Manipur to set up fast-track court for drug offenders: CM
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said a fast-track court will be set up by March to try increasing drugs-related cases in the state.
Manipur had become a conduit for drug trafficking in the northeast since border trade with Myanmar was legalised in 1995.
Officials are concerned over increasing smugglings of gold, precious stones, narcotics drugs and chemicals used in manufacturing drugs.
INTERNATIONAL
· India Ranks 44th In Global Intellectual Property Index, US Tops
India increased “substantially”its score in the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index, ranking 44th among 50 nations, according to the US Chambers of Commerce report.
Last year, India ranked 43rd out of 45 countries in the Index.
The top 3 countries in the list are-
The USA.
The United Kingdom.
Sweden
India’s overall score has increased substantially from 25% in the 5th edition of the Index to 30% in the 6th edition, according to the annual report prepared by the Global Innovation Policy Centre (GIPC)of the US Chambers of Commerce.
· Guinness World Record attempted for playing Ice Hockey at highest altitude
To set a record in the Guinness book for ice hockey on the world’s highest altitude, an international level tournament was organized at Chiba Kargyam in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
Five international teams from USA, Germany, Canada, Slovakia and Russia and a local team participated in the tournament.
It was jointly organized by the Hockey Foundation, USA, Ladakh Winter Sports Club and Lalok Winter Sports Association.
AIR correspondent reports that with a mission to set a record in Guinness World Record, the ice hockey tournament was held at recently built international standards open ice hockey rink at an altitude of 4371 meters above the sea level.
2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics will take place at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in Pyeongchang, South Korea on February 9, 2018.
The site of the opening ceremony Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium was built specifically for the games.
These Games will feature 102 events in fifteen sports disciplines.
Peace will be the central theme of the games.
NATIONAL
11 states are now open defecation free: Government
The government informed the Lok Sabha that till date 11 states and union territories (UTs) have been declared open defecation free (ODF) under Swachh Bharat Mission.
The government is taking various steps under the SBM to make all states in the country ODF, the minister of state in the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi, said in a written reply.
· Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarks on 4-day visit to Palestine, UAE, Oman
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the Gulf and West Asian regionfor the fifth time since 2015.
In his statement prior to his departure to Palestine, United Arab Emirates, and Oman, the Prime Minister said, this region is a key priority in India’s external engagement and he is looking forward to strengthening India’s growing and important ties with West Asia and the Gulf region through the visit. He said India enjoy vibrant multi-dimensional ties with the countries in West Asia.
Expressing his gratitude to the King Abdullah II of Jordan for facilitating the transit, he said he looks forward to meeting him in Amman today.
On his first visit to Palestine, he was looking forward to the discussions with President Mahmoud Abbas and reaffirmed India’s support for the Palestinian people and the development of Palestine.
· First Ever Chat Based Job Search App ‘Empzilla’ Launched
The first ever of its kind in the country chat-based job search mobile app ‘Empzilla‘ is being launched that will do away with existing limitations of employers and job seekers making selection process quick and cost-effective.
The mobile app gets the conversation between employers and job seekers going in seconds and the latter can chat with the potential employers.
· Haryana emerges as first champion of Khelo India School Games with 38 gold medals
Haryana youngsters outclassed others by achieving the highest number of medal tally in the inaugural edition of the Khelo India School Games.
The competition concluded in New Delhi.
The sports powerhouse won 102 medals including 38 gold medals, 26 silver medals, 38 Bronze medals. Maharashtra (110) finished second overall while Delhi (94) came third.
Punjab and Kerala won the boys’ and girls’ gold medals respectively in Basketball competition.
On the final day, Haryana emerged with the best haul of five medals, including one gold, two silver, and two bronze medals.
Haryana archers showed impressive performance and won one gold medal on the final day. It clinched two silver and two bronze medals from Archery on the same day.
· CCEA approves enhancement of target under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved to enhance target base of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) from 5 crore to 8 crores.
The revised target of PMUY will be achieved by 2020 with an additional allocation of Rs. 4,800 crore.
The decision comes in the wake of the huge response to PMUY from the women particularly in rural areas and to cover such households not having LPG connection.
This move will address practical difficulty faced in implementation of MUY, namely, targeting genuinely poor households left out of Socio-Economic Cards.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address elections rallies at Sonamura & Kailasahar in Tripura
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address rallies at Sonamurain Sipahijala districtand Kailasahar in Unakoti district.
Assam Chief Minister and BJP leader Sarbanand Sonowal addressed public meetings in Teliamura and Majlishpur yesterday.
Assam’s former Chief Minister and Congress leader Tarun Gogoi campaigned in Badarghat constituency.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar addressed rallies in Kumar ghat and Kailasahar of Unakoti district. The state will go to polls on the 18th of this month to elect a new assembly.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing rallies in Sonamura of Sipahijala and Kailasahar of Kailasahar districts. In view of PM’s rally, the security arrangement has been beefed up in the state.
Also, yesterday addressing a rally in Teliamura, Assam’s Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to develop each and every state of the country.
INTERNATIONAL
· Forbes Releases Its First-Ever Cryptocurrency Rich List
Business magazine Forbes released its first-ever Crypto Rich List, comprising 20 wealthiest peoplein the cryptocurrency space.
The list was topped by Ripple Co-founder Chris Larsen, who is estimated to have a crypto net worth of $7.5-8 billion.
He is followed by Ethereum Co-founder Joseph Lubin ($1-5 billion) and Founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance Changpeng Zhao ($1.1-2 billion).
· Bermuda Becomes first Country In World To Abolish Same-Sex Marriage
Bermuda becomes the first country to legalize and then repeal same-sex marriage.
Bermuda’s governor John Rankin approved a bill reversing the right of gay couples to marry, despite a supreme court ruling last year authorizing same-sex marriage.
NATIONAL
· Google and NCERT Join Hands To Teach Students Digital Safety
Google and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)signed a pact to integrate a course on ‘Digital Citizenship and Safety’ in information and communication technology curriculum.
It was signed on the occasion of Safer Internet Day (06th February).
The curriculum developed by NCERT in collaboration with Google will be used to train students from class I – class XII across 1.4 million schools in India where they will learn how to become good and responsible digital citizens. The curriculum is spread into four themes – being smart, being safe, being a digital citizen and being future ready.
· HAL Develops First Hawk-I Flight
The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited developed the first flight of Hawk-i with indigenous Real Time Operating System (RTOS).
Hawk-i is the first indigenous RTOS developed in India from scratch and certified by Center for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC).
The RTOSis the system software which provides a standard run-time environment for real-time applications execution in a safe and reliable manner.
· Fifth South Asia Region Public Procurement Conference Held In New Delhi
The Fifth edition of South Asia Region Public Procurement Conferencewas held in New Delhi.
It was hosted by Public Procurement Division (PPD) of Ministry of Finance and All India Management Association (AIMA).
It was held under auspices of South Asia Region Public Procurement Network (SARPPN),which is sponsored and facilitated by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Islamic Development Bank.
The theme this edition of the conference was “Public Procurement and Service Delivery”.
· Union Cabinet approves implementation of PMRF scheme gives nod to enhance beneficiaries under Ujjwala Yojana from 5 to 8 crores
Union Cabinet approved implementation of Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) schemeat a total cost of 1,650 crore rupees for a period of seven years beginning 2018-19. The scheme was announced in the Union Budget for 2018-19.
Under this scheme, the best students who have completed or are in the final year of B. Tech or Integrated M.Tech or M.Sc. in Science and Technology streams from IISc or IITs or NITs or IISERs or IIITs will be offered direct admission in the Ph.D. programme in the IITs or IISc.
Such students, who fulfill the eligibility criteria, and are shortlisted through a selection process, as laid down in the PMRF Guidelines, will be offered a fellowship of 70 thousand rupees per month for the first two years, 75 thousand rupees per month for the 3rd year and 80 thousand rupees per month in the 4th and 5th years.
· Defence Ministry constitutes a 13-member advisory committee to expedite capital acquisition for Armed Forces modernisation
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharamanconstituted a 13-member advisory committee to monitor and expedite capital acquisition projects for the modernization of the armed forces.
In a statement, the Ministry said, the committee will undertake an independent review and check the status of ongoing critical projects worth more than 500 crore rupees.
The panel will suggest measures to improve the capital acquisition process.
The committee, headed by Vinay Sheel Oberoi, will have to present an initial status report on identified projects to the Defence Minister by March 31.
Centre to link driving licence with Aadhaar
The Centre is in the process of linking driving licences with Aadhaar number to weed out fake licences and a software for this covering all states on a real time basis is under preparation, the Supreme Court was told.
A bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta was informed about it by a court-appointed committee on road safety headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice K S Radhakrishnan.
This assumes significance as a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra is currently hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme and the enabling 2016 law.
ISRO sets up 473 Village Resource Centres for rural development
To demonstrate the potential of satellite technology for development of rural areas, ISRO established Village Resource Centres (VRCs) on a pilot scale, in association with selected NGOs, Trusts and State Government Departments.
VRCs have provided various space technology enabled services such as tele-healthcare, tele-education, natural resources information, advisories related to agriculture, career guidance to rural students, skill development and vocational training etc.
About Rs 18 crores was spent for establishing 473 VRCs.
· Development of Solar Cities scheme: 60 Solar Cities to be developed
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)under its “Development of Solar Cities” scheme sanctioned the development of 60 Solar Cities including 13 Pilot and 5 Model Cities up to 12th Five-year Plan period (2012–2017).
So far, master plans of 49 Solar Cities have been prepared.
Under it, local Governments are motivated for adopting renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures.
Solar City developed under this scheme will have all types of renewable energy based projects like solar, wind, biomass, small hydro, waste to energy.
India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile as part of a user trial by the Army from Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, in Odisha. It is a surface-to-surface missile and has a strike range of 350 km.
Prithvi-II is capable of carrying 500-1,000 kilogram of warheads and is thrust by liquid propulsion twin engines.
Inducted into the Armed forces of the country in 2003, the nine-meter-tall, single-stage liquid-fuelled Prithvi-II is the first missile to have been developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).
Jhulan Goswami first female cricketer to take 200 ODI wickets
India’s veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami has added another feather to her illustrious cap by becoming the first female cricketer to take 200 ODI wickets.
Goswami achieved the feat during the second ODI between India and South Africa.
The 35-year-old, playing her 166th ODI, dismissed opener Laura Wolvaardt for her 200th scalp.
She was adjudged ICC Women Cricketer of the Year in 2007.
