PUNJAB

Punjab releases rs 760 cr to clear pending farm power subsidy, agri arrears, VAT, GST

Punjab Government on Monday released Rs 760 crores to clear pending the arrears against power subsidy for farmers, besides others payments towards agriculture and allied activities.

With this, all the pending bills towards the Value Added Tax (VAT) or Goods and Services Tax (GST) would also be cleared. VAT or GST refunds have been cleared up to July 20, 2018, with disbursal of Rs 17 crores.

The bulk of the payment released by the Finance Department, that is Rs 400 crores, relates to the subsidy for Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to ensure free power to farmers

The Government also released Rs seven crores to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for externally aided projects.

The Finance Department has also cleared the retiral dues of its pensioners, besides general provident fund (GPF) advance of its employees up to May 31, 2018, amounting to Rs 230 crores.

To maintain the state’s development momentum, Rs 26 crores has been released for various development projects under the centrally-sponsored schemes (CSS), and payment of Rs 18 crores has been released for minor works up to July 20, 2018.

INTERNATIONAL

· International Army Games 2018 will be conducted from July 28 to August 11

The Army games are organised annually by Russia and this year 28 competitions will be held in seven countriesincluding Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Iran, Kazakhstan and Russia. This year the Games will bring together 181 teams from 32 countries.
Military servicemen from Algeria, Vietnam, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sudan and the Philippines will demonstrate their skill for the first time.
The Indian Army will be participating in two team competitions – the Tank Biathlonand Elbrus Ring – being held in Russia.

Facebook To Launch Its Own Internet Satellite In 2019

As part of its plan to connect billions of people who are still offline, Facebook is working on launching Athena, its own Internet satellite, early in 2019.

Facebook appears to have filed with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the name Point View Tech LLC.

· Union Health Minister addressed at 8th BRICS Health Ministers Meeting

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, J P Nadda addressed at the ‘8th BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting, held at Durban, South Africa, and stated that India will strongly support for Ending Tuberculosis (TB) and is committed to eradicate the disease by 2025.
He also highlighted an ambitious programme called ‘Ayushman Bharat‘ i.e. Long Live India, which was launched by PM Narendra Modi and will provide coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.

· India topped the list of skilled visa immigrants in Australia

On the skilled visa, India with 2,34,395 individuals (19 per cent) bagged the top rank, followed by England and China at 160,558 (13 per cent) and 146,842 (12 per cent) people, respectively.
According to a data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 1,54,012 Indians have acquired Australian citizenship.
Under the family visa programme, China with 95,532 immigrants (14 per cent) ranked first, followed by UK at 60,108 (8.8 per cent) and India at 56,406 (8.3 per cent).

NATIONAL

Centre Govt Starts the most advanced System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting

Science& Technology, Earth Sciences; Environment, Forest & Climate Change Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan unveiled a state-of-the-art Air Quality and Weather Forecast System– SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting)at Chandni Chowk in Delhi.

The system, first of its kind in the country, was developed indigenously in record time by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune and operationalized by India Meteorological Department (IMD).

· Ministry of Human Resource Development announced ‘Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat’ scheme

The initiative has been launched under ‘Samagra Shiksha‘. Under this initiative, government will give an annual library grant to schools to promote reading culture.
The grant will be given to Primary to Senior Secondary levels and will vary between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 20,000.

· Kerala has emerged as the best governed state in India says PAI

According to the Public Affairs Index(PAI) 2018 released by the Public Affairs Centre (PAC) , Kerala stands as the best-governed state in the country. Tamil Nadu secured second place followed by Telangana, Karnataka and Gujarat.
The ranking is based on factors such as the quality of governance employed 10 themes, 30 focus subjects and 100 indicatorsincluding essential infrastructure, which comprises power, water, roads and communication and housing. PAC has added another feature, Children of India, for the upcoming year, It covers the themes of early education development, protection, adolescence, institutional structure and governance.

PAC is a not-for-profit research think tank situated in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It works at improving the quality of governance in India. Public Affairs Centre works under four different research groups, (a) Public Policy Research Group (b) Environmental Governance Group (c) Citizen Action Support Group (d) Participatory Governance Research Group.

· Rajya Sabha passed the State Banks Repeal and Amendment Bill 2017

Parliament has approved the bill to merge six subsidiary banks with the State Bank of India (SBI). The bill repeals the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959, and State Bank of Hyderabad Act, 1956 besides amending the State Bank of India (SBI) Act, 1955.
The State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore were constituted under the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959.
The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitleyon July 21, 2017, and has been passed by the lower house (Lok Sabha).

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22-23.07.18 Punjab (PPCS) Current Affairs