ANDHRA PRADESH
- Natural farming only solution : Naidu
- Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said, natural farming was the only solution to end the woes of the farmers and make agriculture profitable.
- Naidu said the AP government had declared 2018 as the year of natural farming.
- He said more than 8,000 farmers across the State were attending the programme. The State government fixed a target of cultivation in 1.50 lakh acres spread across 972 villages.
- “Food cultivated through natural farming is healthy and in a way ensures a healthy life. We are spending close to ₹5,000 crore every year on health and we aim to reduce this by at least 20%,’’ said Mr. Naidu.
INTERNATIONAL
· China successfully tested its first Photovoltaic road
- China successfully tested its first photovoltaic (solar) highway based on home-grown technology in country’s eastern Shandong province.
- With this, China became the second country in the world to construct a photovoltaic highway.
- China’s photovoltaic highway is constructed using solar panels which have a thin sheet of transparent concrete on top of them, protecting the surface.
· George Weah Elected Liberian President
- Former football star George Weah elected as Liberia’s president.
- The closest rival of Mr. Weah was his opponent Joseph Boakai.
- Weah won the elections with more than 60% of the vote.
- He succeeded Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female president, in Liberia’s first democratic handover in decades.
- India ranked 90th among 163 countries in the positive peace index
- Despite the unrest in the last one year, there is an atmosphere of peace in 93rd countries.
- In the ranking released by the Institute of Economics and Peace named Positive Peace Index 2017, India has been ranked 90th among 163 countries.
- Sweden, Switzerland and Finland are the top three countries respectively In the index.
NATIONAL
- Haryana becomes first state to offer protected price for vegetables
- Haryana is all set to become the first state in the country to fix a protected price for vegetable crops.
- The farmers will be ensured of protected price for their vegetables under the ‘Bhavantar Bharpai Yojna’ or the price deficit compensation scheme.
- Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar said the primary objective of this scheme is to ensure that the farmers must not face the distress sale of their produce.