ANDHRA PRADESH
- No mention of SCS for Andhra Pradesh in Union Budget
- Sitharaman made no mention about AP’s demand for Special Category Status (SCS) in the budget speech.
- The central institutions such as IIT, IIM, IISER and NIT also got nothing from the Centre. The Centre granted 11 higher educational institutions to the state in the State Reorganization Act. It was estimated that at least Rs 12,446 crore would require to complete these projects.
- But the Centre had allotted around Rs 746 crore till 2018-19 and almost nothing in the 2019-20 budget. Sitharaman has granted Rs 13 crore for the Central University in Anantapur while the upcoming Tribal University in Vizianagaram district got Rs 8 crore.
- The proposed Metro train projects for Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, too, were ignored by the Centre.
- The Centre had allotted Rs 1,000 crore to take up underground drainage and stormwater drainage projects in Guntur and Vijayawada by showing them as part of the capital city.
INTERNATIONAL
- Italy’s Prosecco hills added to UNESCO World Heritage list
- Italy’s Prosecco hills have been added to the World Heritage list by the UN cultural organisation.
- The Conegliano and Valdobbiadene hills, where the grapes that produce the famous prosecco sparkling wine are grown.
- The region became Italy’s 55th World Heritage site.
- The prosecco sparkling white, which has the highest classification available to Italian wine, is produced in a territory spread over nine provinces in Italy’s northeast.
- Iraqs Babylon listed as UNESCOs World Heritage Site
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee voted to list sprawling Mesopotamian metropolis of Babylon as a World Heritage Site (WHS) 30 years of lobbying efforts by Iraq.
Iraq to have Babylon site recognised by UNESCO.
The World Heritage Committee met in Baku (capital of Azerbaijan) to consider Babylon. - Babylon on WHS List will encourage research and development of the site.
- India gets its 38th UNESCO World Heritage Site as Pink City Jaipur
- The Walled City of Jaipur, known for its iconic architectural legacy and vibrant culture, on made its entry into the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.
- The announcement was made after the 43rd Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, underway at Baku (Azerbaijan).
- The committee examined the nomination of the Walled City of Jaipur for inclusion in the World Heritage list.
- With this, India now has 38 World Heritage Sites, that include 30 cultural properties, 7 natural properties and one mixed site.
- United States won FIFA Women’s World Cup
- The United States won its record fourth Women’s World Cup title defeating the Netherlands 2-0.
- This is the fourth time when the United States clinched the World Cup.
- Before the 2019 triumph, United States won the title in 1991, 1999 and 2015.
NATIONAL
- New Space India Ltd. incorporated as a new commercial arm of Department of Space
- New Space India Limited (NSIL) has been incorporated as a new commercial arm of Department of Space to tap the benefits of the Research & Development carried out by ISRO.
- The Company will spearhead commercialization of various space products including the production of launch vehicles, transfer to technologies and marketing of space products.
- The Budget Estimates for the Department of Space for FY 2019-20 is Rs 12,473.26 crore as compared to the budget of Rs 11,200 crore in FY 2018-19.
- Indian Railways commissions longest electrified tunnel
- South Central Railway has commissioned the longest electrified tunnel, measuring 6.6 Kms between Cherlopalli and Rapuru stations.
- It is part of the recently completed Obulavaripalli – Venkatachalam new railway line.
- The tunnel has been completed in a record time of 43 months.
- The construction of this tunnel paved the way to operate freight trains on Obulavaripalli – Venkatachalam – Krishnapatnam Port new railway line for a distance of 113 km.
- Indian government to introduce an Indian sovereign bond to the world
- Thegovernment has a tentative plan to introduce an Indian sovereign bond to the world. It can be used to mop up at least $10 billion, or about Rs 70,000 crore. The total sovereign debt at the end of March 2019 stood at $103.8 billion. It was a 8% of the GDP. India external debt to gross domestic product (GDP) is among the lowest globally at less than 5%. This will also have beneficial impact on demand situation for the government securities in domestic market.
- The Finance Bill showed that the net borrowing would be4.73 trillion, and the gross borrowing would be Rs.7.10 trillion.This is same as the interim budget. The bond yields climbed back.
- Reliance Jio partners with Facebook to launch literacy drive MDigital Udaan” for first-time internet users in India
- Indian mobile network operator, Reliance Jiopartnered with Facebook to launch a digital literacy initiative named “Digital Udaan”
- The main aim is to empower first-time internet users with digital literacy and understanding of the Internet in real time.
- The initiative is launched in nearly 200 different locations across 13 states.
It is expected to reach over 7,000 locations in the country. - Through this program, it has audio-visual training in 10 regional languages
Jio will engage with its users to help them learn about features of JioPhone, apps and Internet safety, including the use of Facebook. - Facebook is an ally in this mission to achieve 100% digital literacy in the country. At present Jio have 300 million users and it added 8 million users in April 2019.
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