GUJARAT

Gujarat: ISRO maps out 12 eco-corridors to link sloth bear habitats

A study on sloth bears in Gujarat, funded by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has identified 12 ecological corridors that will help connect fragmented habitats of the animal in the state. These corridors connect five major protected areas and unprotected bear habitats.
ISRO funded the project and this is the first instance of application of space science geospatial technology being used for wildlife conservation in Gujarat.
The corridors, if developed, can lead to the bears moving towards villages, which can be a potential conflict point. Potential conflict zones have also been identified, so that the forest department can take preemptive action.

INTERNATIONAL

IAF participation in Exercise Pitch Black 2018

The Indian Air Force for the first time is participating with fighter aircraft in Exercise Pitch Black 2018 (PB-18), which is scheduled from 24 Jul 18 to 18 Aug 18 in Australia.

Pitch Black is a biennial multi-national large force employment warfare exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

The IAF contingent consists of 145 air-warriors including Garud team, 04 X Su-30 MKI, 01 X C-130 and 01 X C-17.

Google hit with €4.3bn Android fine from EU

Google has been fined a record €4.34bn (nearly 34 Crore) over Android.

The European Commission said the firm had used the mobile operating system to illegally “cement its dominant position” in search.

The firm’s parent Alphabet has been given 90 days to change its business practices or face further penalties of up to 5% of its average global daily turnover.

NATIONAL

Centre Forms Panel To Tackle Industrial Pollution Near Taj Mahal

The government has formed a committee comprising officials of the environment ministry, experts from NEERI, IITs and various other forums to look into the issue of industrial pollution around the iconic Taj Mahal.

The committee will be headed by C K Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

A high-level inter ministerial meeting was held in Delhi to deliberate on the issues and action to be taken to conserve the iconic Mughal monument.

· India’s first government sponsored ‘Transgender Poets’ meet held in Kolkata

This Meet was chaired by India’s first transgender college principal Manabi Bandopadhyay, who read out several of her own poems at the two-and-a-half-hour event organised by the Sahitya Akademi.
Some of the transgender poets who participated in the meet include Rani Majumdar, Aruna Nath, Anjali Mandal, Debdutta Biswas and Debojyoti Bhattacharya.
In addition to the six poets, two guest transgender poets named Anurag Maitreyee, and Tista Das took turns to recite poems.

· Finance Ministry approves Infusion Of Rs 11,336 Crore in five Public Sector Bank

The first ever capital infusion in the current fiscal and the remaining amount of amount of Rs 53,664 crorewould be disbursed during the course of the year.
The following banks will receive the capital amount from ministry:
Punjab National Bank: Rs 2,816 crore (Highest Amount),
2. Allahabad Bank: Rs 1,790 crore,
3. Andhra Bank: Rs 2,019 crore,
4. Indian Overseas Bank: Rs 2,157 crore,
5. Corporation Bank: Rs 2,555 crore.

· First All Women Branch of Jammu and Kashmir Bank inaugurated

First Lady of J&K, Usha Vohrae-inaugurated the first All-Women Branch of Jammu and Kashmir Bank and also launched special services and products designed exclusively for women clients of the bank, which included
Pink Gold Saving Scheme, Pink Platinum Saving Scheme,Special Loan Facility for Women Entrepreneurs etc.

· Tenth Edition Of Delhi Dialogue Begins In New Delhi

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will deliver the keynote address of the two-day event.
The theme of which is, ‘Strengthening India-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation’.

The Delhi Dialogue is a premier annual event to discuss politico-security, the economic and socio-cultural engagement between India and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

The event has been held annually since 2009 many political leaders, policy makers, senior officials, diplomats, think tanks and academicians from various countries participate in the discussions pertaining to ASEAN-India relations.

· 52,000 villages don’t have mobile connectivity

Over 52,000 villages across India are without mobile network coverage

Of them, about 10,000 are in Odisha, making it the State with most number of such villages. The State with the highest proportion of such villages is Arunachal Pradesh (51%).

In the below chart, bigger the circle, more the number of unconnected villages. Darker the circle, more the proportion of unconnected villages

· The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017

In the year that the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill was first introduced, India saw 1.5 lakh deaths from road accidents, according to the ‘Road Accidents in India, 2016’ report by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. In 2017, when it was reintroduced, there had been a marginal decline in that number, but the loss of lives from road accidents remains high in the country.

The new Bill takes into account taxi aggregators, third party insurance, computerisation of licensing authorities, and so on. It also provides for a National Road Safety Board.

However, State governments oversee RTOs right now. The government has not yet created clear guidelines on how States will have to adopt this new Bill.

The new Bill provides for the recall of vehicles if the defective vehicle is a danger to the environment, the driver or other road users.

The manufacturer will then have to reimburse all buyers with the full cost of the vehicle, replace the defective vehicle, and if necessary pay a fine as specified by the government.

The old Act provided ₹12,000 for grievous injury and ₹25,000 for death, while the amendment Bill provides ₹50,000 for grievous injury and ₹2 lakh or more for death.

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