JAMMU AND KASHMIR

 

• Nod for amendments to Panchayati Raj Act

 

• In a significant decision aimed at strengthening the grassroots democracy and participative planning in J&K, the State Administrative Council (SAC), held under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik, approved amendments to the Panchayati Raj Act, 1989.

 

• The amendments will ensure placement of funds, functions and functionaries at the disposal of the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs). A similar attempt had been made in 2011 through a government order, but by making the devolution a part of the Act, the government has not only given adequate teeth to the panchayats, but has also made it binding for the government departments to follow it.

 

• To make the PRIs the true harbingers of socio-economic development, the amendments will ensure well-defined taxation powers to the panchayats for the generation of adequate resources. The amendments define the role of ward majlis/sabha and halqa majlis (gram sabha) in detail, placing the power to plan, implement, monitor and supervise various government schemes in the hands of people. The implementation of important schemes, such as MGNREGA, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Midday Meal and the Integrated Child Development Service, has been devolved to the panchayats.

 

• The monitoring and supervision of schools and health institutions has also been passed on to the PRIs to make them accountable to society. The panchayats will also conduct concurrent/quarterly social audit of programmes in their areas. The responsibility to ensure socio-economic and human development of the area, including literacy, sex ratio, water conservation and health, has also been placed on the panchayat. They have also been made the agents of change through sensitisation and awareness generation.

 

• The SAC also approved the inclusion of 88 new services under the J&K Public Services Guarantee Act. 

   

  INTERNATIONAL

   

  • India and the ADB sign $ 150 Million Loan Agreement to support India’s First Global Skills Park

   

  • Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $150 million Loan Agreement in New Delhi to establish a Global Skills Park (GSP) in Madhya Pradesh.

   

  • It will be the First Multi-Skills Park in India to enhance the quality of Technical and Vocational Education And Training (TVET) System in the State and create a more skilled workforce.

   

  • IBSAMAR-VI kicks off at Simons Town, South Africa

   

   

  • The sixth edition of IBSAMAR, a joint Multi – National Maritime Exercise between the Indian, Brazilian and South African Navies, is being held at Simons Town, South Africa from 01 – 13 Oct 18.

   

  • The last edition of IBSAMAR (IBSAMAR V) was conducted off Goa, from 19 – 26 Feb 16.

   

  • The aim of the exercise is to undertake collective training for participating navies, building interoperability and mutual understanding as well as sharing of best practices.

   

  • Nobel Prize in Physics is shared by a woman for the first time in 55 years

   

  • The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to a woman for the first time in 55 years, and for only the third time in its history.

   

  • Donna Strickland, a Canadian physicist, was awarded the 2018 prize jointly with Gérard Mourou, from France, for their work on generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses.

   

  • They share the award with an American, Arthur Ashkin, who at 96 becomes the oldest Nobel Laureate, for developing “optical tweezers.

   

  NATIONAL

   

  • India’s first dolphin research centre to come up soon in Patna

   

  • Much-awaited National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC), India’s and Asia’s first, would be set up in Patna.

   

  • The NDRC is likely to be set up next month on the banks of the Ganga river in the Patna University premises.

   

  • It will play an important role in strengthening conservation efforts and research to save the endangered mammal.

   

   

  • Justice Ranjan Gogoi takes over as the 46th Chief Justice of India

   

  • Ranjan Gogoi has been sworn-in as the 46th Chief Justice of India by President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

   

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cabinet ministers and former PM Manmohan Singh were present for the oath-taking ceremony.

   

  • Justice Gogoi was born on 18 November, 1954, in Assam’s Dibrugarh district. He is the first person from the North-Eastern states to hold the post of Chief Justice of India.

   

  • Ranjan Gogoi’s tenure as the CJI will continue till November 17, 2019, a day before he turns 65 years old.

   

   

  • Central Information Commission brings BCCI under RTI Act

   

  • The Central Information Commission has pronounced the judgement that the BCCI comes under the jurisdiction of the RTI Act.

   

  • As a result of the ruling, the board is now “answerable to the people of the country”.

   

  • The commission, which is the top appellate body in RTI matters, come to a conclusion that the characteristics of the BCCI fulfill the required conditions of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.

   

  ·        Lonar Lake and St. Marys Island are announced to be geoparks

   

  • Lonar Lake, an ancient circular lake created by a meteorite strike, in Maharashtra and  Mary’s Island, a hexagonal mosaic of basaltic rocks in an island off Udupi are poised to become global geoparks, under the plan of Geological Survey of India (GSI). Lonar Lake in Maharashtra and St. Mary’s Island and Malpe beach in coastal Karnataka are the GSI’s candidates for UNESCO Global Geopark Network status.
  • Mary’s Island which was declared a national geo-heritage site in 1975 is estimated to be an 88-million-year-old and Lonar crater became a geo-heritage site in 1979. It is around 50,000 years old.

   

  ·        SIDBI Launched National Level Entrepreneurship Awareness Campaign ‘Udyam Abhilasha’

   

  • Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)launched a National Level Entrepreneurship Awareness Campaign, Udyam Abhilasha in 115 Aspirational Districts identified by NITI Aayog in 28 States and reaching to around 15,000 youth.
  • They will join to contribute “the transformation mission” unleashed for these districts.

   

  ·        Project Utkrisht launched by Indian Railways

   

  • Indian Railwayslaunched its Project ‘Utkrisht’ to upgrade 140 rakes of Mail/Express trains in the first phase.
  • The main aim of the project aims to do the following:

  Installing ‘Swachh Rail Toilet’,

   

  Fitting of energy-efficient LED lights – in the main interior, doorway, gangway and inside toilets,

   

  Braille signage & night glow stickers,

   

  LED panel photo frame in first AC coaches, new types of bottle holders, big side mirrors,

  Anti-graffiti vinyl wrapping in the gangway area,

  New types of fire extinguishers.

   

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