UTTARAKHAND

State pins hope on UP publishers for NCERT books

Caught in a piquant situation after state publishers didn’t show much interest in publishing National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) text books to be provided to the students, the Uttarakhand Cabinet has decided to rope in publishers of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh to meet the shortfall.
Presently, the state requires close to 30 lakh NCERT books and to meet the demand, the state had invited bids. On two occasions, only one bidder came forward and the third time, none of the publishers turned up.

The first was to take books directly from NCERT and supply it at a 20% lesser cost than the original rate and get it published. The second suggestion was to approach neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, where publishers were providing books at 50% of the actual price due to bulk order, and convince them to provide the books at a reasonable rate.

INTERNATIONAL

NSG plenary meeting held in Jurmala, Latvia

The 28th Plenary Meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was held in Jurmala, Latvia On 14th and 15th June 2018.

The NSG plenary meeting was chaired by Ambassador Jānis Zlamets of Latvia.

The NSG reviewed the developments since the last meeting in Bern in 2017.

· Russia Launched Soyuz 2.1b Carrier Rocket With Glonass M Navigation Satellite

Russia launched a Soyuz-2.1bcarrier rocket from the Plesetsk space center to orbit a Glonass-M satellite.
GLONASS – the Russian acronym for ‘Global Navigation Satellite System’.
The Glonass network provides real-time positioning data for surface, sea and airborne objects around the globe, at an accuracy reportedly on par with the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS).
With this Launch, there are now 26 Glonass satellites in orbit.

· SAARC fund to launch social enterprise programme in India and 7 other member nations

Thimpu-based SAARC Development Fund (SDF) will soon be launching a Social Enterprise Development Programme (SEDP) to fund 80 entities annually across the 8-member states including India.
SDF was established by the Heads of the eight SAARC member states in April 2010 and its Governing Council comprises finance ministers of these eight countries.
SAARC members are – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

· World Bank approves 700 mn dollar to improve primary education in Bangladesh

The World Bank has approved $700 million to improve the primary education sector in
It will also finance implementation of the government’s Fourth Primary Education Development Program (PEDP4).
This project will build about 95,000 classrooms, teachers’ rooms, and multipurpose rooms.
It will also build 80,000 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) blocks and 15,000 safe water sources.
The projects will provide recruitment to about 100,000 teachers.

· China unveils 4 point vision for future cooperation with India

On June 18, 2018, Chinese envoy to India Luo Zhaohui unveiled a four-point vision for future cooperation with India.
This is followed by the informal summit between PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The four-point vision are:
1) Sign a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation
2) Negotiate a bilateral Free Trade Agreement
3) Enhance connectivity
4) Work for early harvest on boundary issues.

NATIONAL

Government to team up with Google for flood forecasting

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari has expressed hope that collaboration with Google will help in effective flood management in India.

Central Water Commission (CWC), India’s apex technical organization in the field of Water Resources, has entered into a Collaboration Agreement with Google.

CWC would use state-of-the-art advances made by Google in the in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and geo spatial mapping for effective management of water resources particularly in the field of flood forecasting and dissemination of flood related information to the masses widely using the dissemination platforms developed by Google.

This initiative is likely to help crisis management agencies to deal extreme hydrological events in a better manner.

· Mehbooba Mufti resigns as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister

Mehbooba Muftiresigned as Jammu and Kashmir’s chief minister, after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended its alliance with her Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), potentially pushing the state towards Governor’s rule.
She handed over her resignation to Governor NN Vohra.

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