UTTARAKHAND

• Among Himalayan states, Uttarakhand worst in crime against foreigners
• With five cases, Uttarakhand topped the charts of Himalayan states for crime committed against foreigners in 2017. There were zero cases of crime against foreign nationals in 2016 and 2015.
• According to the latest NCRB report, neighbouring Himachal Pradesh registered four cases of crime against foreigners, while Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir recorded no crime cases against foreign nationals.However, the NCRB report has not stated the state-wise details of the nature of crime committed against the foreigners. It is to be noted that Maharashtra has emerged as the most unsafe state for foreigners with 61 crime incidents, followed by Tamil Nadu (43), Uttar Pradesh (39), Karnataka (30) and Goa (28).
• Incidentally, Uttarakhand has also seen a rise in the crimes committed by foreigners. In 2017, according to NCRB report, 19 cases of crimes were committed by foreigners, compared to one in 2016 and five in 2015. Maximum cases pertained to violation of the Passport Act.

 

INTERNATIONAL

·       Russian navy discovered five new islands in the Arctic

• Russian navydiscoveredfive new islands revealed by melting glaciers in Vize Bay off Novaya Zemlya, the remote Arctic. The expedition undertook by the Russian Navy in August and September charted the islands which were previously hidden under glaciers. The islands are yet to be named.
• These islands were glaciers previously. Melting, collapse, and change in temperatureuncovered the islands.
• The United Nations report on global warming said that from 2015 to 2019, Glacier’s loss in the Arctic was more than in any other five-year period on record.

NATIONAL

·       AYUSH, MoD to sign MoU to provide traditional medicine services

• TheMinistry of AYUSHsigned an MoU with the Ministry of Defence to provide traditional medicine services at the hospitals and dispensaries of the armed forces. Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik inaugurated an Ayurveda Palliative Care Unit at the Base Hospital in the Delhi Cantonment on 21 October 2019.
• The MoU aims to support the soldiers who work in challenging environmental conditions right from glaciers of Siachin to the deserts of Thar. The climatic conditions take a toll on their physical as well as mental health.
• Ayurveda and yoga will help them to attain the best of physical and mental health. It will also improve the endurance of the soldiers. Ayurvedic medicines and panchakarma procedures are effective in treating work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

·       MeitY launched MeitY Startup Hub, a platform to support start-ups

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) . The platform was inaugurated by Ravi Shankar Prasad,Minister for Electronics & Information Technology at the MeitY Startup Summit 2019. The aim of the platform is to connect the startup ecosystem. Former entrepreneur Deepak Agarwal will form a team to run the platform.
• MSH will act as national coordination, facilitation, and monitoring centre.
• The hub will integrate the incubation centres, innovation-related activities of MeitY, startups, accelerators, mentors, and venture capitalists.
• The hub will promote technology innovation, startups, and the creation of Intellectual Properties.

·       Indian Railways to provide WiFi service inside trains

• The central government is planning to provideWiFi serviceinside trains in the next four to four-and-a-half years. The announcement was made by the Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal. The WiFi service is available at around 5150 railway stations in India. It plans to provide WiFi services at all 6,500 stations by the end of next year.
• Providing WiFi in running trains requires investment requires more complicated technology. 
• For the implementation, towers need to be placed, and there have to be types of equipment inside trains.
• For this, India is to bring in foreign technologyand investors.

·       DNA Regulation bill referred to the parliamentary standing committee

• TheDNA Technology Regulation Bill has been referred to a parliamentary standing committeefor examination. The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019, was passed by the Lok Sabha on July 2019.
• The Bill aims to control the use of DeoxyriboNucleic Acid (DNA) technology to establish the identity of a type of categories of persons, including offenders, victims, suspects, and undertrials.
• The Bill will also help to confirm the missing persons and unknown deceased persons.
• Government launches BHIM 2.0
• In a major thrust for the digital and cashless payments ecosystem in India, the Central government launched the BHIM 2.0 Universal Payments Interface (UPI).
• Developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2016, the BHIM 2.0 comes loaded with a host of functionalities, including support for additional languages, and also enhanced transaction limits.
• The new version of BHIM supports three additional languages – Konkani, Bhojpuri and Haryanvi – over and above the existing 13.
• The new developments in the application also include options of investing and applying in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), gifting of money, linking multiple bank accounts etc.

·       Malik to be appointed as the new lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir

• The Central government has proposed the Governor of Union Territory (UT) of J&K Satya Pal Malik as the new lieutenant governor of J&K. The announcement comes ahead of the transition of the state Jammu & Kashmir into Union territories of J&K and Ladakh on 31 October as per theJammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
• Upon confirmation, Satya Pal Malik will become the first Lieutenant Governor for both Union Territories ofJ&K and Ladakh. He will be administered the oath of office as per the Indian Constitution by the Chief Justice of the J&K High Court Gita Mittal.