PUNJAB

Govt invokes law to detain drug smugglers for a year without trial

Cracking the whip on drug trafficking, the Punjab government decided to invoke a stringent law that allows detention of suspected narcotics smugglers up to a year without trial and attachment of properties of proclaimed offenders in NDPS cases.

The decision to invoke the stringent provisions of the Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988 was announced by Director General of Police Mohammad Mustafa of the Punjab police’s Special Task Force on Drugs.

The STF has already identified 62 persons for preventive detention and 137 proclaimed offenders under the NDPS Act for attachment of their properties under the law.

The STF (Drugs) was created within the Punjab police by the Amarinder Singh government in March 2017 to fight the drug menace in the state.

Since its creation, the STF has arrested over 25,000 people allegedly involved in drug smuggling, peddling or abuse of drugs, besides seizing 509 kg of heroin, about 1,400 kg of opium, smack and charas and 71,922 kg of poppy husk.

INTERNATIONAL

· Asian Games gold medalist Hima Das appointed as UNICEF India Youth Ambassador

Asian Games gold medalist Hima Das appointed as UNICEF India’s Youth Ambassador.
She won a silver medal in the 400 meters sprint and also a gold in the 4X400 meters relay at the Asian Games in Jakarta this year will work towards supporting various initiatives by UNICEF.

NATIONAL

· ISRO successfully launched GSAT 29

TheIndian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched GSAT-29 on board its second heaviest developmental flight GSLV-MkIII D2 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota.
The communication satellite is a multiband, multi-beam communication satellite.It intends to serve as a test bed for new and critical technologies. The satellite weighs around 3,423 kg.
It is also known that the first operational mission of the vehicle GSLV-Mk III will be the Chandrayaan-II missionwhich is to take place in January 2019. In addition to this, the vehicle has been planned to carry a human to space three years from now.

· Union Agriculture Minister launched NCDCs new scheme to promote young entrepreneurs in cooperatives

The main objective is to provide cheaper loans to startups in the cooperative sector.
This scheme will be implemented by National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) by linking it to Rs 1000 crore ‘Cooperative Start-up and Innovation Fund (CSIF) created by it.
More incentives will be provided for cooperatives of North Eastern region, Aspirational Districts and cooperatives with women or SC or ST or PwD members.

· Winter Session of Parliament to be held from December 11 to January 8

This would be the last full-fledged Parliament session of the Narendra Modi-led government before the next Lok Sabha polls.
The winter session of Parliament usually starts in November, however, it has been delayed due to Assembly elections in five states. The results of polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram would be out on December 11.

Gk bit – Sessions of Parliament

The President summons each house of Parliament to meet at different times. But the maximum gap between two sessions cannot exceed 6 Months.

The Parliament should meet at least twice a year. But there are usually three sessions a year

Budget Session (Feb-May)

Monsoon Session (Jul-Sep)

Winter Session (Nov-Dec)

· Rs 75 coin to be issued to mark 75th anniversary of Tricolour hoisting by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose

Ministry of Finance issued a notification regarding the release of the Rs 75 coin to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bosehoisting the Tricolour for the first time at Port Blair in Andaman Nicobar Islands.
A portrait of ‘Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’ saluting the flag on the background of Cellular Jail in Port Blair.
A numeral 75th along with inscription “anniversary” will be depicted below the portrait.

Centre to now take up Telangana’s delivery plan
The union ministry of health will soon replicate the Labour Delivery and Recovery Room (LDR) concept introduced by the Telangana government, to make the labour process more ‘mother centric’. Telangana government introduced the concept two years back on a pilot basis and now the innovation has resulted in an increase of institutional deliveries in government facilities from less than 20% to nearly 50% now.

The concept of LDR entails skilled assistance during birth, emergency obstetric care, neonatal resuscitation and immediate care at birth. Also kangaroo mother care and sick newborn care unit for premature and underweight babies are part of the plan.

More than 40% of the world’s stunted children live in India: Report

According to recent report, more than 40 per cent of the world’s stunted children live in India. Stunting is the impaired growth and development that children experience due to poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation, the report on ‘Public Health and Nutrition – Freeing Future Generations from Malnutrition’ said.

Children are defined as stunted if their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the WHO child growth standards median.

As per the report, malnutrition estimates are worrying as poor nutrition causes 45 per cent of the deaths among children below 5 years.

Further the report stated that 60 per cent of the malnutrition burden in the country falls on Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

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