ASSAM

• Assam government introduces bills to repeal 2 Acts

• The Assam government introduced two bills in the Assembly to repeal The Assam Junior Colleges (Provincialisation) Act, 2012 and The Assam Secondary Education (Provincialisation) Act, 1977, as the two Acts have become redundant.

• The bills were introduced by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on behalf of Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

• The Assam Junior Colleges (Provincialisation) Act, 2012, has become redundant after serving its purpose of provincialising services of teaching and non-teaching staff in 53 junior colleges.

• On the other repealing Bill, the education minister said the Assam Secondary Education (Provincialisation) Act, 1977, has become useless after the government enacted the Assam Education (Provincialisation of Services of Teachers and Re-Organisation of Educational Institutions) Act, 2017. 

  INTERNATIONAL

   

  ·        China’s 7000-kg space station Tiangong-1 to crash into Earth this week

   

  • Breaking down into several big pieces, Chinese space station weighing over 7 tonnes will crash into our planet on or around April 1.
  • Chinese authorities are monitoring its move, it could crash in a northern US state such as Michigan.
  • The European Space Agency said that most of the Tiangong-1 (Heavenly Palace) will burn up even before hitting the land and the extent of human casualty is receding. The station was put into orbit in September 2011 and took part in 2 missions.
  • Northern China, central Italy, northern Spain, the Middle East, New Zealand, Tasmania, South America and South Africa have also been identified as regions with a high chance of impact.
  • The Heavenly Palace is expected to break into pieces as big as 100kg while making a plunge into the planet.
  • Tiangong-1 was launched on 1 October 2011, the Chinese National Day.
  • In September 2016, Chinese officials confirmed that they had lost control of the space lab and that it would crash into Earth sometime in the latter half of 2017. In May, China told the United Nations that the lab would reenter Earth between October and April 2018.

   

  NATIONAL

   

  • Haryana’s Mewat is India’s most backward district

   

  • The NITI Aayog has released a preliminary ranking for the 101 most backward districts of India that have signed up for the Narendra Modi government’s ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ programme.

   

  • Haryana’s Mewat is the lowest-ranked among these backwards districts, while Andhra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram is the best-performing district of the 101.

   

  • Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon and Maharashtra’s Osmanabad lie second and third on the top of the table.

   

   

  • GSLV Successfully Launches GSAT-6A Satellite

   

  • India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F08) successfully launched GSAT-6A Satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) on March 29, 2018.

  

  • Launch of GSLV was its twelfth and took place from the Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, the spaceport of India.

   

  • This is the fifth consecutive success achieved by GSLV carrying indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage.

   

   

  ·        CCEA Approves Continuation Of Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme For Education Loans

   

  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)approved the continuation of the Credit Guarantee Fund for Education Loans Scheme and continuation and modification of Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme with a financial outlay of 6,600 crore rupees from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
  • The scheme will cover loans for pursuing professional and technical courses to promote quality education.
  • CEA also approved a proposal to formulate an Integrated Scheme on school education by subsuming Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and Teacher Education from 1st April 2018 to 31st March 2020. An estimated allocation of 75,000 crore rupees approved for this which is a 20 percent increase over the current allocations.

   

  ·        India nods to export all edible oils in bulk

   

  • Soon export of all varieties of edible oilsexcept mustard oil is possible except mustard oil as it will continue to be exported only in consumer packs up to 5 Kgs and with a minimum export price of US $ 900 per tonne.
  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of Ministry of Commerce & Industry for removal of the prohibition on this export
  • The CCEA also approved empowering the Committee, chaired by Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution and comprising Secretaries of Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Department of Revenue, Department of Consumer Affairs and DGFT, to review the export/import policy on all varieties of edible oils and consider measures such as quantitative restrictions, prior registration, imposition of Minimum Export Price (MEP)and changes in import duties depending on domestic production and demand, domestic and international prices and international trade volumes.

   

  ·        Vice -President M Venkaiah Naidu launches NTR biopic

   

  • Vice -President M Venkaiah Naidu officially launched the most anticipated biopic of legendary actor and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N T Rama Rao.
  • The opening ceremony took place at Ramakrishna Horticultural studios here. Naidu pointed out that President, Vice –President doesn’t attend film events but out of his respected and love for NTR, he opted to witness the historic moment.
  • Speaking on this occasion, Naidu underlined the contribution of legendary actor and described NTR as the pride of Telugu People all over the World.
  • The Vice -President extended his best wishes to Nandamuri Balakrishna who will be essaying the role of the great actor and heaped praises on the entire team for helming the epic tale.
  • On the first day of the shoot, Balakrishna who is playing his father NTR’s role appeared as Suyodhana from ‘Daana Veera Soora Karna’ for the muhurtham scene.