1. NITI AAYOG ANNOUNCED GOVERNING STRUCTURE OF INDIA
ENERGY MODELLING FORUM (IEMF)
·
NITI (National
Institution for Transforming India) Aayog and United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) jointly launched the India Energy Modelling
Forum (IEMF) under the US–India Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP).
·
Now, for its
constitution, on October 8, 2020 NITI Aayog announced its governing structure
consisting of an inter-ministerial and a steering committee.
2. RS 73,000 CR STIMULUS TO BOOST CONSUMER SPENDING
AMID COVID-19 SLOWDOWN
·
Union Minister for
Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman announced measures of Rs
73,000 crore to stimulate consumer spending before the end of this Financial
Year (FY21) to fight the COVID-19 lockdown induced slowdown, during a press
conference in New Delhi.
·
The allocation was made
under the two heads- Consumer Spending and Capital Expenditure.
·
Consumer Spending
·
Leave Travel Concession
(LTC) Cash Voucher Scheme
·
Special Festival Advance
Scheme (SFAS)
·
Capital Expenditure
·
Special Assistance to the
states; interest-free 50-year loan to States of Rs. 12,000 crore Capital
Expenditure (CAPEX)
·
Enhanced Budget
Provisions of Rs. 25,000 crore
3. PRESIDENT RAM NATH KOVIND GIVES ASSENT TO DISTURBED
AREAS (AMENDMENT) BILL IN GUJARAT
·
President Ram Nath Kovind
has given Assent to the Gujarat Disturbed Area
(Amendment) Bill, 2019.
·
The Act will prohibit
transfer of Assets (Immovable Property) in disturbed areas and protects tenants
from vacating the properties.
·
The main aim of the act
is to stop polarisation and to check attempts to cause “Demographic Imbalance”.
·
Gujarat Disturbed Area
(Amendment) Bill, 2019 has amended “The Gujarat Prohibition of Transfer of
Immovable Property and Provision for Protection of Tenants from Eviction from
Premises in Disturbed Areas Act”, 1991 commonly referred to as Disturbed Areas
Act.
4. FIVE EYES ALLIANCE DEMAND ACCESS TO END-TO-END
ENCRYPTED CHATS FROM TECH COMPANIES
·
Members of the Five Eyes
Intelligence Alliance (United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada,
Australia, and New Zealand.) Along with
India, Japan has asked Big Tech Companies to find a solution for Law Enforcement
Agencies to access end-to-end encrypted chats.
·
The Countries highlighted
that encryption has become a tool for terrorists and child traffickers, and
poses risk to thousands of innocent lives.
·
India, Japan are not
members of the Intelligence Alliance.
5. HIGH-SPEED SATELLITE CONNECTIVITY TO 5,000 REMOTE
GRAM PANCHAYATS
·
Hughes Communications
India Private Limited (Hughes India), a subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems,
LLC (HUGHES) has been selected by Bharat Broadband Nigam Limited (BBNL) and Telecommunications
Consultants India Ltd.(TCIL)
·
To provide high-speed
satellite connectivity to 5,000 remote gram panchayats 15 states and
UTs(including border and Naxal-affected areas) of India including Ladakh,
Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram & Tripura among others by August 2021.
·
Hughes India will provide
internet service to the gram panchayats using the capacity from ISRO’s
communications satellites, GSAT-19 and GSAT-11.
6. INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION 2020
– OCTOBER 13
·
The first International
Day for Disaster Risk Reduction was observed in 1989.
·
The theme of
International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2020 is “it’s all about
governance” which is associated with the Target E of Sendai Framework.
