ASSAM

According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report for 2016, Assam has seen a sharp rise in the number of cases of crimes against children. Out of almost 4,000 cases registered under this category in the state last year, more than half of them are cases of sexual offence committed against minors.

About 1,385 cases of crime against children had been recorded in 2014. The number rose to 2,835 cases in 2015 and 3,964 last year.

Among the various crimes, kidnapping of minors for forced marriages and trafficking of girls has gone up in the state. Out of the 2,970 cases of child kidnapping committed last year, 1,519 were cases of trafficking of minor girls. There were 676 cases of girls being kidnapped for forced marriages.

The NCRB report also highlighted the negligence of the state police when it comes to investigating the cases of crimes against children. “At the end of 2016, at least 3,353 cases of crimes against children were pending for investigation. Out of 4,179 arrested last year, Assam Police could manage to file charge sheets against only 1,439 of them. Only 57 were convicted.

INTERNATIONAL

· Saudi Arabia announces lifting of ban on movie theatres after 35 years

Saudi Arabiawill have its first public cinemas in more than 35 years after the government announced the lifting of the ban on movie theatres. Minister of Culture and Information Awwad bin Saleh Alawwad in a statement said that opening cinemas will act as a catalyst for economic growth and diversification.
The government statement said that the licensing process for cinema operators will start within 90 days and the films will be subject to censorship according to media policy standards of the kingdom.

· Mount Hope Becomes UK’s New Highest Mountain

Britain is a new highest mountain after new satellite data revealed the peak was almost 400 metres taller than previously thought. Mount Hope, in the British Atlantic Territory, was recently re-measured and found to be 377 metres taller than previous calculations.
This takes it to 3,239 metres, meaning it knocks Mount Jackson, the current title holder at 3,184 metres, off the top spot.

NATIONAL

India has proposed USD 1 billion line of credit to promote sea, air and road connectivity projects with ASEAN, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

Apart from this, India has set up a project development fund of USD 77 million for various developments.

He was addressing the ASEAN-India Connectivity Summit jointly organised by CII and ASEAN India Centre.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced that pilgrims coming to Gangasagar next year will be covered by life insurance amounting to Rs 5 lakh each.

Around five to six lakh pilgrims attend the Gangasagar fair on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

The Union Health Minister J P Nadda has launched “LaQshya – Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative, a Safe Delivery Mobile Application for health workers who manage normal and complicated deliveries in the peripheral areas.

The goal of this initiative is to reduce preventable maternal and new-born mortality.

He also released the Operational Guidelines for Obstetric High Dependency Units (HDUs) and Intensive Care Units (ICUs).

Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched first NIC-CERT, a setup of National Informatics Centre to prevent and predict cyber attacks on government utilities.
They launched in New Delhi.
NIC-CERT has been set up with the objective of creating a comprehensive framework that integrates world-class security components and inbuilt threat intelligence for detection, prevention and incident response.