PUNJAB
- 45% rise in stubble fires in Punjab this year
- Air quality in several Punjab cities has deteriorated with farmers continuing to burn stubble despite government orders. In parts of Majha bordering Pakistan, residents are complaining of a burning sensation in eyes and difficulty in breathing owing to stubble-burning across the border.
- As many as 117 incidents of stubble fires were detected by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) on Sunday and 76 incidents a day earlier. Data with the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) shows a 45 per cent rise in incidents of farm fires. Compared to 435 incidents detected till October 11 last year, 630 incidents have been reported in the corresponding period this year.
INTERNATIONAL
- Singapore will become the first country to ban ads for sugary drinks
- Singapore will become the first country in the world to ban advertisements for the most unhealthy sugary drinks.
- The health ministry called the ban as its latest move to combat rising diabetes rates.
- Products deemed “less healthy” must now display labels grading their nutritional and sugar content.
- Those considered to be most unhealthy will be banned from appearing in ads across all media platforms, including broadcast, print and online channels.
- International Girl Child Day is observed on 11 October
- International Day of the Girl Child is globally observed on 11 October every year. The day aims to meet the needs and challenges faced by girls. It also aims to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.
- The theme for the year 2019 is Girl Force: Unscripted and Unstoppable. The theme aims to celebrate achievements made by, with and for girls after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
NATIONAL
- 38th India Carpet Expo started in Varanasi
- The Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) is organizing the 38th India Carpet Expo (15th in Varanasi) from 11th- 14th October 2019 in Sampurnanand Sanskrit University Ground in Varanasi.
- The aim of this Expo is to promote the cultural heritage and weaving skills of Indian hand-made carpets and other floor coverings for the visiting overseas carpet buyers.
- The Expo is organized twice a year in Varanasi and Delhi.
- India Carpet Expo is one of the largest handmade carpet fairs in Asia.
- Indian handmade carpet industry is number one in the international handmade carpet market both in terms of value and volume.
- India exports 85-90% of its total carpet production.
- Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk for 2018 and to Austrian author Peter Handke for 2019.
- Union Government may set up Rs 6,000 crore fund for farmer bodies
- The union government is planning to set up a Rs 6,660 crore fund to nurture 10,000 farmer producer organisations (FPOs) across the country over the next five years, a promise made by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the budget.
- These FPOs organised groups of small and marginal farmers. They will help farmers improve income through better market access and collective bargaining power.
- This will completely be a centrally sponsored programme. We have got the go-ahead from the agriculture minister.
- Under this programme, the agriculture ministry will fund, handhold, train, ensure easy credit availability and provide other support to these FPOs to make them viable. The government will also provide them with technological interventions for better output and they will be able to have access to shared affordable resources.
- Every FPO should have a minimum of 500 member-farmers on board with central government having a sizeable equity. The main challenge before FPOs is availability of credit as banks don’t give them loan owing to unsecured returns.The FPOs will be able to have easy access to credit backed by a sovereign guarantee. This will help FPOs expand their operations.
- Oracle opens first India data centre in Mumbai
- Oracle unveiled its first India data centre in Mumbai followed by another one in Hyderabad early next year. This aggressive expansion is in line with Oracle’s plans to add 20 new Gen 2 Cloud data centres globally by the end of 2020.
- The union government and large enterprises tried to expand rapidly in India with the help of a local data centre. Indian data centre already become the fastest growing cloud data centre for Oracle globally even as the company officially opened it up for all customers. Data localisation requirements in India created a massive latent demand for local cloud data centres. Demand has already outstripped our expectations from Mumbai data centre.
- Mobile App, ‘mHariyali’ Launched for ‘Environment Protection in Government Colonies’
- Shri Hardeep S Puri, Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs launched the mobile app, ‘mHariyali’.
- The app is aimed to encourage Public engagement in planting trees and other such Green drives.
- People can now upload information/photos of any plantation done by them, which is linked to the app and will be displayed on the website www.epgc.gov.in.
- The App provides for automatic geotagging of plants.
- This app will also enable nodal officers to periodically monitor the plantation. The App is user-friendly and works on any android mobile phone.
- Govt forms a panel to suggest measures to augment GST revenue
- The government has formed a committee of officers to suggest measures to augment GST revenue collections and administration.
- The committee has been suggested to consider a wide range of reforms so that a comprehensive list of suggestions may emerge.
- The panel has been asked to provide suggestions about systemic changes in goods and services tax (GST) including checks and balances. This is expected to prevent misuse and measures to improve voluntary compliance.
- It has been tasked to give inputs on measures for the expansion of the tax base.
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