ASSAM

Tea body urges Govt to stop ‘bandh culture’

The 195-year-old Assam tea industry, which is already struggling for its survival, is currently facing a new threat in the form of ‘bandh culture’, said the North Eastern Tea Association (NETA).

Assam has a long history of many bandhs and agitations, but the functioning of tea gardens had never been hampered earlier. However, of late, it has been observed that different organisations (not the recognised unions) call for bandhs every now and then and paralyse the normal functioning of the tea gardens.

It is to be understood that the green tea leaf is a perishable commodity. Plucking of tea leaves is a daily activity and it has to be processed in due course. Otherwise, this will lead to deterioration in quality of the final product and thereby tea gardens will become economically non-viable. The loss of one day’s harvest cannot be made up the next day. Hence, a loss in work caused by these bandhs is a direct and irrevocable loss to the already ailing tea industry.

INTERNATIONAL

· Scientists found that marine reefs could survive global warming

Scientists found that the marine reefscould survive global warming as the combination of coral reefs and the mutualistic micro-algae withstood various climate change events since the Mesozoic era.
The micro-algae, commonly called zooxanthellae, lives inside the cells of coral reefs. It allows them to acquire energy from sunlight and to build the massive, economically valuable reef formations upon which countless marine organisms rely for habitat.
After conducting genetic tests and classical morphological techniques they observed that the algae family is far more diverse and comprises of 15 genera. The fossil record shows that the corals are 160 million years old.

NATIONAL

· Delhi vehicles to get blue sticker for petrol and orange for diesel

For better tackling of air pollution related issues in the Delhi, Supreme Court has approved the central government’s proposal to use hologram-based colour-coded stickers for vehicles in Delhi based on the fuel used.
The vehicles that run on petrol and CNG will have light blue stickers, while the diesel vehicles will have orange
The scheme is based on a model used in Paris.

· Film Actor Akshay Kumar Becomes Brand Ambassador For Road Safety Campaigns

Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari launched three short films for generating public awareness towards road safety.
Akshay Kumarfeatured in these films, which are directed by Shri R.Balki.

· Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan will be launched on 25th September

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan(PMJAA) or Ayushman Bharat scheme will be launched on 25th September. The scheme aims to provide a healthcare cover of 5 lakh per family per annum. The scheme is expected to benefit more than 10 crore poor families.
Ayushman Bharat is a government-sponsored healthcare scheme to provide healthcare cover of Rs 5 lakh to 10 crore poor families every year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation
The scheme will be applicable only to the poor who are from the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) database
The benefits of the scheme are portable across the country

Around 1 lakh ‘Ayushman Mitras’ will be set at the hospitals as part of the scheme to assist patients enrolled under the scheme.

· James Anderson became first bowler to take 100 Test wickets at Lord’s

England fast bowler James Anderson(36-year-old) became the first bowler to take 100 Test wickets at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground when he dismissed India opener Murali Vijay on day four of the second Test in the ongoing five-match Test series against India.
Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, is the only other bowler to capture 100 wickets at a single venue.

NITI Aayog and CII Launch Partnership on SDGs

Union Minister Shri Raj Kumar Singh, Minister of State (IC), Power and New & Renewable Energy, Government of India, mentioned that business and government must partner for sustainable development of India.

He was speaking at the launch of NITI Aayog and CII Partnership on SDGs, at the Government and Business Partnership Conclave in New Delhi on 8 August 2018, organised by NITI Aayog, Confederation of Indian Industry and UN.

The Minister said that in sustainable development three things matter the most: energy, water and circular economy/green industry.

To action his 2022 agenda, he expressed confidence that India will achieve its clean energy goals even earlier than 2022 and urged everyone to be conscious and responsible towards the environment.

CBDT recorded Rs.10.03 lakh crore Income tax during 2017-2018

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) collected I-T of Rs.10.03 lakh crore during 2017-2018. It said that during 2017-18, a record number of 6.92 crore I-T returns were filed. The number of records filed has been increased by 1.31 crore more than 5.61 crore returns filed in 2016-17.

In the North Eastern region Rs. 7,097 crore tax was collected during the year 2017-2018. This is 16.7% higher than Rs.6,082 crore which was collected during the year 2016-2017.

It also said that a target of Rs.8,357 crore has been fixed in the region for 2018-19. It is expected that it will be 17.75% more than the collection during the year 2018-2019.

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