Cyril Ramaphosa sworn in as new President of South Africa
Cyril Ramaphosa (65-year) has been sworn in as South Africa's new president after the resignation of Jacob Zuma.
Ramaphosa is South Africa's fifth president since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994.
In December last year, he narrowly defeated Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in the race to replace ex-South African President Jacob Zuma as the head of the African National Congress (ANC) party.
Haruhiko Kuroda reappointed as Bank of Japan Chief
Japan govt. has reappointed Bank of Japan Governor ‘Haruhiko Kuroda’ for another term and chose an advocate of bolder monetary easing as one of his deputies.
The union government has also nominated Masazumi Wakatabe (Professor at Waseda University) as deputy governor.
Note: The Governor of the ‘Bank of Japan’ has considerable influence on the economic policy of the Japanese government.
National Affairs
PM Modi inaugurates World Sustainable Development Summit in New Delhi
Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the three-dayWorld Sustainable Development Summit -2018 in New Delhi.
The summit is the flagship forum of the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
It seeks to bring together, global leaders and thinkers in the fields of sustainable development, energy, and environment sectors, on a common platform.
The theme of the summit is partnerships for a resilient planet, seeking to create action frameworks to resolve some of the most urgent challenges facing developing economies in the backdrop of climate change.
Assam govt introduces 'The Assam Yoga Council Bill, 2018' in State Assembly
The Assam govt. has introduced 'The Assam Yoga Council Bill, 2018' in the state Assembly to set up a yoga council for regulating the teaching and practice of yoga.
The council is proposed to be set up in order to assure the quality of service and avoid misinterpretation and misuse of the system.
The council will be empowered to grant affiliation and accreditation to institutions teaching yoga as well as withdraw the same.
J&K govt to establish law university to improve quality of legal education
The Jammu and Kashmir state legislature government has passed a bill to establish a maiden law university to improve the quality of professional legal education in the state.
In terms of this resolution, many states have already enacted a law to establish national law universities.
It will be set up on the lines of the Bangaluru-based National Law School of India University (NLSU).
India inks loan agreement with NDB for USD 100mn for Rajasthan Water Project
India has signed the second loan agreement with New Development Bank (NDB) for 100 million dollars for Rajasthan Water Sector Restructuring Project for Desert Areas.
This is the first tranche loan approved by the NDB under the Multi-Tranche Financing Facility of 345 Million dollars for this project.
Rajasthan government will implement the project through its Water Resources Department in the period of six years.
The objective of this project is to rehabilitate the Indira Gandhi Canal system (678-kilometer long) built during 1958 to 1963 to prevent seepage, conserve water, and enhance water use efficiency.
WPI for all commodities for Jan 2018 rises by 0.1%
The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI stood at 2.84% for the month of January 2018 as compared to 3.58% for the previous month and 4.26% during the corresponding month of the previous year.
Build up inflation rate in the financial year was 2.30% compared to a build-up rate of 4.55% in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The official Wholesale Price Index for All Commodities for the month of January 2018 rose by 0.1% to 115.8 from 115.7 for the previous month.
Cauvery Water Dispute: SC awards additional 14.75 TMC to Karnataka
he Supreme Court has awarded an additional 75 TMC of Cauvery water to Karnataka and reduced Tamil Nadu's share of Cauvery water.
The Supreme court has upheld the 2007 decision of Cauvery Water Tribunal while making some amendments.
Earlier, while Cauvery Water Tribunal had allocated 192 TMC water to Tamil Nadu, the apex court has reduced it to 177 TMC.
The apex court has kept water share of Puducherry and Kerala unchanged.
India’s biggest global pharma conference begins in Bengaluru
The Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilisers Ananth Kumar has inaugurated three-day international exhibition and conference on Pharmaceutical & Medical Device sector ‘India Pharma & India Medical Device 2018’ in Bengaluru.
The event is being organized by the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, along with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
India Pharma & India Medical Device 2018 will see a roundtable of pharma and medical devices CEOs with Ananth Kumar, to discuss Government policy and challenges facing the Industry.
Over 300 companies and 50 startups will showcase their products at the grand exhibition where more than 90 eminent industry leaders will speak at various sessions.
