RAJASTHAN

World Bank to provide $250 million loan to state for improving power distribution

The World Bank will provide a $250 million loan facility to Rajasthan for improving the performance of its electricity distribution sector.

The Second Programmatic Electricity Distribution Reform Development Policy Loan for Rajasthan is the second in the series of two operations planned for a comprehensive turnaround of Rajasthan’s electricity distribution sector.

The first loan closed in March 2017. Electricity distribution utilities (DISCOMS) in Rajasthan provide electricity to about 9.5 million customers.

The key areas that the programme will support include, strengthening governance in the distribution sector by establishing annual performance Mous between the DISCOMS and the State Government.

This operation will deepen the institutional and operational reforms that were launched in late 2015 centered around the Government of India’s (Gois) Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojna (UDAY), which Rajasthan joined in 2016 and the Rajasthan State Electricity Distribution Management Responsibility (RSEDMR) Act.

To address the concerns of affordability and access to electricity for the poor, the program also supports the Government of India’s Domestic Efficient Lighting Program (DELP), under which more than 15 million LED lamps have been distributed in the state.

INTERNATIONAL

· EU-India joined hands to develop new Influenza vaccine

EU – India committed EUR 15 million each to fund for this cause through the “Horizon 2020”
Indian government and the European Union (EU)partnered for Rs. 240 crore research programme to develop a Next Generation Influenza Vaccine to protect people throughout the world.

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe.

· Google launches ‘Navlekha’ for Indian language publishers

At the fourth ‘Google for India’ event, Google has unveiled Project Navlekhā to help Indian language publishers take their content online.
Navlekhā is a word derived from Sanskrit meaning ‘a new way to write.’
The new platform will allow 1.35 lakh Indian publishers to digitise their offline content by creating instant web pages using scanned documents or PDFs.

· Scientists create nano medical robot and sets Guinness World Record

The scientists have developed the smallest medical robotand set a new Guinness World Record. The device, which is of 120 nanometres in size, can interact with biological cells. These nanocomposite particles can assist to treat cancer and Alzheimer’s in the future and one day it might lead to huge medical advancements. The nanocomposites are made of two different types of multifunctional oxide materials in a “core and shell” configuration.

The core is magnetic and changes shape in response to magnetic fields. The ferroelectric shell converts pressure into electric potentials. The magneto-elasto-electric coupled effect in the nanocomposites acts as arms and legs that move the nanoparticle around to interact with targeted biological cells.

NATIONAL

National Sports Day: 29 August

The National Sports Day in India is celebrated on 29 August each year.

This day marks the birthday of Dhyan Chand Singh, the hockey player who won gold medals in Olympics for India in the years 1928, 1934 and 1936.

He scored over 400 goals in his career, from 1926 to 1948.

· Central Government Signs MoU With 6 States For Lakhwar Yamuna Basin Project worth Rs 3,966.51 crore

Around 90 percent of the project will be funded by the Centre while the remaining amount will be paid by the six states.
Out of this, 1388.28 crore rupees will be borne totally by the Uttarakhand government.
The main aim is to solve the water crisis.
The 6 states are Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Delhi.

· NOTA Option Not Applicable For Rajya Sabha Elections: Supreme Court

The ruling of ‘None of The Above’ (NOTA) option was made by a bench of Justices comprising CJI Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud.
The NOTA option is meant only for universal adult suffrage and direct elections and not for the polls held by the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote as done in the Rajya Sabha.

· India wins first ever in Sepak Takraw at Asian Games 2018

India clinchedbronze in its maiden Sepak Takraw at Asian Games 2018. Indian men’s regu team lost to the defending champion Thailand. Thailand won India by securing 0-2.

Sepak Takraw originated in South-East Asia.

Sepak Takraw is a volleyball-style sport in which players use their feet, head, knees and chest to hit the ball across the net. They are not allowed to use their hands.

A Regu (team) consists of 3 players plus 2 substitutes per team.

· National education policy hits 4th delay

The much-awaited National Education Policy (NEP) is likely to be delayed for the fourth time since it was first announced, with the government-appointed committee entrusted with the task of drafting the policy getting yet another extension till October 2018.

Headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Kasturirangan, the panel was set up by the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry in June 2017. It was supposed to submit its report by December 2017 but was given an extension till March 2018. Later, it was given another extension till August, which has now been extended by another two months.

The suggestions that are likely to be made may not be implemented this academic year, as schools have already started their session in April and colleges in June July.

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