New Majerhat bridge to be constructed in West Bengal
The West Bengal government is to demolish the Majerhat bridge in South Kolkata. A portion of the bridge collapsed on September 4 and killed three people. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said an expert panel headed by Chief Secretary has suggested opinion to raze the bridge completely and to construct a new bridge in a year. She also mentioned that talks were on to construct a level crossing at the site.
SC questioned Centre for underestimating leprosy and diverting funds
Supreme Court questioned the Centre for underestimating leprosy and diverting funds that are meant to be used to eliminate the curable disease for the forthcoming 18 years. India was declared leprosy-free on December 31, 2005. But, a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra referred to the reports of the National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) and showed that only 543 districts out of 642 districts in the country had achieved the benchmark fixed by World Health Organisation. Chief Justice Misra, who authored the verdict, said that underestimation and declaration of elimination of leprosy have resulted in the integration of leprosy in general health services thereby leading to diversion of funds which would have otherwise been dedicated to eliminating leprosy. It should be noted that in India leprosy patients and their families are even denied their fundamental right to food. BPL (Below Poverty Line) cards are not issued for them to claim the benefit of various welfare schemes such as the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY). They are deprived of housing, basic civic amenities, adequate sanitary facilities and rehabilitation programmes.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi approved appointments in the party
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has approved appointments in the party, including nine new All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretaries and a screening committee for poll-bound Telangana. Senior Congress leader Bhakt Charan Dass has been made the chairperson of Telangana Screening committee. Jothimani Sennimalai and Sharmistha Mukherjee have been made members of the panel. Former Lok Sabha MP Nana Patole has been made the chairman of the Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress. Assam Congress leader Pradyut Bordoloi was made secretary for Nagaland and Pradyot Deb Burman from Tripura was made AICC secretary of Sikkim.
India and Malta to come together for strengthening cooperation in Tourism MoU to boost economy for both countries
The MoU will help in increasing tourist arrivals in both countries that will lead to a boost in the economy. The Main objectives of the MoU are to encourage the quality destination of tourism industry in both countries. increase tourist arrivals in both countries from the entire world through the territories of India and Malta Promoting human resource development in tourism and travel-related industries in both countries Contribute to a new tourism, offer, particularly through the promotion of natural and tangible, and intangible cultural heritage, the development of sustainable tourism and the use of information technologies;
Advani renominated as chairman of Lok Sabha ethics panel
Senior BJP leader L K Advani has been renominated as the chairman of the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. The Committee examines complaints relating to unethical conduct by members of Parliament. L K Advani represents Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency from Gujarat. Former Uttarakhand CM Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ of the BJP was renamed the chairman of the Lok Sabha Committee on Government Assurances. Chandrakant Khaire of the Shiv Sena was reappointed as the chairman of the Committee on Papers Laid on the Table.
Hindi Divas observed on 14th September
On this day in 1949, Hindi written in Devanagari script became the official language of India under the Article 343. Hindi is spoken by 250 million people as the original language and it is the fourth language of the world. There are 22 Scheduled languages of India, of which, two are officially used at Union government of India level: Hindi and English. In 1881, Bihar accepted Hindi as its sole official language, replacing Urdu, and thus became the first state of India to adopt Hindi. Vice president Venkaiah Naidu gave away Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar 2017-18 on Hindi Diwas 2018. World First Aid Day is also celebrated on 14th September.
G20 Trade And Investment Ministerial Meeting Held In Argentina
The main aim is to issues including increasing protectionism challenges to promote global commerce and the new industrial revolution were discussed at the meeting. The members of the G20 include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.
Infosys to acquire Fluido of worth up to Rs.545 crore
Infosys has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Fluido in a deal worth up to €65 million (over Rs.545 crore). Fluido is one of the largest and longest-tenured independent Salesforce Platinum Consulting Partners in Europe and an Authorised Salesforce Training Delivery partner in the Nordics. This deal is expected to close in 2019. This acquisition strengthens the position of Infosys as a leading Salesforce enterprise cloud services provider and enhances its ability to provide clients with an unparalleled cloud-first transformation.
India’s first tribal circuit tourism project under Swadesh Darshan scheme inaugurated at Chhattisgarh
The central government had allocated about 100 crore rupees to develop this project to highlight tribal culture to the domestic and foreign tourists. The circuit connects 13 tourism sites in Chhattisgarh – Jashpur, Kunkuri, Mainpat, Kamleshpur, Maheshpur, Kurdar, Sarodadadar, Gangrel, Kondagaon, Nathiya Nawagaon, Jagdalpur, Chitrakoot, and Tirthgarh. Under the theme of the tribal circuit, close to Rs 400 crore has been sanctioned to the states of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Nagaland.
India approves MOU On Joint Blockchain Research With BRICS Members
The research is jointly conducted by Export- Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) and one bank from each BRICS member states. The MoU was initially proposed at the 10th International BRICS Summit held in Johannesburg in July. The main focus of which was cooperation in economic development in the face of the fourth industrial revolution.
AAI signed an agreement with Karnataka state to enhance Mangaluru airport
Airport Authority of India (AAI) signed a memorandum of agreement with Karnataka State government to enhance the Mangaluru airport. According to AAI, Mangaluru International Airport is to get advanced air navigation aids and advanced security system. The airport will have Advanced Instrument Landing System (ILS), radar and Doppler VHF Omni-directional Radio Range (DVOR) navigational aids. In addition to this, it will be aided with threat containment vehicle to handle bombs and Central Air Traffic Flow Management (CATFM) facility. Also, the safety basic strip of the runway is to be widened and in the second phase, part parallel taxi track is to be constructed. The estimated cost is of Rs.121 crore. About 36 acres of land from the State government is required for this enhancement in the airport. 3 more aircraft parking bays is to built in the airport at an estimated cost of Rs.7 crore. It would help provide night parking facilities to airlines at the airport. When this project was completed, the runway flight handling capacity would be increased from 10 flights an hour to 20.
President appointed Justice Ranjan Gogoi as next Chief Justice of India
Justice Ranjan Gogoi has been appointed as the 46th Chief Justice of India (CJI) by President Ram Nath Kovind. Ranjan Gogoi will assume charge from outgoing CJI Dipak Misra on October 3 and hold office till November 17, 2019. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on April 23, 2012.
Global Climate Action Summit: Indian Cities, States Step Up Climate Action Plans
Over 4000 businesses, cities, states and civil society delegates attended the summit and showed their commitments to achieve the goals set by the Paris Agreement. The co-chairs of the Summit, Governor of California Edmund G. Brown Jr. and UN’s Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael R Bloomberg unveiled a new report demonstrating how cities, states and businesses can help the US in achieving its 2025 emissions reduction target.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu embarked on a three-nation tour to Central Europe
Vice president Venkaiah Naidu embarked on a 7- day tour to three central European countries, Serbia, Malta and Romania from September 14 to 20. Serbia has an unconditional and open visa policy for India. Malta actively cooperated in evacuation of Indians from Libya in 2011 and 2014. About Serbia:- ♦ President – Aleksandar Vučić; ♦ Prime Minister – Ana Brnabić; ♦ Capital – Belgrade; ♦ Currency – Dinar. About Malta:- ♦ President – Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca; ♦ Prime Minister – Joseph Muscat; ♦ Capital – Valletta; ♦ Currency – Euro. About Romania:- ♦ President – Klaus Iohannis; ♦ Prime Minister – Viorica Dăncilă; ♦ Capital – Bucharest; ♦ Currency – Leu.
National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) Releases HIV Estimations 2017
It is the 14th round in the series of HIV Estimations under National AIDS Control Programme (NACP). Around 21.40 lakh people living with HIV (PLHIV) with the adult prevalence of 0.22%.
