UTTARAKHAND

U’khand to identify degraded forestland for rural roads

In a step towards rural empowerment, Uttarakhand is all set to identify degraded forestland for furthering the cause of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

The yojana is aimed at providing connectivity to cut-off habitations in rural areas. However, its successful implementation has been a major challenge due to strict environment and forest laws.

According to an estimate, 63.42 per cent of the state’s geographical area falls under forests that prominently include reserve forests, civil forests and also degraded forestland

It was informed at the meeting that currently, a total of 453-km of roads would be constructed under the yojana and there was a need for 700 hectares of degraded forestland for the purpose.

INTERNATIONAL

· Sixth India-UK Science & Innovation Council Meeting Held In New Delhi

ð The 6th India-UK Science & Innovation Council (SIC)meeting held in New Delhi discussed a range of issues on S&T cooperation between the two countries.

ð Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences & Environment, Forests and Climate Change, India and Mr. Sam Gyimah, Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, UK led the Indian and UK delegations respectively.

NATIONAL

· DoT approved the merging of Vodafone and Idea

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) approved the merging of Vodafone Indiaand Idea Cellular. It also laid a condition saying the merged entity should abide by the decisions of Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) and other courts.
This merger makes Vodafone Idea Limited, the largest carrier in India by 430 million subscribers and a 35% revenue market share.

International Children’s Film Festival inaugurated

West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi inaugurated the 18th International Children’s Film Festival in which 36 films from 17 countries would be screened.

The Governor also called for screening of one children’s film in every cinema hall of the state every month.

The festival was being organised by Cine Central, one of the oldest cine clubs of the country in collaboration with the UNICEF.

Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme to empower rural women

Government of India has approved a new scheme namely Mahila Shakti Kendra for implementation during 2017-18 upto 2019-20 to empower rural women through community participation.

The Scheme is implemented with cost sharing ratio of 60:40 between centre and states except for North East and Special Category States where the ratio is 90:10.

The scheme is envisaged to work at various levels and at the national level and state level technical support to the respective governments on issues related to women is provided.

Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog & MyGov launches “Innovate India Platform”

Atal Innovation Mission and MyGov launched the “Innovate India Platform”, a collaboration between the Atal Innovation Mission and MyGov, a citizen centric platform of the Government of India.

The Innovate India portal will serve as the common point for all the innovation happening across the nation.

Launching the platform, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission said that the Innovate India MyGov-AIM portal creates the much-needed innovations platform for registering both grassroots and deep-tech innovators at a national level. Those searching for a critical innovation can leverage the portal advantageously for the benefit of the economy as well as national social needs.”

The National Green Tribunal formed a monitoring committee on cleaning of the Yamuna

The National Green Tribunal formed a monitoring committee for Yamuna Rejuvenation Project.

B S Sajwan and former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra has been appointed as members of the committee.

The committee has been asked to submit the report by December 31,2018.

This decision was taken by a bench headed by National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairperson A K Goel .

Two Indians among 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Award winners

Two Indians Bharat Vaswani and Sonam Wangchuk are among six individuals who were declared winners of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award.

Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia’s highest honour.

It celebrates the memory and leadership example of the third Philippine president after whom the award is named.

· Lok Sabha passed the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018

The Lok Sabha passed the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018. The Bill aimed at preventing human trafficking of women and children, providing rehabilitation to the victims and prosecuting offenders. The Bill was introduced in the House by the Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi.
The Bill approves severe punishment of 10 years to life imprisonment for aggravated forms of trafficking. It also proposes establishing a National Anti-Trafficking Bureau(NATB) for coordinating, monitoring and surveillance of trafficking cases. It allocated 10 crore for Relief and Rehabilitation Committee and Rehabilitation Fund.

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