Current Affairs Update 12 July 2018

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1st Meeting of Panel for Coordination Between MGNREGA and Agriculture held at NITI Aayog

The First Meeting of Sub-Group of Chief Ministers headed by Shivraj Singh Chouhan on coordination between MGNREGA and Agriculture was held at NITI Aayog.
The meeting pointed out some major benefit in which MGNREGA could positively help. These include:
- Reducing the cost of cultivation
- Enhancing the production through efficient use of water or other inputs
- Providing remunerative price to farmers by incentivising aggregation and market infrastructure
- Rehabilitation of agricultural land and assets after natural hazards or re-plantation using MGNREGA fund
- Bringing diversification in agriculture to help occupational diversification and maximising profit.
- Incentivising farm fencing to protect the farmer fields from wild animals was also suggested.

Delhi to Inaugurate Signature Bridge in October

India’s first asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge “Signature Bridge” in Delhi is finally scheduled to be open by October 2018.
The 675m long and 35.2m wide bridge will connect the Wazirabad bridge across the river Yamuna. It will also connect the Outer Ring Road on the western bank of the river with Wazirabad Road on the eastern side to reduce the vehicular pressure off the existing Wazirabad bridge.
The signature bridge project was approved in 1997 however, the completion of the bridge has been delayed by several years due to inadequate funds. Even the project cost has increased from Rs 1,100 crore to Rs 1,575 crore.

India’s shift to green economy could add 3 million jobs by 2030: ILO Report

If 40 per cent of India’s electricity comes from renewables by 2030 (from 7.5 per cent in February 2018), the country could add about 3 million new jobs, according to a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), an arm of the United Nations.

Govt sets up task force on ways to reduce import

The government has set up a high-level task force under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to identify various items and policy interventions to reduce dependence on import.
The task force would suggest ways to cut import of those items which can be manufactured or explored in the country. On an average, India’s imports stand at around USD 450 billion per year.

Odisha Constitutes ‘Heritage Cabinet’ to Preserve Culture

The Odisha government has constituted a ‘Heritage Cabinet’ to preserve the Odia language and the history and culture of the state.
As per the notification issued by the Parliamentary Affairs Department, the cabinet comprises eight members and will be headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The Cabinet will co-ordinate with organisations working for preservation, promotion and enrichment of the language, literature history and culture of the State. It will also prepare policies and prepare and approve short-term and long-term plans.

New ASI Headquarters Inaugurated in New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Dharohar Bhawan, the new headquarters building of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in New Delhi.
The ASI’s new headquarters at Tilak Marg has been equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including energy efficient lighting and rainwater harvesting.
It will include a central archaeological library with a collection of about 1.5 lakh books and journals.

NITI Aayog Proposes 15-Point Action Plan to Combat Air Pollution in 10 Most Polluted Cities

Niti Aayog has proposed a 15-point action plan titled ‘Breathe India’, to combat air pollution in ten most polluted cities in India.
According to a recent WHO database (2018), Delhi, Kanpur, Faridabad, Gaya, Varanasi, Agra, Gurgaon, Muzaffarpur, Lucknow and Patna are the top ten most polluted cities in India.
The draft action plan includes encouraging electric vehicles, phasing out private diesel vehicle, development of crop residue utilisation policy, expediting strategic decommissioning of old and inefficient power plants and implementation of a large scale feebate programme from 2020 onwards.

Piyush Goyal Distributes Awards for Beautification of Stations Premises

The Union Minister of Railways & Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal gave away the awards to winning stations of Station Beautification competition in Rail Bhawan. This innovative competition was organized among Zonal Railways in December 2017.

The top 3 winning Stations include:

Rank	Stations	Prize Money
1st	Balharshah & Chandrapur Railway stations (Central Railway)	Rs 10 Lakhs
2nd	Madhubani Railway station (East Central Railway) & Madurai Railway station (Southern Railway)	Rs 5 Lakhs
3rd	Gandhidham Railway station (Western Railway), Kota Railway station (West Central Railway) & Secunderabad Railway station (South Central Railway)	Rs 3 Lakhs

MoHUA Launches Technology Challenge to Eliminate Human Entry into Septic Tanks

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched “Technology Challenge: Identifying solutions for cleaning of Sewerage Systems and Septic Tanks” with the objective of eliminating the human entry into septic tanks/manholes etc for cleaning.
The challenge will be a part of the Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention which will be held on 2nd of October this year.
It will be conducted for two separate categories – ‘Technological solutions for cleaning and maintenance of sewerage systems that eliminate need for human entry’ and ‘Technological solutions for cleaning and maintenance of septic tanks that eliminate need for human entry’.

Govt raises threshold limit for filling appeals relating to tax cases to Rs 20 lakh

Government of India has decided to increase the threshold monetary limits for filing Departmental Appeals at various levels, be it Appellate Tribunals, High Courts and the Supreme Court in the following manner

Sl. No.	Appeal Forum	Present limit for filing appeal(In Rs.)	Enhanced limit(In Rs.)
1.	ITAT / CESTAT	10 lakhs	20 lakhs
2.	High Courts	20 lakhs	50 lakhs
3.	Supreme Court	25 lakhs	1 Crore

This has been done to reduce the long pending grievances of taxpayers and to minimise litigations pertaining to tax matters and to facilitate the Ease of Doing Business. The move will result in 41 per cent reduction in overall tax cases.
ITAT- Income Tax Appellate Tribunal
CESTAT- The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal

RBI Monetary Policy Committee to be a three-day event from July 30, 2018

The Monetary Policy Committee has decided to continue the practice of a three-day meeting format commencing on July 30, 2018 as was adopted in the meeting for the Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement of June 6, 2018.
The Third Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2018-19 will be issued on August 1, 2018.

Indian Army chooses SBI as its banker

The Indian Army has signed MOU with the State bank of India (SBI) on the Defence Salary Package. It will include free personal accident death and total disability cover.
The first MoU between SBI and the Indian Army was signed in 2011 and was renewed on 23 Feb 2015.
A number of additional facilities have been incorporated in the revised MoU which include free personal accident death cover, free permanent total disablement cover and other accidental benefits to the deceased soldier and family.
The MoU will be valid till 03 Jan 2019 and continuation thereafter will be subject to review/renewal.

India Becomes 69th Shareholder of EBRD

India has become the 69th and the newest shareholder of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The membership will pave way for more joint investment with Indian companies across the bank’s regions of operation.
The Indian government had applied for membership in the London-based EBRD in December 2017.
The EBRD board of governors, which represents all the existing shareholders, voted unanimously in favour of the country’s application in March 2018 for India’s membership.

T.C.A. Raghavan Appointed as Director General of ICWA

The Vice President of India and also the President of ICWA, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has appointed Dr. T.C.A. Raghavan as the Director General, ex officio Member-Secretary of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA).
The post is equivalent to the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, with effect from 24th July, 2018. Dr. T.C.A. Raghavan has served as India’s High Commissioner to Islamabad and Singapore.

Malala Day: World Bank says not educating girls costs world up to $30 trn

12 July: United Nations Malala day. The day is based upon the life and struggles of Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan, who advocates for equal access to education for women.
World Bank released the report titled ‘Missed Opportunities: The High Cost of Not Educating Girls’ on this day.
The report said that not educating girls or creating barriers in their school education globally costs between $15-30 trillion.

Spiritual leader Dada JP Vaswani Passes Away

Spiritual leader and head of Sadhu Vaswani mission Dada JP Vaswani passed away in Pune. He was 99.
Born on August 2, 1918 in Pakistan’s Hyderabad city in a Sindh family, Vaswani was a world renowned spiritual leader known for promoting vegetarianism and animal rights.
He was the recipient of the 1998 U Thant Peace Award, given by the United Nations. Dada Vaswani’s birthday is celebrated as a Global Forgiveness Day.

Current Affairs Update – 12 July 2018