BIHAR

• Bihar legislature’s budget session from February 26

• The budget session of the bicameral state legislature in Bihar is likely to commence on February 26 and the state budget would be presented the next day, an official said.
• Other decisions taken at the cabinet meeting include state guarantee for a Rs 500 crore loan to be taken by Bihar State Co-operative Bank Ltd from NABARD and other government agencies for the kharif marketing season 2017-18.

• The cabinet also sanctioned Rs 782.56 crore for water supply schemes under the centrally-sponsored AMRUT programme which would cover towns such as Hajipur, Bagaha, Motihari, Siwan, Ara, Begusarai, Kishanganj, Katihar, Buxar, Sasaram, Chhapra and Biharsharif, he said.

• A sum of Rs 48.95 crore was also sanctioned for the Patna Storm Water Drainage scheme.

• Besides, Rs 145.14 crore were allocated for the proposed construction of a cultural centre at Bodh Gaya, as part of the Union Tourism Ministry’s Swadesh Darshan scheme. 

   

  INTERNATIONAL

   

  ·        India and Israel sign 9 agreements in space, defence, cybersecurity

   

  • India and Israel have signed nine agreements to boost cooperation in the areas of space, cyber security and oil and gas between both countries.
  • The agreements were signed following delegation-level talks headed by Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in New Delhi.
  • Netanyahu is first Israeli Prime Minister to visit India in the span of last 15 years and second one overall.
  • Agreement on Film-co-production. Protocol on Amendments to Air Transport Agreement MoU on Cyber Security Cooperation between India and Israel Memorandum
  • MoU between the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Ministry of Energy on Cooperation inOil and Gas Sector LoI between IOCL and Yeda Research
  • MoU between Central Council for Research in Homeopathy and Ministry of AYUSH and Centre for Integrative Complementary Medicine, Shaare Zedek
  • MoU between Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) and Technion- Israel Institute of Technology for cooperation in the field of space.

   

  ·        BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement India, Bangladesh, Nepal approve Passenger protocol

   

  • Bangladesh, India, and Nepal agreed on the text of operating procedures for passenger vehicle movement (Passenger protocol) in sub-region under Bangladesh – Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA).
  • The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of High-level officials of three decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of High-level officials of three countries held in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
  • It was convened and chaired by India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

   

  Gk bit – BBIN

   

  • The Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal(BBIN) Initiative is a sub regional architecture of countries in Eastern South Asia, a subregion of South Asia. Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) signed in June 2015.

   

  • The agreement will permit member states to ply their vehicles in each other’s territory for transportation of cargo and passengers, including third country transport and personal vehicles.

   

  • Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurates Gigabit Connectivity with Sri Lanka

   

  • Union Minister for Law and Justice and Electronics and IT Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad is on an official visit to Sri Lanka.

   

  • On the first day of his visit, he inaugurated the gigabit connectivity between the National Knowledge Network of India and LEARN network of Sri Lanka.

   

  • This dedicated high speed internet connectivity will boost the collaboration among the academic institutions of India and Sri Lanka.

   

  NATIONAL

   

  ·        India emerging as a biggest tourism hub across the globe; over 11 lakh tourists arrived New Delhi in Dec 2017

   

  • Tourism sector of the nation is blooming year by year, as the Foreign Tourists Arrivals have bloomed by 15.2% in December 2017 as compared to December 2016.
  • And also 48.3% Growth in Foreign Tourist Arrivals on an e-Tourist visa in December 2017 Over December 2016.
  • The number of FTAs in December 2017 was 11.76 lakh as compared to FTAs of 10.21 lakh in December 2016 and 9.13 lakh in December 2015.
  • The growth rate in FTAs in December 2017 over December 2016 was 15.2%, compared to 11.9% in December 2016 over December 2015.
  • FTAs in the year 2017 was 101.77 lakh with a growth of 15.6% over 2016, compared to FTAs of 88.04 lakh with a growth of 9.7% is 2016 over 2015.

   

   

  ·        DIPP arm Launches Competition for College Students

   

  • Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM),under the department of industrial policy and promotion, launched a competition for college and university students to foster a culture of innovation and creativity in the youth.
  • The competition – IPrism – invites students to submit films on piracy and counterfeiting under two categories of 30 and 60 seconds.
  • Another category in the competition is a mobile gaming app on intellectual property (IP). Cash prizes of Rs 4 lakh will be given to the winning teams along with mementos and certificates.

  ·        Union Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore launches Khelo India Anthem

   

  • Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore made the announcement during the launch of the official anthem and mascot of Khelo India School Games, beginning January 31.
  • Now when an athlete wins a medal at Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Olympics, the coach gets the incentive.
  • The video features India’s eminent sports personalities such as Sardar Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Devendra Jhajharia, Baichung Bhutia, Pullela Gopichand, Leander Paes, Mary Kom, Akhil Kumar, Sakshi Malik and Saina Nehwal.

   

  • UIDAI to add face verification option for Aadhaar authentication

   

  • The Unique Identification Authority of India, the Aadhaar-issuing authority, has decided to enable face recognition as another means of authentication from July 1, 2018.

   

  • The decision comes at a time when problems arising due to mismatch of biometrics are being reported about, including those faced by senior citizens with fading fingerprints.

   

  ·        Air India announces  reservation for women in seats

   

  • Air India announced a reservation of seats for women in all its domestic flight services.
  • This kind of service has become the country’s first airline company.
  • Special respect to women on our behalf Air India is booking a full line for all women at an economy class at no extra charge.
  • This is for women who are traveling alone or with their young children. “
  • To avail this facility, female passengers can contact the airline’s counter or booking officer at the airport for up to 90 minutes before flying.
  • This facility of the company is only valid for domestic flights only.