UTTARAKHAND

Uttarakhand lags in project implementation: Report
Uttarakhand has witnessed delayed progress in implementation of industrial projects despite attracting investment worth Rs 2 lakh crores from national and international firms as on 2017, according to a report by industrial body Assocham.
In financial year 2016, the project implementation rate of the state stood at 38% while it rose to 58% in 2017.
Industry experts said that the state should accord more importance to project implementation since even if half of these get implemented it would help create thousands of direct and indirect jobs across the state during the course of next five years.
According to sources, non-financial services account for over half of the total live investments attracted by Uttarakhand as on financial year 2017 with electricity sector acquiring over 46% share. At present, 151 projects worth over Rs 1 crore are under various stages of implementation in Uttarakhand.

INTERNATIONAL

Lucas Pouille ended a 16-year drought for France in the Davis Cup, winning the decisive match for the hosts to beat Belgium 3-2 in the final.

Pouille’s lopsided 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 win over Steve Darcis in the second reverse singles gave France its 10th Davis Cup title, after a run of three losses in finals.

· Aung San Suu Kyi stripped of Freedom of Oxford Award

Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of the Freedom of Oxford award over her “inaction”in handling the raging Rohingya refugee crisis and turning a “blind eye to violence” in the country that forced over 600,000 people to flee to Bangladesh.
Oxford City Council in London voted unanimously to permanently remove the honour given to 72-year-old Suu Kyi in 1997.

NATIONAL

Snehlata Shrivastava has been appointed as the new Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, a notification issued by the secretariat of the lower house said

She will be the first woman secretary general of the Lok Sabha and will assume charge on December 1.
Her tenure will end on November 30, 2018.

She will take over a day after current incumbent Anup Mishra relinquishes charge.

Rama Devi holds the distinction of the being the first woman secretary general of the Rajya Sabha.

In an immediate follow up action of last week’s Cabinet approval for creation of the posts of Chairman and Technical Members of the National Anti-profiteering Authority under GST, the Government has issued orders appointing senior IAS officer Shri B.N. Sharma, as the first Chairman of this apex Authority in the rank of Secretary to Government of India.

Shri B.N. Sharma, an IAS officer of 1985 batch belonging to Rajasthan cadre, is currently posted as Additional Secretary in the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.

Shri B.N. Sharma has been closely associated with the formulation of GST and its implementation.

Morocco born French Director Robin Campillo’s drama film ‘ 120 BPM’ or ‘120 Beats Per Minute’ has won the coveted Golden Peacock Award at the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which concluded in Goa on November 28.

Chinese director Vivian Qu won the Best Director Award for her 2017 film ‘Angels Wear White’.

Mahesh Narayan also walks away with the Special Jury Award for his directorial debut ‘Take Off’.

The Indian Film Personality of the Year Award was presented to Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan

· Madhya Pradesh becomes 1st state to launch Panch Parmeshwar portal for digital gram panchayats

Madhya Pradeshbecomes the first state in the country to adopt Panch Parmeshwar portal and app system for making panchayat’s functioning more transparent easy and reliable.
It is the first state in the country to adopt this system in which all acts and dealings of the gram panchayats will be displayed on the public domain.
It will prove to be a milestone to implement digital and cashless dealings in even far-flung villages under the Digital India Campaign of Government of India.

‘SAUBHAGYA’ scheme introduced with an aim to transform the lives, especially poorest of the poor by providing power supply to every household of the country.
Launching the scheme, Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy RK Singh revealed that Manipur has been doing well in terms of power generation because of new initiatives were taken by the government.
Saubhagya is a scheme launched to achieve universal household electrification in all parts of the country at a cost of Rs 16,320 crore including Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) of Rs 12,320 crore from the Centre. Minister further is the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide electricity to every household of the country.