Union Budget

08.02.18 Nagaland(NPSC) Current Affairs

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NORTH-EASTERN STATES

 

  • 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.

·        Nuclear-Capable Prithvi-II Missile Successfully Test-Fired

  • 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.

 

04-05.02.18 Nagaland(NPSC) Current Affairs

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NORTH-EASTERN STATES

  • Arunachal Pradesh nods to much awaited Advertisement Policy 2018

 

  • Arunachal Pradeshgave a nod to much awaited “Arunachal Pradesh Advertisement Policy 2018.” State Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Pema Khandu approved Arunachal Pradesh Advertisement Policy 2018 which will enable the government to make payment of government advertisement bills to media houses on a timely basis.
  • In another decision, the Cabinet approved the release of gratuitous relief of Rs 2,000 for all contingency and casual workers serving under Arunachal Government.
  • Apart from approving the creation of 25 posts of Assistant Professors for government colleges of the state under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), the Cabinet also approved enhancement of salary of teachers working under SSA and RMSA on contractual basis up to 22% with effect from April 1, 2018.
  • The Cabinet directed the education department to ensure that salaries are disbursed by the first week of the subsequent month through the Aadhaar-based DBT through PFMS method. 

    INTERNATIONAL

     

    • World Cancer Day: 4 February

     

    • World Cancer Day is an international day marked on February 4 to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment.

     

    • World Cancer Day was founded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to support the goals of the World Cancer Declaration, written in 2008.

     

    • The primary goal of the World Cancer Day is to significantly reduce illness and death caused by cancer by 2020.

     

    • The theme for the World Cancer Day 2016-2018 is ‘We can. I can.’

     

    • Nepal gets a high Rs. 650 crore outlay

     

    • India’s annual financial allocation to Nepal for 2018-19 has nearly doubled under the Union Budget presented on February 1.

     

    • The External Affairs Ministry has been allocated a total Rs. 15,011 crore, which indicates a marginal increase of Rs. 1,321 crore over the previous year’s grant.

     

    • For India’s development and diplomatic engagement under the ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, the Budget has allocated Rs. 5545 crore.

     

    • Bhutan is traditionally the largest recipient of Ministry’s allocation.

     

     

    NATIONAL

     

    • Venkaiah Naidu to Inaugurate First International Kala Mela

     

    • The Vice President of India Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate the First International Kala Mela in New Delhi on February 4.
    • The Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge) and Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma will also grace the occasion.

     

    • Lalit Kala Akademi, the premier institution for the promotion of Art and Culture is organizing it at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi (IGNCA).

     

    • Environment Ministry launches ‘Green Good Deeds’ campaign

     

    • Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has appealed to the teaching community to join the “Green Good Deeds” campaign, launched by his Ministry to sensitise the people about climate change and global warming.

     

    • The Minister reminded the teachers of their “Green Social Responsibility similar to corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

     

    • CRISIL, SIDBI Launch India’s First MSE Sentiment Index

     

    • The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Shri Arun Jaitley launched CriSidEx , India’s first sentiment index for micro and small enterprises ( MSEs) developed jointly by CRISIL & SIDBI.

     

    • CriSidEx is a composite index based on a diffusion index of 8 parameters and measures MSE business sentiment on a scale of 0 (extremely negative ) to 200 ( extremely positive) .

     

    • The parametric feedback was captured through a survey of 1100 MSEs in November –December.

     

    • CriSidEx will have 2 indices , one for the ‘survey quarter’ and another for the ‘next quarter’ once a trend emerges after few rounds of the survey , providing independent time series data.

     

    • The crucial benefit of CriSidEx is that its readings will flag potential headwinds and changes in production cycles and thus help improve market efficiencies and by capturing the sentiment of exporters and importers , it will also offer actionable indicators on foreign trade.

     

    • India’s biggest floating island released in Neknampur lake

     

    • On the occasion of World Wetland Day, city-based NGO Dhruvansh has introduced biggest floating island of India at Neknampur Lake, Hyderabad.
    • The duo of Dhruvansh NGO, Madhulika and Neeraj Singh started Neknampur restoration programme in June 2016 adopting various cost effective methodologies to clean the lake.
    • After successful introduction of 10×10 feet floating islands last year, the NGO introduced 2,500 square feet floating island with 3,500 wetland plants floating on this platform.

     

    • “A Century is Not Enough”: Autobiography of Sourav Ganguly

     

    • Former Team India captain Sourav Ganguly’s autobiography is soon-to-be-published and it is named “A Century is Not Enough”.

     

    • The book is co-authored by Gautam Bhattacharya and published by Juggernaut Books.

     

    • The book covers the ups and downs in more than a decade long career of the former Indian captain fondly called ‘Dada’.

     

    ·        Railways Ministry may introduce dynamic pricing system

     

    • The Railways Ministrythe current flex-fare system and is considering introducing a dynamic pricing system for train tickets, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has said. Under dynamic pricing system, fares will be decided as per the season and demand.

     

    • The Fares will be automatically adjusted via artificial intelligence, algorithms or technology, to help trains have more occupancy.

    ·        India Lifts U-19 World Cup 2018

     

    • India defeated Australia to lift the Under 19 World cup for the fourth time.
    • The Men in Blue defeated the three-time champions Australia at Bay Oval, New Zealand.

     

    • Manjot Kalra scored a sensational unbeaten century and was named Man of the Match.

     

    • Shubman Gill was declared man of the series.

     

02.02.18 Nagaland(NPSC) Current Affairs

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NORTH-EASTERN STATES

  • Budget brings hope to bamboo-rich northeast

 

  • Bamboo is essentially a type of grass, but its classification as a tree for 90 years prevented the northeast, which grows 67% of India’s bamboo, from exploiting it commercially unlike China, the only country with richer bamboo genetic resources.

 

  • Now Budget 2018 has ignited farm hope for this tree-turned-grass which once fuelled insurgency in the northeastern states. The allocation of ₹1,290 crore for a restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM) has raised hopes for a range of bamboo-based industries – from food professing to construction.

 

  • Bamboo is a wonder, multi-utility grass that more than 300 ethnic groups in the northeast have traditionally been using in every stages of life, from birth to death, besides it being a delicacy. Bamboo’s commercial journey began when it was struck off the list of trees by amending the Indian Forest Act last year.

 

  • The Budget provision is one of the best initiatives to promote holistic development of bamboo. But the restructured NBM needs to be more focussed on value-chain management and value-addition of bamboo at community level which will bring more income to the bamboo farmers and bamboo processors.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

·        India Slips to 42nd Place On EIU Democracy Index, Norway Tops

 

  • India slipped to 42nd place on an annual Global Democracy Index according to the data compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). India has moved down from 32nd place last year.
  • The top 5 Countries in the list are

    Norway,

    Iceland,

    Sweden,

    New Zealand and

    Denmark

 

  • The index ranks 165 independent states and two territories on the basis of five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture.

 

  • The list has been divided into four broad categories- full democracy, flawed democracy, the hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.

 

  • North Korea is ranked the lowest at 167th, while Syria is a notch better at 166th place.

 

 

·        India Joins Ashgabat agreement

 

  • India joined Ashgabat Agreement on the establishment of an International Transport and Transit Corridor between the Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
  • The agreement was signed in 2011, which envisages facilitation of transit and transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
  • According to the External Affairs Ministry, the accession to the Agreement would diversify India’s connectivity options with Central Asia and have a positive influence on its trade and commercial ties with the region.

 

NATIONAL

 

  • Union Budget 2018: Key takeaways and sector-wise highlights

 

  • Finance Minister Arun Jaitley delivered the current government’s fifth and last full financial budget (Budget 2018 for the fiscal year 2018-19) amid subdued economic growth, challenging fiscal situation and farm distress.

 

Here are the key highlights from the Union Budget 2018:

Economic Health

  • Economy firmly on course to achieve high growth of 8%
  • GDP growth at 6.3% in the second quarter of 2017-18 signals turnaround of the economy
  • Growth in the second half likely to remain between 7.2% to 7.5%

Agriculture and Rural Economy

  • MSP for all unannounced Kharif crops increased to 150%
  • Institutional credit for agri-sector increased to Rs.10 lakh crore in 2017-18
  • Fisheries, aquaculture and animal husbandry corpus at Rs.10,000 crore
  • New scheme Operation Greens with an outlay of Rs 500 Crore
  • Govt to develop and upgrade existing 22,000 rural haats
  • Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund with a corpus of Rs.2000 crore
  • Allocation for Ministry of Food Processing doubled to Rs.1400 crore
  • Loans to Self Help Groups (SHG) of women to increase to Rs.75,000 crore by March 2019.
  • Increased allocation of National Rural Livelihood Mission to Rs 5750 crore
  • Under Ujjwala Scheme distribution of free LPG connections will be given to 8 crore poor women
  • Housing for All by 2022 – more than one crore houses to be built by 2019 in rural areas

Education, Health, and Social Protection

  • Estimated budgetary expenditure on health, education and social protection at Rs.1.38 lakh crore
  • Ekalavya Model Residential School to be set up for tribal children
  • Investments for research & infra in premier educational institutions at Rs.1 lakh crore in next 4 years
  • Allocation on National Social Assistance Programme at Rs. 9975 crore
  • NHPS to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries)
  • NHPS to provide coverage up to 5 lakh rupees per family per year for hospitalisation
  • Rs 1200 crore for the National Health Policy, 2017 – additional Rs.600 crore for TB patients
  • 24 new Government Medical Colleges and Hospitals

Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) and Employment

  • Major thrust for Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) – allocation at Rs. 3794 crore
  • Target of Rs.3 lakh crore for lending under MUDRA Yojana
  • 70 lakh formal jobs to be created this year
  • Govt to make 12% contribution of new employees in the EPF for all the sectors for 3 years
  • Outlay of Rs.7148 crore for the textile sector
  • Increase budgetary allocation on infrastructure for at Rs.5.97 lakh crore
  • To develop 10 prominent tourist sites into Iconic Tourism destinations
  • 35000 kms road construction in Phase-I at an estimated cost of Rs.5,35,000 crore

Railways

  • Railways Capital Expenditure pegged at Rs.1,48,528 crore
  • 4000 kilometers of electrified railway network slated for commissioning
  • Work on Eastern and Western, dedicated freight corridors
  • Over 3600 km of track renewal targeted in current fiscal
  • Redevelopment of 600 major railway stations
  • Mumbai’s local train network to have 90 kilometers of double line tracks at Rs.11,000 crore cost
  • 150 km of additional suburban network planned for Mumbai
  • Suburban network of 160 km at for Bengaluru metropolis

Air Transport

  • To expand airport capacity more than five times to handle a billion trips a year
  • Regional connectivity – 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads to be connected
  • To establish unified authority for regulating all financial services

Digital Economy

  • NITI Aayog to initiate a national program to direct efforts in artificial intelligence
  • Department of Science & Technology to launch Mission on Cyber-Physical Systems
  • Allocation doubled on Digital India programme to Rs 3073 crore
  • To set up 5 lakh wifi hotspots to provide net-connectivity to five crore rural citizens
  • Rs. 10000 crore for creation and augmentation of telecom infrastructure

Defence

  • Development of two defence industrial production corridors.
  • Allocation of Rs 2.95 lakh crore to defence sector.

Emoluments

  • To revise emoluments to Rs.5 lakh for the President
  • Rs 4 lakhs for the Vice President
  • Rs.3.5 lakh per month to Governor
  • Pay for Members of Parliament – law for automatic revision of emoluments every 5 years
  • 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi- Rs.150 crore for commemoration programme

Fiscal Management

  • Budget Revised Estimates for Expenditure at Rs.21.57 lakh crore
  • Revised Fiscal Deficit estimates at 3.5% of GDP
  • To bring down Central Government’s Debt to GDP ratio to 40%

Jaitley announces ‘world’s largest healthcare programme’

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced two new initiatives under the Ayushman Bharat Programme in the Union Budget 2018.

  • Under the programme, Mr. Jaitley announced a new flagship National Health Protection Scheme, providing a health insurance cover of ₹5 lakh a family per annum.
  • The scheme will cover 10 crore vulnerable families, with approximately 50 crore beneficiaries.
  • Mr. Jaitley also announced the creation of health and wellness centres, which will “bring healthcare closer to home”.
  • These centres, 1.5 lakh in number, will provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services. A sum of Rs. 1200 crore had been allocated for this.

·         Thirty Second Surajkund International Crafts Mela Begins

 

  • The 32nd Surajkund International CraftsMela begun in Faridabad, Haryana.

    The Mela is organized by the Surajkund Mela Authority and Haryana Tourism in collaboration with Union Ministries of Tourism, Textiles, Culture and External Affairs.

    The 17-day cultural extravaganza will see a spectacular showcase of regional and international crafts, handlooms, traditions along with some mouth-watering multi-cuisine food for the visitors.

    This year Uttar Pradesh is the theme state and Kyrgyzstan is the Partner Nation.

30.01.18 Nagaland(NPSC) Current Affairs

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NORTH-EASTERN STATES

  • Territorial integrity of North eastern states won’t be compromised: Rajnath

 

  • Territorial integrity of Assam and other northeastern states will not be compromised when the final Naga peace accord is inked, home minister Rajnath Singh assured Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

 

  • The insurgent group NSCN-IM’s key demand is to integrate the Naga-inhabited areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur, which has been strongly opposed by the three states, currently ruled by the BJP.

 

  • The NSCN-IM has been engaged with peace talks with the interlocutor of the central government since 1997 when it announced a ceasefire agreement after a bloody insurgency movement which started in Nagaland soon after the country’s Independence. 

     

    INTERNATIONAL

     

    • ‘Aadhaar’ is Oxford’s first Hindi word of the year

     

    • Dictionaries at the Jaipur Literature Festival.

     

    • ‘Aadhaar’ also becomes the first Oxford Dictionaries Hindi Word of the Year.

     

    • The accompanying shortlisted words include Notebandi, Swachh, Vikaas, Yoga and Bahubali.

     

    ·        India Cheapest Country To Live In After South Africa: Survey

     

    • India is ranked second only to South Africa as the cheapest country to live or retire, according to a recent survey of 112 countries by GoBankingRates.
    • The survey ranked nations on the bases of four key affordability metrics. The metrics are Local purchasing power index, rent index, Groceries index, and Consumer price index.
    • India’s local purchasing power is 20.9% lower, rent is 95.2% cheaper, groceries are 74.4% cheaper, local goods and services are 74.9% cheaper.
    • The top three most expensive countries in the survey are Bermuda (ranked 112), Bahamas (111), and Hong Kong (110).

     

     

    NATIONAL

     

    ·        Economic Survey 2018:  Brief Summary

     

    • The Economic Survey, an annual publication of the Finance Ministry, is presented in both houses of Parliament during the Budget Session. It is a review of the developments in the country’s economy over the previous one year.
    • Sticking to the practice started last year, finance minister Arun Jaitley will present Union Budget 2018 on 1 February.
    • It presents a summary of the performance of the government’s major development programmes undertaken during that period.
    • It also details the main policy initiatives of the government.

     

    • The  Survey sees FY19 GDPgrowing 7-7.5% vs 75% in FY18.

     

    • The Due to higher expected increase in imports, net exports of goods and services are slated to decline in 2017-18.

     

    • The Exports biggest source of the boost to growth.

     

    • It points out that the GDP growth has averaged 7.3% for the period from 2014-15 to 2017-18, which is the highest among the major economies of the world.

     

    • Demonetisation helped share of financial saving to rise.

     

    • The ratio of domestic saving to GDP reached 29.2 percent in 2013 to a peak of 38.3 percent in 2007, before falling back to 29 percent in 2016.

     

    • The Sanitation coverage in rural India increased substantially from 39 percent in 2014 to 76 percent in January 2018. With the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) on October 2, 2014, the sanitation coverage in rural India increased substantially.

     

    • So far, 296 districts and 307,349 villages all over India have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF).

     

    • India is gradually improving its performance in Science and Technology. In 2013, India ranked 6th in the world in scientific publications. Its ranking has been increasing consistently. The growth of annual publications between 2009 to 2014 was almost 14%. This increased India’s share in global publications from 3.1% in 2009 to 4.4% in 2014 as per the Scopus Database.

     

    • The foreign exchange reserves grew by 14.1% on a year-on-year basis from the end of Dec 2016 to end of Dec 2017.

     

    • The forex reserves as per 2016-17 were estimated at USD 370 billion. It grew to USD 409.4 billion in 2017-18.

     

     

     

    ·        VINBAX: India and Vietnam hold first military exercise in Jabalpur

     

    • The India-Vietnam Bilateral Army Exercise (VINBAX-2018)was conducted at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
    • It is the first military exercise between the two countries.
    • The six-day-long military exercise (from January 29 to February 3, 2018) was conducted as part of joint training undertaken with friendly foreign countries by Indian Army.
    • VINBAX-2018 was Table Top Exercise to carry out training for Peace Keeping Operations under United Nations (UN) mandate.
    • The Defence ties between India and Vietnam have been on an upswing with the primary focus being cooperation in the maritime domain.

    ·        International Bird Festival To Be Held In Dudhwa National Park

     

    • A three-day international bird festivalwill be held at the Dudhwa National Park, Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh in February 2018 with nearly 200 leading ornithologists expected to attend.
    • The purpose of the international bird festival is to promote eco-tourism in Dudhwa and to give it a distinct international identity besides highlighting its traditional Tharu arts, culture, and heritage.

     

    ·        Asias biggest auto testing track inaugurated in Madhya Pradesh

     

    • Union Minister Babul Supriyo and Madhya Pradesh Industrial minister Rajendra Shukla inaugurated Asia’s biggest auto testing track in Pithampur of Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh.
    • The country’s research and development activities in the sector of automobile engineering and technology will get a boost, due to the construction of the auto testing track in Pithampur.
    • Pithampur will emerge as a hub of the automobile industry in future.
    • Union Minister further mentioned that the state government has provided 4 thousand acre land to NATRiP and the National Auto Testing Track has been developed on 3 thousand acre land.
    • Automobile units can be established by the industrialists on the remaining one thousand acre land.

     

    ·        Sandeep Lamichhane Becomes 1st Nepal Player To Get IPL Contract

     

    • Sandeep Lamichhane became the first cricketer from Nepal to land a deal an IPL contract.
    • He was picked by Delhi Daredevils in the player’s auction.
    • The 17-year-old, the only Nepal player in the IPL auction, was sold at his base price of Rs 20 lakh.
    • The leg-spinner rose to prominence with a successful outing at the 2016 U-19 World Cup where he guided Nepal to a creditable eighth place.
    • He hogged the limelight by becoming the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 14 scalps in six innings.