1) Union Textiles Minister inaugurates Training Programme for Scheduled Castes Handloom Weavers in Odisha.
- The Union Textiles Minister Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar inaugurated 45-day long skill up gradation training programme for Scheduled Caste handloom weavers belonging to Sohlela Block in Bargarh district of Odisha.
- The Minister also gave away the certificates to pass outs of the first Handloom Entrepreneur training course. The Minister also handed over the sanction letters to handloom weavers under Pradhan Mantri Weaver MUDRA Scheme.
- The Central Government is implementing several new initiatives under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, which are aimed at raising earnings of handloom weavers to Rs. 500 per day.
2) MoU signed between RD Ministry & ISRO for geo-tagging assets.
- A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Rural Development Ministry and ISRO, Department of Space for geo-tagging the assets created under MGNREGA in each gram panchayat.
- Around 30 lakh assets are created annually across the country under the rural job scheme and the Ministry has decided that through convergence with other schemes, the geo-tagging of such assets will be done on a mission mode.
- The space technology is increasingly being used up to the grassroots level for not only visualization of the assets but also for terrain mapping to undertake other developmental works like watershed and drought-proofing measures.
3) Maharashtra districts get own disaster plans.
- In anticipation of an ‘above normal’ monsoon prediction by IMD this year, the Maharashtra government has ensured that all 36 districts in the state have their own disaster management plans.
- The plan deals extensively with the emergency and evacuation measures to be taken up in cases of heavy downpour, flash floods, landslides, lightning strikes and other natural calamities.
- The district-level disaster management plan has detailed information about geographical details, population, flood-prone areas, villages and other macro details.
4) Mobile van to teach disabled kids in Chandigarh.
- Chandigarh administrator Kaptan Singh Solanki flagged off a mobile van to provide home-based education to disabled children.
- Named Kalam Express, the van will work six days in a week and will have an educator and a physiotherapist will comprise an LCD screen, a visual projector, books and toys.
- The children who cannot commute to schools to attain education will be covered under home-based education facility and they must be provided all necessary support services like therapies remediation and rehabilitation services. The van will cater to the children with special needs in peripheral, slum, rural and rehabilitation colonies.
5) Haryana to provide 100% rebate in property tax.
- Haryana government has decided to provide hundred per cent rebate in property tax for residential, commercial, institutional and other properties.
- The rebate would be given for a period of one year. A notification to this effect has been issued by the Urban Local Bodies Department.
- The government has already waived electricity dues for the current and impending billing cycles of all those consumers whose houses or commercial properties were damaged or looted.
6) Arunachal to opt for e-governance, go paperless.
- The e-Governance initiative by the Arunachal Pradesh government is all set to go paperless.
- The e-Office suite would be made functional in the State Civil Secretariat after which there would be no manual movement of file.
- A comprehensive training module would be put in place to train all users of this application. Digitization of legacy data would be undertaken to ensure continuity.
7) Union Government approved setting up of District Level Advisory and Monitoring Committees.
- Union Ministry of Urban Development has approved the setting up of District Level Advisory and Monitoring Committees to promote people centric planning and execution of new urban development schemes.
- These committees will comprise of elected representatives of the country, thus giving Members of Parliament (MP) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) a say in the implementation of the urban development schemes.
- These Committees will oversee, review and monitor implementation of urban development, affordable housing and urban poverty alleviation programmes. Programmes to be monitored under this - Swachh Bharat Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) etc.
8) Odisha approves 500 new gram pancahyats.
- Odisha government approved a proposal of the Panchayati Raj department to add 500 new gram panchayats before the 2017 three-tier panchayat polls.
- The decision has been taken based on the recommendation received from the district level.
9) Suresh Prabhu flags off maiden train between Sonepat-Jind.
- Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off a maiden train on 81 km railway line between Sonipat and Jind and stressed on the need to create infrastructure to promote growth and to meet future challenges.
- The MoU was signed recently between them for constitution of a joint venture entity for development of rail infrastructure in the state.
10) Nagaland launches women helpline `181`.
- Nagaland Governor P.B. Acharya launched women helpline - 181 at District Hospital Dimapur in Nagaland and also inaugurated Sakhi, a one stop Centre, intended to support women affected by violence both in private and public spaces under one roof.
- Problems of distressed women would be addressed through this project and also appealed to all the stake holders for extending cooperation, so that violence against women would decline and people to extend co-operation for strengthening the security of women.
11) Greater Noida to develop Paris-like Eco Park.
- The Greater Noida authority has decided to develop an Eco park across 2,500 acres on the lines of forest reserves at Paris in France. The park is proposed to be developed inside three forest reserves on 803 acres in Surajpur, 743 acres in Gulistanpur and 1,112 acres in Murshadpur.
- Development of the Eco Park as the biggest oxygen bank in Gautama Buddha Nagar is a high-priority project as Akhilesh Yadav, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, had announced the project to combat rising pollution.
12) Union Defence Ministry gives nod for purchase of 145 Ultra Light Howitzers guns from the US.
- The Defence Ministry paved the way for purchase of 145 Ultra Light Howitzers, worth about $750 million, from the US and also approved bulk production of 18 Dhanush artillery guns, the first acquisition of such weapon systems by the Army in three decades since the Bofors scandal.
- Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar , took up 18 proposals including new schemes worth Rs. 28,000 crore for discussion.
- Another key project that got an Acceptance of Necessity (AON), which will now allow the Navy to issue tenders, was the proposal to build six next generation missile vessels under `Buy Indian` category for Rs. 13,600 crore.
13) Training programme on ``Ornamental Fish Culture and Management for Livelihood Improvement of Rural Women`` inaugurated.
- Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh has inaugurated the 5 days training programme on ``Ornamental Fish Culture and Management for Livelihood Improvement of Rural Women`` at ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna.
- The training centre on ornamental fish culture and production has been established recently at ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna for imparting training to rural women for their empowerment through ornamental fish farming.
14) Shri J.P. Nadda launches new Nurse Practitioner courses and ‘Live Register’ for Nurses.
- Underscoring the importance of up gradation of skills of nurses across the country, Shri J.P. Nadda, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare stated that the Government is committed to providing accessible, affordable and quality training to them.
- The Nursing Staff occupies important position in healthcare delivery and without them the desired results cannot be achieved. The role of the nursing staff can be compared equally to that of the doctors when we think of achieving the SDGs.
- Shri J.P. Nadda inaugurated of Indian Nursing Council Office Complex. He also launched two new Nurse Practitioner Courses, one in Critical Care and the other in Primary Healthcare and a web-based ‘Live Register’ for Nurses.
15) Union Home Minister chairs 22nd meeting of Eastern Zonal Council at Ranchi.
- The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh chaired the 22nd meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council held at Ranchi, Jharkhand.
- The Eastern Zonal Council, consisting of the states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal, discussed the issues like modernization of State Police Forces, measures to curb communal tension and Left Wing Extremism (LWE), curbing of drug trafficking, measures for bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India, issues relating to fisheries, productivity of livestock and poultry to usher Blue Revolution.
- The issues of sharing of water of major rivers, development of Railways, construction of Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Multi –Sectoral Development Programme in the Eastern Zone were also discussed in detail. The Zonal Council also reviewed the progress of the implementation of the recommendations made at the previous meeting of the Council held at Patna.
16) MNRE sets Target of Setting up One Lakh Family type Biogas Plants for FY 2016-17.
- With an objective to provide clean gaseous fuel for cooking and organic bio-manure as a by-product, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has allocated to the States/ UTs an annual target of setting up one lakh family size biogas plants (1 m3 to 6 m3capacity) for the current year, 2016-17.
- This will result in a likely saving of about 2,190,000 LPG cooking cylinders annually, besides providing biogas plant processed bio-manure to reduce and supplement use of chemical fertilizers.
- The MNRE is implementing a National Biogas and Manure Management Progamme (NBMMP) for setting up family type biogas plants in the country. The objective of the scheme is to provide clean gaseous fuel for cooking and organic bio-manure as a by-product in the form of biogas plant left over slurry, which contains higher values of Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N, P&K).
17) Launching of Skill Development Training Programmes under Kamarajar Port Limited’s CSR initiatives – 2016.
- Shri Pon Radhakrishnan, Hon’ble Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways & Shipping, Government of India, inaugurated the Skill Development Training programmes under Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives – 2016 of KPL at Chennai in the presence of Shri M.A. Bhaskarachar, Chairman cum Managing Director, Kamarajar Port Limited.
- The Hon’ble Minister launched the training programmes for 865 applicants including the training on ``Tailoring``. As a token of launching the training programme on Tailoring, tool kits for tailoring were distributed to the trainees.
18) BHEL commissions two hydel units in Afghanistan.
- State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has commissioned two units of 14 Megawatts each at Salma Hydro Electric Project in Afghanistan.
- In the execution of the Salma hydro project, BHEL faced numerous challenges in the movement of men and material through difficult terrains.
- In recognition of BHEL`s contribution towards setting up of the project, BHEL CMD Atul Sobti was honored with an appreciation shield by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharati.
19) Indo-Nepal boundary pillars to be GPS-enabled.
- Over 8,000 boundary pillars along the Indo-Nepal border will be equipped with positioning system using Global Navigation Satellite System, allowing authorities for the first time to effectively manage the more than 1,700-km-long porous boundary.
- The Nepal-India Boundary Global Navigation Satellite System (NIB GNSS) would be used for Nepal-India boundary pillars.
- The decision in this regard was made at the third meeting of Nepal-India Boundary Working Group (BWG) which concluded.
20) Shri Radha Mohan Singh launches a web based App CMRS for better crop and Nutrient management released for Bihar farmers.
- The Union Agriculture & Farmers` Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh launched Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS) – a web based App for better crop and Nutrient management released for Bihar farmers in a program organized at ICAR-RCER in Patna.
- Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS) is a web-based App which can be used with computer, mobile and tablet and aims to increase farmer`s net income and sustain the productivity for rice-based cropping systems in Bihar, India.
- CMRS provides irrigated and rained farmers with rice-based cropping systems in Bihar with a crop and nutrient management guideline customized to the needs of an individual farmer.
21) Environment Minister launches web portal for mining of sand and minor minerals.
- A new web portal has been launched for online submission and monitoring of environmental approvals for mining of sand and minor minerals.
- The web portal will lead to the empowerment of the project proponent, as it not only enhances transparency of the entire application process, but also enables the proponents to track their applications online.
- The web portal is a district-level, web-based and role-based workflow application for online submission and monitoring of proposals for Category B’2’projects.
- The web-based application automates the entire tracking of proposals, which includes online submissions of a new proposal, editing/ updating the details of proposals at each stage of the workflow.
22) MoU Signed for Coal Quality Analysis.
- CSIR - Centre Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CSIR - CIMFR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Coal Supplying companies and Power Utilities for quality analysis of coal being supplied to power utilities by coal companies.
- MoU embarks a historic moment for the energy production chapter of the country and crucial task to deliver best possible results in a transparent environment for quality maintenance in coal sector of the country.
23) RFID Based Access Control System Inaugurated at Cochin Port.
- Dr. K.N. Raghavan, Commissioner of Customs, Cochin inaugurated a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification System) newly installed at Ernakulum Wharf of Cochin Port.
- The RFID is an access control system on digital platform for regulating movement of vehicles, cargo and people into the sensitive wharf area. The system dispenses away with manual checking and reduces the waiting time at the wharf gates.
- The introduction of RFID is one of the key steps in the modernization plan of India’s seaports, formulated by the Government of India, for Port Sector security and efficiency enhancement.
24) Rajnath Singh inaugurates h.q. of Jharkhand`s special anti-Maoist force.
- Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the newly constructed anti-Maoists forces headquarters in Jharkhand`s capital city Ranchi. The headquarters will pave way for further strengthening of the force.
- Singh also inaugurated the administration block and other buildings at Jharkhand Jaguar campus. Jharkhand Jaguar is an anti-Maoist squad formed eight years ago and has led many successful operations against Maoists so far.
25) I-T department to establish over 60 taxpayer centers across country.
- The income tax department will establish over 60 facilitation centers - Aaykar Seva Kendras (ASKs) - this fiscal from Goalpara in Assam to Neemuch in MP as part of efforts to widen the taxpayer base and reach a maximum number of people who need help in doing business with the taxman.
- The ASKs help a person in conducting their personal and business operation with the department ranging from obtaining a new Permanent Account Number (PAN) to filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs) apart from other income tax related subjects.
- The effort is to reach more and more people so that they can get their PAN made, understand taxation issues and also those under the tax bracket do not have to travel far to get their issues resolved.
26) Cabinet approvals.
- Cabinet clears pay hike for one crore govt employees, pensioners 2.5 times hike in basic pay and pensions under the 7th Pay Commission recommendations that will cost the exchequer annually Rs. 1.02 lakh crore, which the government will have a multiplier effect on economy.
- Cabinet approves Memorandum of Understanding between Union Public Service Commission and Royal Civil Service Commission, Bhutan. The MoU will strengthen the existing relationship between RCSC and UPSC. It will facilitate sharing of experience and expertise of both the parties in the area of recruitment.
- Cabinet approves MoU between India and Tanzania for bilateral cooperation in water resources management and development.
- Cabinet approves Revised Cost Estimates for establishment of Eight New IITs at Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhpur, Mandi, Patna and Ropar. The revised Cost Estimate is Rs. 13,990 crore for establishment of eight new IITs over a period of 11 years from 2008-09 to 2018-19.
27) Majuli becomes India’s first island district.
- A river island in Assam has been rewarded for electing the head of the state’s first BJP-led government.
- Sonowal had won the assembly election this year from Majuli Island in the river Brahmaputra, a constituency reserved for scheduled tribes.
- The erosion-troubled Majuli, now a sub-division of Jorhat district, will become the 34th district of Assam.
28) FSSAI signs pact with ASCI to check misleading advertisements.
- Regulator FSSAI joined hands with Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) in its bid to check misleading advertisements in the food and beverages sector.
- FSSAI will also redirect complaints against misleading food and beverages advertisements to ASCI.
- The agreement also requires ASCI to report to FSSAI non- compliance of ASCIs decisions for further action as required per provisions of the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act.
29) Maharashtra govt announces housing concessions for EWS.
- Maharashtra government decided to offer various concessions to the economically weaker sections (EWS) for projects under its ambitious "housing for all" scheme.
- Land for such affordable housing projects will be allotted to the government housing agencies at nominal rates as per this cabinet decision.
- 50 per cent concession will be given in the surveyor and development cost while stamp duty is being fixed at Rs 1,000 for houses meant for the EWS.
30) Indian Railways PSU Rites exports modern passenger coaches to Bangladesh.
- RITES Ltd., a PSU under the Ministry of Railways, has supplied 60 Broad Gauge passenger coaches (LHB type) to Bangladesh Railway (BR) against a contract agreement of 120 coaches
- Two train sets, comprising of 12 coaches each- 2 AC chair car, 2 first AC sleeper car, 6 non-AC chair car and 2 power car, will presently be deployed to operate 3 pairs of inter-city trains between Dhaka and Rajshahi. These modern stainless steel coaches manufactured by Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, are equipped with Fiat bogies capable of running at maximum speed of 160 kmph.
31) Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurates/ launches various facilities/ services through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan.
- Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurated/ launched following facilities/ services through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan.
- Dedication of Improved passenger amenities at Gurgaon station.
- Laying of Foundation-stone for auto car loading facility at Farukhnagar.
- Railway has renovated Gurgaon Railway Station into a modern station.
32) J&K govt launches e-file tracking system.
- In a major e-Governance initiative, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti launched the new workflow based e-file tracking system in the Civil Secretariat - the seat of the government.
- The new IT-enabled file-tracking system implemented by Jammu and Kashmir e-Governance Agency (JKeGA) is aimed at automating file, correspondence and document tracking within government offices.
- It is a major good governance initiative and would go a long way in addressing the concerns regarding inordinate delay in disposal of matters of public importance.
33) EESL Signs MoU with TERI.
- Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) entered into a strategic partnership with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) for two years. The MoU was signed between the two parties in the presence of Union Minister of State (IC) Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy, Shri Piyush Goyal.
- Agreement as Strategic Partners, to work jointly for the achievement of common goals and objectives related to energy efficiency in India and abroad.