ASSAM

Heritage conservation body hails State Govt move against closure

City-based conservation body Heritage Conservation Society of Assam (HeCSA) has hailed the announcement made by the State government that it would not go by the recommendation of the 7th Pay and Productivity Pay Commission for closure of the 91-year-old Directorate of Historical and Antiquarian Studies (DHAS) as a very positive proclamation.

The DHAS, set up in 1928, is scheduled to celebrate its centenary in 2028. Over the last nine decades of its existence, the DHAS, a rare institution of its type in the country, has emerged as a treasure house of countless invaluable books, historical records, manuscripts, journals, newspapers, etc.

Many scholars from different parts of the country and the rest of the globe have been using the rare manuscripts and other historical records preserved by it for scholarly pursuits. The DHAS building was built in 1936, with a donation of Rs 10,000 made by Raibahadur Radhakanta Handiqui, and personalities like Dr Surya Kanta Bhuyan, Dr BK Baruah, AHW Bentinck, JP Mills, Maulavi Abul Fazal Syed Ahmed, Dr PC Choudhury, KN Dutta and many others were actively associated with it.

INTERNATIONAL

· United Kingdom announces new organ donation plan to address Indian-origin shortages

The proposed new system of consent for organ and tissue donation is expected to come into effect in England in 2020.
This announcement comes as a recent report called on the National Health Service (NHS) to take more proactive action to address the high death rate among Indian-origin people in Britain due to low levels of organ donation within the community.

· Netherlands crowned as world champions for the eighth time at Women’s Hockey Tournament

Kitty van Male,top scorer at the Women’s Hockey Tournament.
Spain won the third-place match by beating Australia 3-1 to claim their first ever World Cup medal.
India finished the tournament at the 8th spot.

NATIONAL

Delhi replaces Gujarat to top ‘most investor-friendly’ destination list

Delhi has toppled Gujarat from the top spot in a list of 21 states and union territories with the most investment potential, according to a report by economic think-tank NCAER.

The national capital is followed by Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and West Bengal.

The ranking of 20 states and one Union Territory of Delhi was based on six pillars — land, labour, infrastructure, economic climate, governance and political stability and business perceptions.

· Logo And tagline For Geographical Indications Launched

Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu launched a logo and tagline for Geographical Indications (GI)to increase awareness about intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the country.
The slogan for the GI tag is- ‘Invaluable Treasures of Incredible India’.
A GI product is primarily an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicraft and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.

Gadkari will inaugurate Bidder Information Management System (BIMS)

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (M/o RT&H) has developed the Bidder Information Management System (BIMS) to streamline the process of pre-qualification of bidders for EPC Mode of contracts for all National Highway works with enhanced transparency and objectivity.

BIMS would work as a data base comprising bidder wise information covering basic details, civil works experience, cash accruals and network, annual turnover etc.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate the system.

PM Modi to launch India Post Payments Bank on Aug 21

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 21 will launch long-awaited India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) that will have at least one branch in every district and focus on financial services in rural areas.

IPPB will leverage reach of 1.55 lakh post office branches to provide banking and financial service to people in rural area.

Last week, IPPB CEO Suresh Sethi said that IPPB will go live with 650 branches in addition to 3,250 access points co-located at post offices and around 11,000 postmen both in rural and urban area will provide doorstep banking services.

· Supreme Court to Get three Women Judges for the first time

After the central government cleared the elevation of Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee.
Other two judges are R Banumathiand Indu Malhotra.
Overall There are 22 male judgesincluding two new male appointees in Supreme court.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana Achieves 5 Crore Mark

Loksabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has handed over 5 croreth LPG connection under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in the Parliament House.

The Government launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) on 1st May, 2016 and it is implemented by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas through its Oil Marketing Companies i.e., IOC, BPCL and HPCL through their network of distributors across the country.

Through PMUY, initially, 5 crore BPL households were targeted for providing deposit free LPG connections to BPL households by 31st March,2019.

· Union Govt approved research projects worth over Rs 100 crore under IMPRINT-2 scheme

Around 122new research projects of 112 crore rupees under its Impacting Research Innovation and Technology ‘IMPRINT-2’ scheme are approved.
IMPRINT – 2 is a government initiative to address the major science and engineering challenges that India must address and champion to enable, empower and embolden the nation for inclusive growth and self-reliance.

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