ASSAM

• Assam minister questions ‘inequality’ in northeast peoples’ lives
• Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarmaon Saturday questioned the “inequality” in the lives of the people of northeast states, while asserting the importance of Central government schemes.

• Sarma was speaking at India Economic Summit 2018 being held at the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai.

• Sarma questioned if states in the northeast or Uttarakhand would have access to an all weather road without the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

• He further said that while the 14th Finance Commission raised the states’ share in the divisible tax pool to 42 per cent from the earlier 32 per cent, the onus of many Central sector schemes was shifted to the states. 

  INTERNATIONAL

   

  ·        Prime Minister Narendra Modi China Visit: Important Highlights

   

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New Delhi after a two-day informal summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan.
  • The Prime Minister was received at the airport by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi wrapped up his two-day visit to China with both the countries underlining the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in all areas of their border region in the larger interest of the overall development of bilateral relations.
  • On day two both leaders took a long walk by Wuhan’s iconic East Lake.
  • The two leaders also agreed to issue “strategic guidance” to their militaries to strengthen communications and to build trust and understanding. After the walk the talk followed a Naav (Boat) pe charcha.
  • The two leaders took a boat ride on a traditional Chinese wooden boat sporting a pagoda.
  • Wuhan is a city of freshwater lakes along the banks of the Yangtze River.

   

  NATIONAL

   

  ·        India says Bye to plastic in its protected areas

   

  • In order to achieve a plastic-free India, it has been decided to prevent our protected areas to be announced as ‘Plastic Free Zones.’ 
  • It has directed states and Union territories to organize awareness campaigns to sensitize people about the issue.
  • This decision was taken keeping in mind the approaching World Environment Day June 5.
  • Before that our country shall be clean and plastic free as plastic plays a very negative role in environment maintenance.

   

  ·        Sikkim Chief Minister Becomes India’s Longest-Serving Chief Minister

   

  • Chief Minister Pawan Chamling became the longest-serving Chief Ministerin India, surpassing the record of Jyoti Basu, who served as West Bengal CM from 1977 to 2000.
  • Chamling became the Chief Minister in December 1994 and belongs to the Sikkim Democratic Front.

   

  ·        LCA Tejas Successfully Fired Air-To-Air BVR Missile

   

  • Indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas successfully fired an air-to-air beyond visual range (BVR) missile.
  • With this, Tejas has demonstrated its overall capability as an effective combat jet and inched closer to receive final operational clearance.
  • The test firing of the missile from a Tejas jet was carried off the Goa coast and it met all operational requirements.
  • The successful launch of the BVR missile will expedite issuance of the Final Operational Clearance to the aircraft developed by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

   

  ·        Maharashtra Government Signs MoU With British Council

   

  • The Maharashtra government signed a MoU with the British Council to strengthen educational and cultural cooperation.
  • The British Council, with this MoU, will expand its existing work in the state, where in recent times, it has trained more than 100,000 teachersbenefitting around five million learners.
  • The areas of potential collaboration include developing further initiatives to improve English teaching and enhance employability skills in schools and training institutes, building capacity in higher education and research and further co-operation on inspiring hundreds of thousands of people in the state through arts and culture.

   

  ·        Gobardhan yojna’ to be launched from karnal on april 30

   

  • Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Uma Bharti and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal will launch Gobardhan Yojna, a Central Government scheme from Karnal district on April 30.
  • The scheme focuses on managing and converting cattle dung and solid waste from farms and fields to useful compost, biogas and bio-CNG. It will also help in keeping villages clean and generate energy while increasing income of farmers and cattle herders, said an official spokesman.
  • Apart from this, the Chief Minister would lay foundation stones and inaugurate various other projects to the tune of about Rs 42.23 crore.

  ·        Govt mops up Rs 7.4 lakh crore in GST during July 2017-Mar 2018

  • Buoyed by year-end sales, which helped the government mop up close to Rs 1 lakh crore in Goods and Services Tax (GST) during March, collections during the first year of rollout were estimated at Rs 7.4 lakh crore.
  • Although the government did not disclose the March collection numbers, sources said that the overall number was the highest-ever monthly receipt. In a statement, the finance ministry said that collections between August 2017 and March 2018 were estimated at Rs 7.2 lakh crore, including Rs 1.2 lakh crore of central GST, Rs 1.7 lakh crore of state GST, Rs 3.6 lakh crore of integrated GST (which included Rs 1.7 lakh crore from imports). The rest came through compensation cess levied on luxury and sin goods such as high-end vehicles, tobacco and soft drinks.

   

  • Including the collections in July, the overall figure added up to Rs 7.4 lakh crore. This translated into monthly collections of a shade under Rs 90,000 crore amid signs that the Centre and states will help realise more funds in the coming months as the new regime was showing signs of settling down and the government’s moves to check leakage of funds was picking pace.