1) To set up IIT in Nagpur, a nod have been given by MHRD.
- Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) gave an approval for setting up an IIIT (Indian Institute of Information Technology) in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
- With this it will be the first IIT in the state.
- And also two another institutes are set to come up, namely the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Indian Institute of Management.
- The main intension to set up of these higher educational institutions in Nagpur to improve educational infrastructure in the Vidharba region.
2) Kayakalp Award scheme was launched by the union govt.
- Kayakalp an initiative for awards to public health facilities was launched by the Union minister for health and family welfare J.P. Nadda.
- And he also released the Swachchta Guidelines for Public Health Facilities.
- This initiative will encourage every public health facility in the country to work towards standards of excellence to help the facilities stay clean and hygienic.
Objectives of the awards scheme:
- To promote cleanliness, hygiene and infection control practices in public health care facilities.
- To incentivize and recognize such public healthcare facilities.
- To inculcate a culture of ongoing assessment and peer review of performance related to hygiene, cleanliness and sanitation.
- To create and share sustainable practices related to improved cleanliness in public health facilities linked to positive health outcomes.
3) National nuclear energy conference held in New Delhi.
- National nuclear energy conference held in New Delhi. It is the sixth nuclear energy conference.
- The theme of the sixth edition of the nuclear energy is Nuclear energy: a clean energy option.
- It was organized by ASSOCHAM (Associated chambers of commerce and Industry of India).
- India wants to double its nuclear power generation by 2020.
- At present India’s Nuclear power plants generating 3.5% electricity.
4) National Highways asset management system has launched by Union govt.
- A new programme Road Measurement and Data Acquisition System to take stock of the condition of the national highways was launched by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
- According to this a vehicle equipped with modern gadgets including GPS, cameras will cover every aspect of the road including road condition, wayside amenities, accident-prone zones, road strength, condition of bridges and culverts besides encroachment etc,.
- The fund for this project has been provided by World Bank and National Highway authority of India.
5) Union government grants Rs. 22.26 crore to develop historical Badami town.
- Historical town of Badami in Bagalkot district of Karnataka will be developed into a tourist town under the Union government’s flagship programme HRIDAY (Heritage City Development Scheme).
- The Union government has selected 12 heritage cities in the country to develop them by providing better amenities and preserving the heritage structures. Badami, once ruled by the Chalukyan dynasty, is one of the cities selected for the project.
- The city would be developed and facilities would be created with the help of INTACH (Indian National Trust of Art and Cultural Heritage) which would share its expertise in executing the project.
6) Delhi CM Kejriwal announces various initiatives for auto drivers.
- Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a slew of sops like annual fare revision, over 400 new halt-and-go stands and relaxation in rules, including permission to refuse customers while returning home.
- Kejriwal addressing a gathering of auto drivers at Burari in Outer Delhi announced that government will revise auto fares every year from 1st of April.
- Kejriwal asked the auto drivers to improve their service and raised the issues of auto drivers turning away passengers and misbehaving, two of the most frequent complaints.
- Auto-complaint helpline number 011-42400400 will be revived to address the issue of overcharging and refusal. Strict action will be taken in case of violations.
- The JICA will charge 0.8 percent per annum interest rate and the loan repayment period is 20 years in addition a 6 years grace period. The project will be completed by January 2020.
7) Alphonso back in UK post-ban, but rotten ones.
- Indian mangoes, including the famed Alphonso have made a comeback to Britain after an eight month ban kept them out of the European Union for much of last season.
- But there is a new problem the majority of the stock being sold has turned out to be rotten. According to the owner of one of London’s best known Indian shops, bad quality fruits have ruined his business.
About UK:
- Capital: London.
- Queen: Elizabeth II.
- Prime Minister: David Cameron.
- Chancellor: Chris Leslie.
- Currency: Pound Sterling.
8) Government sanctions 30 cold chain projects with Rs. 725 crore outlay.
- Government sanctioned proposals for setting up 30 new cold chains in the country with a total investment of Rs. 724.9 crore.
- It was announced by Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal in New Delhi.
- These projects will play important role in reducing the wastage of food in the country.
- The total capacity of these projects will be around 1.12 lakh tonnes of cold storage and 11.10 lakh litres of milk storage per day.
9) US sounds alarm on 3 new diabetes drugs.
- Three new type-2 diabetes medicines, two of which were recently launched in India, have come under the scanner of the US drug regulator for potential risk of causing acidosis that could require hospitalization.
- The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned medical professionals and patients that type-2 diabetes medicines - canagliflozin, dapagliflozin, and empagliflozin - may cause high levels of blood acids which can lead to serious adverse effects. Dapagliflozin and Canagliflozin were recently Launched in india.
- The three drugs, all belonging to a new class known as SGLT2 inhibitors, work by lowering blood sugar by making the kidneys remove sugar from the body through the urine.
10) Centre to launch agri-training programme in 593 Sansad Adarsh Grams.
- Centre is planning to launch an agri-training programme in 593 villages under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
- The nodal Agriculture Ministry is working out the training programme guidelines for implementation in each village adopted by Members of Parliament under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
- The agri-training programme, to be conducted for two days in each village, will be implemented by the National Centre of Organic Farming and Central Fertiliser Quality Control and Training Institute along with the support of the state governments.
About Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana:
- It is a rural development programme that primarily focuses upon the development in villages.
- The programme was launched by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Narayan, on 11 October 2014.
11) Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates 50th anniversary of India’s first historic climb of Mt. Everest in 1965.
- President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of India`s first historic climb of Mt. Everest in 1965 at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
- The function was organized by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) to celebrate the historic climb of Mt. Everest in 1965 by an Indian team led by Captain Mohan Singh Kohli.
- On this day in 1965, Indian team of 21 mountaineers led by Captain M.S. Kohli of Indian Navy had successfully climbed world’s highest peak Mt. Everest (8848 m) after a series of three unsuccessful attempts in five years.
12) Meghalaya achieves 100% financial inclusion under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna.
- Meghalaya has achieved 100 percent success in implementing the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna.
- In the state, all eleven districts have been able to open at least one bank account of every household under the ambitious scheme. More than 5.53 lakh households have been covered with 1.55 lakh new bank accounts.
- 1.8 lakh accounts have been opened in rural areas, while in urban area the figure is over 47,000.
- All banks both from private and public sectors have contributed in successfully implementing the scheme. So far, under the PMJDY, banks have issued more than 1.31 lakh Rupay cards.
13) Maharashtra government to allow women to work in night shifts.
- Maharashtra Government has decided to make amendments to Factories Act 1948, thus making the way for women employees to work in night shifts.
- The decision was taken at a meeting of the state Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
- Earlier, section 66 (1) (c) of the Factories Act, 1948 restricted women from working at a factory between 7 PM and 6 AM. Now that has been done away with.
- The managements will have to ensure security of women working in night shift.
- The proposed amendment will also enable workers to be eligible for paid leave after working for 90 days in a year instead of the current 240 days or more.
14) Nelong Valley opens for tourists first time since 1962.
- Authorities of the Gangotri National Park in Uttarakhand opened the Nelong Valley for tourists for the first time since its closure in 1962.
- Nelong Valley: A picturesque valley located 45 km away from the Indo-China border
- Nelong valley, situated 45 km away from the Indo-China border in the Uttarkashi district, was closed for civilians after the 1962 war between both the countries.
- Located at a height of 11600 feet, it is a cold desert offering a view of the Tibetan Plateau in China and home to snow leopard and the Himalayan blue sheep.
15) Union Cabinet clears ammonia-urea plant at Namrup.
- The Union Cabinet gave its approval for setting up of a new Ammonia-Urea Complex at Namrup in Assam. The complex will be set up on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode by a joint venture (JV).
- In the proposed JV, PSU Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL), Government of Assam and Oil India Limited (OIL) shall have 11 percent, 11 percent and 26 percent equity holding respectively and balance 52 percent by private/public sector entity (entities) which would be inducted through a competitive bidding process.
- The annual consumption of urea in the country is estimated at 31 million tonne. While 23 million tonne is produced domestically, the rest of the demand is met through imports.
16) Approval for revival of the Sindri unit of the Fertilizer Corporation India.
- The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, gave its approval for the revival of closed urea unit of Fertilizer Corporation India Limited (FCIL) at Sindri (Jharkhand) with an investment of Rs. 6000 crore.
- This unit was lying defunct and was not in operation since 2002.
- The setting up of a new unit at Sindri will meet the growing demand of urea in the States of Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand.
- It will also ease the pressure on railway and road infrastructure due to long distance transportation of urea from Western and Central Regions and thereby saving in govt. subsidy on freight.
17) Government relaxes FDI norms for NRIs, PIOs, OCI.
- The Union Cabinet approved a relaxation of policy on investment proposals from Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs), treating them at par with Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).
- In order to comply with this decision government will amend FDI policy on investments by NRIs, PIOs & OCIs which will give them parity in economy and education.
- Investments by NRIs under Schedule 4 of FEMA regulations will be deemed to be domestic investment at par with the investment made by residents.
- The amendments will lead to greater foreign exchange remittances and investment in the country.