Note:
➢ Merkel, whose visit to the country coincided with one of the worst spells of air pollution in Delhi/NCR, also emphasized on the need to replace diesel-run public transport with electric vehicles.
➢ Germany would also put in 200 million euros to reform the bus sector in Tamil Nadu.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 5th India International Science Festival (IISF) through video conference in Kolkata.
Note:
➢ The theme for this year’s festival is RISEN India – Research, Innovation and Science Empowering the Nation.
➢ The prime objective of IISF is to instil scientific temper among people, showcase India’s contribution in the field of
Science and Technology and encourage the translation of its benefits to people.
- The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled two new IT Initiatives for improved monitoring and pace of customs clearance of imported goods ICEDASH and ATITHI
Note:
➢ ICEDASH is an Ease of Doing Business monitoring dashboard of the Indian Customs helping the public see the daily Customs clearance times of import cargo at various ports and airports.
➢ The ATITHI app will facilitate hassle-free and faster clearance by Customs at the airports and enhance the experience of international tourists and other visitors at the airports.
- The first-ever containerized cargo movement via the Indo-Bangladesh protocol route and Brahmaputra river will start from Haldia (West Bengal).
Note:
➢ The vessel MV Maheshwari, carrying 53 containers of petrochemicals, edible oil and beverage will take 12-15 days
to reach the IWAI terminal at Pandu in Assam’s Guwahati.
➢ National Waterway 2 (NW-2) is a section of the Brahmaputra River having a length of 891 km between the
Bangladesh border near Dhubri and Sadiya in Assam.
- Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has launched a first of its kind job helpline number (76260-76260) for the unemployed youth of the state under Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ program.
Note:
➢ The objective of this helpline is to reach every house in Punjab and it can be contacted on 75 thousand mobile numbers daily.
➢ In this process, a 110-seat call center of Punjab Job Helpline has also been created for the data to be prepared.
- The first-ever India-Uzbekistan joint military exercise ‘Dustlik-2019’ has begun at Chirchiq Training Area near
Tashkent. Note:
➢ The exercise enabled the sharing of best practices and experiences between the Armed Forces of the two countries and will lead to greater operational effectiveness.
- The Guinness World Records for the largest astrophysics lesson (45 minutes) and assembly of spectroscopes was successfully achieved at the Science City, Kolkata (IISF-2019)
➢ Over 1,598 students has participated in the event.
- The Union Minister Prakash Javadekar has attended the 15th meeting of the Governing Council of South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP) in Dhaka.
Note:
➢ The SACEP is an inter-governmental organization which was established in 1982.
➢ Its member countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka aim to promote and support protection, management and enhancement of the environment in the region.
- Italian movie will be the opening movie at the 50th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2019 Despite the FOG