GOA

Goa’s e-government initiative gets national recognition

The revenue department intends to bring more government services online through the Goa e-District portal over the next six months.

That nearly 1.5 lakh certificates had been issued online, while 5321 partition applications had been issued.

Approximately 250 online nominations were invited from government departments across the country, and all the nominations were screened by the Skoch advisory committee which then shortlisted the best nominations in each category.

INTERNATIONAL

· US has threatened to impose sanctions against Turkey

The US has threatened to impose sanctions against Turkey if it purchases S-400 missile systems from Russia.
US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Wess Mitchell warned the purchase will also affect Turkey’s deal with the US to buy the F-35 fighter jets.

· North Korea continues construction of its nuclear research center at a rapid pace

North Korea continuesto carry out improvements to its nuclear research facility in spite of declaring its commitment to the denuclearization of the peninsula at the Singapore Summit on June 12, 2018.
Recently the 38 North, commercial satellite imagery showed that North Korea is carrying out infrastructure works at its main nuclear site, Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Centre.

· Japan unveils ‘Hello Kitty’ themed bullet train

The Japanese government has used the famous cartoon character to boost local economy and tourism.
This train will begin a three month run between the Osaka and Fukuoka cities.
The train’s first carriage named ‘Hello! Plaza‘ will not have any seats and will offer passengers souvenirs and local food.

NATIONAL

· EDF and GE sign deal to build 6 nuclear reactors for India

French state-run power utility EDF and American conglomerate General Electric (GE) have signed to build 6 EPR(European Pressurized Reactors) nuclear reactors with capacity 1,650 megawatts (MW) at Jaitapur nuclear plant in Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra.
This agreement would make Jaitapur power plant the world’s largest nuclear power generating station by net electrical power rating. It will also help the Union Government to achieve its ambitious target of 22,480 MW nuclear power generation capacity by 2031.

· Government plans to sell Air India’s iconic Mumbai building

Air India’s 23-storey building at Nariman Point, Mumbai, which was also once the airline’s headquarters, will be sold to state-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust(JNPT), India’s biggest container port.
Air India and JNPT comes under the Civil Aviation and Shipping ministries, respectively.
Air India’s debt burden is estimated to be more than Rs 50,000 crore.

· Hindi is the most spoken language in India, Bengali second

According to the language data of Census 2011, Hindi is the mother tongue of 63%Indians, making it the country’s most spoken language, followed by Bengali.
Further, Marathi has replaced Telugu as the third most spoken language in the nation.
While Sanskrit is least spoken, Urdu became the seventh most spoken language in India.

· Chennai Airport to get humanoid robots to assist passengers

Officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) have begun discussions with a few Indian companies to buy humanoid robots in a few months.
Chennai airportwill get 3 humanoid robots – one on each for domestic arrival, domestic departure and international departure. These robots will guide passengers and offer assistance with the queries.

· Mumbai is India’s most expensive city, Hong Kong named World’s most expensive city

According to Mercer’s 24th annual Cost of Living Survey, Mumbai is India’s most expensive city, followed by New Delhi and Chennai.
Kolkata and Bengaluru are the least expensive Indian cities ranked.
Mercer’s survey reveals that Hong Kongtook the top spot as the world’s most expensive city for expatriates.
Tokyo and Zurich are in second and third positions, respectively, with Singapore in fourth.

· Military Engineer Services Website Launched

Defence Secretary Shri Sanjay Mitra, in the presence of Engineer-in-Chief Lt Gen SK Shrivastavalaunched Military Engineer Services (MES) Website, to provide infrastructure (development and maintenance) support to Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and DRDO.
The website is bilingual and has been developed in line with aspirations of 3,500 officers and approximately 1.2 Lacs subordinate staff of MES.

· Bengaluru ranked world’s 2nd best location to launch tech startups

According to research firm SmallBusinessPrices.co.uk, Bengaluru has claimed the second spot in the list of best locations for launching tech startups.
The first place was secured by Boulder cityin the US while the third best location was Johannesburg in South Africa.
The research measured the average internet speed, the average business valuation, and cost of living, among other metrics.

· Government proposes to set up 3,000 Van Dhan Kendras involving 30,000 SHGs

Prime Minister launched the Van Dhan Scheme of Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED on 14th April, 2018during the celebrations of Ambedkar Jayanti at Bijapur Chattisgarh.
The government has proposed to set up 3,000 Van Dhan Kendras involving 30,000 self-help groups(SHG) across the country, for providing skill up-gradation and capacity building training for value addition of forest

· Government approves draft Act to replace UGC with Higher Education Commission of India

The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) Prakash Javadekar proposed a draft bill to repeal the University Grants Commission(UGC) Act of 1956and set up the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), a move that aims to reform higher education in India.
The new draft legislation comes after an earlier proposal to form an umbrella regulator– HEERA was scrapped by the MHRD in May this year.
HEERA was supposed to replace all the other regulators – All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and UGC.

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