BIHAR

In a major step to encourage investments in high priority sectors, the Bihar government has amended its existing industrial investment promotion policy 2016 to dole out huge financial incentives, which include skill development subsidy of Rs 20,000 per employee and interest subsidy on bank loan.

The industrial units, however, need to keep trained employees for at least a year in service to avail the skill development subsidy. Other incentives as stipulated in the amended policy are total reimbursement of the goods and services tax (GST), exemption from payment of stamp duty on registration and total exemption of land conversion fees.

The revised policy also envisages interest subsidy equivalent to 10% on the bank loan and 50% reimbursement of the employers’ contributions towards ESI and EPF schemes for five years, in case of general employees, and 100% in case of female employees.

Poultry and fish processing units are also included in the food processing sector, under which, investors can avail the incentives. Maize based feed units and related food products, starch manufacturing units and all types of fruits and vegetable units qualify for financial and other incentives from the state government.

INTERNATIONAL

· Birmingham to Host Commonwealth Games in 2022

The Birmingham city will host the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games were originally given to Durban in 2015, but the South African city was stripped of the event this year because of financial difficulties.
The multisports event was last in Britain in 2014 when it was held in Glasgow.
Before that, Manchester hosted in 2002.

NATIONAL

· National Mathematics Day is observed on 22nd December

The famed Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan’sbirth anniversary on December 22 is celebrated as National Mathematics Day.
It was in 2012 that then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared December 22 as National Mathematics Day.
In 1917, Ramanujan was elected to be a member of the London Mathematical Society. In 1918 he also became a Fellow of the Royal Society, becoming the youngest person to achieve the feat. He passed away on April 6, 1920.

The Minister of Communications Shri Manoj Sinha has launched DARPAN – “Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India” Project to improve the quality of service, add value to services and achieve “financial inclusion” of un-banked rural population.

He said, the goal of the IT modernization project with an outlay of Rs. 1400 Crore is to provide a low power technology solution to each Branch Postmaster (BPM) which will enable each of approximately 1.29 Lakhs Branch Post Offices (BOs) to improve the level of services being offered to rural customers across all the states.

Shri Sinha said that as on date, 43,171 Branch Post Offices have migrated under the “DARPAN”project with the aim of financial inclusion to rural population and it is targeted to complete the project by March, 2018.

The Indian Army’s Southern Command had conducted exercise ‘Hamesha Vijayee’ in the deserts of Rajasthan to evaluate the capability of the armed forces to strike deep into the enemy territory in an integrated air-land battle.
The military exercise is being carried in the general area of Barmer and Jaisalmer and aimed at fine-tuning surveillance and destruction mechanisms to support precision strikes and manoeuvres by network-enabled forces.

In an eco-friendly measure to cut power consumption, the Indian Railways planned to make all stations cent per cent LED lit by March 31, 2018.

The railways said it was actively working to provide 100 per cent LED lighting for energy needs in railway staff colonies, stations and platforms.

Till November 2017, about 3,500 railway stations had already been provided with cent per cent LED lights. About 20 lakh such lights were installed.

Gk bit – LED

The light-emitting diode (LED) is one of today’s most energy-efficient and rapidly-developing lighting technologies. Quality LED light bulbs last longer, are more durable, and offer comparable or better light quality than other types of lighting.

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits visible light when an electric current passes through it. The light is not particularly bright, but in most LEDs it is monochromatic, occurring at a single wavelength. The output from an LED can range from red (at a wavelength of approximately 700 nanometers) to blue-violet (about 400 nanometers). Some LEDs emit infrared (IR) energy (830 nanometers or longer); such a device is known as an infrared-emitting diode(IRED).

CFL bulbs are referred to as “Compact Fluorescent light” light bulbs are more energy efficient bulbs as compared to the incandescent bulbs, but less efficient than LED. These bulbs are made up of Argon and the small amount of mercury. They are used in offices, stores, homes, and schools, etc. for the lighting purposes.

Indian Naval ShipsTrikand and Teg are deployed to Oman for bilateral exercise‘Naseem Al Bahr’ or ‘Sea Breeze’.
This exercise is the 11th edition and has been a biennial feature since 1993.
The bilateral relation between Indian and Oman were formally established with the signing of a 1953 Indo-Oman Treaty of friendship, Navigation and Commerce, a first between India and an Arab country.
The first exercise Indian Navy with Royal Navy of Oman was conducted in 1993.

India’s first and only design university, ‘ the World University of Design’ opened its campus at Sonipat, Haryana. The University is promoted by Om Parkash Bansal Educational and Social Welfare Trust of Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab.
The university is currently located in a sprawling lush green picturesque campus with the state-of-the-art infrastructure and world-class facilities. WUD is India’s first university dedicated to education in the creative domain.