being shifted from one State to another.  NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurs Platform (WEP) has signed statement of intent (SoI) with 5 financial institutions & social organisations with an aim to increase the number of women entrepreneurs and address the finance

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related problems faced by them. The SoI’s were signed with Shri Mahila Sewa Sahakari Bank Limited, Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited, SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited, Sreemanta Sankar Mission and the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA).  The Central Government has decided to replace the apex higher education regulator body University Grants Commission (UGC) with Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) to provide “more autonomy” to higher education institutes to promote excellence and facilitate holistic growth of the education system. The monetary grants would be under the purview of the HRD Ministry.  The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched NIMHANS Digital Academy to train mental health professionals through virtual classrooms to tackle mental health disorders. National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru has an established infrastructure for starting a digital academy.  Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha has collaborated with UNESCO to promote a safe and secure cyber environment for youngsters to ensure they are not targeted for bullying, abuse, exploitation and more through the internet.  The Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu launched a mobile application “ReUnite” to trace missing and abandoned children in India. Non-government organisation Bachpan Bachao Andolan and Capgemini has developed this app. Amazon Rekognition, web facial recognition service, is being used to identify missing kids.  The Government agency, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), has issued the guidelines to major commercial establishments to implement default temperature setting of air conditioners at 24 degree Celsius to conserve as much as 20 billion units, worth Rs 10,000 crores of energy annually.  Google dedicated a Doodle in honour of an Indian scientist and founder of Indian Statistical Institute, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis on June 29 which marks his 125th birth anniversary. Mahalanobis was regarded as the chief architect of Indian statistical system. He set up the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in 1931 along with Pramatha Nath Banerji, Nikhil Ranjan Sen and Sir RN Mukherji.  The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has proposed to set up a consulate in Hyderabad in a bid to boost the cordial relationship between Telangana and UAE. Countries like Turkey and the Islamic Republic of Iran also have offices established in Hyderabad.  The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has prepared a team of lady commandos to deal with the rising number of women participants involved in the incident of stone pelting across Jammu & Kashmir region to target security forces. Dubbed as ‘Super 500′, the team of lady commandos have been given rigorous training which includes being blindfolded to deal with night-time deployment and repairing weapons in under a minute in case of any malfunction.  Mumbai’s Victorian and Art Deco architecture buildings in the Fort precinct and on Marine drive have been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Collectively it will be known as the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai. This makes Mumbai city the second city in India after Ahmedabad to be inscribed on the World Heritage List. India now has overall 37 World Heritage Inscriptions. While India stands second largest in number after China in terms of number of World Heritage properties in ASPAC (Asia and Pacific) region, it is overall sixth in the world.  The Government of India will celebrate July 1, 2018, as ‘GST Day’ to mark the first anniversary of the new indirect tax regime. Goods and Services Tax (GST) was rolled out in the intervening night of June 30 and July 1 in 2017. Union Minister for Railways, Coal , Finance & Corporate Affairs Shri Piyush Goyal will preside over as the Chief Guest of the event and Minister of State for Finance, Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla will be the Guest of Honour.

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 The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh has approved the institution of “Home Minister’s Special Operation Medal” . He also instituted three more Medals namely the Antarik Suraksha Medal, Asadharan Aashuchan Padak, and Utkrisht & Ati-Utkrisht Seva Medal.  The Medals will be awarded annually to Police Officers of States & Union Territories, Central Police Organisations (CPOs), Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Security Organisation involved in Special Operations.. HM’s Special Operation Medal and Asadharan Aashuchan Padak will be awarded on 15th August (Independence Day) while Antarik Suraksha Medal and Utkrisht & Ati-Utkrisht Seva Medal will be announced on 26th January (Republic Day)  Humanoid Robot Sophia, who was in India, says the country is colourful, diverse and beautiful. Developed by Hong Kong based company Hanson Robotics, Sophia is modeled after actress Audrey Hepburn, and is known for her human-like appearance and behavior compared to other robotic variants. Sophia uses artificial intelligence, visual data processing and facial recognition.  South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived on his first state visit to India during which he held talks with Prime Minister NarendraModi on key issues such as the situation on the Korean peninsula, and ways to boost trade and defence cooperation.  Prime Minister of Bhutan TsheringTobgay arrived in New Delhi on a three-day visit during which both the countries held discussions on a host of issues, including economic cooperation and security ties.  India will head the Asia Pacific Region of World Customs Organisation (WCO) for two years as its Vice Chair. According to a Finance Ministry release, the position will enable India to take on leadership role of Asia Pacific Region of the organisation.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Headquarters building of the Archaeological Survey of India in New Delhi.  Indian Railways is all set to establish its footprint in Sri Lanka with the export of six DMU (diesel multiple units) train sets consisting of 78 modern coaches worth Rs 600 crore. All train sets would be equipped with state-of-the-art technology and manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.  Nepal plans to operate its first ever broad-gauge passenger railway service from Janakpur town to Indian border town Jayanagar in Bihar starting December.  The Competition Commission of India (CCI) launched an Online Guidance System for determining notifiability of merger & acquisitions. The Guidance System has been named as “Do It Yourself (DIY): A notifiability check for mergers & acquisitions under the Competition Act, 2002”.  Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) launched its first in-house single umbrella e-marketing system that can be accessed from anywhere in India for sale and purchase of its products.  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved proposal for expanding the scope of Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) by enhancing its capital base to Rs. 10,000 crore and tasking it to mobiliseRs. 1,00,000 crore for Revitalizing Infrastructure and Systems in Education or RISE by 2022.  More than 19,500 languages or dialects are spoken in India as mother tongues, according to the latest analysis of a census released recently.There are 121 languages which are spoken by 10,000 or more people in India, which has a population of 121 crore, it said.  Bringing the best of Google to Indian startups, Google announced Launchpad Accelerator India — a new comprehensive mentorship program, tailored exclusively for startups based in India, deploying Machine Learning/AI to build solutions for India’s local needs.

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 Driven by increased focus on digital transformation, the demand for data scientists in India shot up by 417 per cent in the past one year, according to a new study titled “Talent Supply Index” (TSI) by data-driven hiring solution provider Belong Technologies India Pvt Ltd.  The Union Government has granted the Institutions of Eminence (IoEs) status to six institutions including 3 from Public Sector and 3 from Private Sector.Three Public Universities granted the Institutions of Eminence (IoEs) status: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay, IIT-Delhi, IISc Bangalore. Three Private Universities granted the Institutions of Eminence (IoEs) status: Jio Institute by Reliance Foundation, BITS Pilani, Manipal Academy of Higher Education.  The Cabinet approved India’s accession to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Copyright Treaty, and WIPO Performers and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) extending copyright coverage to the internet and digital spheres.  The Union Cabinet approved the transfer of a 5.99 acre Sashastra SeemaBal (SSB) plot in Tawang to the Arunachal Pradesh government for constructing a multipurpose ground.  The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its nod for the continuation, up to 2020, of eight schemes of the Home Ministry for relief and rehabilitation of migrants under the umbrella scheme “Relief and Rehabilitation of Migrants and Repatriates”.  Highlighting the need to systemise disaster data by setting up a on a sustainable basis, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju announced that it will be India’s endeavour to set up disaster database expeditiously well before the target date of 2020.  Government launched Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2018 in New Delhi. The month long survey will begin on 1st August.  With an aim of eliminating human entry into septic tanks and drains for cleaning, the ministry of housing and urban affairs has launched a ‘technology challenge’ seeking suitable solutions from individuals and NGOs.  To fast track the resolution of area based infrastructure issues, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry launched the Local Area Plan (LAP) and Town Plan Schemes (TPS) for 25 smart cities in the country, under which the ministry will provide Rs 2 crore as central assistance to every city for planned urban expansion.  Under the guidance of Piyush Goyal, Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs, Railways and Coal, in order to capture the lost traffic through the new model for domestic cargo, Indian Railways has introduced Double Stack Dwarf Container Services.This train was booked from the Reliance Rail Siding at Kanalus to Rewari in the state of Haryana.  The Indian Railways is planning to launch a special train on November 14, along the route taken by Lord Ram in the Hindu epic Ramayana.This 800-seater tourist train, named ‘Sri Ramayana Express’, will start from Delhi and reach Rameswaram in 16 days.  The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUA) has launched two programmes India Smart Cities Fellowship (ISCF) and the India Smart Cities Internship (ISCI) to give youth the chance to work In the domain of urban planning and governance.  The central government think tank NITI Aayog has unveiled the blueprint of ‘National Health Stack’ (NHS), a shared digital healthcare infrastructure. The blueprint is in line with the implementation of the Centre’s flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat and other public healthcare programmes in the country.  The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has developed a mobile app ‘GST Verify’ to protect interest of consumers.It is an android app to verify if the person collecting GST from the consumer is eligible to collect it or not. It also provides the details of the person/ company collecting GST.

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 India’s first biofortified sorghum (jowar), with significantly higher iron and zinc than regular sorghum, has been formally launched.  Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu released a commemorative coin of Rs 125 denomination to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of scientist Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis and 12th Statistics Day.  The issuing authority Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has made Virtual ID (VID) system operational with its Authentication User Agencies (AUAs) which have migrated to VID and UID Token.The Virtual ID is a 16-digit random number mapped with the Aadhaar number.  The Income Tax Department has introduced an ‘instant’ Aadhaar-based PAN allotment service for individuals seeking to file taxes for the first time. The facility is free of cost and instant allotment of e-PAN is available only for a limited period on a first-come-first-serve basis for valid Aadhaar holders.  According to data from National Health Profile 2018, Rabies is the only disease that had a 100% death rate in India in 2017.  The Election Commission launched a mobile app, “cVIGIL”, for citizens to report any violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during elections.  Union Minister of Coal, Railways, Finance & Corporate Affairs, Piyush Goyal launched the Coal Mine Surveillance & Management System (CMSMS) and Mobile Application ‘Khan Prahari’ developed by CMPDI, Ranchi in New Delhi. Khan Prahari is a tool for reporting any activity taking place related to illegal coal mining like rat-hole mining, pilferage etc.  The Sunil Mehta Committee, set up to look into the faster resolution of stressed assets, has recommended the creation of an company for the resolution of stressed loans worth more than Rs500 crore. Sunil Mehta committee on bad loans resolution has recommended a five-pronged strategy Project ‘SASHAKT’ to deal with Non-performing Assets in the country’s banking system. The five-pronged strategy includes: SME resolution approach,Bank-led resolution approach,AMC/AIF led resolution approach,NCLT/IBC approach, andAsset-trading platform.  Despite the fact that technology can today help people to work from anywhere, nearly half the people in India want more “mobile-free” time to devote to their friends and family, showed results of “Live Life” survey by American Express and research firm Morning Consult.  The National Security Guard will be the first central paramilitary force to opt for e-ticketing instead of the railway warrant under an agreement signed with the IRCTC.  Reiterating that the central government was focused on development of sea route and inland waterways to boostcruise tourism in India, Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said that under Sagarmala project, the government will give Rs 500 crore to Shipping Corporation of India to lease out cruises to promote cruise tourism.  Train 18 – the code name given to the India’s ambitious semi high-speed train that is a ‘Made in India’ initiative will soon roll out by September. The train that is made by Integral Coach Factory (ICF) based in Chennai has the capacity to run at the speed of 160 Kmph.  State-owned BSNL launched India’s first Internet telephony service “Wings”. This service would allow customers to make and receive calls over the Internet from anywhere in India or abroad.  The Indian Army has joined hands with the State bank of India (SBI) on the Defence Salary Package, which will include free personal accident death and total disability cover.  The Archaeological Survey of India has issued an order allowing photography within the premises of all centrally protected monuments or sites, except at Ajanta Caves, Leh Palace and TajMahal.

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 In an attempt to engage with the people of India on the important issues of water conservation and water management, the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has launched a video contest titled “JalBachao, Video Banao, PuruskarPao”.  The National Health Agency (NHA) has launched a pilot for the Beneficiary Identification System (BIS) for confirmation of 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families eligible for health coverage under Ayushman Bharat, or Modicare.  The Telecom Commission has approved the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) net neutrality recommendations that bar service providers from discriminating against internet content and services by blocking, throttling or granting them higher speed access.  UIDAI announced that the estimated savings and gains since the inception of Aadhaar-based (DBT) stood at over Rs 90,000 crore as on March 31 this year.  NitiAayog has proposed 15-point action plan for combating air pollution in ten most polluted cities in the country, including Delhi, Kanpur and Varanasi. The draft action plan titled ‘Breathe India’ includes encouraging electric vehicles, phasing out private diesel vehicle and development of crop residue utilisation policy.  The latest census figure of 2011 shows Sanskrit has earned 10,000 new speakers in a span of 10 years, a growth of 71 per cent, though the ancient language may be the least-spoken language in India. According to the 2011 data, released recently, 24,821 people have registered Sanskrit as their mother tongue, in comparison to 14,135 people who had said Sanskrit was their mother tongue in 2001.According to the data, Hindi remains India’s most spoken language followed by Bengali.  Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), a large-scale fertiliser cooperative federation has taken another step to serve and connect the farmers digitally by launching a social e-commerce app and web portal, “IFFCO iMandi”.  The government is planning to build 1,911 kilometres of international connectivity roads over the five year period ending 2022 under its flagship scheme.  In a move to put a check on vehicle thefts, the government will soon notify a new standard for automobile industry to use a technology which involves spraying thousands of small dots laser etched with a vehicle identification number throughout the vehicle body, including their engines. The technology named MicroDots makes it almost impossible to remove the dots and hence, the car’s identity can be established at any stage.  The government will print and hand-deliver about 110 million ‘family cards’ for the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in a major public contact programme by organising ‘Ayushman Pakhwaras’ in villages as it seeks to implement the Prime Minister’s signature move.  After 165 years of its birth, Indian Railways is set to get its first publicly-owned dedicated corridor for freight trains on August 15, when the country will be celebrating its 72nd Independence Day.  Bollywood singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh is all set to get his own wax statue at the Madame Tussauds museum in the national capital.  India accounts for one-fifth of global deaths due to floods, according to government data that lends perspective to a new World Bank study that says climate change will lower the standards of living of nearly half of the countrys population by 2050.  The ‘BIMARU’ Indian states – Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – have the highest numbers of partially immunized and non-immunized children, according to UN bodies WHO and Unicef.

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 Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan laid the foundation stone of India’s first National Skill Training Institute (NSTI) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The proposed institute will impart training to trainers and create a skill-based ecosystem to meet the industry demands.  One of the country’s first Defence incubators will come up in Hyderabad, which is India’s missile development centre and fast emerging the hub for aerospace industries.  NABARD has launched a centre for accelerating concerted action on climate change by various stakeholders including government, private and financial sectors. The Centre for Climate Change has been set up in Lucknow.  Kerala stands as the best governed state in the country and Karnataka is in the fourth position, said the Public Affairs Index 2018 released by the think tank Public Affairs Centre (PAC).  A countrywide initiative called Student Police Cadet (SPC) programme, which aims to build a bridge between the police and young students by educating them in crime prevention and ethics through classes at school and outside, was launched by home minister Rajnath Singh.  Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan has unveiled the first of a kind Air Quality and Weather Forecast System, SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting) at Chandni Chowk in New Delhi. The giant true colour LED display will give real-time air quality index on 24×7 basis with colour coding along with 72- hour advance forecast.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi digitally launched an India-assisted emergency ambulance service in Sri Lanka. Apart from providing ambulances, the grant also covers the training of manpower in India and meeting operational costs for one year.  To improve the livelihood of people on the border, India and Bangladesh will set up six more “border haats” (markets) in addition to the existing four.  The environment ministry has decided to re-introduce a scheme for awarding Indian authors for their original work in Hindi on subjects related to environment including pollution and climate change. The Medini Puraskar Yojna, which aims at promoting original writing of books in Hindi, will have four awards for authors of various environmental topics.  The Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched a contest, #Childline1098, inviting people to share images of the Childline 1098 logo that they spot at unique locations and send it with a tagline, to mark World Day against Trafficking in Persons on July 30.  Scheme titled ‘Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage and Diverse Cultural Traditions of India’ is being implemented by the Ministry of Culture with the objective of reinvigorating and revitalizing various institutions, groups, individuals, identified non-MoC institutions, non-government organisations, researchers and scholars so that they may engage in activities/ projects for strengthening, protecting, preserving and promoting the rich intangible cultural heritage of India.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that Indian Government has decided to gift a cancer therapy machine to the Uganda Cancer Institute in Kampala, which will not only serve the people of Uganda but also the people of many East African countries.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced to build a Gandhi Heritage Centre in Uganda’s Jinja, where a statue of Mahatma Gandhi now stands.  India has extended lines of credit (LoCs) worth $200 million to Rwanda as Prime Minister Narendra Modi (who was on a visit to Rwanda) announced that the first Indian diplomatic mission will be opened in the East African nation. Prime Modi also visited a village in Rwanda and donated 200 cows for an economic development project of the East African nation.  The IT ministry launched a desktop software e-Aksharayan to enable editing of text printed on scanned documents and it can be downloaded for free from its website.  The Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, laid the foundation stone for permanent campus of National Skill Training Institute (NSTI) for Women at Mohali, Punjab. This is the first NSTI Institute for Punjab and only one of its kind in India which is exclusively for women.

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 Health Minister J.P. Nadda launched the ‘National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme’ with the goal of ending viral hepatitis, or inflammation of liver, as a public health threat by 2030.  Government of India has approved a new scheme namely Mahila Shakti Kendra for implementation during 2017- 18 upto 2019-20 to empower rural women through community participation.  The Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee on data protection in India has suggested amendments to various laws including the Aadhaar Act to provide for imposition of penalties on data fiduciaries and compensations to data principals for violations of the data protection law.  All the 13 lakh employees of the Indian Railways will take turns to swear an oath publicly to “bring about integrity” and “eradicate corruption”. Termed “Mission Satyanishtha”, the program will involve railwaymen attending formal training course on probity and integrity in public life.  R Ramanan, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission and Arvind Gupta CEO, MyGov launched the “#InnovateIndia Platform”, a collaboration between the Atal Innovation Mission and MyGov, a citizen-centric platform of the Government of India.  Minister of State for communications Manoj Sinha in Lok Sabha told MP Virender Kashyap that all villages adopted by the Member of Parliaments under ‘Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna’, will be provided free WiFi services across India by the Government.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the (IPPB) that aims “to change the the banking system in the country”. The launch was done at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi. Click here to read about IPPB

 Census 2021 will for the first time collect data on Other Backward Classes (OBC), the Centre said. The decision to count the OBCs in the next Census was to get a correct perspective on the social status in the country. The 2011 Census collected information in 29 categories that included a separate column for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes. The OBCs would also be an option in the column in 2021. The enumerators will start “house listing” in 2020 and the headcount will begin from February 2021. “It was also informed that nearly 25 lakh enumerators are trained and engaged for the gigantic exercise and accurate collection of data will be ensured in Census 2021.”  Nearly Rs 400 crore has been released by the Centre to 10 states, having international borders, for developing forward areas as part of an ambitious plan to ameliorate the problems of those living in these isolated locations. An amount of Rs 399.44 crore has been released to the governments of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and West Bengal under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) so far during 2018-19.  India will emerge as the biggest passenger car market by 2030, with every second car being sold will be here in the country, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said.  Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu launched Coffee Connect – India coffee field force app and Coffee KrishiTharanga – digital mobile extension services for coffee stakeholders at a function. The mobile app Coffee Connect has been developed to ease the work of field functionaries and to improve the work efficiency. NABARD has partly funded the Pilot project.  India has set a target to generate100 GW solar energy by 2022 for increasing share of carbon free energy in the energy mix.  The Government has approved a proposal to increase wages of artisans by over 36%, from five rupees 50 paisa per hank to seven rupees 50 paisa.  Homosexuality Not A Crime In India Anymore: SC Abolishes Section 377. A five-judge bench led by CJI Dipak Misra diluted Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, to exclude all kinds of adult consensual sexual behaviour. The law will still stand on the statute book to deal with unnatural sexual offences against minors and animals such as sodomy and bestiality.

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 The government decided to make the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) an open-ended scheme, meaning that it will continue indefinitely and added more incentives to encourage people to open bank accounts. To make the scheme more attractive, the government has decided to double the overdraft facility from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. Arun Jaitely said that 32.41 crore accounts have been opened under the scheme and as much Rs 81,200 crore has been deposited in them so far. Jaitley said 53% of the PMJDY account holders are women, while 83 per cent of the accounts are seeded with Aadhaar.  The Union government doubled the pecuniary limit to Rs. 20 lakh for filing loan recovery application in the Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) by banks and financial institutions, to help reduce pendency of such cases.As a result, any bank or financial institution or a consortium of banks or financial institutions cannot approach DRTs if the amount due is less than Rs. 20 lakh.  The Indian e-commerce market would become worth over $100 billion by the year 2022, with a growth of around 25 per cent from the current level, according to a joint report by PwC and Nasscom – Propelling India towards global leadership in e-commerce.  The water storage level of 91 major reservoirs in India have gone up by four per cent in the last one week, according to data provided by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.  In order to improve the ease of doing business with Indian Railways, the national transporter has taken a significant step. Piyush Goyal-led Railway Ministry has launched the Aapoorti mobile app of Indian Railways e-procurement system (IREPS).  India has decided to participate in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which tests the learning level of 15 year olds, after a gap of nine years, a senior HRD Ministry official said.  The government has said that treatment of childhood cancer will be covered under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. The scheme will provide health insurance cover of five lakh rupees to poor families. BPL and lower-middle- class families will benefit from it.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, and Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Tripura jointly inaugurated three projects in Bangladesh via video conferencing. These include 500 MW additional power supply from India to Bangladesh, Akhaura – Agartala Rail Link and Rehabilitation of the Kulaura-Shahbazpur section of Bangladesh Railways.  India launches new digital bridge with Africa -- e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati (e-VBAB) Network Project.  Minister of Railways and Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal launched a web portal www.railsahyog.in. The web portal will provide a platform for the Corporates and PSUs to contribute to creation of amenities at/near Railway Stations through Corporate Social Responsibility funds. Chairman, Railway Board, Shri Ashwani Lohani with other Railway Board Members, Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Shri Dr Inder Jit Singh and Senior Officials of Railways and Coal were present on the occasion.  Nine years after Apsara – the country’s first and oldest atomic reactor was shut down, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) set in motion Apsara-upgraded (U).  The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on collaborative research on distributed ledger and blockchain technology in the context of development of digital economy by Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) with the participating member banks, under the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism.  With an aim to boost the pro-farmer initiatives of the government, the Centre approved a new Umbrella Scheme “Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan’ (PM-AASHA). The scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018. In addition to this, budget

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provision for procurement operations has also been increased and Rs.15,053 crore is sanctioned for PM-AASHA implementation.  The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, launched the ‘Swachhata Hi Seva Movement’, which aims at fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a Clean India.  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund with an outlay of Rs 10,881 crore for 2017-18 to 2028-29 to boost the dairy sector.  India’s first underwater robotic drone developed at Maker Village in Kochi, which can send real-time video of ships and other underwater structures to help with their repair and maintenance, was launched.  BEML Limited, a defence public sector company, has launched an indigenously designed and developed country’s first 205T Electric Drive Rear Dump Truck(Model BH205-E), with an objective of strengthening the ‘’ initiative.  The health ministry has banned the manufacture, sale and distribution of 328 fixed dose combinations (FDCs) of drugs with immediate effect and restricted another six. This brings to an end a protracted legal battle between manufacturers of these combination drugs and the ministry, which has been working since 2016 to get these “irrational” and “unsafe” drugs banned. Among the roughly 6,000 brands estimated to be affected by the ban are popular drugs like the painkiller Saridon, the skin cream Panderm, combination diabetes drug Gluconorm PG, antibiotic Lupidiclox and antibacterial Taxim AZ.  Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi launched the country’s first National Scholarship Portal Mobile App (NSP Mobile App) in New Delhi.  Four months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioned the need for total electrification of the country’s rail network, the PM-led Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved 100 per cent electrification of the Indian Railways, tentatively by 2021-22, settling a decades-long debate.  The Union Cabinet approved new Umbrella Scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan, PM- AASHA.  The Scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to farmers for their produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018. State News

Andhra Pradesh

 The Andhra Pradesh government has announced to implement a first of its kind Unemployment Scheme worth Rs 1200 crore annually for the unemployed graduate youth of the state. Under the scheme, the unemployed graduate youths would get a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 each with an upper age limit of 35.  The Andhra Pradesh has launched Zero Based Natural Farming (ZBNF) scale-out scheme to transition 6 million farms/farmers to 100% chemical-free agriculture by 2024 making Andhra Pradesh India’s first 100 per cent natural farming state.  Andhra Pradesh and Singapore has signed several pacts for the development of a start-up area (1,691 acres) in the new capital, Amaravati, to transform it into a world-class city. Under the agreement, the land would be handed over in three phases – 660 acres in the first phase – to the Singapore companies for infrastructure development and other promotional activities.

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 Andhra Pradesh became the first large state in the country to be declared as Open Defecation Free as it had achieved its goal of constructing 2.77 lakh individual toilets.  Andhra Pradesh has emerged as the top ranked state in the Union government’s latest ease of doing business index for states. The index is jointly prepared by the World Bank and the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).Meghalaya was ranked last at 36th position and appeared as the worst performing state.  The commerce ministry has approved a proposal of HCL Technologies to set up a new IT special economic zone (SEZ) in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, with a proposed investment of Rs 408.48 crore.The ministry has recently constituted a group, headed by Bharat Forge Chairman , to study the SEZ policy.  United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) entered in an agreement with Andhra Pradesh Government to set up a ‘Design University’ for gaming in Visakhapatnam.  Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated ‘Anna Canteen’, which will serve food for just Rs. 5. The canteen would serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner all at the same rate.  CM launched ‘e-Pragati portal’, a digital platform for governance in the state, would help to connect all the state government departments and act as a stand-alone to resolve the issues.  Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu launched the ‘Project Gandiva’. This project aims to achieve medals in Olympic Games in a span of ten years. The government wants to make Andhra Pradesh No.1 in the country in athletics.  The Andhra Pradesh Government has approved the “Mukhyamantri Yuva Nestam” scheme that makes unemployed youth in the state, eligible of receiving Rs 1000 per month from the government.  Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister unveiled the world’s first-ever high energy storage device in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh. The thermal battery, first-of-its-kind anywhere in the world, is a revolutionary and disruptive technology patented by Dr. Patrick Glynn in 2016 in India.  Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced the launch of ‘Yuva Nestam Scheme’ on October 2, which would provide unemployment dole of Rs 1000 each to empower youth.  The government and Mastercard introduced e-Rythu, a mobile platform that provides farmers an easy and secure way to buy, sell and receive payments for agricultural products via their feature phones.  Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu flagged off the ‘Swachh Dhara’ programme in Amravati, with an aim to provide clean drinking water across the state.  The government announced to start an unemployment allowance for the state’s youth from October 2018. The candidates can register online on the website yuvanestham.ap.gov.in. to be part of the scheme.

Arunachal Pradesh

 Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu launched the Arunachal Rising Campaign in the state with the objective to reach out to the people throughout the state targeting remote areas and make them aware of the government initiatives, policies and programmes.

Assam

 19 cancer care centres named Assam Cancer Care Foundation (ACCF) will be set up across the state in partnership with Tata Trusts at an investment of Rs 1,910 crore. ACCF is a non- profitable entity of Assam government and Tata Trusts with equal partnership to implement the project and manage the centres. These centers will start functioning from mid-2020.

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 Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) in Assam has become the first oil public sector undertaking (PSU) to adopt an online legal compliance system by introducing ‘Legatrix’.  Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal laid foundation stone for the state’s first cultural university at Majuli to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore.  The Assam government has decided to set up a separate directorate for the Divyangs. The Social Welfare department will give 1 thousand rupees per month to all Divyangs as stipend.  In a unique and first ever in the country, Assam government has decided to implement a scheme to part away with 10 to 15 per cent of state government employees’ monthly salary if they are found guilty of not taking adequate care of their dependent elderly parents and physically challenged siblings.  Amid tight security, the second and the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of Assam was released in Guwahati. Out of 3,29,91,384 total applicants, 2,89,83,677 people have been found eligible to be included in the National Register of Citizens.  In Assam, the Panchayat and Rural Development Department has stressed on accelerating the pace of overall development of rural areas through successful implementation of various programmes. The department has also taken steps for conducting a door to door survey under Prime Minister Awas Yojna Grameen  The Central Government which aims to improve digital connectivity and infuse digital literacy in all the states of the country, recently launched the ‘Digital Northeast Vision Document 2022’ in Guwahati.  Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated an Indo-Bhutan Border Trade Centre at Darranga in Tamulpur, Baksa District, Assam. Sonowal termed it a red-letter day and said that the trade centre will lead to strengthening of Indo-Bhutan relations.

Bihar

 Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has launched an ambitious scheme - ‘Mukhyamantri Kanya Utthan Yojana’ - which promises to provide Rs 54,100 from the birth of a girl child till she graduates.  With the launch of cost-effective innovative water project, Bihar will soon provide the cheapest drinking water in the world. The first of such a water project was launched in Bihar’s district, by Sulabh International, an organisation that introduced the concept of ‘SulabhSauchalya’ in the country.With the help of this project, the people will easily be able to get pure and clean water only in 50paisa/litre.The ‘SulabhJal’ project converts contaminated pond and river water into safe drinking water.  Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh announced that Chhattisgarh is the first among the 28 other states in the country to provide Right to Skills’ Development to the youth  Bihar and Nepal are now connected by bus. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flagged off the first bus service between Bihar and Nepal. The service will link Bodh Gaya and Patna in Bihar to Kathmandu and Janakpur in Nepal.  The Bihar government has launched a new crop insurance scheme “Bihar State Crop Assistance Scheme” with effect from Kharif (monsoon) 2018 and the new scheme will replace the existing system of crop insurance. As per the new scheme, farmers would be paid a compensation of Rs 7,500 per hectare if less than 20 percent of the standing crop is damaged with maximum support amounting to Rs 15,000. Similarly, Rs 10,000 per hectare would be provided in case damage is more than 20 percent and maximum support of Rs 20,000.

Chhattisgarh

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 President Ram Nath Kovind launched Chhattisgarh government’s Sanchar Kranti Yojna at Jagdalpur in the Naxal- affected Bastar region of the state. Under the scheme, 50 lakh smartphones will be distributed free of cost to the people.

 The country’s first tribal tourism circuit was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Tourism K J Alphons in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh.

 Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh launched an online portal and mobile app called ‘Aabhaar-Aapki seva ka’ by the online pension management system for the pensioners of the stateActress Kangana Ranaut and .

 Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh launched a distribution scheme called ‘Mobile Tihar’ under Sanchar Kranti Yojna.

Delhi  In what was termed a “historic” occasion, Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal launched the “Happiness Curriculum” for students of nursery to Class 8 in government schools. The curriculum was launched in the presence of the Dalai Lama.  The Delhi government launched the “Connect Delhi” initiative in a bid to make commuting easy for the residents of national capital.The initiative will carry out a holistic planning exercise covering all public transport to ensure all areas of Delhi are connected.  The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has joined hands with US-based chip-designer Nvidia Corp to set up a Centre of Excellence in Delhi to offer the industry a complete design and implementation environment for the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based applications.  Indo Korea Technology Exchange Centre inaugurated at NSIC campus, Okhla Industrial Estate, New Delhi.  The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra announced that all private hospitals in Delhi, which were given land on concessional rate, must provide free treatment to certain percentage of poor patients.  The Delhi government would send 77,000 senior citizens along with one adult attendant each on all-expenses paid pilgrimages every year, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal approving the scheme called Mukhyamantri Tirthyatra Yojana.  India’s first asymmetrical cable-stayed Signature Bridge connecting the Outer Ring Road with Wazirabad will open by October end.  With alarming shortage of staff in the Health Department, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal set up a deadline of September 15 to fill up all vacancies on contract.  The Delhi High Court constituted a five-member committee to examine the punishment and death sentencing awarded in the sexual harassment cases.  The Delhi Cabinet approved a scheme under which farmers in the national capital can lease out part of their agricultural land for setting up solar panels for additional income. Under the ‘Mukhyanmantri Kissan Aaye Badhotri Solar Yojna,’ any farmer can rent out not more than one third of his land to a private firm to set up solar panels at a rate of Rs one lakh per annum per acre.  Amid opposition by some members, the government decided that a museum for all prime ministers of the countrywould be constructed in the Teen Murti Bhavan complex that houses the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML).

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 Delhi has toppled Gujarat from the top spot in a list of 21 states and union territories with the most investment potential, according to a report by economic think-tank NCAER.  Parts of the national capital will now enjoy free Wi-Fi and high-speed broadband as Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh launched a slew of “smart city” projects in a function.  Ahead of the Independence Day, the Delhi Police inducted India’s first all-woman Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team for anti-terrorist operations.  Calling it a “historic step” and “revolutionary change”, the Delhi government launched the doorstep delivery of 40 public services for the people living in the national capital. Now people will not have to waste their time and money for multiple trips to the government offices. They just need to call on 1076 and request for the service they want. They need to pay Rs 50 and can get 40 services at their doorstep. Driving license, new water or sewer connection and disconnection will also be provided under the scheme between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. through a ‘Mobile Sahayak’.  The Delhi Government and the Metropolitan Government are slated to sign an agreement this week for cooperation in urban regeneration. The agreement will be signed during Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s ongoing trip to Seoul.

Gujarat

 The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has converted a garbage dumping ground located at Vadsar on the outskirts of the city into a museum of trees. This place has been named as ‘Urban forest – museum of trees’. The land fill site on the banks of Viswamitri River has 100 different species of trees.  Gujarat Government has announced ‘Wind-Solar Hybrid Power Policy-2018’ to promote setting up of wind as well as solar power projects at one location to ensure optimal use of land and transmission infrastructure. The policy will remain in force for five years.  Gujarat has launched a solar power scheme for farmers named Suryashakti Kisan Yojana (SKY) to enable them generate electricity for their captive consumption as well as sell the surplus power to the grid and earn an extra income.The project cost is around Rs 870 crore. The scheme duration is 25 years, which is split between 7-year period and 18-year period.  The Government of Gujarat has received 100 units of digital farming as gift from based irrigation solutions providing company Netafim. The digital farming units have sensor technique which will help farmers utilise water and fertilizers better.  A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Industries and Mines Department under the Gujarat government and Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).The MoU was signed with an aim to recognize a mutual desire to further enhance and strengthen Korea – Gujarat trade.  Prime Minister NarendraModi will inaugurate the Statue of Unity on October 31, the birth anniversary of SardarVallabhbhai Patel in Kevadiya near SardarSarovar Dam in the tribal-dominated Narmada district, about 190 kilometres from Ahmedabad, Gujarat.  BJP president Amit Shah unveiled a stainless steel Charkha at the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The charkha, which is 21 feet in length, 11 feet in height,and 6.5 feet in breadth, is made of -nickel stainless steel and is installed on the Sabarmati Riverfront near the Riverfront Park, right across the Sabarmati Ashram.  Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani launched ‘PoshanAbhiyan’--a statewide mission to eradicate malnutrition among children by providing them nutritious food through Anganwadicentres.The CM also launched ‘Purna’ project

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to eliminate malnutrition among girls in the age group of 14 to 18. ‘Purna’ stands for Prevention of Under Nutrition and Reduction of Nutritional Anaemia among Adolescent Girls.  Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has given in-principle approval for the 39-crore rupees ‘SeemaDarshan’ project for developing more infrastructure facilities from T-Junction to Zero Point at Nadabet near Suigam in Banaskantha district to instil patriotism through a unique Gujarat initiative for border tourism.  In order to promote the Sanskrit language, the Gujarat state government has decided to form the Sanskrit Bhasha Vikas Board. The state will also be celebrating a Sanskrit Utsav, which will begin from Raksha Bandhan and have various activities around the language.  The Gujarat government has come out with an ‘Urban Sanitation and Cleanliness Policy’ for better management of solid and liquid waste in cities.  The Gujarat Government has partnered with a top India-centric American advocacy group for the summit in January 2019, which is expected to be attended by some of the top American corporate leaders. Gujarat will host the ninth edition of the annual industry summit ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ from January 18 to 20, 2019, in Gandhinagar.  The first of its kind university in the country on the transport sector, the National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI), started operations this week. Currently, it is functioning out of the National Academy of Indian Railways, Vadodara.

Goa

 Goa government’s Women and Child Development Ministry launched a universal helpline service (181) for women in distress in the coastal state.  Goa Revolution Day was celebrated on June 18 in the state to pay tributes to the martyrs of the state’s liberation struggle.  The Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) is all set to launch its own mobile application-based taxi service named ‘Goamiles’ from July 2018 to some key tourist destinations in the state to boost the digital economy, enable ease of travel for tourists and give taxi drivers better income.  Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar flagged off the Goa Tourism Development Corporation’s app-based taxi service called “GoaMiles” in Panaji. “GoaMiles”, would ensure that commuters are not cheated and at the same time would increase the earnings of taxi drivers by “two to three” times.

Haryana

 The Haryana government has raised the upper age limit of entry into government service from 40 to 42 years.  Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar laid the foundation stone of a production unit of the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) at Nawada village of Faridabad district. The Centre at Faridabad would reduce the long travel for differently abled people who have to travel to ALIMCO headquarter at Kanpur to avail the facilities.  The Haryana state government has approved a scheme to provide monthly financial assistance of Rs 8,000 to female acid victims who would come within the definition of disability under Section 2 (i) of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights of Full Participation) Act, 1995. The women and girl acid

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attack victims would also be given preference in the allotment of fair price shops by the Haryana Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department.  The Haryana government has decided to introduce a scheme under which school children will be given Rs. 50 for planting trees every six months for a period of three years. The scheme will cover students from Classes 6 to 12 of both government and private schools. It will be launched on July 10.  The Godikan panchayat in Haryana has become India’s first panchayat to pass ‘No Toilet No Bride’ resolution to marry off girls only to families that have a toilet in their house. The move is inspired by Bollywood movie Toilet- Ek Prem Katha and aims to ensure safety and well-being of the women folk.  The Haryana government has made the use of LED bulbs and tube lights mandatory in all offices under the Haryana government to ensure substantial energy savings and also cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.  The Haryana Health Department will launch an intensive diarrhoea control campaign from July 15 to 30 under which ORS and zinc packets would be distributed to about 26.5 lakh children below five years of age across the state.  The Haryana Education Department has launched ‘I am not afraid of English’ initiative to promote English language right from Class 1 in the state’s primary schools.  Haryana has topped the states in per capita revenue collection under GST and has become fourth highest generator of e-way bills in the country.  Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched the ‘Paudhagiri’ campaign, aimed at increasing the green cover in the state. Under this campaign, 22 lakh students from class 6 to 12 of all government and private schools in Haryana will plant a sapling each during three months of monsoon — July, August and September  Expanding its infrastructure footprint in India, online retail major Amazon India opened its largest fulfilment centre (FC) in Haryana with a view to enhance customer experience ahead of the festive season.  CM Manohar Lal Khattar dedicated the state’s first civil airport at Hisar to the people of Haryana, saying it would open the possibilities of creating an economic corridor and vibrant industrial ecosystem.  The Haryana government on September 10 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to set up an ethanol plant in Panipat with an outlay of over Rs 900 crore.

Himachal Pradesh

 The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to discontinue with the semester system in undergraduate coursesand re-establish the annual examination system from the coming session under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).  The Himachal government has received a financial assistance of Rs 84.13 crore from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Finance under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).  After Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh Government is all set to ban the use of plastic and thermocol cutlery in the state.  The Himachal Pradesh government announced a subsidy of 10 per cent or Rs 4,000 per KW, whichever is less, to all domestic consumers, institutions and those in the social sectors for installation of solar power plants at the rooftop of their buildings.  Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched an awareness campaign named “Horn Not Ok” along with a statewide mobile app “Shoor Nahin” or no noise in Shimla and Manali. The mobile app “Shoor Nahin”, is an

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initiative to check noise pollution in the state. The app has been developed to report any noise pollution complaint to authorities.

Jammu Kashmir  The Central Reserve Police Force launched ‘Madadgaar Helpline’, a distress helpline for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, with the aim of providing immediate assistance to locals.

Jharkhand  Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das announced that the first ‘Khadi Mall’ of the country will be opened soon in Ranchi.  China will be Jharkhand’s partner country at the Food Processing Summit slated in November.  The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has cleared the Jharkhand government’s proposal to rename a railway station in Garhwa district after Lord . The Raghubar Das government had proposed that Nagar Untari town and railway station be renamed as Banshidhar Nagar, after Banshidhar Temple, which is dedicated to Krishna, in Garhwa.

Karnataka  Union minister of chemicals and FertilisersAnanth Kumar announced that the country’s first e-waste recycling unit will come up in Bengaluru, Karnataka.  Indian IT industry apex body Nasscom has opened a Centre of Excellence for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Bengaluru, Karnataka.  The South Western Railway launched a Captain service in the Bengaluru-New Delhi Karnataka Express train to ensure comfortable journey to long-distance passengers.  Software major Wipro would work with the Karnataka government to fight air pollution in the state, especially Bengaluru.  According to US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), Karnataka is the new national leader in renewable energy generation. It has overtaken Tamil Nadu that had long been India’s top renewables market.  A team of doctors led by Dr. Shamee Shastry from the blood bank of Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Manipal identified a rare blood group called ‘pp’ or ‘P null’ phenotype.  The government of Karnataka launched the ‘Swachhameva Jayate’ campaign in a bid to step up the cleanliness and hygiene efforts of the state. It programme, implemented by the Rural Decelopment and Panchayat Raj Department of the state, will first focus on rural areas.  Karnataka launched a round-the-clock information and grievance helpline for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) across the state. ‘Kalyana Kendra’ (welfare centre) helpline will allow members of these communities to get information on the state’s welfare programmes for them as well as register complaints. The helpline telephone number is 080-22634300 while Whatsapp and text messaging services can be accessed on 9901100000.  Ayushman Bharat call centre was formally inaugurated in Bengaluru by CEO of Ayushman Bharat Dr. Indu Bhushan.  Looking to further cement its position in India, South Korean tech major Samsung set up what is arguably the world’s largest mobile experience centre in Bengaluru, barely two months after it opened its biggest mobile factory in .

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 Bengaluru International Airport (BAIL) is planning to roll out face recognition facility for the passengers of select airlines in a bid to make the boarding process paperless. The airport operator has inked a deal with -based biometric solutions service provider, Vision Box, to implement this technology at the airport.

Kerala

 Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority (KSLMA) has initiated a ‘water literacy’ campaign with the involvement of 70,000 students to create awareness about the importance of water conservation in the State. o As per the campaign, every student will take classes about water conservation for 15 families in their locality. A special course book containing 16 chapters has been designed for the purpose.  Seventy new state-of-the-art day-care centres for senior citizens above 60 will be opened in Kerala.  India’s first air-conditioned Bed Space Dormitory- Peter’s Inn, was thrown open for public at MG Road Metro Station in Kochi, Kerala.  Kerala, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab have emerged as the top performers in the first ever State Energy Efficiency Index released by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) with Kerala leading the chart.  Industry chamber CII said a task force chaired by its former President Kris Gopalakrishnan is working on comprehensive relief for flood-affected in Kerala in coordination with the state and district administrations.  The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences has decided to set up a cyclone-warning centre in Thiruvananthapuram. At present, national weather forecaster India Meteorological Department (IMD) has cyclone warning centres only in Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Mumbai.  HDFC Bank has announced that it will adopt 30 villages in flood-hit Kerala as part of its long-term relief and rehabilitation efforts.This initiative is aimed at helping people in the worst-hit parts of the State recover.  The State Bank of India (SBI) announced special term loan for repair and renovation of homes to help the flood affected citizens of Kerala. As part of this scheme, the bank offers loan of upto Rs 10 lakh at a reduced interest rate of 8.45 per cent per annum along with waiver of processing fee. The special rate will be applicable for home loan applications for repair and renovation submitted on or before November 30, 2018.  Ministry of Tourism sanctioned Malanad Malabar Cruise Tourism Project under Swadesh Darshan Scheme for development of a rural circuit in Kerala. Union Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons announced that under this project, the ministry will be developing three cruises with a budget of Rs 80.37 crores.

Madhya Pradesh

The Madhya Pradesh government has launched an outstanding power bill waiver scheme “Bijli Bill Mafi Yojana 2018 (Power Bill Waiver Scheme)” for labourers and poor families under which the registered labourers of the unorganised sector and Below Poverty Line (BPL) families would be provided electricity at a cost of Rs 200 per month.

 The state cabinet also approved Mukhyamantri Jan Kalyan (Sambal) Yojana 2018 (a scheme to provide subsidised power) under which the power connection would be provided free of cost to the beneficiaries.

Madhya Pradesh has inaugurated the ‘School Chale Hum Abhiyan 2018’ in Bhopal with the motive that no child should be deprived of schooling.

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 The Madhya Pradesh State Government launched an outstanding power bill waiver scheme and subsidised power scheme called ‘Sambal’ for labourers and poor families. Under SambalYojana, the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families would be provided electricity at a cost of Rs 200 per month.  In Madhya Pradesh, in a first of its kind initiative, the state govt will appoint girls as a district Brand Ambassador who have recorded significant achievements in any field under the BetiBachao-BetiPadhao scheme.  Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched Dial 100 Mobile app, which will help the needy at the time of emergency. According to Chouhan, as soon as police receive the call through Dial 100 application, Madhya Pradesh Police will reach the location as soon as possible.  In Madhya Pradesh, in a first of its kind initiative, “Mil -Banche”, an interactive programme between schools and society is being organized in all government schools of the state.

Maharashtra

 The Maharashtra Government has announced the opening up of a ‘sandbox’ to boost start-ups, aiming to develop the financial capital into a fintech hub.  Maharashtra government has announced to provide financial grant of Rs 1,000 per quintal to those farmers whose tur and gram could not be purchased by the administration before the May 31 deadline. o The government will also give a financial aid of 160 crore rupees to farmers whose crops got damaged due to unseasonal rain or hailstorm.  The statewide ban on single-use plastic items in Maharashtra came into effect from June 23 in a bid to fight pollution caused due to its extensive use. The fine for the first-time offenders will be Rs 5,000 and for second-time offenders, it will be Rs 10,000. A third violation will attract a fine of Rs 25,000 and a jail term for three months.  The Maharashtra government announced a new scheme called ‘Kanya Van SamruddhiYojana‘, wherein farmers families where girl children are born, will be given saplings for plantation. The scheme is aimed at empowering women and promoting tree plantation.  In order to reduce electricity losses, the Maharashtra government will on August 15, 2018 launch a new scheme allocating one transformer per farmer. Two lakh farmers will be given electricity connection for high voltage distribution line which will ensure uninterrupted power supply under the scheme “one farmer one transformer”.  The Elphinstone Road station in Mumbai has been renamed as Prabhadevi station. The new name came into effect from the midnight of July 18.  A special film festival on the theme “Freedom Struggle and Freedom Fighters” was held in Mumbai, Maharashtra on 15th August. The festival was organized by the Films Division to mark India’s 72nd Independence Day.  Nearly two years after a resolution was passed in the Maharashtra Assembly, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has finally been rechristened as Chhatrapati Shivaji ‘Maharaj’ International Airport. Mumbai’s airport was formerly known as Sahar International Airport. It was renamed as Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in 1999.  Thousands of people thronged the streets of Maharashtra’s Nagpur city to celebrate the Marbat festival. As per the tradition, the devotees took out a procession carrying effigies that represent evil forces. The clay effigies or ‘Marbats’ of Kali (black) and Pivli (Yellow) were the main attraction of the procession.  Maharashtra has the highest number of people living with HIV in India which is around 3.30 lakh, contributing 15 per cent of total immunodeficiency virus-affected people in the country which is 21.40 lakh, according to the latest data by Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

Manipur

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 The Lok Sabha passed the National Sports University bill, 2017, which seeks to establish a National Sports University in Manipur to promote sports education.

Meghalaya  The Behdienkhlam Festival of the Raij Tuber, one of the most colourful and the biggest festivals in the Jaintia Hills region concluded amidst thousands of spectators from across the state and outside.  The Meghalaya government launched ‘Meghalaya Milk Mission’ and First Meghalaya Bull Fair on 28th July, 2018. The Mission aims to plug the demand and supply gap in the availability of per capita milk, to generate alternate livelihoods for the rural people through the dairy sector and to create and revive dairy co-operatives.

Mizoram

 The northeastern state of Mizoram observed the Green Mizoram Day on June 11 with government employees, students and members of NGOs planting large number of trees. The Green Mizoram Day is being organised every year on June 11 since 1999.  The first international festival of Mizoram – Mizo Hnahthlak International festival – was organised in Aizawl, which brought the Mizo ethnic community from across borders.

Nagaland  The Nagaland government has declared the Singphan Wildlife Sanctuary as an elephant reserve making it the 30th reserve for jumbos in the country.

Odisha

 The Odisha Government has launched a Health Insurance Scheme called “Gopabandhu Sambadika Swasthya Bima Yojana” for working journalists in the state. It will be implemented in phased manner and cover 3,233 working journalists with health insurance coverage up to Rs 2 lakh a year in Phase I. At least five members of the journalists family will be covered under the scheme.  The 5th edition of the annual Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) was observed in Odisha. It was launched in 2014 to celebrate the Classical Language Status of Odia language and is observed annually in the month of June.  The Odisha government has relaunched an amnesty scheme (Sarbakhyama Yojana) titled ‘Scheme for Regularisation of Unauthorized Construction 2018′ to regularize unauthorized constructions and projects. Under the latest version of the scheme, cleared by the Planning and Building Standards Regulations, unauthorized constructions can be regularized by paying specific fees along with submission of building construction plan and fire clearance certificate.  Odisha government has announced a health assurance scheme named “Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana” under which secondary and tertiary cashless healthcare assistance of upto Rs 5 lakh will be provided per family per annum to meet their healthcare expenditure at all government-run hospitals. Besides, an assistance of Rs 500 would be provided to all pregnant women and infant who visit public health facilities. The scheme will come into effect from August 15 2018 and the entire cost would be borne by the state government.  The state government of Odisha has constituted a three-member expert committee, headed by Additional ChiefSecretary Suresh Mohapatra, to recommend measures for streamlining the functioning of the 12th century

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Jagannath temple at Puri. Inspector General of Police Soumendra Priyadarshi and Sri Jagannath Temple Administration member Mohimohan Tripathy are the other members of the panel.  Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced a ban on the use of plastic in the state from October 2, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.  The Odisha government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES) for effective management of disasters.  The Bhitarkanika National Park (Odisha) has become the largest habitat of the endangered estuarine crocodiles in the country with a record number of their nesting sites spotted in it. Altogether 101 nesting sites of estuarine crocodiles were found this time by enumerators.  The Odisha government has increased, from the present Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh, the incentive to encourage inter- caste marriage among the Hindu community.  The Odisha government has constituted a ‘Heritage Cabinet’ to preserve the Odia language and the state’s culture. The cabinet comprises eight members and will be headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.  Union Minister DharmendraPradhan inaugurated a multimedia exhibition of the various schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi organised by Regional Outreach Bureau of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) at Saradhabali near Bholanath Vidyapith in Puri, Odisha.  A special unit of the Odisha Police has launched a drive to bust an international syndicate that peddles “endangered” pangolin, one of the world’s most illegally traded mammals.  Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced that the state government would implement its own food security actfrom October 2 this year. Odisha’s own food security act would cover nearly 34.44 lakh people who have been left out from the National Food Security Act (NFSA), he said.  CM inaugurated the Rs 300 crore Rukura Medium Irrigation Dam project in Sundargarh district.  CM launched the ‘Green Mahanadi Mission’, a plantation drive under which 2 crore saplings will be planted along the Mahanadi river and its tributaries.  The Odisha government would reward people on returning used bottles and Orissa State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation (OMFED) polythene containers from October this year.  Union Minister for Oil and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan launched Prime Minister Narendra Modi authored book ‘Exam Warriors’ in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar city in Odia language.  Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced a universal health scheme – Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) – in the state that will benefit 70 lakh families.  The Odisha Government has tied up with Japan for its mega investment Conclave 2018 to take place in November this year. The state has already identified 600 acres near capital city Bhubaneswar that could serve as a dedicated industrial park for Japanese investors. While Japan will be ‘Country Partner’ to the Make in Odisha conclave, SBI is banking partner for the event.  The Odisha government is setting up a world-class interpretation centre at Dangamal near Bhitarkanika National Park to showcase its efforts in protecting crocodiles and preserving its rich mangrove diversity.  CM Naveen Patnaik launched ‘My Heart Beats for Hockey’ campaign, a promotional event that aims to spread the passion and love for the game ahead of the Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018.  CM launched the ‘Mu Hero…Mu Odisha’ Campaign in Cuttack that aims to recognise exemplary works by Odia boys and girls towards social transformation.

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 The Odisha government signed a memorandum of understanding with US-based ‘Malaria No More’ and India-based Malaria Elimination Trust to curb Malaria menace in the state.  NSIC Integrated Marketing Development Centre for MSMEs inaugurated in Bhubaneshwar  In western Odisha, the festival of Harvest Nuakhai is being celebrated. After harvest of new paddy of this season, rice has been processed and offered to Goddess Samaleswari in Sambalpur. People of western Odisha have also arranged Nuakhai Vetghat programs in Capital city Bhubaneswar.

Punjab

 To promote ease of doing business in the state, the Punjab government has launched a “Business First Portal” that would facilitate the industrialists for Regulatory Clearances and Fiscal Approvals and real time tracking of applications at common platform.  Punjab government has launched ‘i-Hariyali’ app that lets users order free plant saplings to increase green cover in the state. The ‘i-Hariyali’ app under ‘Mission Tandarust’ can be downloaded from the app store for free. The users can book a Sapling of their choice, a maximum of 25 per person, from a nearby government nursery.  Punjab Government has launched a campaign encouraging farmers to voluntarily adopt a new scheme named ‘Paani Bachao, Paise Kamao’, to check depletion of underground water. The scheme will be rolled out at two clusters/feeders -Bambiwal and Nawajipur – of the district on a pilot basis. 178 farmers from Bambiwal feeder and 231 from Nawajipur would be motivated for adopting the scheme. Under this scheme, farmers will get monetary benefit for less use of tubewell.  The Punjab Cabinet has approved the death penalty for males held guilty of the rape of a girl younger than 12 years.  Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has ordered a mandatory dope test of all government employees, including police personnel, from the time of their recruitment through every stage of their service.  Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has finalized a blue print to further develop prestigious Virasat-e-Khalsa, a museum of the Sikhs, at Anandpur Sahib, Punjab.  The Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, laid the foundation stone for permanent campus of National Skill Training Institute (NSTI) for Women at Mohali, Punjab. This is the first NSTI Institute for Punjab and only one of its kind in India which is exclusively for women.  Punjab Minister announced that Punjab, the first state in India to launch a mobile app ‘i-Hariyali’ to supply free saplings, has provided 13 lakh saplings to people through this endeavour so far.  Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh launched PUDA 360, an e-properties module to facilitate online property transactions. It is aimed at bringing greater efficiency and transparency in the functioning of Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA).  Border states Punjab & Jammu and Kashmir signed an agreement to re-start work on the Rs 2,793-crore Shahpur Kandi project.

Rajasthan

 Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh has discontinued the tradition of giving ceremonial Guard of Honour to the Governor. He is the first Governor of the country who made big changes regarding this type of arrangements.

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 Microsoft has signed an MoU with the Rajasthan government to provide free digital training to 9,500 college students in one year. The initiative was taken for the enhancement of digital learning and capacity building of college students in the state.  The government in Rajasthan approved one percent reservation for ‘Gujjars’ and four other backward castes.  India’s first private sector unit for manufacturing Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) and light bulletproof vehicles (LBPV) will be set up by DCM Shriram Industries Group on the campus of Shriram Rayons in Kota, Rajasthan.  The city of Udaipur has once again in 2018 been ranked among the World’s Best Cities by Travel + Leisure. Udaipur, the heritage-city built by the Maharanas of Mewar in the 16th century, is on the third place among the 15 of the world’s best cities.  Mobile app ‘Bijli Mitra’ launched for replacement of transformers. It will provide ease for farmers to get their defunct transformers replaced within six hours of registering a complaint through mobile app.  Rajasthan has become the first Indian state to implement the national policy on biofuels unveiled by the centre in May this year. High-power Biofuel Authority approved this implementation.  On the eve of Independence Day, the Rajasthan government will organise a human chain along the 650-km-long Pakistan border under a programme, ‘Shahadat ko Salam’. The programme will be organised by the state government with the help of Border Security Force and the Army on August 14.  Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje announced that the state will observe September as the “month of nutrition” to create awareness among people living in the state.  Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje inaugurated the Bhamashah Techno Hub in Jhalana Industrial Area of Jaipur. She said the country’s biggest centre equipped with the ultra-modern technology will help around 700 entrepreneurs to work under one roof and realise their dreams.  In a bid to boost Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship ‘’ campaign, Rajasthan government will soon distribute mobile phones to women under the Bhamashah Yojana. Focused on women who fall under the Below Poverty Line (BPL).

Sikkim

 Minister of State for Defence Subhash Ramrao Bhamre inaugurated 578-metre-long Theng Tunnel in Sikkim which is the longest tunnel in the state constructed on -Chungthang State Highway by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). The tunnel would provide all-weather connectivity.  The Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve in Sikkim has become the 11th Biosphere Reserve from India that has been included in the UNESCO designated World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR)

Tamil Nadu

 Tamil Nadu has set up a Staff Rationalisation Committee in an attempt to downsize its workforce. The Committee will be headed by S. Audseshiah, a retired Principal Secretary of the state government.

 The Tamil Nadu government has informed the Madras High Court that a 24-hour helpline has been set up to investigate issues faced by inter-caste couples and offer them necessary assistance and protection.

 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami inaugurated ‘India’s tallest film studio’ built by Federation of Film employees Union of South India on August 26 in Kalaignar city, Paiyanur. The studio is named after former

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Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran. Various floors in this studio will also get their names after former Chief Ministers who were a part of the film industry.  CM E.Palanisamy launched an app and a website www.plasticpollutionfreetn.org on plastic pollution free Tamilnadu. He announced the appointment of actors Suriya, Karthi, Jyothika and Vivek as brand ambassadors of the state’s plastic-free Tamil Nadu campaign and to promote eco-friendly bags. The State Government has announced that plastic will be banned from January 1 2019.  The Tamil Nadu government said it had signed an MoU with the Central government to implement in association with state-run Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS).

Telangana

 The Telangana police have launched a mobile-based messenger application named ‘Cop Connect’ (on the lines of WhatsApp) to provide real time information to over 60,000 police officers across 31 districts in the state to support the police department in improving quality of service delivered to public.  The Telangana government has decided to set up a Special Turmeric Cell in the Nizamabad district of the state which would enable the farmers in bringing qualitative changes for cultivating turmeric as a commercial crop.  Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had laid foundation stone for Rs Rs 553.98 crore Gattu irrigation project in Jogulamba Gadwal district to provide water to 33,000 acres in four mandals in the district.  State-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) will set up a Civil Aviation Research Organisation (CARO)at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad aimed at “finding indigenous solutions” to meet the challenges posed by the growing air traffic.  The Telangana government has allotted 200 acres to three different women entrepreneurs’ associations in the state.  Industry body Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) in partnership with the Telangana government launched a digital campaign, ThinkForHealth, calling for ideas to improve access to healthcare in India.  The government of Telangana will set up of a state-of-the-art B-Hub, which will have a scale-up manufacturing facility for biopharma based R&D. AB-Hub will be a first of its kind initiative in the country, aimed at providing much needed support to the biopharma R&D activities.  The government of Telangana signed MoUs with , Nucleus Vision and Eleven01 Foundation to launch India’s first Blockchain District (Hyderabad), which will provide a complete ecosystem for the growth of blockchain technology.  National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank (NWGRB) was inaugurated at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology’s (CCMB) Laboratory of Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) facility in Hyderabad, Telangana.  The 72nd Independence Day was celebrated in Telangana with the launch of two major schemes – free eye screening for all citizens and life insurance for farmers. Under ‘Kanti Velugu’, the entire population of 3.7 crore will be provided free eye care. The authorities will not only conduct eye screening but will also provide free medicines, spectacles and arrange for free surgeries, if required. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao also announced the implementation of another scheme, ‘Rytu Bima’, aimed at providing life insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to every farmer.  For the first time in India, dog owners will have a dedicated dog park to visit. Set up in Hyderabad, the park is spread across an area of 1.3 acres.

Tripura

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 President Ram Nath Kovind has announced to recognise the “Queen” a variety of Pineapple as Tripura’s state fruit.  The Tripura government has launched the GPS (Global Positioning System) and wireless based 24×7 “mobile policing” service to curb crime, especially against women.  The state government of Tripura has taken Rs 500 crore as loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Hudco (Housing and Urban Development Corporation) to carry out the Rs 1,000 crore smart City project in Agartala by 2021.  The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister NarendraModi, renamed the Agartala airport after Tripura’s last ruler Maharaja BirBikram Kishore Manikya.  Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar inaugurated the seven-day long “Kharchi Puja” at Puran Habeli, seven km from the state capital. The annual festival is meant to cleanse the sins of mortal souls. Originally a Hindu tribals’ festivity, it is now observed by all communities and religion.  In an effort to boost ties between India and Japan in the bamboo craft sector, a team from the Japanese embassy in New Delhi and stakeholders in the bamboo handicraft sector of Tripura took part in a workshop called ‘Bridging Japan and India by Bamboo’.

Uttar Pradesh

 In a bid to enhance tourism in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to develop the Garhmukteshwar town in Hapur district of the state as a major tourist destination on the lines of Haridwar in Uttarakhand. The cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 500 crore.  UPCM Yogi Adityanath formed a three member-committee to look after the security arrangements in the prisons across the state. Committee head - Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Sulkhan Singh.  With encephalitis claiming the lives of hundreds of children every year in eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh, the Gorakhpur administration has launched an android based smart phone application - ‘Stop JE/AES’ - to combat the epidemic.  South Korean multinational conglomerate Samsung opened the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturing factory in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.  UP CM announced a ban on plastic bags, cups and glasses across the state from July 15.  The Uttar Pradesh Police signed anMoU with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for crime mapping analytics and predictive systems.  The Prime Minister, NarendraModi, laid the Foundation Stone of the Poorvanchal Expressway in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. Addressing a large public gathering, he described the occasion as the start of a new chapter in the development journey of the State.  PM launched the much awaited Bansagar canal in Mirzapur which is expected to provide a big boost to irrigation.  The government has announced that it is set to complete the multi-modal terminal at Varanasi by November this year, while two others at Sahibganj and Haldia would be completed next year.  In a bid to strengthen the expertise and capabilities of the employees of North-Eastern Railways, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha inaugurated Regional Rail Training Institute (RRTI) at Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur.  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah inaugurated the new Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction railway station, which was earlier known as Mughalsarai.  Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched a defence industrial corridor in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. The move is part of the government’s efforts to develop specialised zones dedicated to defence production in the state. Six nodal points, Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Chitrakoot

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and Jhansi have been identified in state for the corridor. Another defence corridor was also launched in Tamil Nadu.  The Minister for Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka Gandhi, along with Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Adityanath Yogi inaugurated the widows’ home ‘Krishna Kutir’ at Vrindavan, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. Krishna Kutir is a special home for 1000 widows set up by the Ministry of Women & Child Development under Swadhar Greh scheme of the Ministry and is the largest ever facility of its kind created by a government organization. It has been constructed at a cost of 57.48 Crores.  In Uttar Pradesh, Rail Minister Piyush Goyal along with Chief Minister of State Yogi Adityanath launched the official website of Kumbh Mela, 2019 in Lucknow. They also launched a social media App related to the Mela. The website www.kumbh.gov.in provides detail about location, trains, accessibility, weather and accommodations which will be a great help for pilgrims.  Lucknow’s famous ‘Hazratganj Chauraha’ will be renamed after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as ‘Atal Chowk’.  The Lucknow Municipal Corporation launched an anti-open defecation campaign, titled “Khule me shauch ki ghanti bajao – siti bajao” (whistleblowing campaign against open defection), in line with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s vision to make the capital city Open Defecation Free (ODF) by October 2.  Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said that the state would become open defecation free by October 2, 2019, with his government constructed over 1.36 crore toilets in the last 17 months.

Uttarakhand

 Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has imposed a complete ban on the use of Polythene in the state from 31st July 2018.  In a first, the Uttarakhand High Court accorded the status of ‘legal person or entity’ to the animals in the state. The HC stated that “they have a distinct persona with corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person.”  The Uttarakhand High Court banned the commercial use of elephants in Corbett Tiger Reserve besides restricting the number of vehicles entering its ranges in a day to 100.

West Bengal

 The government of West Bengal has decided to invest Rs 107 crore to check erosion at vulnerable areas along the banks of the Ganga and the Padma. The work will be completed by March 2019. A stretch of 15 kilometres will be concretised, to prevent erosion.  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced an additional 18 percent dearness allowance (DA) to state government employees from January 2019. The state government will have to bear an annual additional expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore.  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the British Council and the state government will sign anMoU to promote cultural, educational and skill development exchanges between Britain and Bengal.  West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee set a “one person one car” policy for ministers and bureaucrats and mandated economy class for all domestic air travel in a bid to cut costs incurred by the state government.Banerjee also formed a committee, to be headed by chief secretary Malay Kumar De, to supervise progress of government projects.

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 Kolkata Police has unleashed a new weapon against eve-teasers, stalkers and roadside Romeos: an all-woman motorbike squad, “The Winners”, a special all-women patrolling team to combat and prevent crimes like molestation, eve-teasing etc. to make public places safer for women.  The West Bengal Assembly passed a resolution to rename the state as ‘Bangla’ in three languages — Bengali, English and Hindi.  The city of Kolkata will be the venue for the next event of the ‘CuppaSchoola’ karate tournament, run by the Indian Professional Karate Council (IPKC) and the Boutspro Ultimate Karate League.  Major General A.K. Sanyal, General Officer Commanding, Bengal Sub-area, inaugurated State Bank of India (SBI)’s e- facilitation and e-corner facility for Indian army veterans at the Army Complex near Fort William, Kolkata.  Observing the National Nutrition Week, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that the state government has adopted a multi-sectoral strategy to reduce under-nutrition and anaemia among women and children in a targeted manner by 2020.  In an attempt to combat human trafficking, the West Bengal government has rolled out a scheme, Swayangsiddha, in different districts of the State. Swayangsiddha, which means self-reliance, will be executed by the West Bengal Police. Finance and Banking News

 The Income tax Department has launched a new reward scheme titled Benami Transactions Informants Reward Scheme, 2018 to have people’s participation in the Income Tax Department’s efforts to unearth black money and to reduce tax evasion. o Under the Benami Transactions Informants Reward Scheme, 2018, a person can get reward up to Rs. 1 crore for giving specific information in prescribed manner to to the Joint or Additional Commissioners of Benami Prohibition Units (BPUs) in Investigation Directorates of Income Tax Department about benami transactions and properties as well as proceeds from such properties which are actionable under Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, as amended by Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016. o It also includes an interim reward of Rs 50, 00,000 for information of undisclosed foreign income/assets liable under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act, 2015. o Giving information about stashed black money can fetch individuals up to Rs 5 crore, o Foreigners will also be eligible for such reward. Identity of the persons giving information will not be disclosed and strict confidentiality shall be maintained. The scheme comes into effect from June 1.  HDFC Bank has been conferred with the Champion Security Award 2018 at the 14th Visa Asia Pacific Security Summit for second time in a row in the India and South Asia category.  has bagged ‘Investor Relations Awards 2018’ under the category ‘Best Expectation Management (Mid Cap)’ for 2017-18 instituted by Investor Relations Society India  The (RBI) has allowed voluntary transition of Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) into Small Finance Banks (SFBs) on the basis of a report submitted by the high-powered committee on urban cooperative banks headed by the then RBI deputy governor R. Gandhi. UCBs with capital funds in the range of Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore may be granted facilities akin to Small Finance Banks in the private sector.  According to the World Investment Report 2018 by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Foreign Direct Investment to India decreased to $40 billion in 2017 from $44 billion in 2016. However, outflows from India, the main source of FDI in South Asia, more than doubled to $11 billion.

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 The Reserve Bank of India has raised the housing loan limits under priority sector lending (PSL) for economically weaker sections and lower income groups. o The metropolitan centres (with population of 10 lakh and above) will now qualify for home loans up to Rs 35 lakh for the benefits of priority sector lending, as against up to Rs 28 lakh earlier. o Similarly, loans up to Rs 25 lakh will now qualify under PSL for other centres, compared with Rs 20 lakh earlier. o The overall cost of the dwelling unit in the metropolitan centre (with population of ten lakh and above) and at other centres should not exceed Rs 45 lakh and Rs 30 lakh, respectively.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to set up a Public Credit Registry (PCR), containing information on all borrowers to ensure financial stability and check loan default. This move follows recommendations by a high-level task force on PCR for India headed by Yeshwant M Deosthalee.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to implement the interest subsidy scheme on short-term crop loans of up to Rs 3 lakh through direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode from financial year (2018-19). An amount of Rs 15,000 crore has been earmarked for 2018-19 towards interest subvention for short-term crop loans. Farmers can avail short-term crop loans of up to Rs 3 lakh at subsidised interest rate of 7 percent that could go down to 4 percent on prompt repayment.  Yes Bank has launched the first-ever green deposit scheme named Green Future: Deposit to raise up to Rs. 1,000 crore via this novel product offering. o It can be opened for a tenure of 18 months and 8 days to 18 months and 18 days, with best-in-class peak interest rate of 7.50% p.a. for regular Green Future: Deposits and 8.00%* p.a. for Senior Citizens. o The Bank will earmark equivalent proceeds raised through Green Future: Deposit towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aligned sectors and for every Green Future: Deposit opened, YES BANK will contribute a Money Plant. o The Green Future: Deposit can only be opened through YES BANK Net Banking and YES Mobile banking application, making the process entirely paperless, thereby helping create a sustainable future.  Market regulator SEBI has set up a panel to recommend the ways to make stock market listing attractive for startups.  The Union Cabinet has approved a Rs 24,000 crore foreign direct investment (FDI) as additional share capital into private sector HDFC Bank to strengthen the capital adequacy ratio of the bank. Even with this infusion, the FDI foreign equity will remain capped below 74 per cent. The current foreign equity holding is 72.62 percent.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has ruled out draft guidelines on Loan System for Delivery of Bank Credit to improve credit discipline among larger borrowers enjoying working capital facility from the banking system. o The draft stipulates a minimum level of ‘loan component’ of 40 percent for borrowers having aggregate fund based working capital limit of Rs 150 crore and above from the banking system effective from October 1, 2018. o The 40 per cent loan component will be revised to 60 per cent, with effect from April 1, 2019. o The undrawn portion of cash credit/ overdraft limits sanctioned to large borrowers, irrespective of whether unconditionally cancellable or not, shall attract a credit conversion factor of 20% from April 1, 2019.  SoftBank Group Corp has decided to invest $60 billion-$100 billion in a solar power project in India. The company is expected to make the investment through a fund backed by Saudi Arabia’s government.  has unveiled ‘KBL Deposit Only Card’, which enables hassle free cash deposit transaction at Bank’s 24×7 e-Lobby services specially meant for Bank’s Current/Overdraft customers and by using this card they can

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perform card based cash deposit transactions even with higher deposit limit at Bank’s Bunch Note Acceptor (BNA) / Cash Recycler kiosks. The limit for the cash deposit a day is Rs 10 lakh.  Tata Trusts Chairman and Assam’s Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched the first 28 branches of the North East (NESFB) marking the region’s first small bank. The Tata Trusts Chairman, through the investment arm RNT Associates, has invested Rs 40 crore in the bank.  Yes Bank has received approval from market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for acting as custodian of securities. Custodian of securities is a licence granted by Sebi to eligible entities allowing them to offer custodial services to financial market participants including foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).  The Finance Ministry has launched the second tranche of Bharat-22 exchange traded fund (ETF) from June 19 which will help raise up to Rs 8,400 crore from the markets. The ETF follow on offer will remain open till June 22. o The investors would get a 2.5 per cent discount over the issue price. The government aims to raise Rs 6,000 crore from this round. There is also a green shoe option of Rs 2,400 crore, subject to government approval. Greenshoe option is a special provision where the bid issuer allows for oversubscription to the issue up to a certain limit/cap.  The has announced its partnership with technology majors IBM and Accenture to enhance business growth and portfolio diversification using “digitisation” of its IT Centre of Excellence (ITCoE) and Analytics Centre of Excellence (ACoE).  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has narrowed the definition of ‘Relatives’ by defining it as given in the Companies Act, 2013 instead of Companies Act, 1956, to prevent any misuse of flow of fund abroad. o According to RBI, the funds sent abroad under the ‘maintenance of close relative’ category of the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) can be now sent only to immediate relatives such as parents, spouses, children and their spouses. o The decision was taken since outward remittances under maintenance of close relatives shot up more than double to almost $3 billion in 2017-18 from a mere $174 million in 2013-14.  The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has sanctioned Rs 41,548 crore as total Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund till June 16.  DBS Bank of Singapore is set to launch its India subsidiary in October, the second foreign bank in the country to convert its local operations into a wholly-owned entity. State Bank of Mauritius was the first to open a local subsidiary in India last year, after RBI came out with the regulations in 2013. The new subsidiary has been registered as DBS Bank India Ltd.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that the licence of Alwar Urban Co-operative Bank in Alwar, Rajasthan has been cancelled as it is not in a position to pay its depositors in full as and when their claims accrue, among other reasons. It also added that the cancellation of the licence is effective from the close of business on July 5.  The Reserve Bank of India has issued licence to Bank of China to operate in India.  The Union Cabinet extended the recapitalisation scheme for “Regional Rural Banks” (RRBs) for the next three years. This will enable the RRBs to maintain the minimum prescribed capital to risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of 9%.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made it compulsory to incorporate purchaser’s name on the face of payment instrumentalities like demand draft, pay order, banker’s cheques and other instruments to prevent money laundering.  The committee on bad-loan resolution led by Punjab National Bank chairman Sunil Mehta has suggested a live auction mechanism to help banks free up security receipts worth Rs 90,000 crore in their investment books that

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can used to revive credit growth.Recommendations were reviewed that seek to achieve this through an asset trading platform (ATP) recommended under Project Sashakt, the broad contours of which had been announced on July 2.  The government has approved capital infusion of Rs 11,336 crore in five public sector banks, including scam-hit Punjab National Bank, Corporation Bank and , to help them meet regulatory capital requirements.  Bank credit grew by 12.84 per cent to Rs 86,16,408 crore in the fortnight ended June 22, according to RBI data.  SBI Card has announced the launch of ‘ELA’ (Electronic Live Assistant), a virtual assistant for customer support and services. Driven by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning algorithms, ELA will revolutionise the way customers interact with the company.  HDFC Bank has gone past Russia’s Sberbank to become the most valuable bank in the emerging market outside China. HDFC Bank’s current market capitalisation is $78.4 billion against Sberbank’s $74.4 billion.  Private sector lender Yes Bank has received the final regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to commence its mutual fund business.  After running into rough weather due to Aadhaar-related e-KYC issues, has received requisite approvals from the Reserve Bank of India and UIDAI to start acquiring new customers.  India has become the 69th shareholder of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) headquartered in London, United Kingdom.  Repco Micro Finance Ltd, a non-banking finance company promoted by , received Nabard 2018 award for its service to self-help group (SHG) linkage in Tamil Nadu for the fiscal year 2017-18.  A micro-finance company-turned- headquartered in Bengaluru began its operations for greater financial inclusion. One of the 10 financial institutions to get banking license from the Reserve Bank of India in April 2017, Jana aims to be an inclusive digitised bank serving all customer segments and communities across the country.  Bank of Baroda has set up a dedicated team of lawyers to speed up recovery of bad loans that get embroiled in litigation. The Legal War Room will monitor the progress of recovery actions made by those specialised branches, over and above the identified 380 accounts.  The Lok Sabha passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018.  ICICI Bank Ltd, India’s largest private sector lender by assets, reported a net loss of Rs 120 crore on a stand-alone basis for the June quarter, on account of rising bad loans and treasury losses. The bank had reported a profit of Rs 2,049 crore in the year-ago period. This is the first time that the bank has reported losses from its India operations.  Leading mortgage lender HDFC has been awarded the best performing primary lending institution in credit linked subsidy scheme (CLSS) for the EWS (Economically Weaker Section) and LIG (Low Income Group) category.  The World Bank has priced the world’s first public bond created and managed using only blockchain in $100 million ($73.16 million) deal designed to test how the technology might improve decades-old bond sales practices.  A central government report has ranked Punjab National Bank (PNB) as the best PSU bank in the overall digital transactions category in India.  A major deadline in the process of resolving the country’s most pressing corporate and banking problem of NPAs, or bad loans, ended on 27th August with the RBI having set a six-month time frame for finalising resolution plans for around 70 large stressed accounts worth over Rs 3.8 lakh crore.  All the 1.55 lakh post offices in the country would be linked to the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) system by December 31, 2018. The India Post Payments Bank is scheduled to be launched nation-wide on September 1.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for revision of the project outlay for setting up of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) from Rs. 800 crore to Rs. 1,435 crore. 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.  Mauritius-based SBM Group has received Reserve Bank of India’s approval to operate in the country through a wholly-owned subsidiary route — the first foreign lender to receive such a licence after local incorporation was introduced in 2013.  French company IDEMIA has become the first company to be given the certification to manufacture and personalise RuPay chip contact and contactless cards on the qSPARC v2 platform. The certification is issued by the National Payments Corporation of India.  India’s co-operative banking sector is set to undergo a transformation with the concept of Umbrella Organisation (UO) of Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) seen as an answer to issues plaguing the sector. Gujarat is the first State in the country to have an UO for the UCB sector.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will transfer Rs 50,000 crore as surplus to the central government for the year ended June 30, 2018.  As many as 21 public sector banks (PSBs) and three major private sector lenders have collected a whopping Rs 5,000 crore from customers for non-maintenance of minimum balance in their accounts in 2017-18.  State Bank of India (SBI) launched the Multi-Option Payment Acceptance Device or MOPAD, a unified payment option that accepts multiple payment methods. Under this, customers will be able to pay through credit or debit cards, Bharat QR, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and SBI Buddy (e-wallet) at a Point of Sale (PoS) terminal. This initiative aims at providing digital convenience to customers and ease of doing business for merchants at the same time.  Country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) is considered to be the most patriotic brand, according to a survey conducted by UK-based online market research and data analytics firm YouGov, followed by Tata Motors, Patanjali, Reliance Jio and BSNL. Around 16% respondents ranked SBI to be the most patriotic brand overall, followed by Tata Motors and Patanjali with 8% each, and Reliance Jio and BSNL with 6% each.  Axis Bank has become the first bank in the country to introduce Iris Scan Authentication feature for Aadhaar-based transactions through its micro ATM tablets.  Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) has launched a new digital platform ‘MyDeal’ to simplify capital raising process through capital markets by providing real-time access to information such as investors’ feedback, profiles, client orders and deal pricing.  DBS Bank has been named the world’s best bank by Global Finance magazine, in a reflection of its ability to invest in digital innovation while still maintaining stable operations for its customers. DBS is the first Asian bank to receive the accolade from the New York-based publication, which last year gave the title to ING Bank.  Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank launched a new deposit scheme ‘Vikas Bonanza 456’, offering higher rate of interest. The scheme is applicable to all segments of depositors.  Fino Payments Bank has been barred by the Reserve Bank of India from adding new customers since the end of May 2018.  HDFC Life Insurance Company inked an agreement with to tap customers of the state-owned lender.  Edelweiss Tokio Life insurance and Fincare Small Finance Bank (SFB) have announced a bancassurance partnership. The stated aim is to push life insurance to the rural population.

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 Exim Bank of India has signed a multilateral cooperation agreement with member development banks of BRICS to undertake “collaborative research” in distributed ledger/blockchain technology.  Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has entered into a bancassurance deal with Vijaya Bank. This corporate agency agreement will enable distribution of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance products through the bank’s network of 2,129 branches across the country.  In an effort to offer hassle-free and seamless financing options to its customers, Bajaj Finance Ltd., the lending arm of Bajaj Finserv along with RBL Bank Ltd. offer interest-free cash withdrawal facility for up to 50 days through Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank SuperCard.  Airtel Payments Bank has tied up with Bharti Axa Life Insurance to offer the bank’s customers insurance cover under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY). With this, Airtel Payments Bank also becomes the first payments bank in India to offer the Government of India-backed life insurance scheme.  The RBI has cancelled the licence of Rajasthan-based Bhilwara Mahila Urban Co-operative Bank as it does not have adequate capital and earning prospects.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked all scheduled commercial banks with more than 10 branches to appoint an internal ombudsman (IO). The apex bank has, however, excluded regional rural banks (RRBs) from appointing IOs. The internal ombudsman scheme was introduced by the RBI to strengthen the internal grievance of banks and to ensure that the complaints of the customers are redressed. In order to further enhance the independence of the IO and also to strengthen the monitoring system over functioning of the IO mechanism, the said it has reviewed the arrangement in the form of ‘Internal Ombudsman Scheme, 2018’.  Ltd (KVB) has rolled out KVB Next, a tab-based digital initiative.The initiative is intended to help eligible retail and business customers get in principle sanctions for their loans within 15 minutes.  HDFC Bank retained its top spot in the `WPP and Kantar Millward Brown’s BrandZ 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands’ ranking, with a rise of 21 per cent in its brand value to USD 21.7 billion.  Private sector non-life insurer HDFC Ergo has launched a personal cyber insurance policy that will provide cover to individuals and families from cyber crimes, including cyber attacks, identity theft, phishing, and reputational risks such as bullying and trolling.  Airtel Payment Bank, India’s first payments bank, has announced that its customers can now make card-less cash withdrawals at over 100,000 ATMs across India.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore each on three public sector banks for non- compliance with its directions on “Fraud – Classification and Reporting”. According to the RBI, the penalty was imposed individually on all the three banks — , Bank of India, — on August 30, 2018.  Micro, small and medium enterprises will now be able to get quick overdraft of up to Rs 1 crore for working capital requirements, based on their goods and services tax (GST) returns. ICICI Bank announced the facility known as ‘GST Business Loan’ and said it would be available to any such business, including non-customers of the bank.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.50 percent while maintain neutral stance on the stability in the market. The six member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said that its decision is consistent with the neutral stance of monetary policy in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 percent. Highlighting the inflation, the MPC projected 4.6 percent in Q2FY19, 4.8 percent in H2 of FY19 and 5 percent in Q1FY20. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel said that Monetary Policy committee (MPC) has projected the GDP growth at 7.4% for this fiscal year as in the June statement.

Current Rates: Repo Rate: 6.50%

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Reverse Repo Rate: 6.25% Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate: 6.75% Bank Rate: 6.75% Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR): 4% Statutory liquidity ratio (SLR): 19.5%

RBI to issue new Rs 100 notes in lavender colour

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon issue Rs 100 denomination bank notes. According to the RBI, the new bank notes will be in the “Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series”.

 The new denomination has motif of ‘RANI KI VAV’ – a stepwell located on the banks of Saraswati river in Gujarat’s Patan, on the reverse.

 The base colour of the note is lavender. The note has other designs, geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme, both at the obverse and reverse.

 All the earlier series of bank notes in Rs 100 denomination will continue to be legal tender.

Govt keeps small savings interest rates unchanged

The government has kept the interest rates on small savings schemes, including NSC and PPF, unchanged for the July- September quarter. The move is aimed at matching the hardening interest rates in the banking sector. Interest rates for small savings schemes are notified on a quarterly basis.

 Senior Citizens Savings Scheme: 8.3%. The interest on the senior citizens’ scheme is paid quarterly.  Interest on savings deposits has been retained at 4 per cent annually.  Public Provident Fund (PPF): 7.6%  National Savings Certificate (NSC): 7.6%  KisanVikasPatra (KVP): 7.3% and will mature in 11 months.  SukanyaSamriddhi account: 8.1%.  Term deposits of 1-5 years will fetch interest rate of 6.6-7.4 per cent, to be paid quarterly, while the five-year recurring deposit is pegged at 6.9 per cent. Electoral Bonds Scheme

 The Government of India had notified the Electoral Bond Scheme 2018 on January 2, 2018. The Finance Ministry has announced that the fourth tranche of electoral bonds sale will take place from July 2-11. State Bank of India (SBI) has been authorised to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 11 Authorised Branches in the 4th phase of sale o As per provisions of the Scheme, Electoral Bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. o A person being an individual can buy Electoral Bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals. o Only the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured not less than 1% of the votes polled in the last General Election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State, shall be eligible to receive the Electoral Bonds.

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o The Electoral Bonds shall be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorized Bank. o Electoral Bonds shall be valid for fifteen calendar days from the date of issue and no payment shall be made to any payee Political Party if the Electoral Bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period. o The Electoral Bond deposited by an eligible Political Party in its account shall be credited on the same day.

Second bi-monthly monetary policy review

In its second bi-monthly monetary policy review, the six membered Monetary Policy Committee headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel unanimously hiked the policy repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent to curb inflationary pressure from rising crude prices. This is the first time since January 2014 that RBI has announced a rate hike.

Current Rates

Repo Rate 6.25% Reverse Repo Rate 6.00% Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) 6.50% Bank Rate 6.50% CRR 4% SLR 19.5%

Business News

 The global leader in consulting, technology and next-generation service firm has acquired US- based Wongdoody for nearly $75 million. WONGDOODY is an award-winning creative and consumer insights agency with studios in Seattle and Los Angeles.  Tech giant Microsoft has acquired San Francisco based software development platform GitHub for $7.5 billion.  Reliance Industries (RIL) is investing to set up India’s first carbon fibre manufacturing unit to cater to aerospace and defence needs.  Muthoot Fincorp Limited has announced its partnership with National Skill Development Corporation to train over 10,000 youth over the next three years and make them job ready under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY-2) programme.  Microsoft has acquired Flipgrid, a popular video platform used by more than 20 million teachers and students worldwide. Microsoft will make Flipgrid free for everyone.  The members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have decided to increase the output of crude oil by around 1 million barrels per day from July to meet “extra demand” and push global oil prices down.  Saudi Aramco and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly develop and build an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. o Saudi Aramco and ADNOC will together hold 50 percent stake while the rest 50 percent will be with Indian Oil (IOCL), Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL). It is the world’s largest oil refinery cum petrochemical project with the total investment of $ 44 billion.  Software company HCL Technologies has acquired Germany-based IT and engineering services provider H&D International Group to have a foothold in Germany.

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 The telecom ministry approved the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular Ltd. that will create the country’s largest mobile services operator.  The BhartiInfratel, a mobile infrastructure company, has got the the approval of competition watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) for merging its operations with .  Manappuram Finance has agreed to buy 85.39 per cent stake in Indian School Finance (ISFC) for over Rs 212 crore.  IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited, a joint venture between Bank of Baroda, Andhra Bank and Legal and General (UK), has announced its tie-up with India Pvt. Ltd., to establish distribution of its insurance products at Oxigen retail outlets.  Reliance has become India’s largest payer of Goods and Services Tax (GST), Excise and Customs Duty, and Income Tax in the private sector.  Facebook has announced it is shutting down its fitness app “Moves”, Android app “Hello” and anonymous social media app “tbh”. Facebook is deprecating these apps due to low usage.  HDFC securities announced launch of Mutual Funds transactional capabilities on Facebook Messenger through their virtual assistant, Arya.  Payments-wallet services provider Paytm has launched foreign exchange services in 20 international currencies. It would offer “multi-currency forex card and forex cash”.  Walmart has entered into a strategic partnership with Microsoft on “digital transformation” for the onetime retail industry leader.  Flipkart’s digital payment subsidiary PhonePe has acquired Zopper Retail – a hyperlocal Point of Sale (POS) platform for small and medium businesses. The acquisition is a part of the company’s strategy to aggressively ramp up its offline business.  The board of Life Insurance Corporation of India approved the acquisition of up to 51 per cent stake in debt-ridden IDBI Bank.  Indian banks and financial institutions (FIs) have entered into an inter-creditor agreement (ICA) to expedite the resolution of banks’ non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans, and ensure smooth credit flow, acting Finance Minister Piyush Goyal announced. Goyal also told, the agreement, as suggested by a committee headed by state- run Punjab National Bank (PNB) Chairman Sunil Mehta, is a “huge step forward” towards resolving the stressed assets issue and has been worked out under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).  Digital payments company Paytm is now on an expansion spree to build a ‘New Retail’ model to equip shopkeepers with technology, logistics and marketing capabilities.  SoftBank Group Corp. said it will unveil a digital payments service in Japan, and has partnered Paytm for the service. The service PayPay will be introduced by SoftBank’s JV PayPay Corporation. PayPay will team up with Paytm, a SoftBank Vision Fund portfolio company, to utilise Paytm’s technology and expertise in mobile payments.  Telecom major launched its “Bandwith on Demand” platform globally to enable businesses manage bandwidth requirements on a real-time basis.  Bandhan Bank has surpassed YES Bank’s market capitalisation (market cap) to become the sixth most valuable private sector bank and seventh most valued listed lender.  Reliance Industries announced that its telecom subsidiary Jio has entered into an MoU with State Bank of India (SBI) to deepen their digital partnership.  PayPal, a global technology platform and digital payments leader, has announced its strategic partnership with HDFC Bank to offer safer, faster and convenient payment experiences for the bank’s card holders.

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 Digital payments major Paytm announced the acquisition of Bengaluru-based smart-savings management start-up Balance Tech for an undisclosed amount.  Paytm has partnered with Alibaba to start its cloud business in Bengaluru. This will provide AI tools to developers, startups and enterprises with CRM, campaign management and payment solutions.  Retail giant Walmart Inc. acquired approximately 77 per cent stake in e-commerce major Flipkart. Remainder of the business is held by other shareholders, including Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, , Tiger Global and Microsoft Corp.  The Competition Commission has cleared US retail giant Walmart’s proposed acquisition of Flipkart, a deal estimated to be worth $16 billion. In May, Walmart announced acquisition of 77 per cent stake of Flipkart in its biggest takeover till date.  The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of food and agri products manufacturer Ruchi Soya by consumer edible oils major Adani Wilmar.  Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has launched BSNL WINGS, a VOIP based service. In WINGS, there is no SIM or cable wiring as is a VOIP service through an app. The WINGS service offers unlimited free audio/video calling for one year.  Online retailer Flipkart has acquired AI-led speech recognition Liv.ai, in a bid to target the next 200 million online shoppers.  Online retailer Flipkart has launched an independent platform for refurbished products, starting with a mobile site. Called ‘2GUD’, the platform initially offers smartphones, laptops, tablets and electronic accessories, with large appliances to be added soon. Prices will vary from 50-80% of the original product’s price depending on the level of certification.  Digital marketplace for financial services Freecharge has announced the launch of a new category of service offering in partnership with AbhiBus.  The merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular is complete after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the merger, creating India’s largest telecom operator with over 400 million subscribers. Now - Vodafone Idea Limited  In a move aimed at creating a payments acceptance network for unorganized retail including small merchants and kirana stores where consumers can make payments, India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has partnered with Financial Software and Systems (FSS), a payments technology company to ensure that micro-merchants are able to accept payments over any channel – online, unified payments interface (UPI), quick-response (QR) codes, Aadhaar and IPPB accounts.  Unlimit, the only end-to-end IoT service provider in India, part of Reliance ADA Group, announced its partnership with State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). The partnership provides comprehensive Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and services to the enterprise customers across India. Through this partnership, Unlimit will leverage BSNL’s ubiquitous and seamless wireless network footprint pan India to provide its solutions and services across industries.  Cisco, a U.S.-based firm, that makes networking telecommunications equipment, has signed two agreements with the NITI Aayog and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to speed up its Country Digital Acceleration programme in India.  Infosys announced a definitive agreement to acquire Fluido, a salesforce advisor and consulting partner in Nordics that has expertise in cloud consulting, implementation and training services.

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Economy News

 The World Bank in its June 2018 edition of the Global Economic Prospect report has forecasted a growth rate of 7.3 percent for India for 2018-19 and 7.5 percent for the next two years, making it the fastest growing country among major emerging economies.  Fitch Ratings has raised India’s growth forecast for 2018-19 to b to 7.4 percent from 7.3 percent due to higher financing costs and rising oil prices as risks to growth. For 2019-20, it estimated the country to grow at 7.5 percent.  Inflation based on wholesale prices shot up to a 14-month high of 4.43 percent in May on increasing prices of petrol and diesel, prompting industry to demand action from policymakers to keep fuel prices under check. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation stood at 3.18 per cent in April and 2.26 per cent in May last year. The previous high was in March 2017, when the WPI inflation stood at 5.11 per cent.  India’s exports grew by 20.18 percent to 28.86 billion dollars in May 2018 as compared to the same period during May 2017 when it was valued at 24.01 billion dollars. The imports during May this year were valued at 43.48 billion dollars which was 14.85 per cent higher than the imports in May last year.  Idea and Vodafone India are in process of merging their businesses. The combined entity would be known as “Vodafone Idea Ltd” post merger. Vodafone is expected to own 45.1 percent, 26 percent by and Idea shareholders will own 28.9 in the combined entity. The merged entity will have around 430 million mobile subscribers from Day 1.  President Ram NathKovind said the Indian economy is set for a surge in the next decade with the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) size doubling to 5 trillion US dollars probably by 2025.  Union Minister ArunJaitley said that after the implementation of the Goods and Service Tax (GST), there was an increase of 18% in Direct tax collections.  Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India seems to be petering out with the inflows growth rate recording a five-year low of 3 per cent at USD 44.85 billion in 2017-18.According to the latest data of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), FDI in 2017-18 grew by only 3 per cent to USD 44.85 billion.  According to NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar, the Indian economy is “on the cusp of a major sustained and ongoing recovery” and poised to grow above 8% from the next year.He also insisted that the weakening of the rupee should not be a cause of worry as it is still “overvalued” in terms of the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER).  According to Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, India’s digital economy is expected to touch a $1 trillion mark by 2022.  According to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), India’s economic growth is poised to rise to 7.4% in 2018 and 7.5% in 2019 as the economy has been able to navigate through growth obstacles due to demonetisation and impact of GST rollout.  The International Monetary Fund said India remains a key driver of global growth. However, the World Economic Outlook forecast cut India’s GDP outlook one-tenth for this year to 7.3 per cent and three-tenths for next year to 7.5 per cent.  According to a report by Asian Development Bank (ADB), India continues to be the fastest growing economy in Asia and is on track to meet current fiscal year’s projected growth of 7.3 per cent.  According to industry body Ficci, despite short-term challenges India’s economic growth story remains intact and the country’s GDP is expected to grow around 7.5 per cent in the current financial year.  The government has slashed the minimum annual deposit requirement for accounts under the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana to Rs 250 from Rs 1,000 – a move that will enable more number of people to take advantage of

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the girl child savings scheme. The government amended the Sukanya Samriddhi Account Rules – 2016 to state that the minimum initial deposit to open the account would be Rs 250.  According to a joint report by The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and , as the Internet of Things (IoT) adoption picks up in India, sectors like energy and utilities, industrial manufacturing, transport and logistics and agriculture will lead the market and industrial IoT will surpass the consumer IoT space in the country by 2020. The report was released on the sideline of “IoT for Smart India” summit held in New Delhi.  State-owned BSNL launched its Virtual Network Operator Services on a pan-India basis in collaboration with Virtual Network Operators (VNO) – Adpay India and Plintron India.  The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council in its meeting decided to start a pilot project to give 20 per cent cashback of the GST paid to incentivise digital payment in the country.  The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as the top source of inward remittances, while Kerala has received the maximum funds sent from abroad, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s survey of inward remittances for 2016-17.  India’s foreign exchange (Forex) reserves plunged by $1.82 billion during the week ended August 10. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) weekly statistical supplement, the overall forex reserves plunged to $400.88 billion from $402.70 billion reported for the week ended August 3.  The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) drastically cut the timeline for listing of debt securities to 6 days from 12 days at present. This will make the existing process of issuance of such securities simpler and cost- effective. The new rule would be applicable for all public issues of debt securities from October 1, 2018.  All India Financial Inclusion Survey (NAFIS), conducted by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), revealed that farm households register higher income than the families solely dependent on non-farm livelihood activities in rural areas.  The Receivables Exchange of India (RXIL) (Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra) said that the Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has become the first public sector enterprise to make a transaction on the “TReDS platform”.  No ATM will be replenished with cash after 9pm in cities and 6pm in rural areas from next year, and two armed guards will accompany crisp notes in transit as per a new directive issued by the home ministry. The deadline for putting money in the ATMs located in Maoist-hit areas is 4 pm while private cash handling agencies must collect money from the banks in the first half of the day and transport notes only in armoured vehicles. The new Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) would come into effect from February 8, 2019 in view of the spurt in incidents of attacks on cash vans, cash vaults, ATM frauds and other internal frauds leading to increased sense of insecurity.  Individual city, region and company commitments in India could reduce emissions to 225-255 MtCO2e/year by 2030, more than the emissions generated by the country’s industrial processes in 2014, a new international study said on 30 August. The study comes from Data-Driven Yale, New Climate Institute, PBL Environmental Assessment Agency in partnership with CDP and is the most comprehensive assessment to date of sub-national commitments to reduce greenhouse gases.  FDI In Country Rises 23% To About 13 Billion Dollars In 1st Quarter. Singapore was the largest source of FDI during April to June quarter with 6.52 billion dollars.  India’s economy is expected to clock GDP growth of 7.5% in this financial year according to a Morgan Stanley report. The growth recovery will remain robust, supported initially by consumption and exports.

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 According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India’s GDP is poised to grow by 7.3 per cent in the 2018-19 fiscal and 7.5 per cent in 2019-20 on strengthening of investment and robust private consumption.  The Indian economy is expected to grow at 7.4% in the current fiscal, higher than the previous year, according to Ficci’s Economic Outlook Survey.  India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has revised down its FY19 economic growth forecast to 7.2% from 7.4% earlier.  India’s current account deficit (CAD) is expected to widen to 2.8 percent of the GDP in this financial year, says a Nomura report.  Indian economy clocked double digit growth in 2006-07: The new estimates released by a government constituted committee suggest that GDP growth in the period 2004-05 to 2011-12 may have been higher than reckoned earlier. According to the report, the growth of the Indian economy is 0.3 to 0.5 percentage points higher for each year.  The country’s GDP is expected to grow by 7.7% in the April-June quarter on the back of a pick-up in leading indicators like cement production, sale of vehicles and bank credit, according to State Bank of India (SBI).  Global credit ratings firm Moody’s Investors Service expects the Indian economy to grow by around 7.5% in 2018 and 2019.  State Bank of India said it has ‘set its house in order’ and the credit growth is expected to see 10 per cent growth by the end of the current fiscal.  The Reserve Bank expects India’s economic growth rate to grow at 7.4% in the current financial year on pick up in industrial activity and good monsoon.  India’s GDP grew at 8.2 per cent in 2018-19 Q1, government data showed on 31 August.  The Finance Ministry expressed the hope that economy may expand at 7.5 per cent in the current fiscal  Economic policy think-tank NCAER (National Council of Applied Economic Research – HQ: Delhi) has retained India’s growth forecast for the current fiscal at 7.4 per cent citing comfortable agricultural sector outlook and a marked improvement in the external sector.  The RBI tweaked norms for exchange of mutilated notes following the introduction of Rs. 2,000, Rs.200 and other lower denomination currencies. Post demonetisation in November 2016, the Reserve Bank introduced Rs.200 and Rs.2,000 notes. Besides, it came out with smaller notes of Rs.10, Rs.20, Rs.50, Rs.100 and Rs.500. Public can exchange mutilated or defective notes at RBI offices and designated bank branches across the country for either full or half value, depending upon the condition of the currency. Making amendments to the Reserve Bank of India (Note Refund) Rules, 2009, the central bank said this has been done to enable the public to exchange mutilated notes in Mahatma Gandhi (New) series, which are smaller compared to the earlier series.  The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) is working on the guidelines for ‘Sandbox’ method which will allow insurers to test products in a particular geography or among a set of few policyholders before they are available in the market. The regulator has also asked insurance firms to come out with long-term health insurance policies, which are currently only available in two wheeler and four wheeler insurance.  In a relief to foreign investors worried over new (KYC) and beneficiary ownership norms, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) initiated a public consultation process for finalizing the new guidelines, after a high-powered panel suggested changes on several contentious proposals and more time for compliance. The report was submitted by a panel headed by HR Khan, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India.  The government is determined to keep fiscal deficit within the budgeted level of 3.3 per cent of GDP as the country cannot afford to have a twin deficit problem.

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 The country’s current account deficit (CAD) as a percentage of GDP declined marginally to 2.4% in the April-June quarter of fiscal 2019 against 2.5% in the year ago period, RBI data showed. The rupee is declining against the US dollar due to global factors as well as concerns of higher trade deficit on account of sustained high crude oil prices.  Mauritius remained the top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India in 2017-18 followed by Singapore, whereas total FDI stood at $37.36 billion in the financial year, a marginal rise over the $36.31 billion recorded in the previous fiscal, according to RBI data.  The Indian insurance industry is expected to grow to USD 280 billion by 2019-20 aided by the government’s flagship Ayushman Bharat and increasing awareness about need for protection, according to an Assocham-APAS study. Insurance penetration in the country reached 3.7 per cent in 2017 from 2.71 per cent in 2001.

Following the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council meeting in New Delhi, Interim Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal announced reduced GST rates for a variety of commodities.

 Apart from a 100 per cent waiver of GST on sanitary pads, the council has decided to nullify tax on raw materials such as stone, marble and wood, used by for making handicrafts like sculptures.  The GST charged for commodities such as lithium-ion batteries, vacuum cleaners, food grinders, mixers, storage water heaters, head dryers, hand dryers, paint, varnishes, water cooler, milk cooler, ice cream coolers, perfumes, toilet sprays and other toiletries has been slashed from 28 per cent to 18 per cent.  The GST on handbags, jewellery box, wooden box for paintings, glass art ware, ornamental framed mirrors, handmade lamps, wax, natural gum, iron and brass products have been reduced from 18 per cent to 12 per cent.  Various fabrics, like Chenille fabrics, mats made via handlooms, fertilizer-grade phosphoric acid, which were earlier under the 12 per cent bracket, will be charged 5 per cent, while the GST on washing machine reduced from 28 per cent to 18 per cent. Science & Technology

 Facebook has tied up with National Commission for Women to launch Digital Literacy Program for women that will run in collaboration with the Cyber Peace Foundation to conduct training programme for women to ensure safe and responsible use of the internet, social media and email. o The one-year pilot project of Facebook’s digital literacy program will be held in local languages at Delhi- NCR, Haryana, Manipur, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and Tamil Nadu.  China has launched a new Earth observation satellite, Gaofen-6, for use mainly in agricultural resources research and disaster monitoring. A scientific experiment satellite named Luojia-1 was sent into space at the same time.  India Meteorological Department, IMD will use Flash Flood Guidance System for the first time in the country to forecast floods. Currently, the Central Water Commission issues flood warnings.  The Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) has developed a mobile based application ‘Utsonmobile’ for faster and more techno-advanced transactions in Indian Railways. The App enables booking and cancellation of unreserved tickets, issue and renewal of season and platform tickets, check and load R-wallet balance and helps maintain user profile management and booking history.  Facebook has partnered with the National Commission for Women (NCW) to conduct a digital literacy programme aimed at training women scholars in Panjab University. The programme has been launched in collaboration with Cyber Peace Foundation and will enable women scholars to learn using online resources, protect themselves and promote digital literacy to reap the benefits of the internet.

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 US scientists have unveiled the world’s most powerful and smartest scientific supercomputer called Summit that can complete over 200,000 trillion calculations per second. It is eight times more powerful than its previous top- ranked system, Titan – providing unprecedented computing power for research in energy, advanced materials and artificial intelligence (AI).  NASSCOM has unveiled its ‘Women Wizards Rule Tech’ programme for women techies to increase the number of women in senior levels in the Information Technology (IT) industry.  VeriSign, Inc, a global leader in domain names and internet security, announced that the first quarter of 2018 saw approximately 1.4 million domain name registrations compared to the fourth quarter of 2017, taking their total number to approximately 333.8 million across all top-level domains (TLDs).  Google India has announced to provide training to 8,000 Journalists 6 Indian languages (English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi and ) in the next one year to guard journalists from falling prey to false news stories. The Initiative India Training Network will select 200 journalists from cities across India for training during five-day train-the-trainer boot camps.  EY and Microsoft has launched a blockchain solution for better content rights and royalties management for media and entertainment industry.  Instagram has launched a new app called IGTV which is its step towards competing with YouTube to attract video creators. The IGTV app is available for iOS and Android. It is meant for publishers to create full-screen, vertical videos in longform.  In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, Accenture, the Consulate General of Israel to South India, and the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) have jointly launched ‘Scalerator’. It is an exclusive program that aims to enhance the collaboration between Israeli and Indian startups to create innovative solutions for global markets.  Microsoft has signed an agreement to acquire Bonsai, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup based in San Francisco, to boost its AI and machine learning capabilities.  Facebook has launched a free version of its enterprise communications app ‘Workplace’ to make working better, smarter and faster for charities and non-governmental organisations. The App, named “Workplace for Good”, would donate work-essential mobile, video, communication and collaboration tools free of charge to organisations like World Wildlife Fund, United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and more. o Additionally, the app also comes integrated with tools like “OxBot” which is a jargon-busting bot that provides a link to internal sources of information, increasing accessibility options.  US Scientists in the University of Michigan have developed the world’s smallest computer, Michigan Micro Mote , measuring just 0.3 millimetres. These new microdevices lose all prior programming and data as soon as they are switched off  Aviva Life Insurance has launched a chatbot named “ALISHA” in partnership with Findability Sciences, a cognitive and artificial intelligence (AI) Solutions Company. The chatbot, also called Aviva Life Insurance Self Help Assistant, is powered by IBM Watson’s Conversation application programming interface (API) and will provide meaningful insurance guidance anytime, anywhere to the customers.  In a bid to help small businesses connect with relevant customers online, Google has unveiled “Smart” campaigns to allow small businesses to create ads in minutes. The tech giant has also changed the name of its lineup of ad products “Google AdWords” which will now be known as “Google Ads”.

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 Google has released its latest version of Android Opera ting System — Android 9 Pie, which harnesses the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict how users would like to experience their devices while offering a smoother navigation system and an easier way to track and limit usage of apps.  After nearly twenty years, the record of the most distant radio galaxy ever discovered has been broken. A team led by Leiden PhD student Aayush Saxena has found a radio galaxy from a time when the universe was only 7% of its current age, at a distance of 12 billion light years. The team used the Giant Meter wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in India to initially identify the radio galaxy. The distance to this galaxy was then determined using the Gemini Telescope on Hawaii and the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona by measuring the redshift of the galaxy.  NASA launched its historic small car-size probe to “touch the Sun” from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The probe is named after Eugene Parker, a solar physicist who in 1958 first predicted the existence of the solar wind, the stream of charged particles and magnetic fields that flow continuously from the Sun. The launch of the Parker Solar Probe will set it on a journey all the way to the Sun’s atmosphere, or corona — closer to the Sun than any spacecraft in history.  Indian space agency ISRO will launch GSAT-32 satellite in October 2019 to replace GSAT-6A which stopped communicating a few days after its launch on March 29.  The lander on the Chandrayaan-2 mission, which is scheduled to be launched in January 2019 will be named ‘Vikram’ after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of Indian space programme. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has got clearance from the space commission.  After conquering the moon and Mars, the India Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has set its sights on the sun with the Aditya-L1 mission. (ISRO) chairman K Sivan announced that Aditya-L1, India’s maiden mission to the Sun, will be launched in 2019. The main aim of the solar mission is to improve our understanding of “dynamical processes of the sun,” and help resolve some outstanding questions in solar physics.  For the first time, India’s space agency is planning to put an Indian astronaut for seven days in space at a cost less than Rs 10,000 crore as part of its manned mission by 2022, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan announced.  NASA is launching a laser-armed satellite that will measure in unprecedented detail changes in the heights of Earth’s polar ice to understand what is causing ice sheets to melt fast. In recent years, contributions of melt from the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica alone have raised global sea level by more than a millimeter a year, accounting for approximately one-third of observed sea level rise, and the rate is increasing. Called the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), the mission is scheduled to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in September.  Stepping up space cooperation, India and France inked an agreement to collaborate on Gaganyaan, ISRO’s first human space mission. India plans to send three humans to space before 2022. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s mission is significant as it would make India one of the four countries in the world after Russia, US and China to launch a manned space flight.  NASA’s only robot exploring the Asteroid Belt is about to die. So the space agency is hosting a live event to celebrate its discoveries.  In a bid to understand Earth’s ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, snow cover and permafrost, NASA successfully launched its Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2. The satellite with a three-year mission was launched with liftoff aboard a Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.  A team of scientists from the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad led by Abhijit Chakraborty, has spotted for the first time a distant planet six times bigger than Earth and revolving around a Sun-like star about 600 light years

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away. Both the planet and the star have been named EPIC. EPIC 211945201b (or K2-236b) is the name given to the planet. The host star is named EPIC 211945201 or K2-236.  Russia successfully launched a new navigation satellite, Glonass-M positioning satellite, using a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome space center in northern Russia.. Built by ISS Reshetnev in Zheleznogorsk, Russia, Glonass network provides real-time positioning data for surface, sea and airborne objects around the globe. With this there are now 26 Glonass satellites in orbit.  India’s newest and first robotic telescope called GROWTH-India has been launched at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) at Hanle in Ladakh. GROWTH-India is part of a multi-country collaborative initiative known as ‘Global Relay of Observatories Watching Transients Happen’ (GROWTH) to observe transient events in the universe.  The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch second Lunar mission known as Chandrayaan- 2, in October 2018. Under the mission, India will send a rover on the south side of Moon to research the prospects of mining helium-3 and water. ISRO will be spending around $125 million on its new moon mission.  The NASA space agency has delayed the launch of its flagship highly anticipated James Webb Space Telescope by another 10 months. Webb was earlier scheduled to be launched in May 2020 but has now been pushed back to March 2021 due to some technical challenges and tasks remaining before launch. The project’s development cost has now risen from $8 billion to $8.8 billion, and its total lifecycle price tag now stands at $9.66 billion.  Four engineering students from Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science near Chennai, Tamil Nadu have developed the world’s lightest satellite ‘Jaihind-1S’ which will be launched by NASA in August 2018. The 4cm ‘cube’ satellite has been built with a 3D printed outer casing from polylactic acid (PLA) nylon material, making it lighter than a medium sized egg, at just 33.39 grams.  In a landmark decision, the US Food and Drug Administration on June 25 approved the first medical drug made from marijuana. Created by GW Pharmaceuticals, Epidiolex is an oral solution of cannabidiol (OSC) and does not cause intoxication or a high. The drug will be used to cure severe forms of epilepsies in children.  NatcoPharma has launched fixed dose combination of Sofosbuvir-Daclatasvir tablets for the treatment of Hepatitis C under the brand name Hepcinat Plus, in India.  The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted its first ‘pad abort’ test — crucial for proposed human spaceflight programme — at SatishDhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.  ISRO successfully conducted a ground test of its high thrust version of the Vikas Engine that would improve the payload capability of the space agency’s launch vehicles.  IIT Madras has launched “world’s first” remotely operatable microscope that would enable a precise atom-by-atom view of a material in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.  Facebook has confirmed it is working on a new satellite project, named Athena, that will provide broadband internet connections to rural and underserved areas. The company aims to launch satellite in early 2019.  NASA has launched an online toolkit to make it easier for users to find, analyse and utilise the most relevant satellite data for their research, business projects or conservation efforts. The “Remote Sensing Toolkit” provides a simple system that quickly identifies relevant sources based on user input.  NASA is prepared for a launch on August 4 to touch the sun, for the first time in human history.NASA unveiled a cutting-edge heat shield that will protect the spacecraft from getting burnt. It was installed on June 27, 2018.  New Zealand scientists have performed the first-ever 3-D, colour X-ray on a human. The device is based on the traditional X-ray but incorporates particle-tracking technology developed for CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.

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 Scientists have developed a computer “SpiNNaker” that mimics the brain’s neural networks, and could overcome the speed and power consumption problems of conventional supercomputers.

Projects Dam Rehabilitation & Improvement Project (DRIP)

The Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) under the Chairpersonship of Secretary, Department of Expenditure has approved the proposal of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation for revised cost estimate of World Bank funded Dam Rehabilitation & Improvement Project (DRIP). The EFC approved revised cost estimate of DRIP for Rs. 3466 Crore and extended time period for conclusion of this project till June, 2020.

Nepal-Bharat Maitri Irrigation Project

India handed over a Cheque of 99.2 million Nepali rupees to Nepal towards final payment for Nepal-Bharat Maitri Irrigation Project for installation of 2700 Shallow Tube Well Irrigation Systems in 12 districts of Nepal. With this payment, the Government of India has released a total of 227.6 million Nepali rupees to the Government of Nepal for implementing this project.

Himachal Pradesh Tourism Infrastructure Development Project

The Central government has approved Rs 1,900 crore Tourism Infrastructure Development Project of the Himachal Pradesh Government. The eight-year-long project will be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Defence News

 The Indian Navy successfully completed the "Service Life Extension Refit" of a 32-year-old ship of the Mauritius Coast Guard Ship (MCGS) Guardian which it began on December 1 2017 at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai. MCGS Guardian, after successfully completing all the mandated trials, is now set to return to Mauritius.  India successfully conducted the sixth trial of its indigenously developed nuclear capable long range ballistic surface-to-surface missile Agni-5 with a strike range of 5,000 km. Apart from the Agni-5, other Agni missiles that India has includes Agni-1 with a 700-km range, Agni-2 with a 2,000-km range, Agni-3 and Agni-4 with 2,500 km to more than 3,500 km range.  The Indian Naval Ships Sahyadri, Shakti and Kamorta of the Eastern Fleet participated in the 22nd edition of Malabar Exercise conducted off Guam, US from June 7 to 16, 2018.  India’s first indigenous, long-range artillery gun “Dhanush” has passed its final test at Pokhran, paving the way for its induction into the Army. Dhanush is a 155mm x 45mm calibre artillery gun and is also called the “desi Bofors”. The gun has passed tests under severe cold conditions in Sikkim and Leh and in hot and humid weather in Balasore, Odisha, Babina in Jhansi and in the desert of Pokhran in Rajasthan.  The Trump administration has approved a deal to sell six AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to India for USD 930 million to strengthen India’s ability to defend its homeland and deter regional threats. In addition to the attack helicopters, the contract also includes fire control radars; Hellfire Longbow missiles; stinger Block I-92H missiles; night vision sensors and inertial navigation systems.

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 The indigenous Pinaka rocket system of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is being evolved into a precision-guided missile, with enhanced range and accuracy to hit its targets.The missile, known for firing a salvo of 12 rockets in just 44 seconds, has completed the initial trial, will undergo developmental trials next month. The Pinaka Mark II is expected to be inducted in the armed forces in the next two years.  The last of the five Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) project of Indian Coast Guard ‘Rani Rashmoni’ was commissioned into the Indian Coast Guard on June 18 at Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). So far four such ships such as ICGS Rani Abbakka, ICGS Rani Avanti Bai, ICGS Rani Durgavati and ICGS Rani Gaidinliu, have been commissioned and are in active service at various locations on the eastern seaboard. ‘Rani Rashmoni’ was the last in the first phase of five FPVs.  Indian Army is observing the year 2018 as the ‘Year of Disabled Soldiers in Line of Duty’ to honour soldiers who have been disabled in line of duty, while serving the Nation and to celebrate the undying spirit of ‘Soldiering’.  The Indian Navy and the Navy of Bangladesh conducted the first edition of the Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) in Bangladesh from June 24 to 29. The two sides have agreed to institute CORPAT as an annual exercise. The Indian Navy regularly conducts CORPATs with Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand.  The world’s largest multilateral naval exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) started off Hawaii in the Western Pacific Ocean on June 27. The two-month long biennial exercise will be attended by navies of 26 countries including India. Indian Naval Ship Sahyadri is participating in the 26th edition of RIMPAC exercise.  The Navies of India and Indonesia participated in Passage Exercise (PASSEX), to enhance their maritime cooperation. Indian Naval ships INS Shakti and INS Kamorta undertook Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with Indonesian Naval Ship KRI Madidihang (855) at the Port of Makassar, Indonesia.  Exercise Surya Kiran-XIII, a joint military training exercise, between India and Nepal culminated at Pithoragarh on June 12. The thirteenth edition of the military exercise was held from May 30 to June 12, 2018.  For the first time, Indian Navy’s P8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft from Indian Naval Ship (INS) Rajali has inducted at Hawaii for participating in the Rim of Pacific Multinational Naval exercise (RIMPAC-18).  For the first time, the Indian Air Force will participate with fighter aircraft in Exercise Pitch Black 2018 (PB-18), which is scheduled from July 24, 2018 to August 18, 2018 in Australia.  South Africa has unveiled the 64-dish MeerKAT radio telescope, slated to be the world’s largest and most powerful telescope on its completion in 2030.  Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman formally handed over two types of indigenously built high-power multi-fuel engines to the Army. The engines manufactured by the Engine Factory, Avadi — a unit of Ordnance Factory Board, Department of Defence Production — were fully indigenised for the first time under the Centre’s Make in India programme.  India is in negotiations with the United States to add the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System-II (NASAMS-II) to its layered air defenses. NASAMS-II is a mid-range air defense system designed to counter threats from aircraft, UAV, and cruise missiles. The system is equipped with 3D surveillance Sentinel radars, fire distribution centers, and command-and-control units.  The Indian Coast Guard conducted a bilateral table-top exercise on maritime pollution response with Bangladesh Coast Guard in Kolkata, West Bengal.  An indigenously designed and developed landing gear for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-Rustom II has been successfully tested. The landing gear developed by a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory has undergone low-speed and high-speed taxi trial in Chitradurga, Karnataka.

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 India successfully test-fired the endo-atmospheric Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile, which is a part of the country’s ballistic missile defence (BMD) shield against a multiple target scenario.  The indigenously developed Helicopter launched Anti-Tank Guided Missile ‘HELINA’ was successfully flight tested from an Army Helicopter in Rajasthan’s Pokhran. HeliNA stands for Helicopter-launched Nag and is a variant of the Nag anti-tank guided missile which is launched from land.  India has successfully test-fired indigenously designed and developed long-range precision-guided anti-airfield bomb that was dropped from an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft. The Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) system was successfully tested at the Chandan firing range in Rajasthan.  The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Exercise began to bring Indian and Pakistani militaries to participate for the first time in a joint exercise under the anti-terror setting. The six-day SCO Exercise, which has brought the two countries together for the Exercise Peaceful Mission 2018, will continue till August 29 at Chebarkul town in Chelyabinsk Oblast in Russia.  The Indian army has conducted the final co-ordinating conference for the Joint Military Exercise (MILEX-18) in Pune. MILEX-18 will be held at the Foreign Training Node at Aundh Military Station in Pune, Maharashtra in September.  In an effort to foster a spirit of friendship and take defence ties to a new level, Armies of India and Thailand have started joint exercise “Maitree 2018” from August 6 in Chachoengsao Province of Thailand. The two-week long platoon level military exercise called ‘Exercise Maitree 2018’ in Jammu & Kashmir’s Srinagar. It was decided to step up military-to-military engagement by commencing bilateral navy exercises. In addition, both countries will explore enhancement of ongoing joint exercises, the MAITREE counter-insurgency and counter- terrorism Army Exercise as well as their SIAM BHARAT Air Force exercise.  After having been deployed to the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean for over four months, which included representing Indian Navy in multinational exercises MALABAR 18 at Guam and RIMPAC 18 at Hawaii, INS Sahyadri entered the Port of Darwin, Australia on 29 Aug 18 to participate in Exercise KAKADU 2018.  The multi-purpose Barak 8 missile defence system, jointly developed by India and Israel, will be procured by the Israeli Navy to protect its economic zones and strategic facilities from diversified threats and the sales for it have exceeded USD 5 billion. Barak-8 is an operational air and missile defense system used by the Israeli Navy as well as by the Indian Navy and air forces.  The first-ever joint air exercise involving the Indian Air Force and the Royal Malaysian Air Force commenced at Subang Air Base in Malaysia.It is the inaugural bilateral exercise between IAF & RMAF.The exercise seeks to deepen defense and military ties between the two countries. The exercise in Malaysia will be called Exercise Elang Shakti.  India along with 23 other nations, would be participating in a major Indian ocean-wide tsunami mock exercise (drill) IOWave18 on September 4 and 5, which would involve evacuation of thousands of people from coastal areas in over half a dozen states.  Indo-Kazakhstan Joint Army Exercise ‘KAZIND’ was conducted between the Indian and Kazakhstan Army from 10 to 23 Sep 2018 in Otar region, Kazakhstan. This was the third joint military exercise between the two countries which have a history of extensive cooperation in the defence arena.  India, Sri Lanka joint naval exercise SLINEX-2018 was held at Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.  Armies of India and the US held their annual combat exercise “Yudh Abhyas” at Chaubatia in Uttarakhand from September 16 to 29 with an aim to enhance inter-operability between the two forces. The exercise will also focus on enhancing counter-terror cooperation.

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 The inaugural Military Field Training Exercise for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technological and Economic Cooperation nations called MILEX-18, started with a grand opening ceremony at Aundh Military Station, Pune.  Indo-Mongolia joint exercise Nomadic Elephant-2018, commenced at Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF) Five Hills Training Area, Ullanbaatar, Mongolia.  Bangladesh Naval Ship Somudra Joy arrived Visakhapatnam on a four day visit to the Eastern Naval Command.  The Indian Air Force said it has successfully carried out the first ever mid air refuelling of the indigenously developed Tejas light combat aircraft, a major milestone in its development cycle.  Indian Navy beat 22 Other Teams To Win KAKADU-18 Cup. KAKADU 2018 is a biannual joint exercise taking place both ashore and at sea off the coast of Darwin. The exercise KAKADU derives its name Kakadu National Park which is a protected area in the northern territory of Australia.  Nepal did not join the first-ever joint military drill among the armies of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi- Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) members, which was hosted by India.  The Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) will deliver its second submarine, Khanderi, to the Navy by the end of this year.  The first ever mid-air refuelling of the indigenously developed light combat aircraft Tejas was successfully carried out, placing India in an elite group of countries having air-to-air refuelling capacity for military planes.  The Indian Coast Guard commissioned the indigenously built patrol vessel ‘Vijaya‘, fitted with advanced navigation and communication equipment. The 98-metre ship will be based at Paradip in Odisha for extensive surveillance in the Exclusive Economic Zone.  Once ready, it will be India’s first, a force multiplier and cruise the country into a global elite club. Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) is gearing up to undertake sea trials of India’s first missile tracking ship by the first week of October. Sports News

 The ICC has included Nepal, Netherlands, Scotland and the UAE in their ODI rankings list apart from the 12 existing countries.  World No. 1 Rafael Nadal became the fifth man in the Open Era to win 900 matches during his entire tennis career following a win over Germany’s Maximilian Marterer in French Open 2018.  Star batswoman Mithali Raj became the first Indian cricketer to score 2000 runs in Twenty20 Internationals (T20I). The Indian veteran has also become the first Indian cricketer (Men and Woman’s) to complete this record. She now has 2,015 runs in 75 matches.  New Zealand women’s team smashed the world record for the highest ever One-Day International (ODI) score by posting a mammoth 490-4 against Ireland at at the YMCA Sports Club, Dublin. The team broke their own 21-year- old record of 455 -5 made against Pakistan at Christchurch in 1997. The women’s team record also went past the highest total in any men’s one-day international made by England 444-3 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge, , in 2016.  New Zealand teenager Amelia Kerr set a new world batting record in women’s one-day cricket with her unbeaten 232 against Ireland in Dublin. With the feat, Kerr broke the 21-year-old record held by Australian Belinda Clarke, who scored unbeaten knock of 229 against Denmark in 1997. Kerr’s 232* is the third highest score in ODI cricket history. India men’s player Rohit Sharma is at the top of the pile with his 264 scored against Sri Lanka in 2014, with the unbeaten 237 made by New Zealand’s Martin Guptill, against West Indies in 2015.  The 21st edition of the FIFA World Cup is being held in Russia from June 14 to July 15.

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 India Women’s Cricket team opener Smriti Mandhana will become the first Indian player to appear in Kia Super League– the women’s cricket super league in England. She has been signed by Western Storm for the tournament beginning 22 July that features six teams.  Sports Minister Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore has approved the revised guidelines for Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy under which the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Sports Authority of India will invite and Scrutinized the applications of the universities which were earlier invited and scrutinized by the Association of Indian Universities. o The revised criteria for calculation of marks for selection of universities for the trophy will consider the performances of the students in Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, World Cup, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World University Games, Khelo India University Games and Intra Zonal University Games. o Tournaments which are held more than once a year will not be considered for computation of marks. o Besides, the amount of award money for the overall all winner university has been enhanced from 10 lakh to 15 lakh rupees and for 1st Runner-up the amount has been enhanced from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7.5 lakh while 2nd Runner-up universities will get Rs 4.5 lakh from Rs 3 lakh earlier.  Tennis player Yuki Bhambri and weightlifter Sanjita Chanu has been dropped from the sports ministry’s flagship programme, Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). Bhambri was left out as he will not take part in the Jakarta Asian Games in August-September since the dates clash with the US Open, where he is expected to qualify for the main draw. Men’s doubles specialist Divij Sharan, 32, has been included in the scheme till the Asian Games. Sanjita was dropped following her suspension by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) on alleged doping charges.  Indian boxers bagged 1 Gold, two Silver and four Bronze medals at the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament in the Russian city of Kaspiysk. o Saweety Boora won the coveted yellow metal in the Women’s 75 kg category after beating Anna Anfinogenova (Russia) in the Final. o In the Men’s section, Brijesh Yadav in the 81 kg division and Virender Kumar in 91 kgs lost their final bouts to settle for Silver medals. o Pinki Rani (51 kg), Shashi Chopra (57 kg), Pavitra (60Kg) and Gaurav Bidhuri had settled for a bronze medal.  The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be played in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The US would host 60 matches while Mexico and Canada would host 10 games each. The 2026 competition is set to be the first in FIFA’s history to feature 48 instead of the usual 32 teams.  Shikhar Dhawan became the first Indian batsman to score a hundred before lunch on the opening day of the one- off Test match against Afghanistan. Dhawan joins five other cricketers who have reached the landmark before lunch namely Victor Trumper(Aus) England 1902, Charles Macartney(Aus) England 1921, Sir Don Bradman(Aus) England 1930, Majid Khan(Pak) New Zealand 1976 and David Warner(Aus) Pakistan 2017.  The 15th annual Asia and Oceania Region Inter-Governmental Ministerial meeting on anti-doping was held in Colombo with representatives from 29 countries including India to discuss important anti-doping issues that will help in the fight for clean sport.  Ace Indian shuttler and Commonwealth Games 2018 gold-medalist Kidambi Srikanth, has been adjudged as the Sportsperson of the Year for 2018 by the Sports Illustrated India magazine. Other Winners Includes: o Team of the Year: Women’s Cricket Team o Coach of the Year: Stephen Constantine

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o Editor’s Choice for Excellence (Team): Aizawl FC o Editor’s Choice for Excellence (Male): Jitu Rai o Young Sportsperson of the Year: Manav Vikas Thakkar o Community Development in Sport: Sailen Tudu o Comeback of the Year: Sushil Kumar o Gamechanger of the Year: Shubhankar Sharma o Outstanding Contribution to Sport: Leander Paes o Lifetime Achievement Award: Dhanraj Pillay o Special Award Living Legend: Balbir Singh Sr. o Sportsperson Of The Year: Kidambi Srikanth  The Indian cricket team will make its debut in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship by playing against West Indies in the Caribbean in July 2019. It is a part of Future Tours Programme (FTP) announced by International Cricket Council (ICC) for a five-year period (2018-2023) which includes the World Test Championship and a 13-team ODI league. o As per the ICC, the nine top-ranked Test teams will participate in the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship, which will run from July 15, 2019 to April 30, 2021. o The ODI League will serve as a qualification pathway for the 2023 World Cup to be hosted by India. India will mark its campaign in the 13-team ODI League versus Sri Lanka (away) in June 2020.  India’s tennis star Karman Kaur Thandi claimed her maiden singles title on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Pro circuit after defeating Jia-Jing Lu’s of China in straight sets in the final of the USD 25,000 Hong Kong event.  Chennai based R Praggnanandhaa has become India’s youngest and the second youngest Grandmaster in the world at 12 years, 10 months and 13 days. Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine had become the youngest Grandmaster at 12 years, seven months in 1990. Praggnanandhaa became India’s youngest Grandmaster after making it to the final round at the Gredine Open in Italy to clinch his third GM. Praggnanandhaa had already achieved his first GM norm in the World Juniors 2017, and second GM norm at a closed round-robin tournament in Greece.  Indian Archer Deepika Kumari won her first individual gold medal in six years at stage three of the Archery World Cup in of US following a 7-3 win over Germany’s Michelle Kroppen in the recurve event final.  Romania’s Simona Halep retained the number one spot in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings with 7,970 points. While Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) acquired the second spot with 6,745 points, Spain’s Garbine Muguruza maintained her third spot with 6,550 points.  Spain’s Rafael Nadal has reclaimed the top spot in the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world singles rankings with 8,770 points, while Switzerland’s Roger Federer (8,720)stood second followed by Alexander Zverev (Germany) at third spot with 5,755 points.  Commonwealth gold medal-winning weightlifter Sathish Kumar Sivalingam is the first Indian weightlifter to become brand ambassador for a product/service. He has been roped in by “i steel TMT bars” as he represents the core attributes of i steel brand strength and flexibility.  India’s middle-distance runner Jinson Johnson created history as he broke 42 year old record set in Indian athletics to win the gold medal in the men’s 800m event at the 58th National Inter State Championships at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati. The 27-year-old from Kerala clocked 1:45.65 seconds to break previous record of 1:45.77 seconds set by Sriram Singh at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.  Rani Rampal has been named as the Captain of India’s 18-member squad for the women’s hockey World Cup while goalkeeper Savita will serve as her deputy in the World Cup to be played in London from July 21 to August 5, 2018.

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 Indian badminton player Lakshaya Sen bagged the gold medal after defeating Indonesia’s top-seeded Kunlavut Vitidsaran in the final match of the Badminton Asia Junior Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia. Badminton Association of India (BAI) has decided to honour Lakshya Sen who bagged gold at the recently-concluded Asian Junior Championship.

 The torch relay for the much awaited Asian Games 2018 began from Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi. The multi sport-event will begin on August 18 in Indonesia’s Jakarta city.  Hima Das created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a gold at the IAAF World Under- 20 Athletics Championships in Tempere, Finland. She clinched the top spot in the women’s 400 meters final race.  India’s women cricket team coach TusharArothe has stepped down from the role, citing personal reasons.  Indian Cricketer Mohammad Kaif has announced his retirement from all forms of the game.  Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore announced that more than 34 years after coming into existence, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has been renamed as Sports India after the sports body’s governing body meeting.  India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won a gold medal in Sottevile Athletics meet held in Sotteville, France.  The Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) decided to approve the Indian Men’s Hockey team, comprising 18 players selected for the Asian Games, as part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).  Indian Football Teams faced a major setback as the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has decided against sending its senior teams to the Asian Games. The IOA chose not to clear Indian men’s and women’s Football Teams since they have deemed them “incompetent” to win any medals.  The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has appointed Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh as the incharge of the upcoming 18th Asian Games.  Former off-spinner Ramesh Powar has been appointed as the interim coach of the Indian women’s team until the BCCI finds a suitable replacement for Tushar Arothe.  Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh will lead the 18-member Indian men’s hockey squad in the 18th Asian Games, which is slated to begin in Jakarta and Palembang from August 18.Striker Rani will lead Indian women’s hockey squad.  The anti-doping disciplinary panel of NADA handed a four-year suspension to shot putter Inderjeet Singh for failing a dope test prior to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.  Rahul Dravid was on Sunday inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, becoming only the fifth Indian to receive the honour after Bishan Singh Bedi, KapilDev, Sunil Gavaskar and Anil Kumble.  2018 IAAF World U20 Championships held in Tampere Stadium in Tampere, Finland. Kenya topped the medal tally with India placed on 18th rank.  India have jumped a rung to fifth position in the men’s hockey world rankings issued by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).  Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has announced that Indian Athlete Hima Das will be named as the first sports ambassador of the state.  Pakistan opening batsman Fakhar Zaman has became the quickest player to reach the 1000 runs in one-day internationals (ODI), breaking the record of West Indies Legend Vivian Richards.  The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee officially presented its Olympic mascots Miraitowa and Someity at a massive event. The name of the blue-checked Olympic mascot Miraitowa is derived from a combination of the Japanese words for future and eternity and seeks to “promote a future full of eternal hope in the hearts of people all over the world.” Someity, the pink-checked Paralympic mascot which owes its name to a type of cherry tree blossom, “exhibits enormous mental and physical strength” and represents paralympic athletes, “who overcome obstacles and redefine the boundaries of what is possible.”  The first stage of the Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme ultra-stage bicycle race got underway in Moscow with an Indian’s participation. The longest bicycle race in the world will consist of 15 stages, from 260 km up to 1,372 km long.

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 Former India paceman Parvinder Awana announced his retirement from all formats of the game with immediate effect.

 The All India Football Federation (AIFF) appointed Floyd Pinto as the new head coach of Indian Arrows. Pinto is the head coach of the Indian U-20 team which will play in the COTIF International tournament in Spain.

 Indian badminton player Lakshaya Sen bagged the gold medal after defeating Indonesia’s top-seeded Kunlavut Vitidsaran in the final match of the Badminton Asia Junior Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia. Badminton Association of India (BAI) has decided to honour Lakshya Sen who bagged gold at the recently-concluded Asian Junior Championship.

 Shubhankar Sharma became the youngest Indian golfer to make the cut in any Major after he capped a wonderful back nine to achieve the feat at the 147th Open Championships at Carnoustie, Scotland.

 Creating history, India jumped to the top rank of the compound archery women team category. World Archery Association also announced the rank in compound mixed team and India bagged fifth rank in world rankings.

 India captain Virat Kohli was presented with the International Player of the Year award for 2017-2018 by England’s Barmy Army.

 A city college student, Prabhat Koli (19), who crossed the English Channel when he was 16, has become the first Asian to swim the choppy water from Jersey (an Island in the UK) to France in cold weather.

 Mohun Bagan ‘Ratna’, the highest honour of the century-old club has been conferred on former India international Pradip Chowdhury at its foundation day programme on 29th July.

 Former India off-spinner Ramesh Powar has been officially appointed head coach of the women’s national team until the ICC World T20 scheduled for November 2018.  Former India opener Lalchand Rajput has been appointed as the head coach of Zimbabwe National Cricket team.  India football team captain Sunil Chhetri has been adjudged the Best Sportsperson of the Country by the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club.  Veteran Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami has decided to call it quits from Twenty-20 Internationals (T20Is).  Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won a gold medal in the Savo Games in Lapinlahti, Finland.  Indian golfer Viraj Madappa won his maiden title on the Asian Tour at Take Solutions Masters in Bengaluru as he carded a four-under 67 in the fourth and final round to claim a two-shot victory.  Ace Indian shuttler P V Sindhu finished second best yet again in a major tournament final as she went down tamely to Carolina Marin of Spain in the World Championships’ women’s singles title clash at Nanjing, China.  Sports Minister of India, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, launched the Rugby World Cup 2019 Trophy Tour in India, welcoming the Webb Ellis Cup to Delhi. This is the coveted trophy’s first visit to India as part of the Rugby World Cup 2019 Trophy Tour, which is visiting 18 nations in the countdown to Japan 2019, the first Rugby World Cup to be played in Asia.  India’s under-20 team won over Argentina under-20 in the final group stage match of the COTIF Cup held in Valencia’s Els Arcs Stadium. India was playing in the tournament for the first time.  Indian football team have climbed one spot to attain the 96th position in the recently updated FIFA rankings in August 2018.

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 International Master Nihal Sarin became the 53rd Grandmaster of India despite losing his final round game to Richard Rapport of Hungary in the ninth and final round of Abu Dhabi Masters.  R Vaishali has became India’s latest Woman Grandmaster (WGM).  23rd Asian Athletics Championships will be held in ’s capital city of , from April 19 to April 24, 2019. The six-day competition will be held at the Khalifa International Stadium.  India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar withstood intense pressure and produced one of the best shots of the week on the 17th hole which eventually sealed his ninth Asian Tour win at the Fiji International golf tournament in Fiji.  India skipper Virat Kohli topped the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, riding on his brilliant century against England in the opening Test at Edgbaston.  Women’s Hockey World Cup: India have jumped a place to be 9th in the world rankings announced by International Hockey Federation (FIH).  A facial recognition system will be used across an Olympics for the first time as Tokyo organizers work to keep security tight and efficient at dozens of venues during the 2020 Games.  The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) have signed an agreement for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to host the prestigious Asia Cup 2018 scheduled to take place in September.  Former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The 36- year-old, who bid adieu to international cricket in November 2015, said that he had hoped to continue playing for domestic T20 leagues, but his body has started to shut down.  Teen cyclist Esow Alben has created history by claiming India’s first ever medal – a silver- at the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Aigle, Switzerland.  Serena Williams was the highest paid female athlete for a third consecutive year in 2018, according to an annual list published by Forbes.  The Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) appointed former batting stalwart Rashmi Ranjan Parida as the coach of the Odisha cricket team.  Mohammad Irfan has set a new world record of being the most economical bowler in the T20 cricket while playing for Barbados Tridents in the ongoing 2018 Caribbean Premier League (CPL).  The 2019 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships will be held in the North Korean capital Pyongyang.  Former wicketkeeper Mohan Chaturvedi has been named as replacement for Rajat Bhatia in the senior selection committee of the Delhi and District Cricket Association.  New Zealand spinner Morna Nielsen has announced her retirement from all forms of cricket as she aims to shift her focus on being a structural engineer.  England’s Jamie Vardy retireed from international football.  Veteran German striker Mario Gomez has announced his retirement from international football.  Former India and Tamil Nadu batsman Subramaniam Badrinath announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in a specially organised presser at the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) headquarters in Chennai.  Former Indian fast bowler Rudra Pratap Singh has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.  Former Indian captain Sardar Singh announced retirement from international hockey  England’s Alastair Cook announced retirement from International cricket, saying that there is ‘nothing left in the tank’ for him. England’s highest Test run-scorer will bow out at the end of the fifth Test against India.  Former England -keeper James Foster has announced his decision to retire from all forms of cricket at the end of the ongoing season.  Former England captain Paul Collingwood will retire from professional cricket at the end of the current season.

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 The national capital Delhi will host an international chess tournament for school students next year which will be jointly organised by the governments of Delhi and Moscow.  One of the most prestigious 3×3 basketball tournaments in the world, the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) 3×3 World Tour Masters is coming to India for the first time on September 23 and 24 for the Hyderabad Masters in the city of Hyderabad.  The first Asian School Indoor Rowing Championship was inaugurated in Kolkata, West Bengal  Triple jumper Arpinder Singh created history by becoming the first Indian to win a medal in the IAAF Continental Cup as he clinched a bronze. He was representing the Asia-Pacific team in the meet, held once every four years.  Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela became the first set of Indian shooters to secure quota places for the 2020 Olympics by winning a silver and finishing fourth respectively in the women’s 10m air rifle event of the ISSF World Championship in Changwon, South Korea.  The ICC has decided to accord One-Day International status to India and Pakistan’s group league matches against Hong Kong in the upcoming Asia Cup, starting September 15.  Croatia captain Luka Modric has been voted the best player in Europe last season, edging former Real teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and forward Mohamed Salah for the UEFA award.  Paris Sain-Germain striker Neymar has been appointed as the permanent captain of Brazil’s national team.  Croatian midfielder Luka Modric won ‘UEFA Men’s Player of The Year Award’

Asian Games 2018 begin with explosive opening ceremony in Jakarta

The 2018 Asian Games began on August 18 with a grand opening ceremony at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia.  The 18th Asian Games held in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang and this was the first time the Asian Games are co-hosted in two cities. The Indonesian capital of Jakarta hosted the Games earlier in 1962. Palembang is the capital of the South Sumatra Province.  Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra was India’s flag-bearer at the glittering opening ceremony.  Motto of the games is “Energy of Asia”  2022 Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.  China led the medal table for the tenth consecutive time. It won a total of 289 medals including 132 Gold, 92 Silver and 65 Bronze medals.  Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee was announced as the most valuable player (MVP) of the Games.  India brought home a total of 69 medals – 15 gold, 24 silver and 30 bronze from the Asian Games 2018 in Indonesia to surpass the medal count from 2010 Games in Guangzhou, China. This is also India’s best ever overall medal tally, equalling country’s joint-best effort at the Asian Games since the inaugural edition in 1951. The total of 24 silver medals is also the highest ever in Asiad history for India.

Here is a list of all the Indian athletes who have won a medal at the 2018 Asian Games.

Player Sport Category Medal Bajrang Punia Wrestling Men's Freestyle 65 kg Gold

Vinesh Phogat Wrestling Women's Freestyle 50 kg Gold

Saurabh Chaudhary Shooting Men's 10m Air Pistol Gold

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Rahi Jeevan Sarnobat Shooting Women's 25m Pistol Gold

India Men's team Rowing Men's Quadruple sculls Gold

Rohan Manchanda Bopanna/Divij Sharan Tennis Men's doubles Gold

Tajinderpal Singh Toor Athletics Men's Shot put Gold

Neeraj Chopra Athletics Men's Javelin throw Gold

Manjit Singh Athletics Men's 800m Gold

Arpinder Singh Athletics Men's Triple jump Gold

Swapna Barman Athletics Women's Heptathlon Gold

Jinson Johnson Athletics Men's 1500m Gold

India Women's team Athletics Women's 4 x 400m Relay Gold

Amit Boxing Men's Light Fly (49kg) Gold

Pranab Bardhan/Shibnath Sarkar Bridge Men's Pair Gold

Deepak Kumar Shooting 10m Air Rifle Men Silver

Lakshay Sheoran Shooting Trap Men Silver

Sanjeev Rajput Shooting Men's 50m Rifle Silver

Shardul Vihan Shooting Men Double Trap Silver

India Women's team Kabaddi Women's Team Silver

Hima Das Athletics Women's 400m Silver

Yahiya Muhammed Anas Athletics Men's 400m Silver

Dutee Chand Athletics Women's 100m Silver

India Men's team Equestrian - Jumping Eventing Team Jumping Silver

Fouaad Mirza Equestrian - Jumping Eventing Individual Jumping Silver

Dharun Ayyasamy Athletics Men's 400m Hurdles Silver

Sudha Singh Athletics Women's 3000m Steeplechase Silver

Neena Varakil Athletics Women's Long jump Silver

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India Men's team Archery Men's Compound Team Silver

India Women's team Women's Compound Team Archery Silver

Jinson Johnson Athletics Men's 800m Silver

Pincky Balhara Kurash Women's -52kg Silver

India Mixed team Athletics Mixed 4 x 400m Relay Silver

P. V Sindhu Badminton Women's singles Silver

Dutee Chand Athletics Women's 200m Silver

India Men's team Athletics Men's 4 x 400m Relay Silver

Gautham Varsha/Sweta Shervegar Sailing Women 49er FX Silver

India Women's team Field hockey Women's Tournament Silver

India Women's team Squash Women's Team Silver

Apurvi Chandela/Ravi Kumar Shooting 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team Bronze

Abhishek Verma Shooting Men's 10m Air Pistol Bronze

India Men's team Sepak takraw Men's Team Regu Bronze Divya Kakran Wrestling Women's Freestyle 68 kg Bronze

Naorem Roshibina Devi Wushu Women's Sanda -60kg Bronze

Santosh Kumar Wushu Men's Sanda -56kg Bronze

Surya Bhanu Partap Singh Wushu Men's Sanda -60kg Bronze

Grewal Narender Wushu Men's Sanda -65kg Bronze

Ankita Raina Tennis Women's singles Bronze

India Men's team Kabaddi Men's Team Bronze

Dushyant Rowing Men's Lightweight Single Sculls Bronze

Rohit Kumar/Bhagwan Singh Rowing Men's Lightweight double sculls Bronze

Heena Sidhu Shooting Women 10m Air Pistol Bronze

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Prajnesh Prabhakharan Tennis Men's singles Bronze

Dipika Pallikal Squash Women's Singles Bronze

Joshana Chinappa Squash Women's Singles Bronze

Saurav Ghosal Squash Men's Singles Bronze

India Mixed team Bridge Mixed Team Bronze

India Men's team Bridge Men's Team Bronze

Saina Nehwal Badminton Women's singles Bronze

India Men's team Table tennis Men's team Bronze

Malaprabha Yallappa Jadhav Kurash Women's -52kg Bronze

Sharath Kamal Achanta/Manika Batra Table tennis Mixed Doubles Bronze

Seema Punia Athletics Women's Discus Bronze throw

Chitra Palakeezh Unnikrishnan Athletics Women's 1500m Bronze

India Men's team Squash Men's Team Bronze

Harshita Tomar Sailing Open Laser 4.7 Bronze

Varun Thakkar/Ganapathy Chengappa Sailing Men 49er Bronze

Vikas Krishnan Boxing Men's Middle (75kg) Bronze

India Men's team Field hockey Men's Tournament Bronze

Tournament Winner Runner Up 2018 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup Bangladesh India Canadian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) (Ferrari) 2018 Intercontinental Cup Football India Kenya Tournament Netherlands Gouden Spike Meet Gavit Murali Kumar (Men’s 10,000 m Race)

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XXth International Umakhanov boxing Saweety Bora (75kg) Anna Anfinogenova (Russia) Tournament Russia 2018 Stuttgart Open (MercedesCup) Roger Federer Milos Raonic (Canada) (Switzerland) 2018 United States Open Championship Brooks Koepka Tommy Fleetwood (England) (Golf) (United States) World Para Athletics Grand Prix, Tunisia Amit Kumar Saroha (men’s club throw F51 event ) Singapore National Swimming Sandeep Virdhawal Khade Championships Sejwal (men’s 50 meter breaststroke event ) French Grand Prix Lewis 2-Max Verstappen (Red Bull) Hamilton (Mercedes 3- Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) ) ISSF Junior World Cup, Germany. Saurabh Chaudhary Manu Bhaker and Anmol Jain and Devanshi Rana (10m air pistol mixed team event) Kabaddi Masters title (held in Dubai, UAE) India Beat Iran Hockey Champions Trophy (Men’s) (held in Australia Beat India Breda, Netherlands) 2018 FIFA World Cup France Beat Croatia. Tournament was held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia Asia Cup World Archery Korea India ranked third. Tournament was held in Taipei, Taiwan. FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup DipaKarmakar (from She created history by becoming the first (held in Mersin, Turkey) Tripura) Indian gymnast to clinch a gold at a global event. 2017 AIFF (All India Football Federation) Sunil Chhetri Player of the Year 2017 AIFF Woman Player of the Year Kamala Devi Calcutta South Club Senior ITF Tennis Sharad Tak Championship (men’s singles) (held in Kolkata, West Bengal) Spanish Grand Prix wrestling tournament Vinesh Phogat She clinched the gold medal in women’s 50 kilogram freestyle categoryin Madrid, Spain Lagos International Badminton title (men’s Mannu Attri and doubles) Sumeeth Reddy Yasar Dogu International Men - Bajrang Puni Held in Istanbul, Turkey Women – Pinki Russian Open Badminton trophy Sourabh Verma Wimbledon title (Women’s) Angelique Kerber Serena Williams Wimbledon title (Men’s) Novak Djokovic Kevin Anderson Indonesia Open title Japan’s Kento

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Momota Tbilisi Grand Prix Bajrang Punia (in the 65kg category) Austrian Grand Prix Red Bull’s Max Verstappen British Grand Prix Germany’s Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari German Grand Prix Honda’s Marc Marquez (of Spain) German Grand Prix 2018 Lewis Hamilton of Britain (Mercedes) Hungarian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton 8th Women’s Hockey World Cup title Netherlands Beat Ireland [held in Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, London (England)] SAFF U-15 Championship (Women) India Beat Bangladesh (Tournament held at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan) FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup France 2018 Japan Beat Spain Cincinnati Masters 2018 (2018 Western & Novak Djokovic Beat Roger Federer Southern Open) Rogers Cup 2018 Rafael Nadal Belgian Grand Prix 2018 Sebastian Vettel Beat Lewis Hamilton World Youth Boxing Championship in Sakshi Choudhary Budapest, Hungary won Gold

International Shooting Sport Federation Saurabh Chaudhary (ISSF) Shooting World Championship in won Gold in the Changwon,South Korea 10m Air Pistol Junior event ISSF World Championships Hriday Hazarika in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle Junior event ISSF World Championships Om Prakash Mitharval won Gold in the men’s 50m pistol ISSF World Championships Ankur Mittal won Gold in the men’s double trap ISSF World Championships Udhayveer Singh Wins Gold In Junior Men’s 25m Pistol Duleep Trophy India Blue India Red World Masters Athletics Championships in India’s oldest female Malaga, Spain athlete Man Kaur from Patiala won

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Gold US Open 2018 (Women’s Singles) Naomi Osaka US Open 2018 (Men’s Singles) Novak Djokovic US Open 2018 (Mixed Doubles) Britain’s Jamie Murray and the US’s Bethanie Mattek- Sands Italian Grand Prix 2018 Lewis Hamilton British racing driver-Mercedes

Sports Awards

BCCI Award Winners for the 2016-17 Season

 Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award – Pankaj Roy  BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award For Women – Diana Edulji (Declined)  BCCI Special Award – Abbas Ali Baig and Naren Tamhane  Polly Umrigar Award – Virat Kohli  Best International Cricketer - Women – Harmanpreet Kaur  Lala Amarnath Award For The Best All-rounder In The Ranji Trophy – Parvez Rasool  Lala Amarnath Award For The Best All-rounder In Domestic Limited-overs Competitions – Krunal Pandya  Madhavrao Scindia Award – Highest Scorer In The Ranji Trophy – Priyank K Panchal  Madhavrao Scindia Award – Highest Wicket-taker In The Ranji Trophy – Shahbaz Nadeem  MA Chidambaram Trophy – Highest Scorer In (U-23) Col C K Nayudu Trophy – Ekant C Sen  MA Chidambaram Trophy – Highest Wicket-taker In (U-23) Col C K Nayudu Trophy – Karan Kaila  MA Chidambaram Trophy – Highest Scorer In (U-19) – Jonty Sidhu  MA Chidambaram Trophy – Highest Wicket-taker In (U-19) Cooch Behar Trophy – Rahul Singh  Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy – Highest Scorer In (U-16) Vijay Merchant Trophy – N Thakur Tilak  Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy – Highest Wicket-taker In (U-16) Vijay Merchant Trophy – Rohit Dattatraya  Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy – Best Woman Cricketer (Sr Domestic) – Punam Raut  Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy – Best Woman Cricketer (Jr Domestic) – Jemimah Rodrigues  Best Umpire In Domestic Cricket – Anil Dandekar  Best Performance In BCCI Domestic Tournaments – Cricket Association of Bengal BCCI Award Winners for the 2017-18 Season

 Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award – Anshuman Gaekwad  BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award For Women – Sudha Shah  BCCI Special Award – Budhi Kunderan  Polly Umrigar Award – Virat Kohli  Best International Cricketer - Women – Smriti Mandhana  Lala Amarnath Award For The Best All-rounder In The Ranji Trophy –Jalaj Saxena  Lala Amarnath Award For The Best All-rounder In Domestic Limited-overs Competitions – Diwesh Pathani

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 Madhavrao Scindia Award – Highest Scorer In The Ranji Trophy – Mayank Agarwal  Madhavrao Scindia Award – Highest Wicket-taker In The Ranji Trophy – Jalaj Saxena  MA Chidambaram Trophy – Highest Scorer In (U-23) Col C K Nayudu Trophy – Aryaman Birla  MA Chidambaram Trophy – Highest Wicket-taker In (U-23) Col C K Nayudu Trophy – Tejas Baroka  MA Chidambaram Trophy – Highest Scorer In (U-19) Cooch Behar Trophy – Y V Rathod  MA Chidambaram Trophy – Highest Wicket-taker In (U-19) Cooch Behar Trophy – Ayush S Jamwal  Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy – Highest Scorer In (U-16) Vijay Merchant Trophy – K Nithish Kumar Reddy  Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy – Highest Wicket-taker In (U-16) Vijay Merchant Trophy – Reshu Raj  Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy – Best Woman Cricketer (Sr Domestic) – Deepti Sharma  Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy – Best Woman Cricketer (Jr Domestic) – Jemimah Rodrigues  Best Umpire In Domestic Cricket – Yeshwant Barde  Best Performance In BCCI Domestic Tournaments – Delhi & District CA 2018 French Open

The 2018 French Open, also known as Roland Garros was the 122nd edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of 2018. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 27 May to 10 June.

List of Winners

Category Winner Runner-Up Men’s Single Rafael Nadal (Spain) Dominic Thiem (Austria) Women’s Single Simona Halep (Romania) Sloane Stephens (United States) Men’s Double Pierre-Hugues Herbert/ Nicolas Mahut Oliver Marach (Austria)/ Mate Pavić (France) (Croatia) Women’s Double Barbora Krejčíková/Kateřina Eri Hozumi/Makoto Ninomiya (Japan) Siniaková () Mixed Double Latisha Chan (Taiwan)/Ivan Dodig Gabriela Dabrowski (Canada)/ Mate (Croatia) Pavić(Croatia)

2018 Asian Junior Athletics Championships

The 2018 Asian Junior Athletics Championships was the 18th edition of the international athletics competition for Asian under-20 athletes, organised by the Asian Athletics Association and the Japan Association of Athletics Federations.

India scored total 17 medals including 5 gold, 2 silver and 10 bronze to attain third spot in the Medal table after Japan (41) and China (24) respectively.

List of Gold Winners

Event Winner Runner 800 metres (Men’s) Anu Kumar Abdolrahim Dorzadeh (Iran) 5000 metres (Men’s) Ajeet Kumar Ren Tazawa (Japan)

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Triple jump (Men’s) Kamalraj Kanagaraj Yu Gyumin (South Korea) Hammer throw (Men’s) Ashish Jakhar Damneet Singh (India) 400 metres (Women’s) Jisna Mathew Dilshi Kumarasinghe (Sri Lanka)

All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament 2018

Event Winner Runner Up

Men’s Single Sourabh Verma Pratul Joshi

Women’s Single Sai Uttejitha Rao Rituparna Das

Men’s Double Arjun M.R and Shlok Ramachandran Krishna Prasad G and Dhruv Kapila

Women’s Double Rutuparna Panda and Aratha Sara Sunil Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker

Mixed Double Dhruv Kapila and Meghana Jakkampudi Arun George and Arathi Sara Sunil

58th National Inter State Championships

Event Winner Runner Up Men’s 800 m Jinson Johnson Manjit Singh Women’s 100 m Dutee Chand Ranga K Women’s 200 m Hima Das Dutee Chand Women’s 400 m Hima Das Nirmla

Ulaanbaatar Cup 2018: Mongolia

 India ended the tournament with one gold, four silver, and four bronze medals. Mandeep Jangra (69kg) was the lone Indian boxer to claim a gold medal among the five finalists.  The silver medals went to both the women finalists Sonia Lather (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Himanshu Sharma (49kg) and Etash Khan (56kg).

Committee

Head of Committee Purpose Ravindra H Dholakia The government has set up a 13-member committee to upgrade the norms for computation of economic data at states and districts level in the backdrop of plans to revise the base year for National Accounts or GDP calculation. InjetiSrinivas, Corporate Ministry of Corporate Affairs has constituted a 10 Member Committee to review the Affairs Secretary Companies Act 2013. According to an official release, certain offences of the act may require to be decriminalised. It will also allow the trial courts to pay more attention on offences of serious nature.

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P.J. Joseph Insurance regulator IRDAI has constituted a 16-member committee to examine motor third party insurance pricing aspects and make recommendations on the premium rates for 2019-20 CM Manohar Lal Khattar The Haryana government has constituted an inter-district council, under the chairmanship of CM Khattar, to identify the developmental priorities of the state. Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma Bowing to the pressure and sustained protests by ‘shiksha mitras’ across the state, the Uttar Pradesh government has constituted a committee to look into their demands and suggest a suitable action plan. C K Mishra The government has formed a committee comprising officials of the environment ministry, experts from NEERI, IITs and various other forums to look into the issue of industrial pollution around the iconic Taj Mahal. Anil Swarup The government has decided to set up a committee with suitable representations from NCC, M/o Youth Affairs and Ministry of HRD to suggest measures to strengthen National Cadet Corps (NCC) and (NSS). Pradeep Kumar Sinha The Central government decided to set up a high-level empowered panel to resolve issues plaguing the power sector and revive stressed assets A K Goel (National Green The National Green Tribunal formed a monitoring committee on the cleaning of the Tribunal (NGT) Yamuna River. The tribunal headed by A K Goel directed the committee to develop an Chairperson) action plan on the same and submit it by September 2018 and submit a detailed report on the issue by December 31, 2018. Sashi Bhusan Behera Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik set up a ministerial committee for the development of Odia film industry. Rajiv Gauba The Centre has set up a high-level committee to formulate steps to check mob lynchings and directed it to submit the recommendations within four weeks Shiv Pratap Shukla Committee to look after the issues of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Suresh Prabhu The government has set up a four-member group of ministers (GoM) headed by trade minister Suresh Prabhu to advise prime minister Narendra Modi on whether to continue with or withdraw from the 16-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations. Somnath Bharti To tackle the growing menace of stray dogs and monkeys in the state, the Delhi Assembly constituted a five-member committee for the same. B Sesikeran The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has decided to form a three- member committee to look into the draft food labelling and display regulations. The regulations have proposed making red colour-coded labels mandatory on packaged food products which are high in fat, sugar and salt contents. S J Vazifdar The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has appointed former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice S J Vazifdar as head of a three-member committee to decide mining company Vedanta’s plea challenging closure of its Sterlite copper plant at Tuticorin. K Vijay Raghavan The central government constituted a new 21-member advisory panel on science, technology and innovation under the chairmanship of Principal Scientific Advisor, K Vijay Raghavan, that will also co-ordinate the implementation of programmes through various bodies. The panel, called the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) will replace the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Prime Minister and to the Cabinet. S.P. Garg The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has constituted a monitoring committee to finalise

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an action plan to enhance availability of potable groundwater. Bimal Jalan The Union Government has appointed former Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan as the head of the panel that has been tasked with selecting India’s next chief economic advisor (CEA). Mukul Mudgal Justice Mukul Mudgal, who headed the Supreme Court-appointed probe into the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal, has been named chairman of the 11-member selection committee to pick this year’s Dronacharya and Dhyanchand awardees. The Ministry of Human Resource Development reconstituted a three-member fact-finding committee to assess the allegations against the Vice-Chancellor of Manipur University, Prof Adya Prasad Pandey.

 National Green Tribunal has appointed three committees to monitor disposal of garbage in an eco-friendly manner across the country. The tribunal formed three committees – apex monitoring Committee, Regional Monitoring Committees and state level committees – to oversee the steps to be taken to give effect to the directions of this tribunal, including proper implementation of the Rules. The apex monitoring committee will be headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice D K Jain. Rankings

Index India’s Rank Top Ranked Countries Lowest Ranked Countries Global Peace Index 2018 137 Iceland Syria New Zealand Afghanistan Portugal Iraq 2018 Environmental 177 out of 180 Switzerland Democratic Republic of Congo Performance Index (EPI) France Bangladesh Denmark Burundi. Summer 2018 State of the 4th out of top 10 1-Russia Internet/ Security: Web target countries 2- China Attack report for Web 3- Indonesia Application Attacks. 2018 Global Real 35 1- United Kingdom Venezuela is the least Estate Transparency Index 2- Australia transparent market with 100th 3- United States rank.

Index India’s Rank Other Information Global Innovation Index (GII) 57th 1st - Switzerland 2018 AT Kearney FDI Confidence 7th Index United Nation’s E-Government 96th 1st - Denmark Development Index (EGDI) 2018 Global Innovation Index (GII) 57th 1st – Switzerland. Global Innovation 2018 Index 2018 was launched in New Delhi this year. Nuclear Security Index (‘Theft 19th The index was released by the US-based

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Ranking’ for countries with Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). weapons usable nuclear 1st – Australia and Switzerland materials) Human development rankings 130th 1st - Norway India has become the world’s sixth largest economy overtaking France, according to World Bank data on gross domestic product (GDP) of countries for 2017. United States has topped the list recording a GDP of USD 19,390,604 million. India has the world’s fifth largest cultivated area under genetically modified (GM) crops, at 11.4 million hectares (mh) in 2017 according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA). The country with the highest area under transgenic crops, at 75 mh, is the United States.  The UK has topped an annual global ranking of nations’ soft power, with France placed second on the list of 30 countries which does not feature India. India does not figure on the list, but this year’s report also features a chapter dedicated solely to Asia, listing 10 countries in the region, ranking India’s soft power as eighth.

According to the ‘ Family 1000 in 2018’ study, India ranks third globally in terms of number of family-owned businesses with 111 companies having a total market capitalisation of $839 billion. India closely follows China with 159 firms and the US with 121 firms, says a report. According to the results of a global survey by human rights group Walk Free Foundation (WFF), India is home to 8 million slaves among its whopping population of 1.3 billion. In terms of highest slavery, North Korea and Eritrea topped the list, said the 2018 Global Slavery Index.

Rankings (Persons,Cities,Organisations and Others)

 Pune is the most liveable city, followed closely by Navi Mumbai and Greater Mumbai in a ranking of 111 Indian cities with the national capital ranked at a lowly 65 on the Ease of Living Index released by the government. The Ease of Living Index was launched by Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.  Jodhpur and Marwar in Rajasthan were declared the cleanest railway stations, while Varanasi, the prime minister’s Lok Sabha constituency, slipped to the 69th position in the third cleanliness survey released on 13th August 2018.  Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led telecom startup Reliance Jio has been ranked number one on Fortune’s global list for rapidly expanding access to the Internet.  The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has emerged as the second fastest growing airport in the world in the first half of 2018 in terms of actual growth in number of passengers. Only Haneda International has bettered KIA’s growth. New Delhi’s airport is placed 6th while Hyderabad is placed 17th in terms of actual growth of passengers.   The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru is the only Indian institution to make it to the top 100 universities in the Times Higher Education’s World Reputation Rankings 2018 and has been ranked in the 91-100 band of the list. o The top 5 Institutes in the list comprises of American universities Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford, UK’s Cambridge and Oxford respectively.  India cricket team captain Virat Kohli is among the world’s highest-paid athletes, according to Forbes. Kohli is the only sportsperson from India to be featured in the list at 83rd spot with earnings of USD 24 million.

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o The list has been topped by American boxing champion Floyd Mayweather.  Three Indian universities feature in the top 200 universities of the QS World University rankings 2019 released by global higher education analysts QS Quacquarelli Symonds. These include:

University 2019 Rank 2018 Rank IIT Bombay 162 179 IISc Bangalore 170 190 IIT Delhi 172 172 o The list has been topped by Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the seventh year in a row followed by Stanford University and Harvard University respectively.  According to a statement by US Consul General in Kolkata, Craig Hall, India is the second highest sender of foreign students in the US, next only to China.  The Forbes 2018 Global 2000 list released recently features total 58 Indian companies on the overall list of 2,000 biggest, most powerful and most valuable companies from across the world. o In India, Reliance Industries, placed at 83rd place, is the only company to be placed in the top-100 list. o Besides, housing finance major HDFC has been ranked as the 5th biggest globally in the ‘consumer financial services category’ with an overall ranking of 202. o The 16th annual Forbes Global 2000 list has been topped by China’s banking behemoth Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) for the sixth consecutive year.  Gujarat has topped the NITI Aayog’s 2018 Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) followed by Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The tribal state Jharkhand was adjudged as the worst performer. o In the northeastern and Himalayan states, Tripura has been adjudged as the top state in 2016-17 followed by Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Assam.  The United States has surpassed India to become the top destination for greenfield FDI investment in 2017, according to FDI Report 2018 compiled by FDI Intelligence, a division of The Financial Times Ltd. o In the Asia and Pacific region, China was on top in terms of FDI in total number of new projects and capital investment, followed by India.  According to Forbes World’s Billionaires list, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has become the richest man in the world with a net wealth of $141.9 billion. The principal founder of Microsoft Corporation is the second-richest man in the world with USD 92.9 billion followed by Warren Buffet, one of the most successful investors in the world, with a total of wealth of USD 82.2 billion.  Based upon the report of a survey of global experts by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, India has been ranked as the most dangerous country for women in the world due to the high risk of sexual violence and being forced into slave labour. Afghanistan and Syria ranked second and third respectively.  Mumbai continues to be the most expensive city in India to live in for expatriates according the 2018 cost of living survey by global consulting firm Mercer. The financial capital of India is ranked at the 55th spot in terms of cost of living globally which is higher than cities like (58), Frankfurt (68), Buenos Aires (76), Stockholm (89) and (95). o Hong Kong is ranked as the world’s costliest city to live in for expatriates, followed by Tokyo, Zurich, Singapore, and Seoul.  Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has topped the list of “smart cities” in the and Africa, according to a report by McKinsey Global Institute titled “Smart Cities: Digital Solutions for a More

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Livable Future”. With a rating of 18.4, Abu Dhabi ranked the first in the region ahead of Dubai, which was placed the second with a rating of 17.3.  Based on a joint study by the ASSOCHAM-NEC (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) and Japanese multinational NEC), India is among the top five countries generating largest e-waste. The other countries topping the chart of e-waste generation are China, USA, Japan and Germany. Maharashtra contributes the largest e-waste of 19.8 percent in India.  North Korea has been put in Tier 3 category together with China, Russia and Iran, in US State Department’s annual “2018 Trafficking in Persons Report” for being one of the worst human trafficking nations for the 16th consecutive year. North Korea does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. o Meanwhile, South Korea was placed at highest category of Tier 1 countries for the 16th straight year, along with other advanced nations like the US, Britain, France and Canada. o India continued to be placed in Tier-2 category since 2011 which suggests that the government of the country does not fully meet the minimum standards, but is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with those standards.  State-owned power giant NTPC has been ranked 25th in the list of India's Great Place to Work for 2018. NTPC is the only public sector undertaking among top 25.  Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has been ranked as the fifth least punctual airport in the world based on the findings released by the British aviation intelligence firm OAG, which did a survey of 513 airports and 65 airlines across the world. o Mumbai was placed at 509, Delhi at 451, Bangaluru at 262, Chennai at 255, and Hyderabad at 246. o The Nagoya Komaki Airport in Japan topped the global ranking list with an ‘on-time performance’ (OTP) rate of 94.5 percent. o None of the major Indian airports figured among the top 200 in ‘on-time performance’ (OTP), but the small Port Blair airport in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands got the worldwide rank of 65, with the punctuality rate of 84.6 percent. o The Indigo became the highest ranking airline from India at 14th rank.  The Niti Aayog released the first Delta ranking for 108 “aspirational districts” to measure their incremental progress across five developmental areas during a two month period of April and May 2018. Top 3 Districts Include

Rank District State Points 1 Dahod Gujarat 19.8 2 West Sikkim Sikkim 18.9 3 Ramanathapuram Tamil Nadu 17.7  Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir, Begusarai in Bihar, Ranchi in Jharkhand, Simdega in Jharkhand and Khagaria in Bihar were listed as first to fifth, respectively, in “least improved states” in the delta rankings.

Loans from Banks

From To Amount Purpose World Bank India Rs.6000 Implement Central Sector Scheme “

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crore (ABHY)” of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation over a period of five years from 2018-19 to 2022-23.

Asian India $100 million Equity investment in Phase I of India’s National Investment & Infrastructure Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to help various development Investment Bank ( projects in this country AIIB) Export-Import Seychelles USD 10 The line of credit (LOC) is for healthcare and procurement of Bank of India million goods and projects. (Exim Bank) Asian India USD 503- For lining project of the Son canal in Shahabad-Bhojpur Development million region of Bihar which would benefit the agriculture sector Bank (ADB) immensely in the region NABARD West Bengal Rs 735.53 In the first quarter of the current fiscal under the Rural crore Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for West Bengal for facilitating the execution of 86 projects NABARD Haryana Rs 772 crore For eight water projects in the rural areas of Haryana German bank KfW Rural EUR 200 The fund will be used to finance clean energy projects in Electrification million India. Corporation (REC)[India] World Bank India Rs 929.89 World Bank has approved this financial assistance for a water crore supply and sewerage project for the state capital Himachal Pradesh, Shimla. Asian India USD 346 Loan agreement to finance improvement of over 400 Development million kilometers of state highways that will enhance connectivity Bank (ADB) and access to economic centres across 12 districts in Karnataka. ADB India USD 375 For expanding irrigation networks and system efficiency in million Madhya Pradesh. The project will support the efforts of government of Madhya Pradesh for irrigation expansion and modernisation plan by maximising irrigation efficiency and water productivity. World Bank India USD 300 They signed 220 million dollar Loan Agreement and an 80 million million Guarantee Agreement for the Efficiency Scale-Up Program. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) said it has sanctioned Rs 334.75 crore in August, under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), to West Bengal for 158 minor irrigation and 23 flood protection projects.

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Deadlines/ Important Dates

What for Deadline/Date Deadline for the PAN-Aadhaar linking has been extended till March 31, 2019 UIDAI extended till November 1 the deadline for banks to do minimum Aadhaar enrolments and updations in identified branches. The banks have been mandated to set up Aadhaar enrolment and updation facilities within their premises in one out of every 10 branches.

Books

Book Author Other Info Notes of a Dream: The Krishna Trilok Biography of Oscar-winning music maestro A.R. Rahman. Authorized Biography of A.R. Published by Penguin Random House India. Rahman Foreword by Danny Boyle, Vedvigyan Alok” (Maharishi Acharya It is the scriptural verse in Vedas’ prose and is divided into four Aitareya Mahidas Praneet – Agnivarat broad volumes. Aitareya Brahmina ki Naishthik Vaigyanik Vyakhya The Great Indian Nature Rohan First-ever comic book launched by WWF-India that revolves Trail with Uncle Bikky Chakravarty and around the geographical diversity of India. Bijal Vachharajani Gandhi: the years that Ramachandra  This magnificent book will not only tell the story of Gandhi’s life, changed the world (1914- Guha from his departure from South Africa to his dramatic 1948) assassination in 1948, but also the history of our freedom movement and its many strands.

The Unending Game: A Vikram Sood Vikram Sood is the former head of India’s foreign intelligence Former R&AW Chief’s Insights agency, the Research and Analysis Wing from 2000 to 2003. The into Espionage book covers some of the most exciting aspects of intelligence failures and successes. “The Book of Untold Stories” Actress Manisha Manisha, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2012, will reportedly Koirala be authoring the book about the experience of surviving the illness. 281 and Beyond Cricketer VVS Westland Publications will release the former Indian cricketer’s Laxman autobiography. Atal Ji Ne Kaha Brijendra Rehi “Atal Ji Ne Kaha” is the latest of the books on the BJP patriarch and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee launched with a message by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who says the life of the stalwart from Jana Sangh days to “sanyas” from politics in 2007 is a golden document, dedicated to the nation. The Beauty of All My Days Ruskin Bond The book has 10 chapters and numerous photographs of the writer’s private life, or as Bond describes it, writerly life. The Rule Breakers’ Preeti Shenoy The book claims to explore complex themes of women’s equality,

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gender, and inclusion among others.

 French political writer and journalist Francois Gautier, who has been living in India since 1971, will be releasing the authorised biography of spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.  Australian Spin legend Shane Warne will talk about his extraordinary cricketing career and his life off the pitch besides unveiling several unknown facts in his autobiography. His memoir “No Spin” will have a global release on October 4.  A book on experiential learning based on Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Nai Talim’ (basic education) was released by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi released Venkaiah Naidu’s book, Moving On… Moving Forward: A Year in Office, on his experiences during the first year as the Vice President of India and Chairman of Rajya Sabha and called him a strict “disciplinarian”.

Minister of State for Culture Mahesh Sharma released three books, including one on “secret broadcasts” during the Quit India movement, at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA). The books are titled “Jewellery: A Scientific Study of Social Tradition”, “Ghats of Banaras” and “Untold Story of Broadcasting”.

 “Untold Story of Broadcasting” authored by historian Gautam Chatterjee, is about hidden developments during the 1942 Quit India movement — the “secret broadcasts” of the time — and the contribution of political leader Ram Manohar Lohia in the movement.  The second book, “Jewellery”, written by author-journalist Gulab Kothari, examines a ritualistic use of jewellery worn on occasions, and the meaning of possessing jewellery in an Indian context.  Another book, “Ghats of Banaras” has been co-authored by IGNCA Cultural Informatics Director Pratapanand Jha and Sachidanand Joshi. It is a monograph highlighting the importance of ghats, and is derived out of a documentation conducted at Varanasi.  Congress MP Kapil Sibal will be releasing a new book titled “Shades of Truth: A Journey Derailed” arguing that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government “revels in the past” and debunking the claim of “Acche Din” that the BJP made in the run up to 2014 general elections.

Obituaries

Name Profession Other Info Indian Digambara monk Tarun Sagar passed away. He took ‘Jain Sanyas’ at the age of 13 and later emerged as a prominent spiritual personality. He was widely known for his ‘Kadve Parvachan’ (bitter discourse). Timothy Pereira Former Football Player He was 75. Robert Mandan TV Actor He was 86 Arabinda Guha Bengali Litterateur Known by his pseudonym Indramitra. He was 89 William Phipps Actor Gave the voice for Prince Charming in the animated Disney film Cinderella. He was 96 Anthony Bourdain Celebrity Chef US based was also a Television host for CNN

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series, “Parts Unknown”. He was 61. LP Shahi Politician Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister from Bihar. He was 98 Narayan Prasad Singh Lyricist Odisha based Singh was popularly known as Rasaraj. He was 86. Maria Bueno Tennis Player Hailed from Brazil He was 78 Shantaram Naik Politician Served as Goa Congress Leader. He was 73 David Douglas Duncan Photo Journalist Best known for his combat photographs captured during World War II. Hailed from America. He was 102. Laxman Patil–Bhosle Socialist Leader Popular as Lakhutatya, Patil was former vice- chairman of the Nashik District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCC) and founder chairman of Zilla Mazoor Federation. He was 84. Sukracharya Rabha Theatre Personality He was 41. Hailed from Assam Xavier Rutsa Journalist Hailing from Nagaland, he was also the president of the Kohima Press Club (KPC) He was 42. Shahzahan Bachchu Bangladeshi Writer and He was shot dead by unidentified 5 attackers Publisher in his ancestral village in Bangladesh. He was 60. Mulubha Jadeja Crickter He was right-handed batsman, represented Saurashtra and Railways between 1945 and 1964. He was 88 Adiraju Venkateswara Rao Senior Journalist and writer He was 79 John Chambers British Film and Television Former senior member of BAFTA. He was 81. Finance Executive Nerella Venumadhav Mimicry Artiste He was 85. Richard Alan Greenberg Visual Effects Artist He was 71. Oscar-nominated artist. Jamsheed Marker Pakistani Diplomat Listed in the Guinness Book of Records for being the world’s longest serving ambassador Charles Krauthammer Columnist Recipient of Pulitzer Prize Peter Thomson Australian Golfer He was 88 Kim Jong-pil Former South Korean Prime He was 92 Minister Professor B Sujatha Devi Poet, Travel Writer Winner of Kerala Sahitiya Akademi award. She was 72 Gautam Kanjilal Rock Climber and Mountaineer He was 69 Donald Hall Poet & writer He was 89 Moosa Aboobaker Moosa South African Indian cinema He was 75 Industry Personality Stanley Anderson Hollywood actor He was 78

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Kanu Gohain Former Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) N N Wig Doctor (Psychiatrist) He was the doyen of Psychiatry in India Admiral J G Nadkarni Former and 14th chief of naval He was the Navy chief between December 1, staff 1987 and November 30, 1990. Krishna Kumari Politician She was Rajmata of the erstwhile Marwar principality and former MP M.M. Jacob Politician He was former Meghalaya Governor Ramchandra Singhdeo Politician He was former and first finance minister of Chhattisgarh JN Sadhu Journalist Kalpesh Yagnik Journalist Swapan Sarkar Sports Journalist Ramapada Chowdhury Bengali Writer Gopal Das Neeraj Hindi Poet M.N. Vyasa Rao Kannada poet and film song lyricist Kabutari Devi Kumaoni folk singer John Sankaramangalam Former director of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Kavi Kumar Azad Actor He is best-known for his role of Dr Hansraj Haathi in the popular comedy show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah Rita Bhaduri Actress Basabi Nandi Bengali Actress J. P. Vaswani Spiritual leader He was the spiritual head of The Sadhu Vaswani Mission Jonathan Gold Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Liliane Montevecchi Tony Award-winning French- Italian actress, singer, dancer and cabaret star M. Karunanidhi Politician Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President (DMK - political party in the state of Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry) Somnath Chatterjee Politician Former Lok Sabha Speaker RK Dhawan Politician Balramji Dass Tandon Politician He was the then Chhattisgarh Governor Gurudas Kamat Politician Kuldip Nayar Journalist Mony K. Mathew Journalist He retired as senior assistant editor at The Hindu-BusinessLine Umbayee Malayalam Ghazal singer Chemmanam Chacko Malayalam poet He was noted Malayalam poet and Sahitya Akademi awardee

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Krishna Shripadrao Deshpande Library scientist Sumatheendra Nadig Kannada writer Sujata Kumar Actress Debu Bose Odia Actor Hakkam Singh Player Former Indian hockey player Ajit Wadekar Player Former India cricket captain Gopal Bose Player Former India One-Day International (ODI) cricketer Jarrod Lyle Australian Golfer V.S. Naipaul Author British novelist and Nobel Prize winner for Literature Aretha Franklin American Singer Uri Avnery Israeli Journalist And Peace Activist Kofi Annan Ghanaian diplomat Former UN Secretary-General and Nobel Prize Laureate John McCain Politician Served as a United States Senator Neil Simon American playwright Bhagwati Kumar Sharma Gujarati author, journalist and poet Arthur Pereira Former Maharashtra football player Dr. Rita Jitendra Educationist and writer Goura Chandra Mohapatra Veteran freedom fighter Passed away at the age of 104 Vijay Shankar Vyas Agricultural economist awardee Mehlli Gobhai Artist Burt Reynolds American Actor

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away on 16th August 2018 in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi after a long illness. The 93-year-old BJP leader was suffering from multiple ailments.

About Atal Bihari Vajpayee  Born in the family of a humble school teacher on December 25, 1924, in Gwalior Madhya Pradesh, Vajpayee entered politics during the Quit India movement in 1942.  Three-time Prime Minister, Vajpayee was the first and the only non-Congress Prime Minister to serve a full five- year term from 1999 to 2004; and for short periods of 13 days in 1996 and 13 months in 1998.  Vajpayee was elected to Lok Sabha from Lucknow in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004.  He was elected to the Lok Sabha seven times and twice to the Rajya Sabha.  He was the first external affairs minister to deliver a speech in the UN Assembly in Hindi.  He was conferred India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee in 2015.  He was also conferred Padma Vibhushan in 1992.  The Modi government declared in 2014 that Vajpayee’s birthday, 25 December, would be marked as Good Governance Day.  Apart from politician with great oratory skills, Vajpayee was also an acclaimed writer who wrote several poems.

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 His poems include – Meri Ikyavana Kavitaem (1995), Meri Ikyavana Kavitaem (Hindi Edition, 1995), Sreshtha Kabita (1997), Nayi Disha – An Album with (1995), Kya Khoya Kya Paya: Atal Bihari Vajapeyi, Vyaktitva Aur Kavitaem (Hindi Edition, 1999), Samvedna – An Album with Jagjit Singh (1995), Twenty-One Poems (2003).  Some of his books are as – India’s Foreign Policy: New Dimensions (1977), Assam Problem: Repression no Solution (1981), Atal Bihari Vaj Mem Tina Dasaka (1992), Pradhan Mantri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ke Chune Hue Bhashana (2000), Values, Vision & Verses of Vajpayee: India’s Man of Destiny (2001), National Integration (1961), Dynamics of an Open Society (1977), Kucha Lekha, Kucha Bhashana (1996), Sekyularavada: Bharatiya Parikalpana (Da. Rajendra Prasada Smaraka Vyakhyanamala) (1996), Rajaniti ki Rapatili Rahem (1997), Back to Square One (1998), Decisive Days (1999), Sakti Se Santi (1999), India’s Perspectives on ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific Region (2003)

Announcements done after his death

 In a tribute to former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Yogi Adityanath led BJP government has decided to name proposed Bundelkhand Expressway as “Atal Path” in the memory of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Expressway will pass through Bateshwar, Agra, the ancestral village of the former PM.  Following are the places in Jharkhand which will be renamed: o Under the Health Care and Family Welfare Department, Medical College Palamu will be renamed as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College, Palamu. o Under Transport (Civil Aviation) Dept. Jharkhand and Shipping Ministry Government of India, Sahibganj Harbour will be renamed as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Harbour Sahibganj. o Under the Transport Dept. Jharkhand and Civil Aviation, Government of India, it has been recommended that the under-construction Deoghar Airport is named as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Airport Deoghar. o Under High Technical Education and Skill Department, Professional College Jamshedpur is renamed as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Professional College Jamshedpur. Under Urban Development and Housing Department (under construction) Convention Centre Ranchi is to be renamed as Atal Convention Centre Ranchi. o Under IT and Governance Dept. Jharkhand Innovation Lab will be renamed as Atal Innovation Live. The 8- lane road from GOI Building to Kako Math in Dhanbad district will be named as Atal Marg.  AIIMS Mangalagiri (Andhra Pradesh) will be named after former PM of India, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.  The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi announced that the School of Management and Entrepreneurship will be renamed to Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship.

Nobel Prize Winners 2017

Award Winner For What 2017 Nobel Prize in Americans Jeffrey C. Hall, “for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms Physiology or Medicine Michael Rosbash and Michael controlling the circadian rhythm”. W. Young 2017 Nobel physics prize Americans Rainer Weiss, Barry “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne the observation of gravitational waves”. 2017 Nobel Prize in Swiss Jacques Dubochet, “for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high- Chemistry German Joachim Frank and resolution structure determination of biomolecules in British Richard Henderson solution”. 2017 Nobel Peace Prize International Campaign to “for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic Abolish Nuclear Weapons humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear

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(ICAN) headquartered in weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to Geneva, Switzerland achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons”. 2017 The Sveriges Riksbank American Richard H. Thaler “for his contributions to behavioural economics”. Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2017 Nobel Prize in British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro “who, in novels of great emotional force, has Literature uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world”.

Important Days

September 2018

Date Day Extra Info 2 September World Coconut Day In India, main function held at Vijayawada, with theme - Coconut for Family Nutrition, Health and Wellness 5 September National Teachers Day 8 September International Literacy Day Theme 2018- Literacy and skill development 10 September World Suicide Prevention Day Theme 2018- Working Together to Prevent Suicide 14 September Hindi Diwas 16 September International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 21 September International Day of Peace 25 September World Pharmacists Day 26 September World Environmental Health Day World Environmental Health Day 27 September World Tourism Day 28 September World Rabies Day 29 September World Heart Day 28 September 2017 World Maritime Day 30 September International Translation Day

October 2018

Date Day 1 October International Day of Older Persons 2 October International Day of Non-Violence 4 October World Animal Day 5 October World Teachers Day

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9 October World Post day 10 October World Mental Health Day World Day Against the Death Penalty 11 October International Day of the Girl Child 14 October International standards day 15 October International Day of Rural Women World Student’s Day 16 October World Food Day 17 October International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 20 October World Statistics Day World Osteoporosis Day 21 October Police Commemoration Day 24 October United Nations Day World Polio Day 27 October World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 29 October International Internet Day World Stroke Day

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