Northeast states report spike in HIV rate in those injecting drugs
Close to 20% injecting drug users (IDUS) in Mizoram have HIV, compared to a nationwide prevalence of 6.26% among drug-users, shows data from National Aids Control Organisation’s (NACO) HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2017 released last month.
Six states in the region account for 43.5% of IDUS who tested positive for HIV in India.
The states in the region with higher than usual national prevalence among IDUS are Mizoram (19.81%), Manipur (7.66%), and Tripura (8.55%).
Needle-sharing among IDUS is one of the reasons driving the HIV epidemic in the region, with seven north-eastern states accounting for about 6% of all new HIV infections.
The health ministry began an epidemiological investigation in December last year to understand reasons why HIV prevention and treatment programmes are not working in the region.
The virus has spread in the general population through drug use and controlling its transmission now has become a huge challenge.
For India to meet the goal of ‘End of AIDS’ as a public threat by 2030, it is imperative to bring the numbers down.
INTERNATIONAL
· Melbourne To Host Final Of 2020 World T20
Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the final of both the men’s and women’s World Twenty20when the tournaments come to Australia in 2020.
It will mark the first time the tournaments are held as stand-alone events in the same year in the same country.
The women’s final will coincide with International Women’s Day (8th March).
· Google Introduces A New App Named as Bulletin
Google introduced a new app named “Bulletin”that allows anybody to submit stories for and about their communities.
This is a free, lightweight app for telling a story by capturing photos, video clips and text right from your phone, published straight to the web.
The app is made for contributing hyperlocal stories about your community.
The application has been launched as a limited pilot project and is available in Nashville, Tennessee, and Oakland, California.
NATIONAL
· New e-way bill system comes into force to bring uniformity across the states
ð New e-way bill system comes into force to bring uniformity across the states for smooth inter-state movement of goods
ð A new e-way bill system will come into effect.
Under the new system, every transporter will have to carry a system-generated bill to move goods from one place to another.
The e-way bill systemintroduced to bring uniformity across the states for seamless inter-state movement of goods.
Under the Goods and Services Tax, interstate transportation of goods beyond 10 kilometers with a value of 50,000 rupees and above, will mandatorily require the e-way bill.
Last month, the GST Council decided to implement the e-way bill mechanism throughout the country from 1st of February, 2018.
PM Narendra Modi writes a book titled ‘Exam Warriors’ for students
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written a book for students who battle stress and anxiety during examinations.
The book, slated to be released on February 3, talks about the ways in which students can tackle the stress.
The book has been titled ‘Exam Warriors’ and mentions various means such as practicing yoga.
· Union Government launches GeM 3.0
The Ministry of Commerce & Industrylaunched the third version of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM 3.0).
The earlier version GeM 2.0 was launched a GeM 2.0 was launched as pilot project in August 2016.
GeM 3.0 will offer standardized and enriched catalog management, powerful search engine.
GeM is an Online Market platform to facilitate procurement of goods and services by various Ministries and agencies of the Government.
Wi-Fi hotspots for rural areas proposed
The government has proposed to set up five lakh Wi-Fi hotspots which will provide broadband access to five crore rural citizens.
Allocation of Rs 10,000 crore has been provided in 2018-19 for creation and augmentation of telecom infrastructure.
· Govt proposes key amendments to PMLA
The Central government has proposed changes to various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) through the Finance Bill, including a crucial amendment that empowers the Special Court to restore confiscated assets to the rightful claimants even during the trial.
The government has introduced a new Sub-Section (2) of Section 66, making it mandatory for the ED to share relevant details with other agencies.
A key proposed change is in the definition of “proceeds of crime”, which now also allows the ED to proceed against assets of equivalent value located even outside the country.
A further limit of ₹1 crore involved in the alleged offence would allow the court to apply bail provisions more leniently to less serious PMLA cases, said the government.
Another suggested change is the inclusion of Section 447 of the Companies Act in the list of scheduled offences under PMLA. It will allow the Registrar of Companies to report suitable cases to the ED for money laundering probe.
Arunachal Pradesh government launched two new contraceptives – an injectable one and a pill – under separate programmes to expand people’s choice contraceptives.
The injectable contraceptive was launched under the ‘Antara’ programme and the pill under ‘Chhaya’.
Gynecologists of various districts of the state were also trained on the new contraceptives during a programme.
India was first country in the world to launch family planning programme as early as in 1952 with the aim of controlling its population.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched two new contraceptives in September last year.
INTERNATIONAL
· SpaceX Launches Its Most Powerful Rocket Towards Mars
The US-based SpaceXsuccessfully launched the world’s most powerful operational rocket Falcon Heavy towards Mars.
The rocket, carrying a Tesla Roadster car, will revolve around the Sun in a way that will repeatedly bring it close to the Earth and Mars.
The Falcon Heavy’s thrust and capacity are the highest since NASA’s Saturn V, which carried astronauts to the Moon.
Falcon Heavy successfully lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
India-UAE to ink 12 pacts during PM Modi’s visit
As many as 12 agreements will be signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UAE later this week as India and the oil-rich Gulf nation look to intensify economic cooperation.
The agreements will include areas like finance and skills development.
Modi will start his visit to three West Asian countries – Palestine, the UAE and Oman – on February 9 with focus on cooperation in key areas of defence, security and counter- terrorism.
The Prime Minister will participate in the 6th World Government Summit in Dubai on February 10-11 in which India is a partner country.
This will be PM Modi’s second visit to the UAE. He first visited the country in August 2015.
· Google launches #SecurityCheckKiya campaign
Search engine giant Google launched ‘#SecurityCheckKiya’ campaign in India to create awareness around Internet safety. It was launched on the ocean.
The campaign aims to protect first-time web users from account hijacking, safeguard Android devices from malicious apps and secure all their personal time.
Under the campaign, Google recommended three simple steps for Internet safety. It includes reviewing security settings and Google account activity.
Moreover ‘Google Play Protect’ service scans and checks Android devices for any harmful apps. Find My Device app from Google helps a user to easily long away.
NATIONAL
60 Solar Cities to be developed across country
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy under its scheme “Development of Solar Cities” has approved/sanctioned 60 Cities including 13 Pilot and 5 Model Cities up to 12th Five-year Plan period.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State (IC) for Power & New and Renewable Energy, Shri R K Singh informed that the master plans of 49 Solar Cities have been prepared.
The Stake-holders Committees have been constituted in 21 Cities and Solar City Cells have been created in 37 Solar Cities.
Solar PV projects with aggregate capacity of 8069.16 kWP and Solar Water Heating System with aggregate capacity of 7894 meter square collector area have been sanctioned under the programme.
While Rs. 101.64 crore has been sanctioned, Rs. 25.92 crore has been released under scheme “Development of Solar Cities” so far.
· Assam Government and Ola Sign MoU For River Taxi Service
Cab-hailing startup Ola and the Government of Assam have signed a MoU to pilot an app-based river taxi service in Guwahati.
The river taxis will be machine-operated boats and users will be able to book the rides through Ola’s app.
It’ll bring commute time down to 2-5 minutes from 45 minutes by road. This MoU was signed during the Global Investors Summit: Advantage Assam.
· Commerce Minister Kicks Off Consultations On The New Industrial Policy
Commerce and Industries Minister Mr. Suresh Prabhu set off a series of nation-wide consultations with the industry on the proposed new Industrial Policy.
The first consultation was held at Guwahati in February 2018.
The event, organized by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in partnership with Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), was attended by more than 120 industrialists from the North East in addition to government officials from the North Eastern States.
· President Ram Nath Kovind Inaugurates Mahamastakabhisheka Utsav
The President of India Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the 88th Mahamastakabhisheka Utsav of Lord Gomateshwarain Hassan district of Karnataka.
Mahamastakabhisheka of Gommateshwara, who is also known as Bahubali takes place once in 12 years.
It is an important Jain pilgrimage center and lakhs of tourists visit Shravanbelagola to see 57 feet tall monolithic stone statue that is anointed from head to feet during the Utsav.
· Union Government launches Start-up-India ranking framework
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP)under Commerce Ministry unveiled Start-up-India ranking framework to rank states/UTs based on measures regions that have taken to foster entrepreneurship.
It was launched by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry at a function held in New Delhi.
The framework aims to foster competitiveness and propel states/UTS to act proactively in startup matters.
This ranking will help states to bring progress made in their startup ecosystem and also make different states learn and replicate good practices.
Its objective is to encourage States/UTs to take proactive steps towards strengthening Startup ecosystems at the local level.
· Sushma Swaraj Visit To Saudi Arabia Attends Opening Ceremony Of Al-Janadriyah Fest
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended the opening ceremony of the 32nd Al Jana-driyah festival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
India has been invited as the Guest of Honour country for the festival.
Swaraj in her first engagement addressed Indian community members at a reception in Riyadh and spoke about the relations between the two countries.
During her three day visit, she will meet with the Saudi leadership to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.
