BIHAR

Bihar now boasts of three open-defecation free (ODF) districts. After Sitamarhi, which achieved the ODF status in July, Sheikhpura and Rohtas, too, have joined the list of such districts this month.

Till June this year, Bihar didn’t have a single district in the list of 400 and odd districts from across the country which enjoyed the ODF status.

The sanitation scheme was launched on October 2, 2014, and since then, 68,620 toilets were constructed in Sheikhpura to achieve the ODF status, whereas the corresponding figures for Rohtas and Sitamarhi stand at 2,78,370 and 3,97,741 respectively.

There are five districts where the ODF coverage is above 70 per cent, whereas the remaining 30 districts fall in the bracket of 50 to 70 per cent coverage.

In 2014-15, a total of 1.65 lakh toilets could be built and this figure jumped to 4.27 lakh in 2015-16.

The toilet construction work gained some pace after the rural development department was made the nodal department for this work in June 2016 and in 2016-17, a total of 8.73 lakh toilets were constructed.

The figure witnessed a major jump in 2017-18 during which 35.73 lakh toilets were constructed.

In the current fiscal, beginning from April 1, a total of 12,75,686 toilets had been constructed in the state till August 15.

INTERNATIONAL

The Austrian capital, Vienna, has beaten Australia’s Melbourne to be named the world’s most liveable city.

It’s the first time a European city has topped the rankings of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) annual survey.

The worldwide league table ranks 140 cities on a range of factors, including political and social stability, crime, education and access to healthcare.

· India to participate in SCO Peace Mission 2018 exercise at Russia

India will participate for the first timein the joint SCO Peace Mission Exercise, a part of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) initiatives, being conducted by Central Military Commission of Russia from August 22-29 at Chebarkul.
India became a full member of the SCO in June 2017.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is aneight-member multilateral organization, established on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China.
8 members of SCO are:- China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

· India released 470 Million Nepali Rupees Grant for Terai Roads Project in Nepal

Indian Ambassadorto Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri handed over a cheque of the grant to Secretary, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport of Nepal, Madhusudan Adhikari in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The amount has been released to maintain fund liquidity for the ongoing construction of 14 road packages under Postal Highway Project.

NATIONAL

NITI Aayog has launched “Pitch to MOVE” – a mobility pitch competition that aims to provide budding entrepreneurs of India a unique opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a distinguished jury.

Startups working in the various fields of mobility can pitch their ideas to industry leaders and Venture Capitalists for raising investments.

Winners of the event will be felicitated by Hon’ble PM during the Global Mobility Summit.

“Pitch to MOVE” is organised by NITI Aayog in collaboration with Invest India and Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) as a part of a series of engaging featured events in the run up to the main event.

The airport will be inaugurated on August 15 by Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar.
The team informed that the airport selected by the Ministry of Civil Aviation under the RCS-UDAN Scheme in which one airline namely M/s Pinnacle Airways Limited have bid for two routes namely Delhi-Hisar and Hisar-Chandigarh.

According to a survey conducted by UK-based online market research data, companies followed by Tata Motors, Patanjali, Reliance Jio and BSNL.
The survey, which covered 152 brandsacross 11 categories, is based on data collected online by YouGov Omnibus among 1,193 respondents in the country.

Indias first genetic bank for wildlife conservation inaugurated in Hyderabad

It is India’s first genetic resource bank where the genetic material will be stored for posterity which will further the cause of conservation of endangered species.
It is equipped with sophisticated equipment to preserve the genetic resources that could be utilized to virtually resurrect an animal species.
Laboratory of Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES)developed a universal DNA based marker for identification of wild animals from parts and remains.

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra inaugurated three apps along with Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Justices Madan B. Lokur and A.M. Khanwilkar.

Chief Justice Misra said the services provided by the apps include e-filing along with user manual, e-payment options, National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes (NTSEP).

President Ram Nath Kovind approved these names on the eve of Independence Day along with three Bar to Sena Medals (Gallantry), 93 Sena Medals (Gallantry) and, 11 Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry).
He also conferred Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) to Group Captain Abhishek Sharma, Squadron Leader Vernon Desmond Keane and Sergeant Shashidhar P Prasad.