Government sets up High Level Committee chaired to check mob lynching
A two high-level committees have been constituted by the central government to suggest ways and legal framework to effectively deal with incidents of mob violence and lynching. It was announced by Home Ministry.
One of the committees is being headed by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the other by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba.
The committee will submit its recommendations to the government within four weeks.
The government has also decided to constitute a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Home Minister Singh to consider the recommendations of the high-level committee of the secretaries.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot are members of the GoM.
‘Bijli Mitra’ Mobile app for replacement of transformers in Rajasthan
The farmers in Rajasthan will soon have the ease to get their defunct transformers replaced within six hours of registering a complaint through a mobile app.
The scheme was being launched on a pilot basis from Jhalawara.
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje announced that the process of replacing transformers used to consume a lot of time, therefore, the government decided to introduce mobile app ‘Bijli Mitra’ so that farmers can register their complaint.
WCD Ministry launches ‘Childline 1098’ contest
The Women and Child Development Ministry has invited people to share images of the logo of Childline 1098.
The Childline 1098 is the nationwide emergency helpline for children in distress.
The contest has been organised to mark ‘World Day against Trafficking in Persons‘ on July 30. The Childline has been operating at 450 locations, including 76 key railway stations, across the country.
Modi govt re-introduces Medini Puraskar Yojna for writings about green issues
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 Yojana, which aims at promoting original writing of books in Hindi, will have four awards for authors of various environmental topics.
Rs one lakh will be given as first prize, Rs 75,000 as second prize and Rs 50,000 as third prize. There will also be a consolation prize of Rs 25,000.
The scheme shall be administered by the Environment Ministry and it shall be operational for each financial year commencing from April 1 this year.
03 states UP, Jharkhand and Maharashtra launched Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2018
The Ministry of Urban Development has released the report of Swachh Survekshan survey 2018 under Swachh Survekshan 2018..
The ministry has declared Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh as the top three states in terms of cleanness and sanitation.
Jharkhand is ranked 1st in the overall average score, ranked 1st in Service Level Progress (SLP) and ranked 1st in Direct Observation (DO) average score and again ranked 2nd in Citizens Engagement under the population category less than 1 Lakh.
INTERNATIONAL
1st Meeting Of India-Bangladesh Joint Committee On Border Haats Concludes
The first meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Committee on Border Haats concluded in Agartala, Tripura.
During the two day meeting both sides noted the positive impact of Border Haats on the livelihoods of the people living in areas adjoining the Haats.
Both the countries agreed to set up six new Border Haats with an aim to increase the trade between the two countries before March, 2019.
The agreement for setting up of new Border Haats was signed by Bhupinder S Bhalla, joint secretary, Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Md Shafiqul Islam, additional secretary Ministry of Commerce, Bangladesh in the first meeting of the Joint Border Haat Committee (JBHC).
BANKING AND ECONOMY
India, Rwanda sign 8 agreements
India and Rwanda signed eight agreements following delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Kigali.
The two countries signed agreements in the fields of Defence, Trade, Agriculture, Leather and allied products and Dairy.
An MoU on the cultural exchange programme for the year 2018-22 was signed. An agreement on defence was signed for capacity building, industry, science, and technology.
Another MoU on dairy cooperation was signed on cooperation in agricultural research and education between RAB (Rwanda Agriculture Board) and ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research).
Rwanda
Capital: Kigali
Currency: Rwandan franc
India extends $200 m line of credit to Rwanda
India has extended $200 million line of credit to Rwanda for its economic development.
Two LOC (Line of Credit) agreements – one for USD 100 million for development of Industrial Parks and expansion of Kigali Special Economic Zones and the other for for Agriculture irrigation scheme in Rwanda worth USD 100 million were signed.
It was signed between Chief General Manager, EXIM Bank, Nadeem Panjetan and Rwandan Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana.
Prime Minister gifted two hundred cows, as a contribution from India to the Scheme under ‘Girinka programme’
Prime Minister announced gifting of 100,000 books of the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) books, setting up of the Entrepreneurship Development Centre in Kigali which would provide training to youth of Rwanda.
India, Uganda sign four MoUs in various fields
India and Uganda signed four MoUs in the areas of defence cooperation, visa exemption for official and diplomatic passport holders, cultural exchange programme and material testing laboratory.
The agreements were inked following delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Kampala.
Indian Prime Minister for offering to build a commemoration centre in Kampala in memory of Mahatma Gandhi.
India also announced two Lines of Credit worth nearly 200 million US dollars to Uganda in energy, infrastructure, agriculture and dairy sectors.
Uganda
Capital: Kampala
Currency: Ugandan shilling
NITI Aayog signs SoI with Lupin Foundation for collaborating in Aspirational Districts
The NITI Aayog has signed an agreement with the Lupin Foundation to collaborate in the government’s ambitious aspirational districts programme.
It aims to quickly and effectively transform some of the most underdeveloped districts of the country.
The NITI Aayog and Lupin Foundation will work in three states – Dholpur in Rajasthan, Nandurbar in Maharashtra and Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh.
They will collaborate to improve indicators in education, health and nutrition, financial inclusion and skill development, agriculture and water resources, and basic infrastructure in the backward districts.
Bank of Baroda sets up ‘war room lawyer team’ for bad loan recovery
The State-owned lender Bank of Baroda has set up a team of lawyers, called the ‘War Room Team’, to deal with bad loans whose recovery is now embroiled in legal complications Banks, Financial Institutions Sign Agreement To Speed Up Resolution of Bad Loans.
BoB has 380 high-value bad loan accounts, in which the bank is either the sole lender or the consortium leader. The total outstanding amount of these loans is about Rs 15,000 crore.
APPOINTMENTS
Pakistan Gets Its 1st Woman Chief Justice Of High Court
Pakistan has got its first-ever woman chief justice of a high court.
Justice Tahira Safdar was named as the Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar.
Justice Safdar will take charge of her new role following the retirement of incumbent Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Mohammad Noor Muskanzai.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
Sahapedia’s India Heritage Walk fete wins PATA award
India Heritage Walk Festival, a collaboration of Sahapedia and YES Arts & Culture, has been awarded the PATA Gold Award 2018 for its recently concluded pan-India event.
Sahapedia is an open online resource on the arts, cultures and heritage of India.
The award by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) in Bangkok has been presented to it under the ‘Heritage-Culture’ category.
YES Arts & Culture is the cultural division of YES Global Institute, a practising think tank of YES BANK.
RANKING
India drops three ranks in AT Kearney FDI Confidence Index
India in 2018 has fallen out of the top 10 destinations for FDI in terms of its attractiveness, according to an AT Kearney report.
India ranks 11 in the 2018 AT Kearney FDI Confidence Index, down from 8 in 2017 and 9 in 2016.
China (5), India (11), and Singapore (12) all rank lower this year, while Australia rises to 8th and New Zealand jumps to the 16th spot in only its second year on the Index. Japan and South Korea hold steady at 6th and 18th, respectively.
Global Slavery Index: India’s slave count went down by 10.3 million
A global survey by human rights group Walk Free Foundation (WFF) has announced that India is home to 8 million slaves among its whopping population of 1.3 billion.
The other four nations with the highest number of slaves are China, Pakistan, North Korea and Nigeria, making up 60 per cent of the global figures, according to WFF.
In terms of highest slavery, however, North Korea and Eritrea topped the list.
BOOKS AND AUTHORS
Ramachandra Guha pens ‘the most ambitious book’ on Gandhi
The Renowned historian and author of several bestselling books, Ramachandra Guha has penned a new book on the father of the nation.
His bestselling books includes the highly acclaimed “India After Gandhi” and “Gandhi Before India”.
The book titled “Gandhi: The years that changed the world (1914-1948)” will be published by Penguin Random House India.
SPORTS
Olympic Medalists to now receive Rs 20,000 pension per month
An Olympic medallist is now entitled to a pension of Rs 20,000 per month with the Sports Ministry doubling the amount following a revision in its pension policy.
A medal winner at Paralympics will also be entitled to the same amount as an Olympic medallist.
A gold medallist in a World Cup or at the Asian Games will get Rs 16,000, a silver medallist Rs 14000 and a bronze medal winner will get Rs 12,000.
AIFF declares Sunil Chhetri player of the year
The football team captain Sunil Chhetri as the ‘AIFF Player of the Year’ during an executive committee meeting.
The 33-year-old played his first match for India in the under-20 team in 2004 and went on to become the most capped player and all-time top goal scorer for the national team.
In women’s category, 26-year-old Kamala Devi bagged the 2017 ‘AIFF Women Player of the Year.’
2017 AIFF Award for Best Grassroots Development Programme: Kerala FA
2017 AIFF Award for Best Assistant Referee: Sumanta Datta (Assam)
2017 AIFF Award for Best Referee: CR Srikrishna
2017 AIFF Emerging Woman Footballer of the Year: E Panthoi
2017 AIFF Emerging Player of the Year: Anirudh Thapa
Manu-Sumeeth retain Lagos International title
The senior national badminton champions Mannu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy won the men’s doubles title at Lagos International Badminton.
The defending champions retained the title after thrashing their Indian counterpart S. Vaibhav and Prakash Raj. In another all-India final Kuhoo Garg and Ria Mukherjee defeated Krishma Wadekar and V Harika in women’s doubles event
Indian shuttler Sree Krishina Priya had to settle for silver after losing to Russia’s Ksenia Polikaprova in the women’s singles event.
In mixed doubles final, Indian pair Manu Attri and Manisha clinched gold for the country.
