15 March The aim of the initiative is

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1 15 March 2018 Cyber Gram Project for Digital Literacy of Minority Communities. The Ministry of Minority Affairs has launched a pilot project for minority Cyber Gram for digital literacy in a minority dominated village Chandauli in Alwar district of Rajasthan. The Ministry mainstreamed the Cyber Gram project with the Multi-sectoral Development Program in the year as a special initiative. The aim of the initiative is 1. To provide hands on training in computers for students from minority community 2. To enable them to acquire basic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills to become digitally literate 3. To actively involve them in knowledge based activities, access financial, social and government services and to use internet for communications. The initiative covers students of Class VI to Class X belonging to notified minority communities residing in minority concentration areas identified under Multi-sectoral Development Program (MsDP). Minority communities include Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains. The project is being implemented through Common Service Center (CSC) e-governance India Ltd-a company under Department of Electronics and Information Technology with support of States/UTs.

2 The fifth edition of the Annual Survey of India s City-Systems (ASICS) by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy has been released. The objective of the survey was to measure the preparedness of cities to deliver high quality infrastructure and services in the long term by evaluating city systems. The survey spans 23 Indian cities and factors in answers to 89 questions. The cities were scored based on the quality of laws, policies, institutions and institutional processes that together help govern them. ASICS groups questions into four categories: urban planning & design; urban capacities & resources; transparency, accountability & participation; and empowered & legitimate political representation. Pune, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram top the country in terms of urban governance. Delhi and Mumbai figure in the sixth and ninth positions respectively. Among the medium cities (with a population of up to one million), Ranchi has broken into the top 10 with a score of 4.1. Bengaluru and Chandigarh (perceived as a planned city) figured at the bottom of the list. Concerns and way forward The cities assessed in the study are found to be generating only 39% of the funds they spend on an average, with Patna raising just 17% on its own. Only Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune generate over 50% of the amount they spend from their own revenue. The study found that in several cities, their own revenues did not even cover staff salaries. Lack of adequate revenue sources of their own severely constrains the ability of our cities to invest in infrastructure and service delivery. The pace of reforms in India has been painfully slow. Recurring floods, garbage crises, air pollution, fire accidents, building collapses and dengue outbreaks are symptoms of this deeper governance crisis in our cities. The survey also found urban capacities across cities suffering from rampant staff vacancies, inadequate domain experience of senior municipal officers, and powerless mayors and councils. Commissioners were found to have only have 2.7 years of experience in urban management on an average. Average staff vacancy stood at 35%, with Guwahati bottoming out at 60%. The mayor and councils in our cities are toothless. They don t have full decision-making authority over critical functions such as planning, housing, water, environment, fire and emergency services. No city in India has effective policies to deter plan violations, a deficiency that leads to the mushrooming of slums and unauthorized colonies. While all its 23 cities scored zero on this parameter, London, New York and Johannesburg notched a perfect 10 out of 10. Moreover, most of the country s town and country planning acts date back to the previous century. It has one planner per four lakh citizens (as opposed to 48 in the United States and 148 in the United Kingdom).

3 The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) has undertaken development of coded drug AYUSH QOL-2C for improving quality of life in cancer patients. Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) CCRAS is autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH. It is apex body in India for formulation, coordination, development and promotion of research on scientific lines in Ayurveda and Sowa-Rigpa system of medicine. It undertakes scientific activities through its 30 Institutes/Centres/Units located all over the country and also through collaborative studies with various Universities, Hospitals and Institutes. It is headquartered in New Delhi. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved continuation of Urea Subsidy Scheme from 2017 up to 2020 and implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for disbursement of fertilizer subsidy. The proposal in these regards was forwarded by Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. The continuation of the urea subsidy scheme will ensure timely payment of subsidy to urea manufacturers resulting in timely availability of urea to farmers at statutory controlled price Urea Subsidy is part of Central Sector Scheme (CSS) of Department of Fertilizers and is wholly financed by Central Government of India through budgetary support. It also includes Imported Urea subsidy which is directed towards import to bridge gap between assessed demand and indigenous production of urea in the country. It also includes freight subsidy for movement of urea across the country

4 The Union Cabinet has approved Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income between India and Iran. The agreement will stimulate flow of investment, technology and personnel from India to Iran & vice versa and prevent double taxation. It will provide for exchange of information between two contracting parties as per latest international standards. It will improve transparency in tax matters and will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance. It also meets treaty related minimum standards under G-20 OECD Base Erosion & Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project, in which India participated on equal footing. The Central Government is authorized to enter into Agreement with other country or specified territory for avoidance of double taxation of income for exchange of information for prevention of evasion or avoidance of income-tax chargeable under Section 90 of Income Tax Act, 1961 Base Erosion and Profit shifting (BEPS) refers to tax planning strategies used by multinational companies that exploits gaps and mismatches in tax rules to artificially shift its profit to low or no tax locations where there is little or no economic activity. What is Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA)? The DTAA, or Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement is a tax treaty signed between India and another country (or any two/multiple countries) so that taxpayers can avoid paying double taxes on their income earned from the source country as well as the residence country. At present, India has double tax avoidance treaties with more than 80 countries around the world. The need for DTAA arises out of the imbalance in tax collection on global income of individuals. If a person aims to do business in a foreign country, he/she may end up paying income taxes in both cases, i.e. the country where the income is earned and the country where the individual holds his/her citizenship or residence. India Iran 1. Iran frequently objected to Pakistan's attempts to draft anti-india resolutions at international organizations 2. India welcomed Iran's inclusion as an observer state in the SAARC regional organization. 3. A highway between Zaranj and Delaram (Zaranj-Delaram Highway) is being built with financial support from India. 4. The Chabahar port has also been jointly financed by Iran and India, which will give it access to the oil and gas resources in Iran and the Central Asian states. 5. The North South Transport Corridor is the ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Russia, Iran, Europe and Central Asia. The route primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia via ship, rail and road. 6. The objective of the corridor is to increase trade connectivity between major cities such as Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku, Bandar Abbas, Astrakhan, Bandar Anzali and etc.

5 World Happiness Index 2018 India was ranked 133rd among 156 countries in World Happiness Index 2018, recently released by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The index ranked 156 countries based on factors (parmaters) such as inequality, life expectancy, GDP per capita, social freedom, generosity, public trust (i.e. a lack of corruption in government and business) and social support. Together these parameters are used to generate a happiness score of country on a scale from 1 to 10. This year it is sixth such list released since it was first published in The 2018 report, for the first time ranked happiness of foreign-born immigrants in 117 countries. 10 Happiest Countries: Finland (1st), Norway (2nd), Denmark (3rd), Iceland (4th), Switzerland (5th), Netherlands (6th), Canada (7th), New Zealand (8th), Sweden (9th) and Australia (10th). United States was ranked 18th down from 14th place last year. Britain was 19th and United Arab Emirates at 20th. In 2018 rankings, top-10, as ever dominated by Nordic countries. The entire top ten were wealthier developed nations. But the report mentioned that money is not the only ingredient in the recipe for happiness. India s ranking: The world s largest democracy s rank fell to 133rd position from 122nd last year. India was behind majority of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations apart from war-ravaged Afghanistan, which was ranked 145th. Pakistan (ranked 75th) and China (86th) were well ahead of India in happiness index despite being not the most democratic or free country. SAARC nations: Pakistan (75th), Nepal (101st), Bhutan (97th), Bangladesh (115th), Sri Lanka (116th).

6 The World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) is celebrated every year on March 15 to pay solidarity with the international consumer movement and give more attention to promote basic rights of consumers. It provides opportunity to promote the basic rights of all consumers Demand those rights that must be respected and protected for those protesting against the market abuses and social injustices. It gives chance to protest against the market abuses and social injustices which undermine those rights. This year the theme promoted is Making Digital Marketplaces Fairer. The World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) commemorates the historic address given by the then US President John F Kennedy to the US congress on this day in In his historic address he had outlined the definition of consumer rights for the first time. He was the first world leader to formally define consumer rights. The first WCRD was observed on 15 March 1983 and has since become an important occasion for mobilizing citizen action. In 2017, WCRD was observed with the theme Building a Digital World Consumers can Trust. In India, 24th December is observed as National Consumer Day. On this day in 1986, Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had received the assent of the President. Moreover, Government (Ministry of Consumer Affairs) runs Jago Grahak Jago one of the strongest campaigns for addressal and protection of consumer rights in India. It literally translates into, wake up consumers!

7 India was ranked at 78th among 114 countries on World Economic Forum s (WEF) Energy Transition Index (ETI) released as part of report titled Fostering Effective Energy Transition. The index ranks countries on how well they are able to balance energy security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability. Top 10 countries in 2018 ETI: Sweden (1st), Norway (2nd), Switzerland (3rd), Finland (4th), Denmark (5th), Netherlands (6th), the UK (7th), Austria (8th), France (9th) and Iceland (10th). BRICS Countries in ETI: Brazil (38th), Russia (70th) and China (76th). According to report, India has taken bold measures to improve energy access, energy efficiency and to improve deployment of renewable sources of energy. However, energy transition in India will require large investments and enabling environment along with robust regulatory frameworks to support transition.

8 The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF s) has given environmental clearance to India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project to be set up in Bodi West hills in Tamil Nadu. The approval was given by MoEF s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) after taking up INO project issue as special case. Studies showed there will be no impact of blasting on any habitation in the vicinity due to INO project. It was informed also that there was no scope for radioactivity and leaching of water and these have been explained to courts. EAC also stipulated specific conditions after granting clearance of which two are key for project to take off. One is consent to establish and operate to be obtained from Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). India-Based Neutrino Observatory (INO) Project The project aims at building a world-class underground laboratory with a rock cover of approximately 1200 meter. Its mandate is to conduct basic research on elementary particle called neutrino. It is jointly supported by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Department of Science & Technology (DST), with DAE acting as the nodal agency. The observatory will be located underground in order to provide adequate shielding to the neutrino detector from cosmic background radiation. It will comprise complex of caverns which will house detector which is 130 metres long, 26 metres wide and 30 metre high. Along with main cavern, there will be two smaller caverns that will be used for setting up experiments for neutrino double detector and dark matters. The non-accelerator based high energy and nuclear physics underground research complex will be approached by a 2-kms long tunnel. The project also envisages construction of 50,000 tonne magnetised iron calorimeter detector (ICAL). It will study the properties of the neutrino, in particular the mass hierarchy among different types of neutrino.