PUNJAB

Punjab to give stubble management machinery to farmers at huge subsidy

Punjab Government has decided to provide crop residue management machinery to farmers at a substantial subsidy to curtail stubble burning across the State.

As a part of the new scheme for Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue, Rs 665 crore would be spent in two years on various components of the scheme.

Under this scheme, a package of agricultural machinery for stubble management would be provided at 80 percent subsidy to the Cooperative Societies and other groups, while the same would be given to the individuals at 50 percent subsidy

In the last couple of years, various initiatives have been undertaken to sensitize farmers against stubble burning. But due to non-availability of microbial solution to decompose the large volume of paddy straw and limited time gap between harvesting of paddy and sowing of other crops, wheat and vegetables, the farmers generally resort to crop residue burning.

The campaign would focus on dispelling doubts regarding cons of mechanization and educating the farmers to use stubble management machinery.

INTERNATIONAL

· Epidiolex is the world’s first medicine made from marijuana

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first medical drug made from marijuana named “Epidiolex” which will be used to cure severe forms of epilepsies in children.
The drug will be used to cure two severe forms of epilepsy – Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome.
Cannabis, also known as marijuana, is a psychoactive (mood-altering) drug from the Cannabis plant used for medical or recreational purpose.

· Fifth Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership meeting was held in Japan

The 5th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) intersessional ministerial meeting was held in Tokyo, Japan, in which Ministers from the 16 RCEP Participating Countries (RPCs) attended.
This meeting was co-chaired by Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing and his Japanese counterpart Hiroshige Seko.

Gk bit – RCEP

RCEP is the world’s largest economic bloc, covering nearly half of the global economy.
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free tradeagreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) namely, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the six states namely Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.
The first RCEP summit was held on 14 November 2017 in Manila,

NATIONAL

Election Commission of India launches Mobile App “cVIGIL”

“cVIGIL” is a user-friendly and easy to operate Android application. It will be operational only where elections are announced.

However, the beta version of the app will be made available for the public and election staff to download so that they can acquaint themselves with its features and also try sending dummy data.

Upon successful completion of the trial that is underway, the application will be made available for general use by all, right from the forthcoming Assembly elections in the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan.

The practical use of the app during the four-state Assembly polls will also serve as a pilot initiative before it is put to extensive use during the next Lok Sabha General Elections.

NITI Aayog to organise India’s First Global Mobility Summit

Steeply falling technology costs and business – model innovation are driving the world’s transition to renewable energy and electric vehicles.

Against this background, NITI Aayog, in collaboration with various ministries and industry partners, is organising ‘MOVE: Global Mobility Summit’ in New Delhi on 7th and 8^thSeptember, 2018.

This Summit will help drive Government’s goals for vehicle electrification, renewable energy integration and job growth and also speed up India’s transition to a clean energy economy.

MOVE Summit aims to bring together and engage with key stakeholders within the rapidly transforming global mobility landscape and to evolve a public interest framework for a shared, connected, zero emission and inclusive mobility agenda for the future.

The Summit will constitute three designated components – The Conclave, the Expo and the Featured Events.

· Bengaluru to get India’s first government run eWaste recycling plant

Union minister of chemicals and fertilisers Ananth Kumarannounced that India’s first e-waste recycling unit will come up in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru is also the third in terms of e-waste generation in the country.
The e-waste recycling unit will be set up by the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET).

· RBI issued license to Bank of China to operate in India

The decision was based on the commitment made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Chinese President XiJinping, during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Qingdao, China.
Following this, the 106-year-old “Bank of China” will open a branch in India.
The Bank of China (BoC) opened its first branch in South Asia in Pakistan’s Karachi last year.

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