GOA

• Centre inches towards ordinance for resuming iron ore mining in Goa

 

• The file related to the request of the state government to the Centre as regards restarting the iron ore mining in Goa is presently with the office of the Attorney General of India.

 

• The central government is expected to promulgate an ordinance for restarting mining operations in Goa.

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

·        India, Myanmar sign pact for appointment of port operator

 

• India and Myanmar on Monday inked a crucial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the appointment of a private operator of the Sittwe Port that will boost connectivity and help in creating local job opportunities as the two sides discussed bilateral issues as well as topics of common interest, including developments in the strife-torn Rakhine state.

 

• Sittwe Portis a deepwater port constructed by India in 2016 at Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State in Myanmar, on the Bay of Bengal.

 

 

·        In Nov, memorial for India’s WW1 forces opens in France

 

• A memorial commemorating the contribution of Indian armed forces in the World War I is being built in France and will be inaugurated in next month.

 

• Nearly 1.5 million Indian soldiers participated in the World War I as part of the then British Indian Army, of which 1.3 million fought overseas in places such as Flanders (Belgium), East Africa, Gallipoli, Aden, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Persia and China, Chhina said. Some74,000Indiansoldiers lost their lives.

 

·        Ocean Cleanup Foundation launched floating pipe to gather ocean plastic

 

• The Ocean Cleanup Foundation has launched a project to collect the plastic in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Wilson, a 2,000-foot-long floating pipe has begun its mission to collect the plastic in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The pipe is constructed inU shape. It features a three-metre-deep net to trap floating plastic under the water’s surface. A boat will visit the spot every few months to remove the debris.

 

 

 

NATIONAL

 

·        Number of Taxpayers goes up by 70%, but collections down by 34%.

 

 

• E-returns filed by individual taxpayers grew 70% annually to 5.4 crore in the April-August period of the current financial year, but the average tax paid by them has come down by 32% to Rs 27,083.

 

• Even though first, demonetisation, and later, the goods and services tax (GST) helped add pace to tax base expansion, the rate of growth in personal income tax (PIT) collection hasn’t risen commensurately.

 

 

• PM Modi announces national award in Netaji’s name for disaster relief workers

 

• A national award in the name of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose will be given every year to police personnel who do excellent work in rescue and relief operations during any kind of disaster.

 

• The announcement came on the 75th anniversary of Bose’s declaration of the formation of India’s first independent government — the Azad Hind Government on October 21, 1943.

 

• The NDRF and SDRF are constituted with personnel from the Central paramilitary forces and State police organisations respectively.

 

 

• Centre’s Ayushman Bharat crosses 1 lakh subscribers in 30 days

 

• The Centre’s flagship health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY), has crossed the one-lakh beneficiary mark within a month of its September 23 launch.

 

• Close to 7,000 government hospitals are empanelled and treating patients under the scheme. No private hospital is yet empanelled. About 8,000 hospitals are in the process of being empanelled.