ASSAM

· Tea Board app soon to monitor leaf quality, track origins

ð The Tea Board of India can now monitor the quality of green leaf harvested by growers through a mobile app and accordingly know at what price it has been sold to the factory.

ð Christened Chai Sahayak (tea assistant), the app has been developed by Guwahati-based IT company Sumato GlobalTech for the use of industry stakeholders. The app, which will be launched soon, has separate components for small tea growers and factories that buy green leaf from small and big tea growers and the Tea Board’s field officers.

ð The app will be available in two languages — English and Assamese. Later, It will be made available in Bengali, Hindi and Tamil for all stakeholders across the country.

ð The app will provide district-wise real-time weather forecast to tea growers so that they can take up field activities such as timely application of fertilizer and pesticide spray and follow the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s guidelines. The app will provide periodic advisory to growers and broadcast information on training programme/workshop to be conducted by the tea board. It will also provide day-to-day information of the green leaf price declared by every factory to small growers along with the minimum benchmark price.

INTERNATIONAL

· Eleventh February declared as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science

The United Nations (UN) General Assemblydeclared 11th February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, in order to achieve full and equal participation and access to women and girls in science and to further achieve gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.
The theme for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science was “Investment in Women and Girls in Science for Inclusive Green Growth.

World Radio Day: 13 February

13 February of every year is celebrated as World Radio Day.

2019 Theme: Dialogue, Tolerance and Peace.

It is a day that remembers the unique power of radio which touches lives and brings people together from every corner of the globe.

The day was proclaimed on 3rd November 2011 by UNESCO’s 36th General Conference.

Radio was invented by Guglielmo Marconi.

Women with four children to get life tax exemption in Hungary

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that women in the country with four children or more will be exempted for life from paying income tax.

The move aims at boosting the country’s population.

The PM said that this is a way of defending Hungary’s future without depending on immigration.

For women who raise at least four children, a subsidy of 8,825 US dollars will be given for the purchase of a seven-seat vehicle.

The Prime Minister also announced a seven-point plan to increase the fertility rate in the country.

Clouded leopard to be mascot of National Games 2022

Meghalaya State animal clouded leopard is chosen to be the mascot for the National Games 2022.

The decision was taken at the first National Games 2022 executive committee meeting, chaired by Meghalaya Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Banteidor Lyngdon.

Clouded leopard is a wild cats living throughout the forests of Garo, Khasi and Jaintia Hills.

The games coincide with the 50th year of the creation of the State.

NATIONAL

Centre named Great Indian Bustard as the mascot for COP-13

The Centre announced the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) as the mascot for the 13th UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS)(COP 13), scheduled to be held in Gujarat next year.

The bird has been fondly named by the ministry as ‘Gibi’.

The CMS COP-13 is a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animal.

The COP-13 will be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat from February 15-22, 2020.

· Government has notified eight medical equipments as Drugs

The government has notified eight medical equipments as Drugs under Section 3 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 with effect from April 1, 2020. The decision was made after consultation with theDrugs Technical Advisory Board.
The notification brings all the implantable and diagnostic devices will come under theregulatory framework.

The equipments are:

All implantable devices, CT scan, PET equipment, MRI equipment, Defibrillators,
Dialysis machines, Bone marrow separators, X-ray machine.
DTAB is the highest statutory decision-making body on technical matters related to drugs in India.
It was constituted under the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940
DTAB is part of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

· Centre introduced the Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian Bill

The government has introduced theRegistration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian Bill, 2019 in the Parliament. The Bill aims to arrest the cases of Indian women being trapped in fraudulent marriages with non-resident Indians (NRI).
The bill was introduced by the Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swarajin the Rajya Sabha. The Bill proposes to offer greater protection to Indian women married to NRIs and serve as a deterrent to NRIs against harassment of their spouses.

· CCEA approves CLCS-TUS with total outlay of Rs. 2900 crore

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA approved the Credit Linked Capital Subsidy and Technology Up-gradation Scheme (CLCS-TUS) with a total outlay of 2900 crore rupees.
The scheme aims at improving the competitiveness of MSMEs by integrating various ongoing schematic interventions aimed at up-grading technology through Credit Linked Capital Subsidy (CLCS).

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