ASSAM

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today said the State’s 1.80 crore workers under the unorganised sector will get old-age protection and social security with a minimal monthly contribution, once they opt to come under the ambit of the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojana.

Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojana would entitle an individual to a voluntary and contributory pension scheme, under which the subscriber would receive a minimum assured pension of Rs 3,000 per month after attaining the age of 60 years.

Reiterating his government’s commitment to save the tea garden workers from the onslaught of social evils, Sonowal said the government has asked the Labour Welfare Officers to carry out extensive awareness programmes in the tea garden areas so that workers can be put away from the menace of drinking sulai (a local intoxicating drink) and various other social evils.

Under the Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojana, a worker of the unorganised sector can opt for the pension scheme within the age group of 18 to 40 years with a monthly income of Rs 15,000 or below. Once the beneficiary joins the scheme at this entry age, the beneficiary has to contribute till 60 years of age. On attaining the age of 60, the subscriber will receive by DBT the assured monthly pension of Rs 3,000 with the provision of family pension. If the subscriber dies, the spouse shall be entitled to receive 50 per cent of the pension as family pension.

INTERNATIONAL

· NASA created a deep ocean conditions in lab to study origins of life

Scientists from NASA, the U.S. space agency, have reproduced deep ocean conditions in the labto re-create a life that could have formed on the sea floor four billion years ago.
The study focuses on how the building blocks of life form inhydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. It could offer clues to how life started on Earth. Hydrothermal vents are places on the seafloor where warm water from under the Earth’s crust mixes with near-freezing seawater. These vents form natural chimneys, which play host to all kinds of ocean life.
The team atNASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California made their own miniature sea floors by filling beakers with mixtures that mimic Earth’s primordial ocean.

NATIONAL

· ISRO launches ‘Yuva Vigyani Karyakram’ for school children

Indian Space Research Organisation launched “Yuva VIgyani Karyakram”, a “Young Scientist Programme” for the School Children to be studying in the ninth standard.
ISRO Scientists will impart basic knowledge on Space Technology, Space Science and Space Applications to the young ones with the intent of arousing their interest in the emerging areas of Space activities.
“Catch them young” residential training programme will be of around two weeks duration during summer holidays with a proposal to select 3 students from each State and Union Territory, covering CBSE, ICSE and State syllabus.
Government asked scientific institutions in the country to mentor young minds in the area of basic science.
It has launched the YUVA programme.
It has approached the Chief Secretaries of the respective States and Administrators of Union Territories in India to arrange for the selection of three students and communicate the list to ISRO.

The New Delhi region, which covers the national capital and parts of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Haryana, has pipped long-standing leader Maharashtra, in attracting FDI (foreign direct investment) equity inflows into the country.
New Delhi received FDI equity inflows to the tune of Rs 57,333 crore ($8.3 billion) in the first nine months of 2018-19 (FY19), data released by DIPP (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) showed. FDI equity inflows aggregated about $33.5 billion in first nine months of fiscal year 2018-19, a 7% decline compared to the same corresponding period in the previous fiscal year.

The top-5 sectors — services, computer hardware and software, chemicals, telecommunication and trading— accounted for nearly 65% of total FDI equity inflows. During the first nine months of FY2018-19, chemicals received highest FDI inflows of $6.07 billion, which was 18% of the total FDI equity inflows during this timeframe.

PM Narendra Modi launched the indigenously-developed National Common Mobility Card(NCMC) while inaugurating the first phase of the Ahmedabad metro train service in Ahmedabad.
Dubbed as ‘One Nation One Card‘ can be used to pay for travelling on any mode of transportation and can also be used to withdraw moneyand to shop across the country.